Proverbs 3:5-6 - Acknowledge God in all you do and He will guide you in all things.
Pro.3:5-6; Acknowledge God in all you do and He will guide you
in all things.
Prov 3:5 (KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding.
Prov 3:6 (KJV) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.
Prov 3:5 (MSG) Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't
try to figure out everything on your own.
Prov 3:6 (MSG) Listen for God's voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Throughout Proverbs one sees the reward of trusting in (lit.
"clinging to," with the idea of setting one's hope and confidence upon)
the Lord as opposed to the futility of resting in one's own wisdom
and seeking one's own way. God designed His creation to have a
dependency upon Him. Even the ordinary decisions of a day need the counsel
of God, who instructs His creation to consult Him about even the
most minute details, whether in the spiritual or secular realm. God
promises to communicate in return. The Fall itself was precipitated when
man sought to live independently of God, and this human independence
continues at the heart of sinful rebellion today. [Believer's SB]
Self-sufficiency and self-dependence have been the ruin of
mankind ever since the fall of Adam. The grand sin of the human race is
their continual endeavor to live independently of God, i. e., to
ignore God in the things they do. (Adam Clarke Commentary mod)
Entire trust in God is the only logical position for Christians
to take. God has all knowledge and all power, and foresees and
prepares against all the troubles that come upon man. For anyone to rely
on his own understanding is foolish indeed. It is also folly to
alternate between trust in self and trust in God. [SDA Commentary mod]
If we are faithful to read God's Word, study it, meditate on it,
and obey it, God will guide us when we have decisions to make. The
Holy Spirit teaches us (John 14:26; 16:13-14) and directs us when we
pray and seek the Lord's will. The Holy Spirit uses truth, not
ignorance; so the more facts we have, the better. We should use our common
sense but not lean on it (Prov. 3:5-6), for we walk by faith and not
by sight (2Co5:7). If we sincerely move in the wrong direction, the
Lord will show us (Acts 16:6-10; Phil. 3:15), so we need not fear. It
is good for believers to read the Word and pray together as they
seek the mind of the Lord. [Chapter by Chapter Bible Commentary by
Warren Wiersbe re Acts 1:8]
It is our responsibility to place ourselves in the Lord's hands,
through surrender, through study of His Word, through fellowship with
Him in prayer, through uniting ourselves with others who are
like-minded, [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom]
So begin, continue, and end every work, purpose, and device,
with God. Earnestly pray for his direction at the commencement; look
for his continual support in the progress; and so begin and continue
that all may terminate in his glory: (Adam Clarke Commentary mod)
Trusting God, relying or leaning upon Him, has the sense of
putting your whole weight on Him, resting on and trusting in Him. When
we have an important decision to make, we sometimes feel that we
can't trust anyone--not even God. But God knows what is best for us.
And he knows even better than we do what we really want. We must
trust him completely in every choice we make. We should not omit
careful thinking or belittle our God-given ability to reason; but we
should not trust our own ideas to the exclusion of all others. We must
not be wise in our own eyes. We should always be willing to listen
to and be corrected by God's Word and wise counselors. Bring your
decisions to God in prayer, use the Bible as your guide, and follow God's
leading. He will make your paths straight by both guiding and protecting
you. [Life Application SB]
When we want God's direction, there are no halfway measures.
There will be times when we slip back, stumble and sin. These times
grow fewer as we seek and gain His direction. Progress comes when we
place our full confidence, our will and intellect, in the Lord. Does
this mean God wants us to stop thinking, stop being individuals,
become a robot? God forbid! He doesn't expect us to short circuit our
own mind. He just tells us not to go to that understanding with the
wrong assumptions. It is simple. Place your confidence in God,
wholly, on a matter. (To do so, you will have to pray and search His
Word to find out what it has to say on that matter.) This is putting
our thoughts before the Lord and His Word. As we do this, He will
give us the direction we need. Decide today to pay due respect to
God in all that is done. He will direct decisions, judgments, and
actions. And we can count on growing in our walk with Him. [In His Time;
Walk With Wisdom]
Abraham and his nephew, Lot, were wealthy and had vast herds of
sheep and cattle. But because the land was not able to support them
both, and their herdsmen were quarreling with each other, they decided
to go separate ways. Even though Abraham was older and had the
right to make first choice, he allowed Lot to choose which part of the
country to settle.
Lot could have done a number of things in response to Abraham's
generous offer. He could have deferred to Abraham out of respect. He
could have asked Abraham's advice. He could have taken time to think
it over, or consult with God. Instead, he impulsively chose the
fertile plains of the Jordan River for himself (Gen.13:11) and sealed
his fate. By pitching his tents near Sodom, Lot came into contact
with more trouble and more evil then he was prepared to handle. He
eventually fell captive to the king of Elam, and Abraham had to go and
rescue him.
Many times in our recovery we will try to choose our life
direction on our own. We all have the same tendency to go for the quick
fix, the first thing that looks good, without taking time to consider
our motives, our past history, and the potential consequences.
Lot's decision led him into many battles and situations that brought
him much unnecessary sorrow. Allowing God to direct his choice
would have been much wiser. But Lot had not learned to trust God as
Abraham had. His human nature overcome his spiritual desire to believe
in God's loving direction.
Our downfall comes when we fail to draw strength and wisdom from
God and consult him when making choices. He wants to be there for
us, to guide and direct us - if we will only let him. [Barbara
Stephens; Life Recovery Devotional SB]
The natural inclination in Christian living is to act on the
impulse of a good idea. Not every good idea is from God. Sometimes good
ideas get in the way of God ideas.
Where does your inspiration come from? The vision of the
transfigured Christ inspired Peter: "O Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses
and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). Our natural impulse is to do
something good for God and suggest it to Him.
The tendency of the well-meaning person is to prepare a plan to
do some good idea, and then pray, "Jesus, this is my plan. It is a
good plan. It hurts no one, and I want it to please You. Lord, please
bless my plan." It is plan, then pray.
So many of our ideas are impetuous. They are not what the Lord
wants to do. They do not resemble in any way the things which concern
Him. We have good ideas, but they are not God ideas. His agenda and
our agenda conflict. We want to build Him a shelter but that is not
what He wants.... When Peter, James, and John heard the voice of the
Lord . . . they abandoned their inventive-but-self-made idea. The
presence of the Lord magnified, and His holiness brought them to their
senses. Jesus gained their attention, not by subduing them with a stem
scolding, but by magnifying His presence until all the genius of their
human ideas was bleached out by His refulgent face.
When they abandoned their good idea and fell facedown before the
Lord, He could work with them again....
When you and I abandon our good idea and fall to our face before
me Lord, then He will come and touch us, too. When we pursue our
own plan He cannot use us. We must abandon our good idea and fall
facedown before Him. Then He will be able to use us again. Then He will
reveal what He is doing - a God idea.... It is pray, then plan. Through
prayer, Jesus instructs of His plan, a God idea.
Prayer removes the impulse of the good idea, the good idea born
of human ingenuity but not of God. Pray, then plan. It is the habit
of the surrendered saint. (From Walking with Christ in the Details
of Life by Patrick M. Morley) [Inspirational SB]
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