Wise Decision Making

Introduction

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Proverbs 3:5-8

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Recap

Last week talked about wisdom and we made two distinctions

BIblically - To have wisdom you must know God and to know God you must believe and have faith in Jesus

Biblical wisdom - to have faith in Jesus, to know understand how he wants us to live, and then to be obedient

We used the illustration of bowling

That in order to have wisdom from God and know his ways is to read his word

And so the bowling lane is the word of God and whenever you have a decision to make

You go to the Bible for counsel and its your lane and marker that will guide you to make the wise choice

If you try to make your decision outside of the word of God its a gutter ball -

its not wise to make decisions that are apart from God’s way and how he wants you to live

Building

Today, we are going to build upon this and go more in depth

Because remember - you can know and understand what God wants you to do

But wisdom is actually following through with it

And this is easier said than done

Even the most mature Christians can struggle at times with this

And even the most mature Christians can develop an unhealthy view of what it looks like to have wisdom

At this time, If you are able to stand I ask that you do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it out loud and if you will please follow along - Proverbs 3:5-8

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

This is the word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Exposition

Trust and Heart

Looking at the first phrase Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

We find the foundation of wisdom

But also, within it, there is a foundational question

And that question is - Do you believe God and the Bible to be trustworthy?

Now, wether you like it or not, wether you believe it or not, I’m telling you God is trustworthy

He is the author and sustainer of life, he is perfect in every way

He is living and active and carrying out his great plan for his creation

And I am not the one saying it, God is saying it because it is in His word - the Bible

Which God gave us to use

And so make no mistake - when we gather here on Sunday at New Day Pasadena

We are not speaking or teaching or worshipping in the hypothetical

We are speaking, and teaching, and worshipping in truth

Because we believe that the Bible is God’s Word and God’s Word is reliable because God is trustworthy

And what God has said in His word is true and we believe it to be true not with a blind faith

But with a living faith

Because we have seen and experienced the evidence of its truth in our lives

God and the Bible go hand in hand

You can not separate the two

If you believe in a god but do not believe in the Bible then we are not speaking about the same God

And so I want us to be on the same page that when it says to trust in the Lord

The author is not telling us blindly trust a God - But to trust the Lord who gives us his word

And we can trust in His word because it is given by him

And we arent trusting it because of our eyes when we see it

We dont trust it because of our ears when we hear it

We dont trust it with our mind as we process it

Rather, we trust it with our heart because it is our heart that is changed and truths of God are impressed on our hearts as we read his divine Word

It is the changed heart and the active faith in Christ that solidifies the trust we have in God

To first trust the Lord you must know the Lord and trust in his Word

Then, we can put it into action:

You see, when you have a fork in the road, when you are asking a question and seeking an answer

You are going to have to wrestle with the question:

Do you believe God and His word to be trustworthy?

And if you have a changed heart - then the answer is yes

And so you go to God’s word trusting him and trusting in his word

Change and Acknowledge

And this where the active faith comes in -

Because sometimes when we go to God’s word - we are not going to like some of the things he says

It is going to require us to change

We do not change his Word to fit our life

Rather, we change our life to fit his Word

Change is a word that challenges everyone

Change requires something to be different or modified

Change often means that something will be replaced

And as people - we do not like change because we fear that something will be worse than before

Like, I am comfortable with how things are, where things are, and when a change takes place we fear that we are not going to like whats been changed

But, when something is changed for the better, dont we usually have a little sigh of relief?

Like oh ok, I can rock and roll with this, this isn’t so bad

Well, when we read God’s word that is requiring us to change or make a choice that we may not like,

We are also to trust God that when we follow and are obedient to His Word - that we do not need to fear the change

We trust that the change is always better

Not just in a specific circumstance - but in all circumstances

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Every decidion we make, needs to be a wise one, and it can be a wise one if we choose to follow God’s ways and are obedient to Him

That when we change or things change according to God’s Word - it is for the better

That we will be better because our obedience leads to God straightening our path

When our hearts are changed and we put our faith and trust in Jesus for Salvation

We are not just submitting ourselves under him for salvation

But that we wilfully submit to his Word and follow Him for the rest of our life

This is an ever active daily faith and trust in Him

This can also mean an active and daily change in our life to be more like Him

Now, how do we change to become more like Him?

As we follow His ways our paths get straightened out:

We become more righteous (what is good)

Proverbs 2:20 “So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.”

What God says is good and right should be our standard of what is good and right

We don’t have any authority to change or alter or try to justify his standards of good

God sets the standards and we follow it

But here is where I believe we go wrong

We know Jesus is the only to heaven and we know that his way is the right way

But because we focus in on him and his path - it can seem as if the good somehow limits us

Jesus tells us how we are to live and so he puts up this fence around our green pasture

And we, the sheep of the pasture feel and act as if the fence Jesus has put up, confines us to a small green pasture

When in reality, we live on acres and acres of green pasture and there is a lot of good that can happen and that can be enjoyed within

And, the fence itself is good to keep us safe and in the pasture

In other words the good and bad defined by God helps us in holiness

It helps us to be set apart

We are to love and enjoy God’s goodness and then we are to emulate it (set apart)

Ephesians 4:20–24 “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

These verses directly convey what we are talking about

There is a change that happens

Our hearts are changed

We take off the old self and are renewed by the Spirit

Created after the likeness of God so that we can produce righteousness and holiness

Renewed by the Spirit and in the new self we should long for and strive for what is good and set apart

Not be of the world or act like the world -

But to make decisions that are pleasing and honoring to God

And by doing that, we are wise!

Issue: We are renewed changed and saved spiritually but we still live and have a broken body

And so, we can be in the acres and acres of the pasture of God - Set apart and good

But for some reason we love to stand at the fence line

And instead of looking at marveling at the acres of goodness

We like to peek through the fence

We like to put our hands through the fence

And we think, I think it might be better on the other side of this fence

I just want to try it so bad if it wasnt for this fence!

And because we start looking and thinking and flirting and focusing on the other side

But here is the beauty

That as we make wise decisions of goodness and obedience

We start taking steps away from the fence

We start turning away from focusing on the fence and we start to look at the pasture

And when we start enjoying the pasture we stop wondering and flirting with the fence line

And now it becomes easier and easier to stay in the pasture

Your staying in the right place

Your staying on the straight and right path

All because of your submission and obedience to Christ

We become more confident (firm in his ways)

Proverbs 15:19 “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.”

We become more confident on the firm and level path that he has given us

We become more confident in the goodness of God

Contrast to foolishness

Now what we also find here is a contrast

That beyond the fence line - whatever we may think looks good and pleasing - is actually evilness

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

I said this last week but I want to say it again that to fear the Lord is to fear being out of his presence

That if you choose evil and wickedness, if you choose to to be disobedient, you are wilfully choosing separation and wilfully choosing to be out of his goodness

So dont try to be wise in your own might/strength/ways

Dont try to be wise in the worlds ways

But be wise in the Lord

8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

I love how my Study Bible puts this “Since one cannot see the bones, they may serve as a figure for the inner person. Together, “flesh” and “bones” stand for the whole person.”

We want all of our self to seek righteousness, to seek goodness

Dont be foolish

Practical Application

Lean on your own understanding

I want us to note here that there is a level of understanding that you can have to rely on your own understanding

Illustration: Toilet paper is a decision made purely on understanding

College - The door was open to several colleges but I made the decision purely based off of cost and cost effective

If there is a struggle of where you should go surely you can pray and maybe God does have a specific place he wants for you to choose

But generally speaking I am trying to just convey that there are times we can make decisions purely out of practicality

There is liberty and we do not need to over spiritualize every decision

HOWEVER,

That should not be our norm

It is unwise to rely heavily or exclusively on our own understanding - and that is why we say to just take everything to God in prayer

You can never go wrong to bring in the Lord and to trust in him

Practically speaking - there is a lot of talk within the evangelical community about

Homeschool. Private School. Public School -

There are pros and cons to each

I believe you are to seek the Lord as to how he wants you lead your family - as to what is feasible

And to remember that the person primarily responsible for raising and formulating the child is the parent in the home

Ultimatley - whatever you choose - you are to trust the Lord and to contuinously be seeking Him

Now - there are decisions that have greater implications or discernment

Dating/Marriage/Relationships

Child Bearing/Raising

Liberty in Drinking

Stewardship (Time, finances, resources)

These and many more have a clear fence line

There is clearly a right way and a wrong way to do these things

God gives us these fence lines and we are to be wise by staying within the fence lines

And the answer for you may be different than the answer for someone else

But as long as no one leaves the fence line we are all good

Tim Keller states that a lot of times our decisions are made based upon our desires

And so, in an effort to make sure that our desires are in line with the Lords desire

Keller came up with steps for discernment in making decisions:

Define the decision - which way are you picking to go or choosing to do?

Gather relevant information - what does it look like if you choose it?

Look at passages that relate to your decision - is it in line with scripture?

Consider the meaning and motive behind the decision - where is my heart posture in this?

Think out loud with trusted friends and leadership - mentors/discipleship