God's Will and Fleeces

One of the most important things for a follower of Jesus is to be sure that they are walking and making decisions that are in the will of God for their life. So how do you know God's will? I was always taught the need to look at the 3 "W's":

WORD of God - If it is the will of God it cannot go against the clear teaching and principles of the Bible. I once had a lady ask me to bless her decision to leave her husband for another man. She told me that she knew this was God's will or else God would not have brought this other man into her life. Folks, that was not the will of God because it went against the clear teaching of Scripture.

WITNESS of the Spirit - If it is the will of God I believe that the Spirit of God who indwells us as believers will give us an inner peace about the decision or the action. That's why we are told to let the "peace of God rule in our hearts." By the way, if you are married I believe that God will give both you and your spouse the same peace when the time is right.

WORLD of Circumstances - If it is God's will, I believe that He will open up the doors for you.

This Sunday as part of our Survivor: Old Testament message series we will look at the story of Gideon, who in order to gain confidence in the will of God for his life, put out a fleece before the Lord. Some would call this "weak faith" but in the story God answers Gideon's fleece twice and ultiamtely Gideon find himself in the Hall of Faith given in Hebrews 11.

There have been three times in my life that my wife and I have put a fleece out before the Lord. One of these times was when we beleived that God was leading us from the church we served at in Ohio to a new church in Indiana. Another time was when God seemd to be calling us from Indiana to Grace Church here in PA. Both times God answered our fleece and gave us confidence that we were following His will for our lives.

Now don't get me wrong - we do not put out fleeces for every single decision that needs made. But on three occassions when we were facing a very big decision we did put out a fleece, asking God to confirm what appeared to be His clear leading in our lives.

Join us here at Grace Church this Sunday as we look at this concept further by looking at the Old Testament story of Gideon. If you can't be with us live and in person then join us live on the internet as we broadcast our 10am (PA time) service at the link below:

http://gracechurchworship.org/gracelive.html