Book 3 of Musings Feelings, and Gods Will

What feels so good and so right is not always of God.

After having been a Christian for 58 years I still am finding that we have to be extremely cautious when we are seeking the Lord's will. You would think by this time I could always tell what is of God and what isn't.

You know, there are occasions when you are facing something that seems so right, so fitting, so natural. And yet, as you persevere in prayer (sometimes for several years) you discover what had appeared to absolutely be of the Lord was not of the Lord.

I am one of those who hear from the Lord when I am praying. I have to be especially careful concerning each thing I hear, because Satan can imitate God so precisely.

They used to say we are to go by faith and not by feeling. I have always disputed that saying. There is no wall between faith and feeling. Faith always, I believe, brings satisfying feelings to us.

The contrast is between faith and disobedience, or faith and unbelief, or faith and fearfulness. Not between faith and feeling.

Yet I know what the old-timers meant when they said we go by faith and not by feeling. They meant we obey what is written in the Scriptures and do not trust any momentary feelings we may have.

Most of us humans have many feelings. But they are not reliable indicators of God's will.

If we are planning a new course, and don't feel quite right about it, or the thought of it does not bring peace, we need to hold up and not launch out. That inner disquiet very well may be the Holy Spirit. So feelings do enter into the picture.

I remember Jeremiah gave a prophecy. When the prophecy came to pass, Jeremiah said, "Then I knew this was the word of the Lord." (Jeremiah 32:8)

You may be absolutely sure that you have heard from God. You may feel so good about the issue. It seems so right, so natural, so expected.

My suggestion is: "Wait until there is evidence in your surroundings that God has moved or is moving.

Our feelings, our prophecies, are so subjective! But when we see what we have been told taking place around us, then, like Jeremiah, we may be more certain this really was the Word of the Lord to us.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we have many deceived Christians on our hands in the days to come. The Lord is beginning to speak more plainly than I have known in time past. Numerous believers are professing to hear from God. This can be good, or quite dangerous.

I have learned to always ask God, several times a day, to keep my heart and mind clear through Christ Jesus. I have learned also to withhold my judgment of an impression or a "word," or desire, until I see some action in my wife, or elsewhere in my surroundings. Sometimes a powerful wind blows, there is an earthquake, there is fire, the rocks fly about. We are tempted to go in this new and thrilling way.

But experience cautions us to wait for the quiet voice of God. When God speaks, we know it. It is different from the previous commotion.

Even when we know the Father has spoken, we still do well to wait for some evidence in our surroundings.

I know there are believers who will assure us they never can be deceived or mistaken. They rush about in their pride, following their own desires, believing God is with them. Satan wisely waits for an opportune time before letting them become aware they have been lied to.

Why does God permit such deception? I am not altogether certain. But I trust the righteousness and goodness of God that there is a good purpose in permitting such an enormous amount of deception in our day.

It requires self-control to not yield to the pleasurable sensations that masquerade as the voice of God. It requires humility for us, as an experienced Christian, to admit we have been deceived and to make whatever restitution God indicates is necessary.

I personally have been deceived more than once in my life. Have I learned from these experiences? I think I have. The main lesson I have learned is that we cannot save ourselves. Only God is able to keep us from deception.

Sometimes God decides that major surgery is necessary rather than a more conservative procedure. In this instance He may permit us to be deceived-even when we are doing our best to serve the Lord.

If God sees there are idols in us, and they are deeply rooted, He may permit us to act out our passions until we cannot deny our folly. If we keep looking to Him, He brings us out victoriously, and a good deal wiser and more humble.

I am not presenting an excuse for sin at this point. I am saying how God works. He does gamble that we will survive, and so He permits Satan to bounce us up and down, just as Satan treated Job so cruelly.

All that is in our heart has to come out, if we are to fully inherit all that God has for us. All of the old wickedness must be destroyed from us. In turn we must be filled with all the fullness of God. This is the negative and the positive so essential to the fullness of redemption-the complete removal of the old and the complete installation of the new.

I do not claim the way of discipleship is easy. It is not. But then, life is not easy. I think of this when I see the homeless men and women in our area-people who at one time had been someone's darling boy or girl, but now are shabbily dressed, bowed and broken, pushing all their belongings in a shopping cart, unable any longer to meet the challenges that life brings to all of us.

No, the Christian discipleship is not an easy path. Neither is the path of the sinner. Everyone is crucified: God, the saved, and the sinner.

There was a horrible rebellion in Heaven. God is putting an end to it through Christ, the Righteous One.

The Church has been forgiven. The sin in the Church now must be judged and all worldliness, lust, and self-will removed. Then the Church must be filled with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When a part of the Church has thus been completely redeemed, these members will return with Jesus Christ and install the Kingdom of God on the earth. In that day the rebellion that came down from Heaven at the time of the creation will be conquered with the rod of iron. Finally the advent of the Spirit of Christ into the heart of each person found worthy of being brought into the new world of righteousness will complete the work of redemption.

How long the complete redemption of the creation will take I cannot say. However I can say with confidence that we are now at the stage where a godly remnant are confessing and turning away from their sins. They are looking for a greater portion of Christ dwelling in them. This much I know.

When Christ will return I cannot say, but it does appear from the Book of Daniel and other references that it will be a while yet.

However, we must be instantly prepared for His return; for He may come to us personally and require an account of our stewardship.

Let us therefore enjoy the good feeling we Christians have deep in our heart, remembering that Satan always is interested in leading us out of God's will. We must present our body a living sacrifice if we are to prove the will of God for ourselves.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 16:25)