>> Welcome and thank you for
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joining us on It Is Written
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Canada.
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Now let me ask you a very
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serious spiritual,
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soul-searching question.
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If you knew beyond a shadow of
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a doubt what God's will was
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for your life, would you
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do it?
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>> I believe I would.
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And I believe most people
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would do God's will if they
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knew what it was.
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>> And that's what many people
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tell me.
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They say, "If I knew without a
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doubt what God wanted me to
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do, I would definitely do it."
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But then I probe, I ask a few
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other questions.
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>> Like what?
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>> Like, "Is it God's will for
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you to pray?"
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I mean, not just at meal
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times.
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[RENÉ] I'm sure they say,
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"Yes, it is God's will for me
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to pray."
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[MIKE] Every one says that,
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but when I ask them, "How
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often do you pray?" they put
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their heads down and they say,
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"Not too often."
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And then I ask, "Would you say
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that you pray an average of
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ten minutes a day?"
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"No, a lot less than that,"
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many say.
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And so I ask another question:
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"Is it God's will for you to
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read the Bible, not just
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at church."
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[RENE] And I'm sure they say
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"yes" to that question, too,
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because Jesus says, "This is
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eternal life to know God and
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Jesus Christ," and God reveals
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who He is in His holy word,
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the Bible.
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>> Yes, but when I ask people,
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"How often do you read the
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Bible?" they say, "OK, you got
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me again. Not too often."
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"So would you say that you
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read it ten minutes a day?"
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"No, less than that."
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"What about once a week?"
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"Probably not."
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And so I encourage them with
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these words of Jesus
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where He says...
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>> And here's what Jesus is
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saying to all those who want
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to know God's will
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for their life.
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Use what God has clearly given
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you and do not worry about
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that which is still unclear.
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[MIKE] Yeah, why would God
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give me, give you a deeper
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knowledge of His will if we
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are not faithfully doing what
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we already clearly understand.
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>> Our special guest on It Is
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Written Canada today is
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Professor Stephen Reasor who
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is the chair of Religious
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Studies at Burman University
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in Lacombe, Alberta.
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In a moment, Professor Reasor
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will share with you some
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deeper insights into how you
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can know God's will
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for your life.
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¤¤
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>> Welcome again to It Is
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Written Canada.
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We're going to look at the
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Bible together with Professor
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Stephen Reasor who is the
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chair of Religious Studies at
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Burman University in Lacomb,
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Alberta.
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>> Professor Stephen, welcome
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to It Is Written Canada today.
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>> Thank you, I'm really
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delighted to be here.
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>> So, Professor Reasor, we're
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gonna look at the Bible and
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we're gonna look at
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God's will.
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So why is this an important
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question that we know God's
00:04:04.74\00:04:05.91
will for our lives?
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>> Well, this is a question
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that you get asked a lot...
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[MIKE] It is, true.
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>> ...and that I get asked a
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lot and pastors and teachers
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and parents often get asked,
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"Well, how can I know what God
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wants me to do?"
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And the truth is when we come
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to these moments of transition
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in our lives and we're not
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sure what to do, we want to
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know what God's will is.
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In fact, I just had a recent
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graduate from Burman come and
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talk to me and say, "What
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should I do? I've got these
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options.
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How can I know what God wants
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me to do?"
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>> So it's in those transition
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places where we're not just
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living as we normally live,
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you know, from day to day, but
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all of a sudden, "Oh, now what
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do I do?
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What's the next step?"
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[STEPHEN] That's right, those
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forks in the road where we
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have a life choice, as we call
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them, to make.
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>> So, Professor Reasor, how
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important is it to discern
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God's will?
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>> Well, if you're gonna be a
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Jesus-follower, then you need
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to know what He wants you
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to do.
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He is our boss, the word,
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"Lord," "kurios," in the New
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Testament, it means a person
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who is the boss over every
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aspect of your life and if
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He's gonna be our Lord, then
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we need to know what He wants
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us to do.
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Can you imagine going to work
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and your boss tells you, "I
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want you to write the yearly
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report today," and you say,
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"Well, what do you want to
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have in it?" and your boss
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says, "All the important
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stuff," and then walks away.
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That'd be a really tough
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report to write and we would
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probably need to be touching
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base with the boss throughout
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the day to find out what is
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supposed to be in this report.
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Well, our responsibility to
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God is far greater than that
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and we are not just His
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employee, we're part of His
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family and that's why it's
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important to know His will.
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There's this beautiful verse
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that Jesus says in Mark 3:35.
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He says, "For whoever does the
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will of God," that's what we
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wanna do right, we wanna do
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God's will, "Whoever does the
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will of God, he is my brother
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and sister and mother."
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So if you wanna be a part of
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God's family, knowing God's
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will is important.
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>> I love that.
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So we are a child of God, not
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an employee of God, we're a
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part of His family.
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That kind of is a bit
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challenging for some people
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because God being our father,
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some families, we don't look
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up to the father as being in
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control, you know, but God is,
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you now, He's so wise and He's
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not like a control freak, but
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He is in control in the sense
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that He wants the very best
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for us as a loving father.
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So when we talk about this, I
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know you're an expert on
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Greek, what are we talking
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about when we use that word or
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the word for "to know God's
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will" in Greek?
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>> Sure, well, in the New
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Testament, there's two related
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words that-- one's a verb and
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one's a noun and so if we're
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talking about the verb, the
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verbal action, which is
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"thelo" and that means "to
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desire, to want, to will, to
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purpose for something to
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happen," and then there's the
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noun version of that,
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"thelema" and that's the
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object of that willing or
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desiring, so the passions that
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we have and the desires and
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things that we want.
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When we talk about God's will,
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God's will is all-encompassing
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and it accounts for all of
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those verbal aspects and a
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lot more than that because, of
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course, God's a universal God
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and He has a universal will.
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So a friend of mine,
00:07:44.96\00:07:46.13
T. Michael W. Halcomb, in a
00:07:46.13\00:07:47.83
Podcast just a couple weeks
00:07:47.83\00:07:49.66
ago, made a statement I'm
00:07:49.66\00:07:51.20
gonna read here, he said...
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And if God's will is that
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encompassing, then maybe it is
00:08:00.18\00:08:01.94
that encompassing in our life
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to follow God's will.
00:08:03.71\00:08:05.11
Of course, we could, if we
00:08:05.11\00:08:06.68
misunderstand what God's will
00:08:06.68\00:08:08.15
is, we could take that to an
00:08:08.15\00:08:09.85
extreme and say, "Well, I'm
00:08:09.85\00:08:11.25
not gonna do anything until
00:08:11.25\00:08:12.72
God tells me to do it."
00:08:12.72\00:08:13.89
But there are different types
00:08:14.96\00:08:16.69
of God's will and we wanna
00:08:16.69\00:08:18.79
clear that up right away.
00:08:18.79\00:08:20.20
There's three types that I'd
00:08:20.20\00:08:21.60
like to talk about.
00:08:21.60\00:08:23.03
The first is God's salvific
00:08:23.03\00:08:24.73
will, His will for salvation,
00:08:24.73\00:08:27.27
the second is His moral will,
00:08:27.27\00:08:29.24
and the third, which is what
00:08:29.24\00:08:30.64
we're really talking about
00:08:30.64\00:08:32.07
today is His directive will.
00:08:32.07\00:08:34.68
So God's salvific will is the
00:08:34.68\00:08:38.98
same for all of us, He wants
00:08:38.98\00:08:40.65
everyone to be saved.
00:08:40.65\00:08:42.15
We can talk about being
00:08:42.15\00:08:43.92
pre-destined by God's will to
00:08:43.92\00:08:45.59
salvation because that's what
00:08:45.59\00:08:46.86
He wants for us and that's
00:08:46.86\00:08:48.16
true for everybody in the
00:08:48.16\00:08:49.66
whole universe, but especially
00:08:49.66\00:08:51.06
here on earth.
00:08:51.06\00:08:52.83
>> So that is something we
00:08:52.83\00:08:54.36
would have to choose as well.
00:08:54.36\00:08:55.96
He wants that, He is
00:08:55.96\00:08:57.83
pre-destining us to be saved,
00:08:57.83\00:09:00.54
but is everyone going to
00:09:00.54\00:09:01.94
be saved?
00:09:01.94\00:09:03.61
>> Right, and that's the funny
00:09:03.61\00:09:04.54
thing about God's will.
00:09:04.54\00:09:06.04
As powerful as God is, He
00:09:06.04\00:09:07.74
doesn't force His will on
00:09:07.74\00:09:09.88
anyone, even His salvific
00:09:09.88\00:09:11.35
will, His great desire to save
00:09:11.35\00:09:13.11
everyone doesn't overwhelm the
00:09:13.11\00:09:15.62
right that He's given to us to
00:09:15.62\00:09:17.69
say, "No thanks, God."
00:09:17.69\00:09:19.19
And we can say "no thanks" to
00:09:19.19\00:09:20.79
His salvation, we can say "no
00:09:20.79\00:09:22.29
thanks" to the revealed moral
00:09:22.29\00:09:24.76
law that He's provided and we
00:09:24.76\00:09:26.93
can always choose to not take
00:09:26.93\00:09:28.83
the path that He's directing
00:09:28.83\00:09:30.17
us on.
00:09:30.17\00:09:31.57
So that's an important thing
00:09:31.57\00:09:32.93
to keep in mind when we talk
00:09:32.93\00:09:34.24
about God's will is it is not
00:09:34.24\00:09:35.90
going to overwhelm ours.
00:09:35.90\00:09:37.57
So God's moral will, which is
00:09:39.97\00:09:41.91
the second type of will, is
00:09:41.91\00:09:44.25
the desire that He has for us
00:09:44.25\00:09:46.72
of how we live our lives day
00:09:46.72\00:09:47.92
by day.
00:09:47.92\00:09:49.58
And this requires, to follow
00:09:49.58\00:09:50.95
God's moral will, we have to
00:09:50.95\00:09:52.29
really submit to Him on a
00:09:52.29\00:09:53.76
daily basis because inside of
00:09:53.76\00:09:56.06
me there is desires for things
00:09:56.06\00:09:58.59
that are outside of His moral
00:09:58.59\00:10:00.16
will and it's a constant
00:10:00.16\00:10:01.73
battle, it's a constant
00:10:01.73\00:10:03.60
process of giving in to God,
00:10:03.60\00:10:06.50
but if I will follow that
00:10:06.50\00:10:09.70
moral will, that's going to
00:10:09.70\00:10:11.71
help me when it comes time to
00:10:11.71\00:10:13.84
discern His directive will.
00:10:13.84\00:10:16.21
>> Mmm, explain that.
00:10:16.21\00:10:17.95
>> So let's say I'm embezzling
00:10:17.95\00:10:19.65
from my employer, there's
00:10:19.65\00:10:20.82
gonna be my conscience,
00:10:20.82\00:10:22.02
there's going to be things
00:10:22.02\00:10:23.62
that God puts as obstacles in
00:10:23.62\00:10:25.15
my path to keep me from doing
00:10:25.15\00:10:27.02
that, there's gonna be all
00:10:27.02\00:10:28.72
kinds of ways God's gonna be
00:10:28.72\00:10:30.09
communicating with me,
00:10:30.09\00:10:31.39
"Stop stealing."
00:10:31.39\00:10:32.63
And in order to continue
00:10:33.63\00:10:35.73
embezzling, I'm going to have
00:10:35.73\00:10:37.67
to block and harden myself and
00:10:37.67\00:10:40.14
not respond to God's voice
00:10:40.14\00:10:42.40
when I hear it.
00:10:42.40\00:10:43.81
>> I think of John 16 where He
00:10:43.81\00:10:45.61
says the Spirit, the Holy
00:10:45.61\00:10:47.54
Spirit, will convict us,
00:10:47.54\00:10:48.91
right, of sin, of
00:10:48.91\00:10:50.01
righteousness, and of
00:10:50.01\00:10:51.61
judgment and so you're saying
00:10:51.61\00:10:53.25
He's going to try convict our
00:10:53.25\00:10:55.12
conscience, tell us what's
00:10:55.12\00:10:56.85
right, but if we don't do it,
00:10:56.85\00:10:59.29
we're hardening our hearts
00:10:59.29\00:11:01.02
towards it.
00:11:01.02\00:11:02.12
>> That's right, yeah.
00:11:02.12\00:11:02.99
Sorta like Pharaoh did,
00:11:02.99\00:11:04.26
did, he hardened his heart.
00:11:04.26\00:11:05.99
And when we do that, we can't
00:11:05.99\00:11:08.80
discern God's directive will
00:11:08.80\00:11:11.50
in our lives if there is a
00:11:11.50\00:11:14.07
problem in my heart and God's
00:11:14.07\00:11:16.20
convicting me of it and I'm
00:11:16.20\00:11:17.67
ignoring God.
00:11:17.67\00:11:19.01
I can't ignore His voice and
00:11:19.01\00:11:20.68
also listen to His voice and
00:11:20.68\00:11:21.78
discern His voice at the
00:11:21.78\00:11:22.91
same time.
00:11:22.91\00:11:24.31
So living according to God's
00:11:24.31\00:11:26.05
moral requirements on a
00:11:26.05\00:11:29.65
day-to-day basis and, again,
00:11:29.65\00:11:31.05
following the guide of the Holy
00:11:31.05\00:11:32.32
Spirit, following His voice as
00:11:32.32\00:11:33.96
I read in scripture and I'm
00:11:33.96\00:11:35.62
convicted how to live and how
00:11:35.62\00:11:37.33
not to live, that's going to
00:11:37.33\00:11:39.63
help with the third type of
00:11:39.63\00:11:41.10
will and the third type of
00:11:41.10\00:11:42.80
will is God's directive will.
00:11:42.80\00:11:44.83
That's where God says, "In
00:11:44.83\00:11:46.77
this specific instance, in
00:11:46.77\00:11:48.30
this circumstance, I want you
00:11:48.30\00:11:50.24
to go and do this, I want you
00:11:50.24\00:11:51.84
to go and do that."
00:11:51.84\00:11:52.97
And that's what we're really
00:11:52.97\00:11:54.51
talking about when we say,
00:11:54.51\00:11:55.84
"What does God want me to do?"
00:11:55.84\00:11:57.35
Paul talks about God's will in
00:11:57.35\00:11:59.88
terms of Paul plans to do one
00:11:59.88\00:12:01.98
thing or do another thing, but
00:12:01.98\00:12:04.25
it's always couched in if it is
00:12:04.25\00:12:05.95
God's will.
00:12:05.95\00:12:07.92
He's recognizing that he has
00:12:07.92\00:12:09.62
plans, but that God may have
00:12:09.62\00:12:11.06
different plans and he's open
00:12:11.06\00:12:11.89
to that,
00:12:11.89\00:12:14.20
including things that Paul
00:12:14.20\00:12:16.67
would rather not have happen.
00:12:16.67\00:12:18.07
And that's true in our lives.
00:12:18.07\00:12:19.20
If we're gonna be looking for
00:12:19.20\00:12:20.70
God's will in our life, we
00:12:20.70\00:12:22.00
have to be open to the fact
00:12:22.00\00:12:23.27
that His will might not be
00:12:23.27\00:12:24.81
what we want, might not be
00:12:24.81\00:12:26.71
what we would choose.
00:12:26.71\00:12:28.71
That doesn't mean that when
00:12:28.71\00:12:30.01
bad things happen it's God's
00:12:30.01\00:12:31.51
will, absolutely not.
00:12:31.51\00:12:33.35
There's-- this is a rebellious,
00:12:33.35\00:12:35.65
sinful world and so there's a
00:12:35.65\00:12:37.95
lot of atrocities, a lot of
00:12:37.95\00:12:39.59
tragedies that take place that
00:12:39.59\00:12:41.56
we shouldn't look at someone
00:12:41.56\00:12:43.02
else's tragedy and say, "Well,
00:12:43.02\00:12:44.73
this is God's will."
00:12:44.73\00:12:46.13
We may find that in our own
00:12:46.13\00:12:47.60
situation, we may see God's
00:12:47.60\00:12:49.03
will in it, but that's ours
00:12:49.03\00:12:50.47
to find.
00:12:50.47\00:12:51.83
But Paul continually says,
00:12:51.83\00:12:53.77
"Whatever God wills, that's
00:12:53.77\00:12:55.57
what I want to have happen
00:12:55.57\00:12:56.87
even though I have other
00:12:56.87\00:12:58.24
plans."
00:12:58.24\00:12:59.71
So we often will site Jeremiah
00:12:59.71\00:13:01.14
29:11, it's a very famous
00:13:01.14\00:13:03.04
verse, it talks about the good
00:13:03.04\00:13:04.65
plans that God has for us.
00:13:04.65\00:13:06.15
But I think maybe it'd be
00:13:06.15\00:13:07.88
helpful for us to think about
00:13:07.88\00:13:09.68
John 16:33 a little more
00:13:09.68\00:13:11.65
often, too, and John 16:33
00:13:11.65\00:13:13.82
says, "In the world you have
00:13:13.82\00:13:17.03
tribulation," that's just the
00:13:17.03\00:13:18.36
reality.
00:13:18.36\00:13:19.86
The good news, of course, He
00:13:19.86\00:13:21.06
says, "Take courage, I have
00:13:21.06\00:13:22.16
overcome the world."
00:13:22.16\00:13:23.70
But that doesn't mean the
00:13:23.70\00:13:25.20
tribulation, the trouble,
00:13:25.20\00:13:26.94
will stop.
00:13:26.94\00:13:28.70
>> But it's comforting to know
00:13:28.70\00:13:30.57
that during the tribulation,
00:13:30.57\00:13:32.77
God is with us and He's
00:13:32.77\00:13:35.78
holding our hand and guiding
00:13:35.78\00:13:37.41
us through that.
00:13:37.41\00:13:39.01
So, Professor Reasor, what can
00:13:39.01\00:13:40.68
we do to improve our
00:13:40.68\00:13:43.12
discernment of God's will?
00:13:43.12\00:13:45.05
>> And that question really
00:13:46.79\00:13:48.16
means what can we do to
00:13:48.16\00:13:49.89
discern our-- improve our
00:13:49.89\00:13:51.86
discernment of God's directive
00:13:51.86\00:13:53.66
will, right?
00:13:53.66\00:13:55.23
And the answer to that is we
00:13:55.23\00:13:57.83
start with God's moral will,
00:13:57.83\00:14:00.30
we live according to God's
00:14:00.30\00:14:01.87
moral will to the best of
00:14:01.87\00:14:03.41
our ability.
00:14:03.41\00:14:04.71
That's not going to be
00:14:04.71\00:14:06.17
perfect, but when we have that
00:14:06.17\00:14:08.01
pang of conviction to either
00:14:08.01\00:14:10.08
do something or to not do
00:14:10.08\00:14:12.71
something, we listen to that
00:14:12.71\00:14:14.85
and respond and when we get
00:14:14.85\00:14:18.02
used to hearing God's voice
00:14:18.02\00:14:19.79
and responding to God's voice,
00:14:19.79\00:14:21.52
then when we're in those
00:14:21.52\00:14:23.09
situations where we're not
00:14:23.09\00:14:24.63
sure which path to take, which
00:14:24.63\00:14:26.03
door to open, which window to
00:14:26.03\00:14:27.73
jump out of, then we're gonna
00:14:27.73\00:14:29.26
be able to better hear God's
00:14:29.26\00:14:30.80
voice.
00:14:30.80\00:14:31.97
What fights against us is
00:14:32.93\00:14:34.97
something that I call "The
00:14:34.97\00:14:36.34
Three P's."
00:14:36.34\00:14:37.71
It's my desire for pleasure,
00:14:37.71\00:14:39.87
profit, or power.
00:14:39.87\00:14:41.94
And, of course, that means
00:14:41.94\00:14:43.65
ungodly pleasure and abuse of
00:14:43.65\00:14:46.05
power or unjust profit.
00:14:46.05\00:14:49.98
And if I am going after those
00:14:49.98\00:14:52.12
things and God's saying "no,"
00:14:52.12\00:14:54.06
then I'm ignoring Him.
00:14:54.06\00:14:55.76
That really hurts my ability
00:14:55.76\00:14:57.29
to hear if I suddenly say,
00:14:57.29\00:14:59.66
"Hey, God, I think you should
00:14:59.66\00:15:01.00
tell me what to do in this
00:15:01.00\00:15:02.33
situation."
00:15:02.33\00:15:03.70
>> Can you give us some
00:15:03.70\00:15:04.83
guidelines of how we can
00:15:04.83\00:15:06.57
determine what God's will is
00:15:06.57\00:15:08.17
in a given situation?
00:15:08.17\00:15:10.84
>> Great question.
00:15:10.84\00:15:12.67
There are so many ways we can
00:15:12.67\00:15:14.21
determine God's will and we
00:15:14.21\00:15:15.71
can hear God's voice.
00:15:15.71\00:15:17.88
Being a mature Christian means
00:15:17.88\00:15:20.78
exploring and being able to
00:15:20.78\00:15:22.85
understand those things.
00:15:22.85\00:15:25.15
Now, of course, we want a
00:15:25.15\00:15:27.22
vision or a dream or maybe
00:15:27.22\00:15:30.59
God's audible voice speaking
00:15:30.59\00:15:32.13
down to us, that would be
00:15:32.13\00:15:33.83
fantastic when we aren't sure
00:15:33.83\00:15:36.03
what to do.
00:15:36.03\00:15:37.70
Those are very rare
00:15:37.70\00:15:39.40
occurences.
00:15:39.40\00:15:40.97
The more common occurence is
00:15:40.97\00:15:43.30
that we will encounter someone
00:15:43.30\00:15:45.84
who is a faithful follower of
00:15:45.84\00:15:47.71
God and as they're speaking to
00:15:47.71\00:15:49.21
us, we will hear God speaking
00:15:49.21\00:15:51.01
through them, we'll see our
00:15:51.01\00:15:53.21
situation arranged in such a
00:15:53.21\00:15:54.75
way that we see divine
00:15:54.75\00:15:56.18
providence working things out
00:15:56.18\00:15:57.45
for us.
00:15:57.45\00:15:58.99
We may have time in scripture
00:15:58.99\00:16:02.19
as we're reading scripture
00:16:02.19\00:16:03.89
that God is speaking to our
00:16:03.89\00:16:05.33
hearts and actually this is my
00:16:05.33\00:16:06.93
go-to, I know when I'm facing
00:16:06.93\00:16:08.26
a decision, I'm not sure what
00:16:08.26\00:16:10.10
to do, I open scripture and go
00:16:10.10\00:16:12.37
to the Bible.
00:16:12.37\00:16:13.84
Not that the words are gonna
00:16:13.84\00:16:15.34
tell me, but this is when God
00:16:15.34\00:16:17.21
speaks most clearly to us,
00:16:17.21\00:16:18.94
through His word.
00:16:18.94\00:16:20.08
When we do that, we need to be
00:16:21.88\00:16:24.78
open to the possibility that
00:16:24.78\00:16:26.92
even then we won't hear a very
00:16:26.92\00:16:29.22
clear answer to our specific
00:16:29.22\00:16:31.12
question in this specific
00:16:31.12\00:16:32.49
situation.
00:16:32.49\00:16:33.79
Sometimes that may be because
00:16:34.76\00:16:36.49
God wants us to wait.
00:16:36.49\00:16:38.66
Often I think it's because God
00:16:38.66\00:16:40.56
is OK with either choice.
00:16:40.56\00:16:42.33
>> So you could have more than
00:16:42.33\00:16:43.83
one option and all of them
00:16:43.83\00:16:45.30
could be part of God's will?
00:16:45.30\00:16:46.90
Or He could work His will
00:16:46.90\00:16:48.10
through all of them?
00:16:48.10\00:16:49.74
>> Right, both maybe.
00:16:49.74\00:16:52.21
So let's say God's will is for
00:16:52.21\00:16:54.68
you to get to point C and He
00:16:54.68\00:16:57.85
could take you from point A
00:16:57.85\00:17:00.08
and take you through different
00:17:00.08\00:17:01.68
routes to point C.
00:17:01.68\00:17:03.28
He may say, "At this 'Y' that
00:17:03.28\00:17:06.62
you're facing, it doesn't
00:17:06.62\00:17:07.96
really matter which way you
00:17:07.96\00:17:09.09
take, if you keep following
00:17:09.09\00:17:10.69
Me, we'll get you where you
00:17:10.69\00:17:11.56
need to go."
00:17:11.56\00:17:12.86
He may have a hundred ways.
00:17:12.86\00:17:14.10
When we serve a God who is
00:17:14.10\00:17:18.80
unfathomable in His wisdom and
00:17:18.80\00:17:20.67
knowledge, we need to be open
00:17:20.67\00:17:22.70
to the fact that He is able to
00:17:22.70\00:17:24.61
do with us what we can't even
00:17:24.61\00:17:27.11
imagine and His foresight is
00:17:27.11\00:17:29.18
better than our hindsight.
00:17:29.18\00:17:31.91
So sometimes it may be that He
00:17:31.91\00:17:33.48
doesn't give us clear
00:17:33.48\00:17:34.72
direction on a specific
00:17:34.72\00:17:36.18
choice.
00:17:36.18\00:17:37.69
Now that doesn't mean that we
00:17:37.69\00:17:38.89
should wait and not do
00:17:38.89\00:17:40.59
anything, it means we should
00:17:40.59\00:17:42.26
probably go ahead and make
00:17:42.26\00:17:44.33
a choice.
00:17:44.33\00:17:45.76
If we haven't heard from God,
00:17:45.76\00:17:47.56
go a head and move in faith.
00:17:47.56\00:17:49.10
The problem with that is that
00:17:50.67\00:17:52.73
when we do that, we need to
00:17:52.73\00:17:54.14
make sure that we are open to
00:17:54.14\00:17:55.77
God stopping us.
00:17:55.77\00:17:57.77
Like Paul when he'd say, "If
00:17:57.77\00:17:59.14
it's according to Your will,
00:17:59.14\00:18:00.34
Lord, I think I'm gonna take
00:18:00.34\00:18:01.34
Path B."
00:18:01.34\00:18:02.48
And if God stops us and sends
00:18:03.35\00:18:05.08
us back, we need to be OK with
00:18:05.08\00:18:06.82
that, we need to have the
00:18:06.82\00:18:08.28
humility to-- we need to be
00:18:08.28\00:18:10.72
the "living sacrifices," is
00:18:10.72\00:18:12.19
actually the term that Paul
00:18:12.19\00:18:13.76
uses here and I wanna read
00:18:13.76\00:18:15.09
from Romans chapter 12, verses
00:18:15.09\00:18:16.96
1 and 2 where he says, "I urge
00:18:16.96\00:18:18.93
you brethren, by the mercies
00:18:18.93\00:18:20.70
of God, to present your bodies
00:18:20.70\00:18:22.40
a living and holy
00:18:22.40\00:18:23.63
sacrifice..."
00:18:23.63\00:18:25.13
So a "living sacrifice," that
00:18:25.13\00:18:26.60
means you're heading down the
00:18:26.60\00:18:27.84
path, you're not just sitting
00:18:27.84\00:18:29.07
and waiting, you're actually
00:18:29.07\00:18:30.61
actively living your life.
00:18:30.61\00:18:31.87
"...Acceptable to God, which
00:18:31.87\00:18:33.58
is your reasonable service of
00:18:33.58\00:18:34.81
worship."
00:18:34.81\00:18:35.98
So sometimes we have to head
00:18:48.62\00:18:49.76
down the road before we will
00:18:49.76\00:18:51.06
know whether that path is
00:18:51.06\00:18:52.16
God's will or not.
00:18:52.16\00:18:53.70
>> So not to get stuck in
00:18:53.70\00:18:54.86
indecision.
00:18:54.86\00:18:56.23
It's better to make a decision
00:18:56.23\00:18:58.43
and also be open to God
00:18:58.43\00:19:02.34
putting the brakes on, right,
00:19:02.34\00:19:04.01
and saying, "OK, you've made a
00:19:04.01\00:19:06.11
decision, you're going in this
00:19:06.11\00:19:07.41
direction, I just wanna
00:19:07.41\00:19:08.61
redirect you."
00:19:08.61\00:19:10.11
>> That's right, yeah.
00:19:10.11\00:19:11.88
There's a humility to that,
00:19:11.88\00:19:13.98
there's also a boldness.
00:19:13.98\00:19:15.85
It takes some courage to not
00:19:15.85\00:19:18.29
be fully clear on what lies
00:19:18.29\00:19:20.12
ahead and to head out in that
00:19:20.12\00:19:22.42
direction anyway.
00:19:22.42\00:19:24.63
Especially if we have a desire
00:19:24.63\00:19:26.03
for something.
00:19:26.03\00:19:27.50
If God's-- if we have a
00:19:27.50\00:19:29.33
passion for one path over the
00:19:29.33\00:19:31.17
other, that's not a bad thing,
00:19:31.17\00:19:32.77
it's not a wrong thing, as
00:19:32.77\00:19:34.27
long as it's a Godly desire,
00:19:34.27\00:19:36.74
and so we look for the
00:19:36.74\00:19:37.84
opportunities and we
00:19:37.84\00:19:38.94
follow them.
00:19:38.94\00:19:40.21
In Romans chapter 1, we have
00:19:40.21\00:19:41.88
this amazing insight into
00:19:41.88\00:19:44.91
Paul's prayer life.
00:19:44.91\00:19:47.02
Romans chapter 1, verses 9 and
00:19:47.02\00:19:48.42
10, he says...
00:19:48.42\00:19:49.58
So Paul had in his heart, he
00:20:06.17\00:20:08.10
wanted to go see the Romans,
00:20:08.10\00:20:09.97
he wanted to be with them and
00:20:09.97\00:20:12.01
he kept trying, he kept trying
00:20:12.01\00:20:13.51
and it seemed like it just
00:20:13.51\00:20:14.84
wasn't working out and so he's
00:20:14.84\00:20:16.18
praying and praying and
00:20:16.18\00:20:17.68
praying and doing all he
00:20:17.68\00:20:19.11
could, but, again, putting it
00:20:19.11\00:20:20.58
into the context of if it is
00:20:20.58\00:20:21.98
God's will, it will work out.
00:20:21.98\00:20:24.15
And, of course, we find out
00:20:24.15\00:20:25.79
eventually it does work out,
00:20:25.79\00:20:27.09
he does end up in Rome.
00:20:27.09\00:20:29.92
This type of faith and
00:20:29.92\00:20:33.09
discernment of God's will
00:20:33.09\00:20:35.00
requires maturity because it
00:20:35.00\00:20:37.33
requires experience with God,
00:20:37.33\00:20:39.10
it's something that we learn
00:20:39.10\00:20:40.67
in hindsight.
00:20:40.67\00:20:42.04
We can't know going into it
00:20:42.04\00:20:43.64
how it's gonna work out, but
00:20:43.64\00:20:44.84
as we look back over our
00:20:44.84\00:20:46.14
lives, we can see that God has
00:20:46.14\00:20:47.64
been faithful.
00:20:47.64\00:20:49.18
So when my wife, Patty, and I
00:20:49.18\00:20:51.01
were nearing graduation from
00:20:51.01\00:20:53.01
Burman University 20 years ago
00:20:53.01\00:20:54.78
now, we had lined up a few
00:20:54.78\00:20:57.82
different options.
00:20:57.82\00:20:59.65
We'd kinda thought we could do
00:20:59.65\00:21:01.16
this or this or this and, of
00:21:01.16\00:21:02.52
course, some of those we
00:21:02.52\00:21:04.73
weren't in control of, right,
00:21:04.73\00:21:07.60
but we had a list of things
00:21:07.60\00:21:10.17
that we would be OK with the
00:21:10.17\00:21:12.13
next step and we had kinda put
00:21:12.13\00:21:14.24
that before God and we had one
00:21:14.24\00:21:16.91
that we liked the best and
00:21:16.91\00:21:18.87
that was that I would be able
00:21:18.87\00:21:20.91
to pastor in a community and
00:21:20.91\00:21:22.24
she'd be able to teach in that
00:21:22.24\00:21:23.81
same community.
00:21:23.81\00:21:25.58
And, of course, that was what
00:21:25.58\00:21:27.15
we wanted, that was our ideal,
00:21:27.15\00:21:29.75
and that possibility came
00:21:29.75\00:21:32.35
about.
00:21:32.35\00:21:33.82
We had an opportunity to go to
00:21:33.82\00:21:35.02
a community and both work
00:21:35.02\00:21:37.86
there.
00:21:37.86\00:21:39.89
And the temptation could be,
00:21:39.89\00:21:43.77
"I'm not sure if that's God's
00:21:43.77\00:21:45.23
will 'cause it's also my will.
00:21:45.23\00:21:46.90
Maybe I should go do something
00:21:46.90\00:21:48.30
I don't want because that's
00:21:48.30\00:21:49.70
what God's will will be,
00:21:49.70\00:21:50.97
right, something I don't
00:21:50.97\00:21:52.74
want," but that's not always
00:21:52.74\00:21:53.71
the case.
00:21:53.71\00:21:55.11
God often puts passions on our
00:21:55.11\00:21:56.91
hearts and then opens doors
00:21:56.91\00:21:58.35
for us to do what He's called
00:21:58.35\00:22:00.12
us to do and to put on our
00:22:00.12\00:22:01.42
hearts.
00:22:01.42\00:22:02.85
And so we went in that
00:22:02.85\00:22:04.62
direction and we took that
00:22:04.62\00:22:06.79
path, asking that God shut the
00:22:06.79\00:22:09.69
door if that wasn't His will
00:22:09.69\00:22:12.13
and-- or to make sure it
00:22:12.13\00:22:14.73
didn't happen.
00:22:14.73\00:22:16.60
But we had a sense of peace
00:22:16.60\00:22:17.90
about it and I've learned over
00:22:17.90\00:22:19.27
the years that having that
00:22:19.27\00:22:20.87
sense of peace is a sure sign
00:22:20.87\00:22:22.97
that I am heading down a path
00:22:22.97\00:22:25.54
that God can bless.
00:22:25.54\00:22:28.11
>> And what does that look
00:22:28.11\00:22:29.71
like, that sense of peace?
00:22:29.71\00:22:31.85
>> Great question.
00:22:31.85\00:22:33.72
It's the singular sign that I
00:22:33.72\00:22:36.69
look for from God.
00:22:36.69\00:22:38.29
I don't toss a lot of fleeces
00:22:38.29\00:22:40.02
out and say, "God, show me a
00:22:40.02\00:22:41.26
sign of what I should do."
00:22:41.26\00:22:43.59
I live my life looking for
00:22:43.59\00:22:47.86
peace with God in my
00:22:47.86\00:22:50.70
day-to-day walk because He
00:22:50.70\00:22:52.13
removes my peace when I stray
00:22:52.13\00:22:53.64
off, especially when I'm not
00:22:53.64\00:22:55.24
living according to His moral
00:22:55.24\00:22:57.17
will, He's gonna rob my peace,
00:22:57.17\00:23:00.34
He will take my sense of peace
00:23:00.34\00:23:02.21
away and that's part of His
00:23:02.21\00:23:04.11
correction to guide me back.
00:23:04.11\00:23:06.72
And when I make big life
00:23:06.72\00:23:08.78
decisions, and my family does,
00:23:08.78\00:23:11.09
and we pray about it and we
00:23:11.09\00:23:13.62
will move and we look for the
00:23:13.62\00:23:15.76
peace and often find ourselves
00:23:15.76\00:23:18.69
in very difficult situations,
00:23:18.69\00:23:20.60
situations that could go
00:23:20.60\00:23:22.00
wrong, that could not work
00:23:22.00\00:23:23.70
out, and we keep looking for
00:23:23.70\00:23:26.00
the peace in that
00:23:26.00\00:23:27.90
circumstance.
00:23:27.90\00:23:29.57
And with the power of God's
00:23:29.57\00:23:30.84
peace, it's a very powerful
00:23:30.84\00:23:32.11
thing, you can walk through
00:23:32.11\00:23:33.74
difficult things even if you're
00:23:33.74\00:23:36.68
not happy with the situation.
00:23:36.68\00:23:38.98
>> That's very powerful.
00:23:38.98\00:23:40.65
We've just got a few more
00:23:40.65\00:23:42.08
minutes, but I just wanna
00:23:42.08\00:23:43.79
explore that thing, the idea
00:23:43.79\00:23:45.25
of peace, and that is that
00:23:45.25\00:23:47.66
Jesus offers us the peace that
00:23:47.66\00:23:48.96
surpasses understanding.
00:23:48.96\00:23:50.96
When you and Patty made that
00:23:50.96\00:23:52.56
decision to go ahead,
00:23:52.56\00:23:55.93
did you-- was it comfortable?
00:23:55.93\00:23:58.70
Sometimes people think,
00:23:58.70\00:24:00.70
"OK, peace, that means you're
00:24:00.70\00:24:02.07
comfortable."
00:24:02.07\00:24:03.24
>> Right.
00:24:03.24\00:24:04.31
Definitely not.
00:24:04.31\00:24:05.61
And as most graduates will
00:24:05.61\00:24:08.54
find when they leave
00:24:08.54\00:24:10.08
university and they head out
00:24:10.08\00:24:11.95
in their first job, they often
00:24:11.95\00:24:13.68
encounter things that they
00:24:13.68\00:24:15.05
weren't-- they didn't think
00:24:15.05\00:24:16.69
that they would face.
00:24:16.69\00:24:18.15
There are situations and
00:24:18.15\00:24:20.72
difficulties and requirements
00:24:20.72\00:24:22.76
that are a struggle.
00:24:22.76\00:24:24.23
And my first year as a pastor
00:24:24.23\00:24:25.79
was pretty rough, my wife's
00:24:25.79\00:24:27.03
first year as a teacher, it
00:24:27.03\00:24:28.20
was tough, it was a tough year
00:24:28.20\00:24:29.90
and I think most pastors and
00:24:29.90\00:24:31.57
teachers can relate to that.
00:24:31.57\00:24:33.97
But through it, we were not
00:24:33.97\00:24:38.24
uncertain that God was still
00:24:38.24\00:24:40.81
leading, that we were off track
00:24:40.81\00:24:44.21
as far as God's will was, we
00:24:44.21\00:24:45.91
were still at peace that this
00:24:45.91\00:24:47.58
is the direction that was a
00:24:47.58\00:24:50.29
direction He was pleased with
00:24:50.29\00:24:52.19
and was part of His will.
00:24:52.19\00:24:54.19
>> Well, I think about us,
00:24:54.19\00:24:56.26
when we immigrated to Canada
00:24:56.26\00:24:58.76
from South Africa, I didn't
00:24:58.76\00:25:00.86
wanna leave my family behind
00:25:00.86\00:25:03.30
and we first decided not to
00:25:03.30\00:25:05.30
come, but then we didn't have
00:25:05.30\00:25:07.74
that peace, there was a
00:25:07.74\00:25:09.30
certain kind of restlessness.
00:25:09.30\00:25:11.81
And then when we decided we
00:25:11.81\00:25:13.58
were gonna go forth with the
00:25:13.58\00:25:15.04
immigration and pack up
00:25:15.04\00:25:17.08
everything and move hundreds
00:25:17.08\00:25:19.81
and thousands of miles away,
00:25:19.81\00:25:21.72
we did have that peace, that
00:25:21.72\00:25:23.22
peace, like you said, you
00:25:23.22\00:25:24.79
can't explain it, it's
00:25:24.79\00:25:27.72
unexplainable.
00:25:27.72\00:25:29.56
But it certainly was not
00:25:29.56\00:25:31.23
comfortable moving away, you
00:25:31.23\00:25:34.00
know, from home and being here
00:25:34.00\00:25:36.16
and starting off in a new
00:25:36.16\00:25:37.93
country, a new life, but in
00:25:37.93\00:25:41.20
hindsight, like you mentioned
00:25:41.20\00:25:43.04
earlier on, I can see that we
00:25:43.04\00:25:46.14
did that and that opened up so
00:25:46.14\00:25:48.11
many doors and led our life in
00:25:48.11\00:25:50.61
such a beautiful way.
00:25:50.61\00:25:52.68
If we didn't come to Canada,
00:25:52.68\00:25:54.18
we wouldn't be where we are
00:25:54.18\00:25:55.75
today, you know, so...
00:25:55.75\00:25:58.29
>> And now that you've been
00:25:58.29\00:25:59.89
through that and had that
00:25:59.89\00:26:01.32
experience, the next time it
00:26:01.32\00:26:02.86
happens, it's recognizable.
00:26:02.86\00:26:04.59
"Oh, I'm at peace in this
00:26:04.59\00:26:06.23
tumultuous-- and I wasn't
00:26:06.23\00:26:07.40
before.
00:26:07.40\00:26:08.60
OK, I think we're on the right
00:26:08.60\00:26:09.86
track."
00:26:09.86\00:26:10.77
[RENÉ] That's so true.
00:26:10.77\00:26:11.97
>> So learning God's will and
00:26:11.97\00:26:13.20
following God's will is a
00:26:13.20\00:26:14.67
matter of maturity.
00:26:14.67\00:26:15.97
It's almost like learning a
00:26:15.97\00:26:17.24
language, right, the language
00:26:17.24\00:26:18.87
of heaven and discerning
00:26:18.87\00:26:20.64
His voice.
00:26:20.64\00:26:22.24
>> We grow in humility, we
00:26:22.24\00:26:24.08
grow in maturity, and that's
00:26:24.08\00:26:25.98
what having a relationship
00:26:25.98\00:26:27.25
with Jesus is, it's walking
00:26:27.25\00:26:28.75
with Him and seeking His
00:26:28.75\00:26:30.62
guidance, day in and day out.
00:26:30.62\00:26:32.09
>> Well, Professor Reasor,
00:26:32.82\00:26:34.09
we've come to the end of our
00:26:34.09\00:26:35.76
program, I wonder if you can
00:26:35.76\00:26:37.26
please pray for us before we
00:26:37.26\00:26:38.66
do end.
00:26:38.66\00:26:40.16
>> I'd be delighted to.
00:26:40.16\00:26:41.90
Heavenly Father, You have
00:26:41.90\00:26:43.70
promised that You will give us
00:26:43.70\00:26:47.30
wisdom, that You will give us
00:26:47.30\00:26:49.64
guidance, that You won't leave
00:26:49.64\00:26:51.31
us in this world by ourselves,
00:26:51.31\00:26:53.91
and yet sometimes we face
00:26:53.91\00:26:55.24
situations where we wanna hear
00:26:55.24\00:26:56.68
Your voice.
00:26:56.68\00:26:57.98
Father, we pray that You will
00:26:57.98\00:26:59.75
give us the patience and the
00:26:59.75\00:27:02.22
humility and the boldness to
00:27:02.22\00:27:04.79
be living sacrifices, to walk
00:27:04.79\00:27:07.66
humbly with You, seeking Your
00:27:07.66\00:27:09.86
will in the mundane day-to-day
00:27:09.86\00:27:12.13
things, learning to hear Your
00:27:12.13\00:27:14.03
voice, that You will direct
00:27:14.03\00:27:15.66
us, You will stop us if need
00:27:15.66\00:27:17.17
be, but that You will be with
00:27:17.17\00:27:18.77
us, amen.
00:27:18.77\00:27:20.17
[MIKE & RENÉ] Amen.
00:27:20.17\00:27:21.84
>> Thank you, Professor
00:27:21.84\00:27:23.20
Reasor, for your prayer and
00:27:23.20\00:27:24.71
also thank you for sharing
00:27:24.71\00:27:25.87
these practical guidelines
00:27:25.87\00:27:27.04
from God's word on how to know
00:27:27.04\00:27:28.91
God's will for your life.
00:27:28.91\00:27:30.25
>> Yep, my absolute pleasure.
00:27:30.25\00:27:31.75
>> Friends, as Professor
00:27:33.58\00:27:35.08
Stephen Reasor shared with us
00:27:35.08\00:27:37.19
today, the word of God is the
00:27:37.19\00:27:40.29
source of wisdom and truth
00:27:40.29\00:27:42.62
that we can always count on.
00:27:42.62\00:27:44.56
And so we wanna help you to
00:27:44.56\00:27:45.99
understand God's word, the
00:27:45.99\00:27:47.50
Bible, for yourself even
00:27:47.50\00:27:49.30
better.
00:27:49.30\00:27:50.20
And so our free offer for you
00:27:50.20\00:27:51.97
today is our Bible Study
00:27:51.97\00:27:53.60
Guides.
00:27:53.60\00:27:55.10
[RENÉ] Whether you want to
00:27:55.10\00:27:56.64
learn the major teachings of
00:27:56.64\00:27:57.94
God's word or Bible prophecy,
00:27:57.94\00:28:00.08
we can assist you to find
00:28:00.08\00:28:01.78
answers for how to face the
00:28:01.78\00:28:03.71
issues and challenges you deal
00:28:03.71\00:28:05.81
with every day.
00:28:05.81\00:28:08.05
Here is the information you
00:28:08.05\00:28:09.78
will need to receive your own
00:28:09.78\00:28:11.62
free Bible study guides today.
00:28:11.62\00:28:14.02
>> We want you to experience
00:28:15.32\00:28:16.96
the truth that is found in the
00:28:16.96\00:28:18.79
words of Jesus when He said,
00:28:18.79\00:28:20.83
"It is written, 'Man shall not
00:28:20.83\00:28:22.63
live by bread alone, but by
00:28:22.63\00:28:24.20
every word that proceeds out
00:28:24.20\00:28:26.03
of the mouth of God.'"
00:28:26.03\00:28:28.24
¤¤
00:28:28.24\00:28:52.99