10. CHOICE & DECISION MAKING     --page 68--

         In all thy ways acknowledge Him, & He shall direct thy paths (Pro.3:6).

         1. Most of the great decisions that I have made in my life as a leader have been lonely decisions where only I & God stood together.
         2. You don't have to always give people an answer on the spot or make an immediate decision. If you don't know what to do, be honest & humble & admit it & say, "I'm sorry, but I don't know."
         3. Most of the time God uses your good common sense & the gifts of the Spirit that He's already given you, such as wisdom, knowledge, etc., rather than some direct, spectacular, miraculous, supernatural revelation!
         4. To every man there opens a high way & a low
         And every man decides the way that he shall go.
         5. Let us realise that what happens around us is largely outside our control, but that the way we choose to react to it is inside our control.
         6. If the spiritual is OK, everything else will be all right too.
         7. Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
         8. When a decision has been made & the die is cast, then abandon the alternatives.
         9. Many are called but few get up.
         10. Making up your mind is like making up a bed; it usually helps to have someone on the other side.
         11. Circumstances alter cases.
         12. Life is a voyage in which we choose neither vessel nor weather, but much can be done in the management of the sails & the guidance of the helm.
         13. Commitment brings peace.
         14. If you're His child & you let Him choose, He's going to choose that which is best for you & that which will make you happy.
         15. Some of God's future is set, but within the range of that future, God has many options, some of which we can change by our decisions.
         16. God knew ahead of time you were going to believe & receive Him by free will & free choice, so you were already predestined & foreordained of the Lord to be saved because He knew what choice you were going to make!
         17. Have you chosen your job in the next life? Well, the Lord probably will give you your choice!
         18. God isn't going to make you do anything you don't want to do, but He may make you awful sorry you didn't!
         19. God chooses you, because you choose Him.
         20. Apparently the spirits & angels must have some choice, some freedom of action, or Satan & his angels couldn't have rebelled.
         21. God leaves a great deal up to you & your faith, whether you want it or not, whether you need it or not, whether the Lord needs it or not for His Kingdom.
         22. If you choose the Lord & choose his service, God will choose someone to help you!
         23. This whole game of life is constant choices.
         24. If you're not yet certain that a thing is God's will, then the best thing to do is to wait on the Lord.
         25. Whatever glorifies God, that's what's right!
         26. Be sure to find God's will for you, even if it's not God's will for anybody else.
         27. One man's meat could be another man's poison!
         28. God may give you your choice, but He alone knows what's best, so you'd better ask Him to find out where He wants you!
         29. Knowing what choice you were going to make, God ordained you to be saved before He even created the World! I believe in both predestination & choice.
         30. The Lord is trying to teach you to make decisions, & one of the main principles involved in reaching a decision is: Don't start talking--pray!
         31. He knows, He loves, He cares,
         Nothing His Truth can dim!
         He gives His very best to those
         Who leave the choice with Him!
         32. Why didn't God stop Hitler? If God had stepped in & intervened & stopped Hitler, He would have had to stop every sinner in the World from doing his sin & wickedness!--And when He does that, that will be the End!
         33. I don't like to make snap judgements, unless I get a sudden direct revelation from the Lord.
         34. If you love the Lord with all your heart, your personal desires are usually the right ones, because you only want to please Him.
         35. Contrary to popular opinion, God does not usually choose for you. You have to choose for yourself, find His will for yourself, seek him diligently to know His will.
         36. The main reason we're here in the first place is to learn how to make decisions under God's guidance, from the Garden of Eden to the present.
         37. I believe in trying to give a man his choice to do what he has the faith for.
         38. What is always the first thing you should think about when you begin to meditate & pray about God's answer? Think about similar situations in the Word--what did they do?
         39. Are you going to live for today to save your life & eventually lose it?--Or are you going to live for Christ & lose your life & eventually save it forever? The choice is up to you!
         40. God will not usually override human choice.
         41. All decisions of any kind should never be dictated by one person without agreement by other leaders &/or the rest of the body, as seems necessary.
         42. I may not know when it am, but I shor knows when it ain't!
         43. First impressions are usually the right ones, if you're truly asking the Lord.
         44. You were foreordained or predestined because of the choice God knew you were going to make.
         45. When you have to make a choice & don't make it, that is in itself a choice.
         46. The most dangerous enemy you've got is yourself. All Heaven is at your command, but you still have the majesty of choice & your stubborn spirit can do as it damn well pleases!
         47. There are some things that God cannot do, because He will not do them, because He has bound Himself within certain limitations, & confined Himself to not interfering with your power of choice, because you have to make the decision & He's not going to force you to do His will.
         48. Whenever you confront people with the truth you precipitate a crisis & they have to make a decision!
         49. There's nothing that tears you apart and wears you down quicker than indecision.
         50. The minute you make the decision & begin to obey, God does all the rest!
         51. Some people like to have you make decisions for them so they don't have to put forth the effort in prayer & sober analysing of the situation...especially when later they might be blamed for it!--But that's the price of making decisions!
         52. That should be considered long, which can be decided but once.
         53. Not all open doors are of the Lord; some of them can be tricks of the Devil.
         54. Every time of testing & trial & sifting is a time of decision.
         55. When people fail, then God has to step in & intervene in the affairs of man.
         56. He has to give us the opportunity to have our own way and choice to see if we will do our own will, His will or the Devil's will.
         57. The marvel & mystery of human will is that it's almost as though Life's a scale, & human will is a finger that can tip the scale either way.
         58. Indecision is nearly always the worst mistake you can make.
         59. That's what you're here for--to learn to make decisions!
         60. Our whole life & experience here on Earth is for the purpose of learning to make wise decisions.
         61. I don't believe everything I hear & I don't follow everything I hear, but at least I listen. I try to weigh it & see if it's got any value or any worth.
         62. Sometimes you can reach a decision by the process of elimination, weighing all the things in favour of the decision & all the things against that particular choice, sort of a balance sheet to try to weigh the advantages & the disadvantages of a particular move or plan.
         63. After you've made a decision, always pray, "Lord, if we've made the wrong decision, please stop us."
         64. There's a certain leeway & allowance for variations of choice in the will of God as long as it stays within certain boundaries, within the tunnel of God's will. Of course there's always the best even within the tunnel, but as long as you stay in the correct general area He'll give you your choice.
         65. In making decisions the Lord expects you to use your own good common sense & the wisdom He has given you by the Spirit.
         66. God doesn't necessarily have to give you a special revelation to help you make a choice, He just gives you wisdom & leading of the Spirit & a certain feeling. If you arrive at a decision this way, then you simply proceed along this line unless God stops you. You go on the last orders you received unless you receive new contrary orders.
         67. In one decision the Early Church made, it didn't say that God's Spirit told them or gave them any revelation; it just said "it seemed good to all of them" that they should do so-and-so.
         68. God's will is sort of like a tunnel--within this tunnel you can go back & forth & choose your path within the will of God, & there's a whole lot of variety.
         69. I seldom ever made a major decision that affected the whole Family without getting the Family together in prayer. Usually God had already shown me what to do or I felt led to do a certain thing or go in a certain direction or to a certain location, but I'd always have the Family together for prayer to check it out with them & see if it seemed good to all of them as well. If they had any other ideas, objections or could bring up any points, why not? Discussion helps & usually confirms the right choice.
         70. In making decisions we go pretty much by common sense & a multitude of counsellors, conditions, circumstances, fleeces, Scriptures, leadings, all kinds of ways of finding the will of God.
         71. There are a multitude of factors involved in finding the will of the Lord sometimes. They don't always agree necessarily, but usually the majority of them do.
         72. Sometimes finding the will of God is to go ahead & make a decision, & if it's the wrong one He'll sure stop you! God may have reasons or know there are reasons why something else may be better & that's where we have to keep really in tune & make sure we follow the Lord.
         73. One sure way of finding the will of God is to make the wrong decision, because He'll almost always immediately correct you if you're willing to be shown.
         74. I've found out you can solve a lot of problems just by using common sense, just thinking it through & thinking it out & saying, now what do we have to do that we must do & what can we leave out that we don't have to do & what can we do without?
         75. How do you find the Will of God?--By having no will of your own!
         76. For a Christian, what is a decision?--What are you trying to find?--The Will of God!
         77. When we don't make our own choices, we're shrinking from our job & our responsibility & the main purpose for which we were placed here, & that is to make decisions in the Lord & under His guidance!
         78. Man was created & put here to make a choice between good & evil, to do right or wrong, to serve God or himself or the Devil, & to learn the benefits of serving God--reaping the joy & happiness & pleasures of keeping God's loving rules for his own good & worshipping & thanking God for it all in return, as grateful children of their Heavenly Father.
         79. The Lord has put us here in this World to make decisions, to do right or wrong.
         80. You may have temporary relief when making a decision even if it's the wrong one, but you'll have Hell to pay in the long run!
         81. A lot of things may not be the right thing or even the wrong thing, but just not the thing that God wants done the most.
         82. You must be careful not to jump to conclusions. To jump to a conclusion means to jump to the end too quick before you should get there, & too quickly into thinking something you're not sure about yet.
         83. That's why people want you to make their decisions for them--so they won't get blamed for it; they want you to take the blame in case anything goes wrong.
         84. Don't go jumping the gun & making premature decisions about things!
         85. The Lord probably doesn't give us too much specific information on exactly what's going to happen & exactly when it's going to happen because for one reason a lot depends on us, on what we do & how fast we get the job done & the choices & decisions we make.
         86. We can't go dogmatically predicting the future when so much of it is dependent on us & what we do & how well we do it, or even whether we do it!
         87. The Lord has promised to give us signs. Watch for the hints, the indications, the little signs of the times regarding events & also signs in individuals, in their lives, their minds, their hearts, their actions, their reactions, their diligence, faithfulness & loyalty.
         88. We don't always know exactly what to do yet because we don't need to know.

         (See also No. 4, 74, 127, 238, 317C, 829, 1324, 1394.)

         89. DEU.30:19 I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
         90. PSA.27:11 Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
         91. PSA.37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way.
         92. PRO.19:21 There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.
         93. PRO.20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
         94. PRO.20:18 Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
         95. PRO.24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
         96. PRO.24:26 Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
         97. PRO.27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
         98. 2CO.13:1 In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

         (See also DEU.30:19,20; 2SA.24:12-14.)


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