Making Decisions Part 1

What should we do when we have a tough decision to make?  We may have to decide whether or not to take a certain career path.  Or we have to think about what school program to join.  Or we have to choose between doing the right thing or the wrong thing when life challenges us.

Now, before I proceed with the thoughts for this post, I must confess something.  I have adapted this post from notes that I had written in the back pages of my Bible.  However, I did not note the source; I believe that I had written these notes down while I was watching a sermon on YouTube, but I am not sure of the exact one.  I apologize for this!

But having said that, what should we think about when we are facing a hard choice?  Here are some tips that I hope we will all take into account and apply:

1.  Clear the pathway of sin or bad attitudes
In my life, I have noticed that when I come across a trial or difficulty, my sinful thoughts and selfishness are often brought into my view.  Sometimes a friend or relative will notice my fault and mention it.  I may be reading a Bible passage and what I am reading strikes me, prompting me to say "This warning is about me!"  Or I may just be going about my business and suddenly a thought comes into my head saying "You have forgotten this Biblical idea" or "You need to repent of your attitude in this area, Christian."  Listening to this kind of spiritual prompting is essential to the Christian life, because our faith is a journey of constant growth, and not simply the result of a one-time conversion. 

May our attitudes be like that shown in Psalm 139:24: "See if there is any wicked [some translations may say "hurtful" - makes sense, as many times our attitudes can hurt others even when we don't even realize it] way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  Big decisions often require at least some introspection, and this introspection may lead us to realize that we must change our ways in order to better please God.  A friend of mine has told me that we all need these moments.  She even seeks out this conviction and asks God for it.  This courageous attitude of hers is a good one, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)

2. Neutralize your desires
I see nothing wrong with asking God for anything you desire, of course, as long as your desires are not evil and you are asking with the right motives.  (Side note: if you are struggling with evil desires and impure motives, feel free to ask God for help with these in prayer!)  When it comes to decision making, I think you are perfectly within your right to say to the Lord, "Okay, God, this is what I want to do.  I want to do this thing very badly, and I believe it would be a good thing to do."  But please don't forget to have the attitude that also says, "Thy will be done, Lord.  You know better than I, and I can trust You."  Submit to the will of God, and ask God to give you peace about whatever result comes your way.

3. Be aware of pressure
In one of our recent talks at CBT, we discussed the issue of peer pressure - what happens when your peers want you to do something or even perhaps live their lives through you.  Some peer pressure can be good, prompting you to do something good that you didn't want to do out of fear, pride, etc.  But peer pressure can be harmful, too.  Others will have their own views on a particular issue in your life or they will try to tell you what decision you must make.  They will "know" what you must do, and sometimes they may even say that God is "telling you" through them!  Please, do not use my words as an excuse to ignore the advice or input of others.  After all, "Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed." (Proverbs 15:22)  All I am saying is that another's opinion is not necessarily right.  If something is right, it is right because it is right, and not because others believe it to be true.  Certainly, be willing to listen to others with an open mind and heart.  Sometimes their views may confirm that your plan is correct!  But remember to keep God at the centre of your decision making.  In the end, your choices are between you and Him, and He is the One you must ultimately please, even if other people will disagree.

And you must beware internal pressures, as well.  Our choices may be influenced by so much within our own active, confused, human minds.  Fear can be a big motivator for a certain choice.  This could be the fear of loss, rejection, or criticism.  Anxiety is another factor; this is one I struggle with oftentimes.  When faced with a big decision, naturally-born analysts like myself will try to place choices onto mental Pro/Con charts.  We become like Public Relations staff, analyzing every facet of a decision from every possible angle.  "What will these people think of this?  How will this look?  Are we really making this decision with the right motives?  Are we REALLY pure-hearted when we do this?"  Our intended action may very well be right.  And our motives may very well be pure!  But the anxious thoughts I've just listed can torment us until we finally make our decision.  Not only can this make us dread big choices, but fear and stress can also cloud our judgment.  Remember this: "Cast all your anxiety on Him [God], because He cares for You." (James 5:7)  And "Peace I [Jesus is speaking here] leave with you; my peace I give to you. ....  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (John 14:27)

So be careful and selective of whom you listen to.  Try not to stress about your decision.  And ask God for wisdom and peace, and don't constantly fall back into doubt and overthinking when you've made the right choice (James 1:5-8).

4. Be persistent in prayer
A few months ago I posted a snippet from a website about this very subject.  Read it here.  Remember what I have also said throughout this post about praying to God and asking Him for help.  If you do not get an answer right away to your problem, keep praying!  I've had to wait many times for answers to prayers for things very important to me.  Sometimes I only had to wait a few days.  But other times I had to wait for months.  And some answers I have been waiting for for YEARS and they still haven't come yet!  Do I get discouraged sometimes?  Of course, yes.

But this does not mean that God is not listening.  Throughout my times of waiting for answers, I have learned many lessons about myself and grown (including trying not to be so worrisome, as described in Point #3!).  The time of waiting can be a time of conviction and growth; don't waste it.  Keep praying through it because in these times God is shaping us up to become better Christians.  Let God work with you.  And you know, He may just be shaping you and working the circumstances to bring your desired answer to pass!  All it took was a little time and some patience, faith, and prayer on your part.  I have seen this happen in my life a number of times, and these kind of answers to prayer encourage me when I encounter difficulties later.

What does this have to do with decision making?  Very rarely are big decisions made clear right away.  So if you have been praying for months asking God, "What should I do with this?  How should I approach this?"  Don't worry if your plan of action isn't made clear right away.  Keep praying.

5. Rest in God's promise
Read the Bible regularly when you have inner turmoil.  Of course, you've heard this before, and I'm sure that you have applied this principle many times.  But it is worth repeating.  Remind yourself through the Word how God loves you, He wants to use your times of hardship to help you grow, and He will help you if you ask Him and keep His will in mind.

Whatever decisions you have to make in life, God be with you!  We are in your corner, and may you always go to the Lord for your answers to life's tough choices.

~ Christian Basar

"Be doers of the word and not hearers only"

James 1:22-25:

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

What does it mean to “deceive yourselves?”  Think of someone observing his natural face in the mirror. Have you ever noticed something on your face when you look at the mirror - maybe something in your teeth, or maybe your hair is not properly combed, or maybe you have something around your eyes, such as a speck of dust?  What do you do in that case? Do you deal with it right away or do you say to yourself, "Oh, I’m going to deal with that sometime later?"

What does it mean to be a “forgetful hearer?”

A doer of the word is expected to do something - to keep the commandments of the word.

James is, of course, talking about the Word of God.  Jesus Himself had expressed the same thought in Matthew 7:21 and 24. The emphasis is to act upon the knowledge and the power of the word. But how do we do this doing?

The first step is to get to know the Word.

When Apostle Paul was teaching the Bereans they were more noble than the ones in

Thessalonica, because in Acts 17:11-12 we read:

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness,and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.  Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

So the searching or the studying of the Scriptures produced belief in these people; it helped them to be doers of the Word. As we know from Romans 10:17:  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The second step is to start doing what the Word says.

The Lord’s commands are not difficult. In Matthew 11:28-30, we read:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for

your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Jesus also commanded us in John 14:15: If you love me, keep my commandments.

How do we keep Jesus’ commandments?  Where do we start?  We start with those things that we do understand - those that are easier to discern and then we move to the hardest things. As Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2: Desire the spiritual milk...

There are some truths in the Bible that are easier to understand. What are some of

those? For example, Jesus is Lord and God (John 20:28).  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind." (Matthew 22:37).

We need to have a system in place for reading/studying the Word and for doing what

the Word says. In the same way that we have set a time aside in our day for other

activities (eating breakfast, taking the bus or driving to school or work, watching TV or

entertaining ourselves), we also need to set aside a time for studying the Scriptures and

for doing them into our life.

Acts 20:32: So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is

able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

The Word of God is able to build us up – what does this mean?  Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalms 119:11: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

We need to learn and study the Word, so that we can be doers of the Word and not

hearers only.

Question: "What is the Difference between the Soul and Spirit of Man?"

We do know that we have the body (we can see it) and God created Adam’s body.  Then
God breathed into Adam and he became a living being.  Genesis 2:7:   And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being.

The soul and the spirit are immaterial aspects of humans.  It is difficult to describe the differences between them.

1 Thessalonians 5:23: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ."

The Soul
"Soul" refers to the immaterial part of the human being.  Human beings are souls. In its most basic sense, the word “soul” means “life” or a breathing creature, either in the physical or the eternal sense of the word. Jesus asks what it profits a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul, referring to
his eternal life (Matthew 16:26).  Both the Old and New Testaments reiterate that we are to love God completely, with the whole soul, which refers to everything that is in us that makes us alive (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:30).

Ezekiel 18:20 further states, "The soul who sins shall die."

However, beyond this essential meaning, the Bible speaks of the soul in many contexts. The soul is removed at the time of physical death (Genesis 35:18). The soul, as with the spirit, is the center of many spiritual and emotional experiences (Psalm 43:5). Whenever the word “soul” is used, it can refer to the whole person, whether alive or in the afterlife. The soul and the spirit are connected, but separable (Hebrews 4:12). The soul is the essence of humanity’s being; it is who we are. Think of a computer – hardware is the body, and software is the soul.

The Spirit
"Spirit" also refers to the immaterial part of the human being.  Human beings have spirits, but we are not spirits.  Only believers are considered spiritually alive (1 Corinthians 2:11; Hebrews 4:12; James
2:26), while unbelievers are spiritually dead (Colossians 2:13). We receive spiritual blessings when we are in Christ - when we are believers (Ephesians 1:3).  The spirit is the element of humanity which gives us the ability to have an intimate relationship with God; it’s that part of our humanity that “connects” with God, because God is spirit (John 4:24).  It is the part that responds to things that come from the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit or capital “S” Spirit in the Bible).  Unlike the soul, which is alive both physically and eternally, the spirit can be either alive, as in the case of believers, (1 Peter 3:18), or dead as unbelievers are (Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:4-5).

Jesus told us in Matthew 5:6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

What does this mean?  How do we feed our spirit?

1 Peter 2:2: like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you
may grow in respect to salvation....

The spiritually dead perceive the things of the Spirit to be "foolishness," because, in their spiritually dead condition, they do not have the ability to discern the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12-14). The spirit is that part of us that is enabled by God to know and worship Him, the part of humanity that "connects" with God, who Himself is Spirit (note again the capital "S") (John 4:24).  How can we connect spiritually with God? How do we not do that?

Conclusion
While the two words are often used interchangeably, the primary distinction between soul and spirit in man is this:  The soul is the animate life, or the seat of the senses, desires, affections, and appetites.  The spirit is that part of us that connects, or refuses to connect, to God.  Our spirits relate to His Spirit, either accepting His promptings and conviction, thereby proving that we belong to Him (Romans 8:16) or resisting Him and proving that we do not have spiritual life (Acts 7:51).

Discussion Questions
How can this concept affect our life?
How do we keep our spirit pure?
What about our soul?

Fervency

James 5:16b: "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective." (New Revised Standard Version)

Whatever it's right for us to do, it's helpful if we do it fervently.  Surely there is already enough halfheartedness in the world; can't we improve upon the status quo by being wholehearted?  And since the word "fervency" comes from the Latin verb "to boil," can't we boil a little more often and be a little less lukewarm?  Misguided fervency, can of course, be a dangerous evil, and the uninformed zealot is a well-known source of trouble in any society.  Zeal, or fervor, without knowledge is rarely anything but destructive, so we need to inform our fervency with things like accurate information and wisdom.  In a perfect world, we would never be "all fired up" about anything except on the basis of truth.  As William James suggested, "The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness; this is surely the ideal."

But the dangers of ignorant or unbalanced zeal shouldn't scare us away from the rightful use of fervency.  We don't solve the problem of blind fanaticism by never being fervent about anything, but by opening our eyes, double- and triple-checking our facts, and always willing to be corrected.  The person who thinks he is just too intelligent and rational to be fervent is being rather foolish.  There is no good reason why a person can't be a mathematician and a poet too.

The fact is, we honor the ideas that we choose to be fervent about.  Julia McFolliard, under whom I studied oil painting as a young boy, taught me by her passion to respect the discipline of art.  And Robert Winstead, my high school calculus teacher, pulled me into an admiration for numbers by his eagerness for them.  Similarly, we all confer honour upon the causes that we devote ourselves to fervently.

But what can make us fervent about things in life?  Well, many forces can move a person to be fervent, but none does it better than love.  When we come to love a thing that is worthy of being loved, it is no trouble at all to be fervent about it.  Healthy, balanced fervor is simply an outgrowth of having come to love a thing in a truthful way.

~ Originally from WordPoints.com by Gary Henry

Love Part 2 - Loving Yourself (2)

1. Believers can love themselves as taught in 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no
evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails. But whether there
are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there
is knowledge, it will vanish away.

What does it mean that love is kind? How can we be kind to ourselves?  What does it mean that love thinks no evil?

How can we be evil to ourselves?  Negative self-talk? Thinking low-esteeming thoughts about ourselves: "I can’t do this.  I’ll never change.  Nobody loves me!"

We need to cut ourselves the same slack that we do to others. We can allow ourselves to make mistakes (and learn from those mistakes or better learn from mistakes of others).  And others will try to cut us down, so we shouldn’t do that to ourselves.

Here’s a list of other things related to what we just read in the verses above. Listen and think about what are some things in this list that you have done or do to yourself:

- Are you patient with yourself?
- Do you wish you had something or some attribute someone else has?
- Do you get angry with yourself, keep record of wrongs you have done, beat yourself up, do you not accept yourself, denying yourself the joy you should have?
- Do you loose hope in yourself?
- Do you give up on yourself?
- Do you lie to yourself?
- Do you fail yourself by being too hard?

2. How do we learn to love and put these into practice?

A. Meditate and discipline - Review Bible verses that discuss love and apply
them to ourselves. Philippians 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

What happens if you work outside in the dirt?  You get dirty!  On the contrary, we need to stay focused on true, pure, lovely things if we are to be like those things.

B. 3Rs - Recognize, Remove and Replace (The Power of Biblical Thinking, Dr. Ken Wilson)

Recognize the lies or misbeliefs we have in our life about actions, reactions, or overreactions.  Remove them and replace them with positive, true thinking.

In the stage of Replacing comes the realization (maybe this process should be called 4Rs) that in Christ, we are beautiful, sons and daughters of the King, perfect, pure, lovely, and worthy to be called
children of God.

C. Balance – look at our emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental needs and look
for ways to balance them.

How can you balance Godly rest with Godly work?
Balance school with taking time to read the Bible, pray and enjoy the blessings God has
given you.

Love Part 1 - Loving Yourself

Mark 12:28-31: Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
In verse 31, Jesus is quoting Leviticus 19:18: "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."

A. Negative Aspects

What does it mean to take vengeance? How does it happen? What does it mean to bear (hold) a grudge? What happens when you hold a grudge?

B. Positive Aspects

1. Believers can have joy and peace in the Lord
John 15:10-12:  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

What is this verse saying about joy? We need to be joyful for joy is full in Christ! People will not want to become Christians if they think it is full of rules, stress, and self-loathing.

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

John 16:33: 33  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

What are these verses saying about peace? Jesus gives us HIS peace. We have nothing to worry about, fear and stress over – including our behavior and how “well” we are doing. Can we find peace any other way according to John 16:33? No, as Jesus says “in me you may have peace” and John 14:27 says Jesus does not give as the world gives. We can find peace only in Jesus and when we accept His peace and His joy we will be calm, sure, content, joyful and accepting of ourselves.

2. Believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The context here is that the writer is speaking to those Christians who have obeyed the gospel. Who do believers belong to?  God!

What is a temple? How is the temple treated? Clean, holy.

What are believers? Temple of the Holy Spirit – the dwelling place of God Himself.  This signifies a very important role and need to respect and care concerning the temple where God resides. If left to our own we could choose not to love ourselves or love ourselves to the exclusion of others. But because of God we are not our own – we need to love ourselves and others as it is commanded.

3. Believers are living sacrifices

Romans 12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

What are we to be? Living sacrifices. How does that relate to loving ourselves? We need to sacrifice our own evil wants and desires, but that also means sacrificing our evil desires of worrying, not caring for ourselves, not loving ourselves because we think we are unworthy, we sacrifice all bad thoughts, motives, deeds, words that would separate us from the love of God and instead be thankful, joyful and at peace to show the world we are satisfied and content when we belong to God.

In the next lesson, we will be looking at how we can do these things, have joy, peace, be holy and pure as we look at more Bible verses.

The End

Well, CBT just wrapped up as we had our final get-together. I am truly grateful for the people who made this year one of the best years for our group. Throughout our time on campus, we had many visitors join our Monday night Bible talks and End of Month discussion nights. We added new members to our group and formed friendships that will doubtless outlive the school year. But as with most everything in this life, it must come to an end. Not a permanent end, I hasten to add, but an end nonetheless. It is also an ending point for me, as I move down to America this summer and will no longer be able to participate in CBT on a regular basis. Such is life.

In fact, our lives on this earth are punctuated with ending points. Seldom do we begin a task without
having the end in mind. Years ago (perhaps less than you realize!) you came to an end of grade school.

But is that not the very reason you started? When going to class, starting a new grade, was it not your
goal to finish that grade? We begin with the end in mind. "Eyes on the prize," as the expression goes.
Currently, if you are reading this blog, you are probably in university. And as you continue your studies, you are constantly thinking about the end. You go to university to get a degree; you go to reach the end.

After you get your education, you will likely get a job. Or perhaps you have had, or currently hold, a job. But you understand that your first job will likely, or already has, come to an end. This is how life goes. Your first car? It will end. Your first computer, cell-phone, pair of shoes? It will all come to an end. Eventually, you will reach the end of your career, typically called retirement. But these are all steps along the way. Things as these are merely check-points to our final destination. Each of us will ultimately come to the end of our lives on this earth.

The Bible is not ignorant of this fact. To the contrary, it faces our death with square shoulders. Listen as Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O Death, where is your sting?  O Hades, where is your victory?’  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:51-58).

We are all coming to the end of our lives. We are all, at this very moment, dying. Some are dying slower than others, but dying nonetheless. 100% of people now living will die. Do we live our lives in recognition of this truth, or in denial of this truth? Are we keeping our “eyes on the prize”? Or are we wandering, not aware that God has called us to live our lives in conformity with His will? There is a reason that we must live our lives for God. Paul says again, as recorded by Luke, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” In other words, God has an expectation for your life. Further, everyone has failed to live up to that expectation (Rom. 3:23).

Therefore, when Jesus comes on the appointed day to judge the world in righteousness we will be found guilty in His sight. Therefore, God commands all people everywhere to repent. He calls you and me to turn away from our lives of aimlessly walking in darkness and draws us into His light that we should serve Him (Rom. 6:20-23).

Life is full of ending points, but there is a time when your life will come to its ultimate end. In light of this fact, Jesus says “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). Will we not fear at this warning? Are we to presume upon our pride that Christ could not possibly condemn us on judgement day? Listen attentively. Many people will die while walking the broad path. What makes you different from them?   Jesus said the narrow path was difficult and that few would find it. Are you keeping your eyes on the prize?

As CBT comes to a close, and as you continue to work through the degree, let us never lose sight of The End. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

~ Aaron Johnson
--------------------------
I agree with Aaron; it has been a great academic year with the CBT.  Our last meeting day was April 4, 2016 - apologies for not mentioning this earlier on our blog.  But next year, Lord willing, we will continue our CBT meetings in September.  Looking forward to it!  If you would like to join us, feel free to write us at campusbibletalk@gmail.com, check out our Facebook page, or visit our studies when we start up again.  God bless and have a great summer!

~ Christian Basar