Praise with joyful Lips!
All right. Hello, hello, everyone. How are you doing tonight? I hope you are doing well. And you see the lights, we're going to get into our message about making your decision. We're going to talk about it. And first of all, let me get myself into this live on my other device. So I can be part of the conversation with our Bible study. So we're going to do that real quick. Make sure I mute my house. There's no weird noises coming. Take that down. Hopefully that helps out. We'll see what happens. Okay. I think we should be good to go. Turn that all the way down so there's no extra Background noise. Okay. Okay. Well, here we go. Do this here. All right. Boom. Here we go. So let me close this one off for a minute. You just want to get the minute. So right now we're just going to get into this. And before we do, I am going to go ahead and have our music. And then when I come back, we'll get into this message and we'll pray and we'll do our thing. OK, so you know what I'm going to do. Here we go. All right, so I am back. And what I'm going to do right now is I am going to go ahead and pull up my screen. So we're going to talk about making a decision. So we're going to go and jump into James. So let me go ahead and pull that up. Let me present my screen so I can let you guys see what I will be reading. It wasn't working. I can't even say it. So let's do that. All right. And look, you guys, I figured it out. Oh, yeah. Okay. So we are here. So I'm going to go ahead and read that. Hopefully you guys can see it. And we're going to be in, of course, James chapter 1, verses 2 through 8. And it reads as such, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, With no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. So let me go ahead and pause the cause. Let's go ahead and pray before I get into the rest of our message and our scripture. Holy Father, Lord, I thank you right now. for this time to be with you, Lord God, to be in your word. I pray that this message, Lord God, would bless someone and help them, encourage them along their way. Lord God, as you show us, Lord God, in your word, what you would have us to do, Lord, let us not have you in our life as an afterthought. Lord, let us consult you in every decision that we make. And Lord, when we make the decision, Lord, let us stand on it. Let us walk by faith and not by what we see, Lord God, and help us to trust Lord God, that you will redirect us if we're going the wrong way. Lord, I thank you for the time and this allowance for God. Just to share a little bit of this word with Lord, these are precious, amazing, and lovely people. Lord, I thank you for the meeting of different people. I thank you for a beautiful day today. Lord, I thank you for the friends and family. Lord, I thank you for the roof over my head and the things that you have provided for me. Lord, it is not lost on me and I don't forget it. Lord God, I don't want to ever Thank you, Lord God, that I did anything on my own. Because, Lord God, that would be false and a fallacy. So, Lord, as I go ahead and share, Lord, let the Holy Spirit have his way on today. In the name of your precious son, Jesus, I pray. Amen. All right. So, as we've read that, let me go ahead and pull up our next set of scriptures. And I will jump in that. We think it will do it better this way. Let me do it. I'll do it like this. Okay. This. Two. Like what? And three. One, two, and three. Yes, okay. So we are going to be in Proverbs 16. We're going to use this passage as well. Only verses one through three. And it says, the preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. So let's see what a different translation of this says. Let's jump over to the ESV. Is that ESV? It kind of says the same things. Okay, they kind of say similar stuff. Okay, I thought it would say something different. Anyway, that's okay. Don't worry. Okay, well, we're back to the NKJV. All right, so I just want to see if it says something similar to that same thing. So with that, I wanted to just share about when we have to make decision. When you have to make a decision and you might feel or thinking yourself, well, is this the correct decision? Give me just a second. Okay, here we go. I think I'm going to pull this down now because I have shared it. So I am going to leave. All right. Okay. We are back. So when you think that you're making a decision and you don't know whether it's correct or not, sometimes you can have that kind of doubt. Like, did the Lord want me to go this way? Did the Lord really tell me to do this? I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't have done this. Whatever the case may be. First, we have to think about how your decision was made. If you made your decision without the Lord and you thought, well, talking to the Lord, that's an afterthought. I will talk and consult God after I've made a decision. Now you've got these doubts in your head, like, shouldn't I have made the decision? Because when you've prayed about it and you bring God into your plans way before you do anything, like in Proverbs where it says, commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. You figure to go ahead and lay down your decision at the feet of the Lord and you let him know what you're going to do. Before you even make the decision, you already know the Lord knows what you're going to do, but it just gives you a peace of mind as well, knowing that you're putting this very serious decision that you're about to make in front of him. You're laying it there. You're like, okay, Lord, I'm not sure if this is right, but I'm going to pray about it. Well, you pray. You may not always get an answer directly. You may not always hear it, but If you know inside yourself that you believe that's the right thing to do, you've prayed about it, you've committed to that decision, and now you've got to get in your scripture. You get in your scripture, you read your word, because you've prayed already, you've brought the Lord into it, you are seeking in the word to hear from him. And now you need to count the cost. You need to figure out with the circumstance that is surrounding that decision, have you thought about everything circumspectly all the way around 360, you're looking at that whole thing. And if you've done that, then you want to make sure that you're seeking someone who is wise in the word, wise in the Lord, seeking someone that has wisdom, some wise counsel when you're making your decision. And I know I do that for some things that I do. I seek wise counsel. I don't just want to make a decision haphazardly. You don't want to do that because sometimes when you do those, and you do make decisions haphazardly, that can have some serious repercussions in your life. And sometimes those repercussions, they continue to produce results for a long time. And if they're really bad decisions, they produce really unhappy and perhaps even unhealthy results that just keep producing for a while after you've made that decision. So we always have to be concerned if we talk to someone who has wise counsel, seek a good friend, a pastor, somebody to let know, what are you thinking about this? Does this sound like a wise decision? And then we want to let the Holy Spirit guide us. You want to let the Holy Spirit guide you and then after that you just trust, walk by faith and not by sight. You're going to trust in what you have asked and you're going to trust in whatever decision you're sticking to. And then You need to trust and obey that. Just go with that. So I'm going to sing a little bit of that song, just a little bit, okay? And then after that, a couple of verses, I'm just going to sing the trust and obey. Yeah. So let me get up some of that so that I can do that. And then we'll go to the other portion of our stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so I'm going to sing a couple of verses from Trust and Obey. Okay, here we go. When we walk with the Lord and the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do his goodwill, he abides with us still. And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise. Not a cloud in the skies. But his smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear. Not a sigh or a tear can abide while we trust and obey. Oh, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. So let's sing that one part, that last part again. Trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy, Jesus, but to trust and obey. Sometimes you have to trust and obey exactly what the Lord would have you to do. And when you don't, you start to struggle. You start to change and flip-flop, wishy-washy, and be double-minded. And you don't want to be that way. You want to make that decision. Be decisive. and say, Lord, this is what I'm coming to you with. I'm praying, I'm in my word. And when you've done all those things, you have really taken time to really focus and bring everything in front of the Lord, not after the fact you brought him in before and you're committing your works, you're committing everything and your thoughts will be established as the word says. So you're not thinking about the Lord after everything's done and now the decisions turn weird. And you're like, okay, Lord, I should have really prayed and thought about that. No, we need to always pray about everything. Seek the Lord on everything. First and foremost, have him before you call a friend, before you phone a friend, before you phone a help. Call him because he is your help. Talk to him first. Lay it on the line first with him and let him know what you're doing. And you already know, you know, but you still put it before because you are to do that. We are all to put all of our decisions before the Lord, before we just go out and just do whatever. And then wonder, I don't know why that happened. Right. So. Excuse me. I just I just really know that when we make a decision, we really have to just remember that we're going to walk it out in faith. We're going to walk it out in faith, not be double minded. And know that if we are going the wrong way and say, hey, I don't know if this was the right way. I went the wrong way. The Lord is really good about fixing that. The Lord is really good about fixing your direction, course correction, all of that. He's really good at doing that. So for some of you that are like, oh, I don't know. I don't really know if I should or not. Can I tell you? And pardon me, I'm going to take a little drink. Pause for the cause. I'll get refreshing water. So you got to know that you taking the Lord into these things with you is so important. It's imperative that we do that and don't have the Lord be an afterthought because he directs your path, right? The word tells us In Proverbs 3 through. Let me see. I want to make sure. I always say chapter 3. Verses 5 through 6. That's right. Yes it does. It says trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him. And he will direct your path. So you got to have a man. Before you do anything. You don't want to lean on your own understanding. Thinking you know. And you're. You're already doubting, like, I don't know. I don't know if this is the right thing to do. Well, that's because you didn't consult God. So now you're a little shaky about your decision. Not like the Lord can't fix it, not like the Lord can't settle that. But sometimes if we do that ahead of time, it kind of takes the angst and anxiety out of things. And also the word tells us, be not anxious for anything but in prayer and supplication. Make a request, but you may know it to the Lord. So whatever you're thinking about or seeking, you've got to bring him in. You've got to pray about it. You have to do those things and be in your word. So also in Proverbs 16, verse 9, it says, a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. The Lord is going to guide you. He's going to move you. He's going to help you. He's going to take you where you need to go. And because he's going to do that, you don't have to worry. You don't have to wonder. The Lord's going to take care of that very decision. So when you've done all the things and you still have that feeling of, okay, I did pray. I did seek wife's counsel. I was in the word. I did all the things, and I know I'm going to let the Holy Spirit just guide me and let me go the way I need to go, but somehow I'm still unsure. And sometimes you can be unsure when it comes to the unknown, right? We don't have a crystal ball. We are to really truly walk by faith, not by what the natural sees. Not like, well, the situation is kind of horrible, so, ugh. You got to walk by faith. It's the only way. And trust that the Lord is going to lead and guide you. He knows what's best for you before you even think that you know what's best for you. And this particular message came about because I spoke to a dear sister in Christ and she was making some decisions and she was wondering, did I make the right decision? And sometimes when you're moving into unknown areas, uncertain territories, you have to wonder because you're moving from familiar to unfamiliar. You have no idea what's over in the unknown territory. You know what's in your current spot, but you have no idea what's going on over there in a spot, in a place, in a space that you've never embarked upon. It's a little bit nerve wracking. It's a little bit unsettling. And to be honest, hey, it's downright scary. You're making a move. And it's just like, okay, I'm doing something. I'm not sure if this is the right thing. And you want to make sure you're doing what the Lord would have you do. You d
