8 RESULTS OF DISOBEYING GOD

Neglecting Divine Leadership 

By Charles F. Stanley

SEPTEMBER 03, 2017

We need God’s guidance for every area of our lives—financial decisions, marriage, business, education, and anything that concerns us. Sometimes we’re going in the right direction, but the timing isn’t right. God not only knows what we should do, but how and when as well. Some choices may seem fantastic from our perspective, but if they aren’t God’s will, we will regret them eventually. As Christ’s followers, we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth. But if we neglect His divine leadership and insist on going our own way, the Lord will let us face the consequences until we finally repent and turn back to Him. When we refuse to consult the Lord and are determined to go our own way, we can expect the following results:

Confusion. We’ll start to question our decision and wonder if we made a wrong choice. God’s actions at the Tower of Babel demonstrate how He brings confusion when we make decisions apart from Him. Not only were their plans frustrated, but God accomplished His will despite them, as they scattered over the surface of the earth.

Conflict. We’ll experience internal conflict when the Holy Spirit gives us a sense of uneasiness, inadequacy, and doubt over our course of action.

Cost. Disobedience is always costly when we don’t do the right thing, in the right time, and in the right way. Loss. We will experience loss at some point in our lives, whether emotionally or physically.

Regret. God chooses the best direction, time, and way. Therefore, if we go in an opposite direction, don’t wait for His timing, or do it our way, we will miss His best and suffer deep regret.

Pain. We may experience physical pain as the result of our disobedience, but the worst pain is that which is emotional. As we look back at our choices, we’ll be filled with thoughts of “If only I’d done this or not done that.”

Disaster. It could come to us financially, emotionally, or in countless other ways, but the result of disobedience is always disastrous because we didn’t follow the Lord.

Discipline. If we will not listen and obey God, He’ll discipline us. His goal is that we learn to trust in Him with all our heart instead of leaning on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). Only then will He make our paths straight. 

If we claim that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord, we should consult Him regarding every decision. He loves us, understands our weaknesses, knows what’s best for us and how to accomplish it, and can save us from the pain and trouble that could result from following our own self-directed path. When He directs our way, He ensures that everything works out according to His will because He has the power to accomplish it.

Great Article on Modesty

"In many cases, the very women offended by the negative attention of men are dressing in such a way as to earn it."

Click on this to read a great article on modesty. Modesty, Yoga Pants and 5 Myths You Need to Know.

Predestined to Be Lost?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6

By foreknowledge God knew I would choose Him. As a result He chose me because He knew I would believe on Jesus as my Savior and Lord. He didn’t decide if I would be saved or lost without foreknowledge that I would. He didn’t decide I would be saved and yet someone else would be lost. The choice was mine. He didn’t make it for me. He will not violate my free will because I believe He wants us to want Him.

The choice belongs to the other fellow as well. If he rejects Christ then he is not going to be counted with the Elect (who are the ones who did make the choice for Jesus). God is not the reason someone misses Heaven. It is truly “whosoever will.” The truth is that God chooses the corporate Body of Christ as His Elect because Jesus is The Elect (“My beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased”). If we are “in Him” we are the chosen ones.

It all comes down to whether a person is in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is at the center of God’s plan for us and has been from the beginning. What you do with Jesus makes the difference in where you will spend eternity. That has always been the plan. For those who accept Christ, they are predestined to become the children of God and be God’s people forever. For those who reject Christ they are doomed to be separated from Him forever.

The choice is ours to make. It isn’t as complicated as many want to make it. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and will accept you if you will repent? Will you make Him Lord of your life? If so you are the Elect – the Chosen. If not, then you are not.

> Brother Jesse

Written in Blood

In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?'

Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He's thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His life.

Why Blood?

On February 16, 1989 the lives of George and Vera Bajenksi of Ontario, Canada were changed forever. It was a very normal Thursday morning. The phone rang at 9:15 a.m. There was an accident involving their son Ben. As they approached the intersection of Adelaide and Simcoe Streets near the high school, they could see the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulance units. Vera noticed a photographer and followed the direction of his camera lens to the largest pool of blood she had ever seen. All she could say was, "George, Ben went home--home to be with his Heavenly Father!"

Her first reaction was to jump out of the car, somehow collect the blood and put it back into her son. "That blood, for me, at that moment, became the most precious thing in the world because it was life. It was life-giving blood and it belonged in my son, my only son, the one I loved so much." The road was dirty and the blood just didn't belong there.

George noticed that cars were driving right through the intersection--right through the blood. His heart was smitten. He wanted to cover the blood with his coat and cry, "You will not drive over the blood of my son!" Then Vera understood for the first time in her life, one of God's greatest and most beautiful truths...why blood? Because it was the strongest language God could have used. It was the most precious thing He could give--the highest price He could pay. Through God's amazing love we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.

(Victor Knowles, Peace on Earth Ministries, Joplin, MO. George and Vera Bajenski minister with Global Missionary Ministries, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. From Leland Patrick's Sermon "When God Changed His Address")

The Bible - the Mind of God

“This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.”

Farewell Cultural Christianity

Read this article by Russell Moore - Farewell Cultural Christianity.

"In the last generation of Christian public engagement, there were some genuine prophets and saints, who called the church out of isolation but constantly warned against a political captivity of the church, a captivity that would tap Christianity of its righteous zeal for the sake of power but would, ultimately, drain it of what every culture finds most troublesome: the exclusivity of Christ.

As American culture changes, the scandal of Christianity is increasingly right up front, exactly where it was in the first century. The shaking of American culture will get us back to the question Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi: “Who do you say that I am?” As the Bible Belt recedes, those left standing up for Jesus will be those who, like Simon Peter of old, know how to answer that question. Once Christianity is no longer seen as part and parcel of patriotism, the church must offer more than “What would Jesus do?” moralism and the “I vote values” populism to which we’ve grown accustomed. Good." Russell Moore