The document is a sermon about discerning and living according to God's will. It discusses how living in God's will often involves uncertainty, opposition, and disagreements. It advises praying about decisions, seeking facts and wise counsel, and committing plans to God while being open to adjustment. While open doors exist, the path may still involve obstacles. God's guidance is often clearest in hindsight. The sermon urges accepting and doing God's will to find peace.
3. “The Truth about
God’s Will”
I. Life in the center of God’s will
II. Circumstances with Open and
Closed Doors
III. The truth about open doors
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4. “Life in the center of
God’s will”
Not quite what you’d expected
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5. “Life in the center of
God’s will”
Not quite what you’d expected
Uncertainty (vv. 5-7)
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6. “Life in the center of
God’s will”
Not quite what you’d expected
Uncertainty (vv. 5-7)
Powerful opponents (vv. 8-9)
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7. “Life in the center of
God’s will”
Not quite what you’d expected
Uncertainty (vv. 5-7)
Powerful opponents (vv. 8-9)
Power struggles (vv. 10-11)
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8. “Life in the center of
God’s will”
Not quite what you’d expected
Uncertainty (vv. 5-7)
Powerful opponents (vv. 8-9)
Power struggles (vv. 10-11)
Disagreements (v. 12)
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9. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
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10. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
Get the facts
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11. “It is not good to have zeal without
knowledge, nor to be hasty and
miss the way.”
Proverbs 19:2-3
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12. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
Get the facts
Life facts
Spiritual facts
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13. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
Get the facts
Seek wise counsel
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14. “Make plans by seeking advice; if
you wage war, obtain guidance.”
Proverbs 20:18
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15. “Make plans by seeking advice; if
you wage war, obtain guidance.”
Proverbs 20:18
“Listen to advice and accept
instruction, and in the end you will
be wise.”
Proverbs 19:20
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16. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
Get the facts
Seek wise counsel
Do what seems best
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17. “Commit to the Lord whatever you
do, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
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18. “Commit to the Lord whatever you
do, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
“In his heart a man plans his
course, but the Lord determines
his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
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19. “Circumstances with
Open and Closed Doors
What to do when you’re not sure
what to do next?
Pray about it
Get the facts
Seek wise counsel
Do what seems best
Adjust (Acts 16:6-10)
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21. 13Now listen, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we will
go to this or that city, spend
a year there, carry on
business and make money.”
14Why, you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You
are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought
to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live
and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
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22. “The truth about
open doors”
An open doors doesn’t mean
smooth sailing
Powerful opponents (1 Cor. 16:8-9)
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23. “The truth about
open doors”
An open doors doesn’t mean
smooth sailing
Powerful opponents (1 Cor. 16:8-9)
Oppositions (Exodus 4:21)
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24. “The truth about
open doors”
An open doors doesn’t mean
smooth sailing
Powerful opponents (1 Cor. 16:8-9)
Oppositions (Exodus 4:21)
Delays (Exodus 23:27-30)
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25. “The truth about
open doors”
An open doors doesn’t mean
smooth sailing
God’s hand is best seen in the
rearview mirror
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26. “The truth about
open doors”
An open doors doesn’t mean
smooth sailing
God’s hand is best seen in the
rearview mirror
If we do the right thing – will
always end up in the right place
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27. “FINAL THOUGHT”
When he was crossing the Irish Channel
one dark starless night, F. B. Meyer stood
on the deck by the captain and asked him,
“How do you know Holyhead Harbor on so
dark a night as this?” He said, “You see
those three lights? Those three lights must
line up behind each other as one, and
when we see them so united we know the
exact position of the harbor’s mouth.”
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28. “FINAL THOUGHT”
When we want to know God’s will, three
things must always concur: the inward
impulse, the Word of God, and the trend of
circumstances.
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29. “FINAL THOUGHT”
William Barclay once said, “There is only
one way to bring peace to the heart, joy to
the mind, and beauty to life; it is to accept
and do the will of God.”
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30. “FINAL THOUGHT”
William Barclay once said, “There is only
one way to bring peace to the heart, joy to
the mind, and beauty to life; it is to accept
and do the will of God.”
Another William (L. Pettingil) said, “Most
people don’t want to know the will of God
in order to do it; they seen to want to know
it just in order to consider it.”
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31. “FINAL THOUGHT”
But always remember, “The will of
God will never lead you where the
grace of God cannot keep you.”
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