Verses on Guidance

I think I often forget that the struggle to know your path is an eternal struggle; people throughout all ages have struggled with it and people will still continue to fight with it long after I’m gone. And even though I don’t like it, I am slowly coming to the realization that this isn’t a one-time event - a decision to follow God once and you’re done - but a life skill that I need to practice continually.

At some level, I want a period of testing and trial, with the assumption that after it’s done then I don’t have to worry and risk anymore. But love and relationship both take an extraordinary amount of risk. And it’s not just me that is affected by my decisions anymore - it’s my wife and family and all my employees. And in a few years, it will be even more people affected. Being guided into all truth isn’t something I can hope at getting right - I need to learn it and make a habit out of it. To that end, here are some verses on guidance that I have been collecting with select commentary. May these verses uplift and encourage you as they have me.

Guidance Verses

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

 

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

 

Isaiah 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

 

James 1:5-6 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

 

Psalm 25:4-5 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.  

I think waiting on the Lord all day long teaches us priorities - who is in charge. After all, we are on His schedule and He is not on ours.

 

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

All things. This is so encouraging to me - the things I know I need to learn, the things I don’t know I need to learn; the things that are helpful with my ministry and the things that will keep my marriage strong; the things that will bring joy in the good times and the perseverance I need in the bad times.

 

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

This is what I would refer to as a passive verse - one that if you look at it inappropriately will make you stop working at what you are doing. But that’s not the point - the point is that our efforts are fruitless without hearing from the Lord. Even if something looks like a sure deal in the natural, only God knows the future.

 

Isaiah 58:11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Mozambique doesn’t look like a great place for business or opportunity - it is, in essence, a scorched place. But God has His own ways of working and His own plans. We can easily limit God by:

Trusting in our own eyesight over the vision of the Lord. Abraham let Lot choose whichever land he wanted because he knew the blessing wasn’t in the plot of land he chose but in his relationship with the Lord.

Needing an explanation before obeying. When we have to understand before we obey, we vastly limit the work God can do in our lives. We are no long open to being satisfied in scorched places.

 

Romans 12:1-2 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

By testing… This is such a good explanation of faith. “By testing” - how else are you going to test whether something is from the Lord or not? How else are you going to discover God’s path? Is there any other faith outside of an experiential faith?

 

Psalm 25:9-10 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

I can’t decide whether I will be smart, or good in business, or always make the right decisions, or be able to judge the market. But I can determine to be humble. Yes, it’s a challenge but in every circumstance, it’s 100% possible.

 

Proverbs 20:24 A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

I find many parallels between this and John 3:8 - The wind blows to-and-fro; you can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with people born of the Spirit.

Everyone has 5 year plans. There are career paths that seem like good ideas. But if you follow the Lord you will deviate from the course most others take, and your way will not be clear from the world’s perspective.

 

Isaiah 48:17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.

 

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Taken at face value, this means that sons of God aren’t chosen by belief or confession but by following God. This fits well with Jesus’s command to follow Him - this was the call to discipleship all over the gospels. Sadly, in the church, this is basically an elective - something that’s cool if you can do it but we don’t expect everyone to be able to hear God.

 

Psalm 73:23-24 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

 

John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

God sent me, I have got this far by following Him. What other option do I have? The alternative is to choose safety and put my faith in things that haven’t been trustworthy up until this point.

 

Jeremiah 1:7-8 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth;’ for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

That is so powerful. As if wisdom is simply the choice to follow God and do what He says. “I am with you to deliver you.” - God knows we will face hardships. He knows the path will be difficult, and He’s calling us to it anyway.

 

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

“Level ground” - a straight path, a way that needs little faith because you see the way forward. I am consistently surprised at how often the Holy Spirit is brought up in the Psalms even before the infilling of the Spirit in Acts. Even under the old covenant, those closest to the Lord understood the deep importance of being led by the Spirit.

 

Psalm 31:3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me.

 

Job 33:12-16 “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man's words?’ For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings,

 

Deuteronomy 8:18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

God doesn’t give us wealth. He gives us the power to get wealth.

 

1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Daily I need the Lord and His strength. For some interesting reason, He wants to be sought after. It’s not enough to just believe it - we need to seek it out.

 

John 10:3-4 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

Another verse saying that the most important trait of a disciple is that they follow the Lord. Do we as the church act like this is the most important trait?

 

Proverbs 24:30-34 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

There is a delicate balance between resting in the Lord and being lazy and not doing what the Lord has told you to do. Like so many of the tensions in scripture, the people who need these verses on laziness are exactly the ones that know the verses about resting in the Lord and the people who need the verses of rest are exactly the people that are stuck in the hard-working verses.

 

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

We need to listen to the people God has called into our lives. This is a primary way God talks to us - don’t ignore the things others see in your life.

 

Psalm 119:133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

I love this verse because it deals with the process of following the Lord. Most of the other verses can appear that they are discussing a one-time decision. This talks about hesitations and issues on the way. I find that, personally, I make the right decisions but it’s keeping with the implementation that is the difficult thing for me - the trust and faith when the road gets difficult.

 

Psalm 48:14 That this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

God will guide us forever. The is a promise that I need to hold on to - I don’t need to worry that God may stop talking to me or stop giving me ideas. I can trust Him in everything, and trust that He will continually guide me.

 

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Being led by the Spirit is the most important thing. If God can lead you day by day, hour by hour, that is so much more effective than trying to obey the law and general, overarching guidelines.

 

Isaiah 33:6 And he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

We need that so much now, don’t we? Even much of the church is worried about how unstable these times are. But there is One that is stable, true, and unshakeable.

 

John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

 

1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.

I don’t think we realize what a offense this sin is in the eyes of the Lord - to seek guidance from another; we are desperate to know the future, but like Saul, we don’t want to wait for God. He is taking too long - do we surrender to him and kneel at His throne until He speaks or do we carry through with our own plans and seek other advice and guidance?

 

 

Modern Equivalent of Jews and Gentiles

The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.

No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

-Romans 2:25-29 

I find it helpful to think of the difference between Jews and Gentiles as the difference between people that grew up in Christian households and not; the similarities are striking, and it’s a way better use of scriptures than to read it as cultural issues that have mostly disappeared throughout the centuries.

After all, the Jews grew up following the Bible. They followed good laws and practiced good traditions. They followed God the best they knew how, but they were missing a relationship with God and their attempts to please Him were off. The Gentiles were passionate for the Lord, but knew literally nothing about the traditions or scriptures. Ceremonies like circumcision meant nothing because they didn’t have the rich history of the Jews to fall back on. They were confused when they heard the words of Jesus but then walked into a church and they were doing all of these ceremonies that had nothing to do with their faith.

So it is today. There are many people that get saved, then find themself in a church and wonder what on earth kneeling benches are for why people are singing hymns, and why there are annual clam-bakes. My father-in-law walked in church with long hair and without shoes - it was a big issue for the church even though he probably looked more like Christ than anyone else there. These things have nothing to do with the faith, but many find life in them if they were raised in that tradition. To them, the law (the set of traditions and history of the way of doing things) means nothing, and forcing them to follow these laws can seriously stifle what God’s doing.

If you don’t believe me, look at what the Bible says about the Law: Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, is harsh with it, declaring it the law that brings death. James, apostle to the Jews, has more good things to say about the Law, calling it the "gracious law" and the "law that gives life." To those who grew up with the traditions and meanings, the law or the traditional way of doing things can bring life. To others, it brings death because it’s foreign; they are adopting styles and traditions that make no sense to them.

There are also parallels in relationships. For some couples, it’s the spontaneity that shows their love and affection - the surprise flowers, sudden dates, or unexpected gifts. For others, it’s the traditions of morning coffee, date nights they never miss, and the kisses they do before they leave every morning. To some couples, a daily tradition would bring death and a hardening of heart due to repetition. For others, spontaneous events are a huge stressor. Usually our lives are a mixture of both, and depending on the season of life you are in, one or the other would bring much-needed life into your relationship.

So it is with God. Some of us need a little more law, stability and tradition in our walk with God, like daily Bible reading, small groups, or healthy habits. Others are stuck in a rut and need some more spontaneity to really feel alive again.

Glory and Honor

God “Will Repay Each Person According To What They Have Done.” To Those Who By Persistence In Doing Good Seek Glory, Honor And Immortality, He Will Give Eternal Life. But For Those Who Are Self-Seeking And Who Reject The Truth And Follow Evil, There Will Be Wrath And Anger.  

-Romans 2:6-8

“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality” – to say I don’t hear this often is a bit of an understatement. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at this passage. I think at some level, my faith is strongly influenced by the Star Wars trilogy, for better or for worse. The good guys are not supposed to feel they are to be completely impartial. Glory and honor are a path to the dark side and to be avoided at all costs.

However, if our lives are here to glorify God, it means that at some level people will be praising our lives and by extension the God that called us to our lives. The early church was praised and everyone knew they worked miracles; however, it was still small because more people weren’t willing to pay the price of joining. But that doesn’t negate the fact that they knew where the life was. They knew without a doubt the early church spoke the truth.

Glory and honor. Stonings and shipwrecks. Overwhelming victory. Going hungry. Meeting with kings. Paul’s life was full of incredible duality; being honored and respected while being despised and persecuted. It’s something that is all over Romans and is potentially the defining aspect of the book.

Personally, I am much more comfortable with the persecution than the blessing; I am way more comfortable with correction than praise. My attitude has always been “nose to the grindstone – I’m just working for those words at the end of my life: well done, good and faithful servant” But the praises of God and others sometimes help to point in the right direction and get us through the hard times.

A couple days ago, I was on an airplane, near the back with many rows in front of me. I heard God tell me, “look at all those people. That’s the number you’ve given jobs to”. I started crying – it was a special moment; a moment I need to hold onto and keep.

 

Greed

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  -Colossians 3:5

For how often greed is discussed in the Bible, I think the church rarely talks about it. I also think it’s one of those other things the church tends to judge outsiders on - I have never once heard of someone talking to another church member about their tendency to be greedy, or confess greed in a prayer or confession time.

Confession time for me though - while I was reading this, I got distracted with an e-mail about laptop promotions! “Yes God, good word… I love your Bible, wonder what that scripture means… Ooh, new laptop models!” It’s disturbing, really - without greed I think our culture would just cease to function. Of course, we can thinly mask our greed with certain christian-ese: “blessing”, “hunger, “fruits”, “success”... What is even more maddening to me is that I can be talking about bearing fruit and making an impact, and the other person can be nodding and thinking we are on the same page where I am talking soul impact and they are thinking worldly influence.

I think it’s also disturbing the number of people I know who say they have a hard time worshiping. It’s a lot of people! However, the same people who have a hard time worshiping God often times have no problem worshiping a sports team or a new car. Maybe we are thinking about worship wrong. We don’t think of greed as worship, but the Bible says it is.