good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks welcome today to morning
glory our midweek bible study
i want to invite you today grab your
bibles meet me in the book of proverbs
chapter 3. let's start today in verse 17
we're going to talk about
the acid test
of divine
leading woo glory to god get out your
test tubes
and we're going to do some testing today
let's pray heavenly father as we jump
into your word we ask that your spirit
would come
your spirit of wisdom
and revelation and the knowledge of
christ that this would be revealed to us
father your word
in a bright and illuminated way
thank you for the ministry of your holy
spirit who is working right now to
conform us into the mature image of the
lord jesus christ father we give you all
the praise we thank you from the very
depths of our heart in jesus name we
pray
and we all agree and say
amen
whoa glory to god
now of course the
expression acid test is a
figurative symbolic type expression
and it means to
prove
to prove whether something is good or
bad or up the snuff or is as it is
supposed to be so we're going to take
divine leading or what is said to be
divine leading and we're going to put it
through the
acid test so that we can have proof of
what is genuine or
perhaps what could be
not really authentic what could be maybe
the wires got crossed what could be uh
even
even another voice that could be
speaking we're going to talk about that
today
i think it's very important that you
have a core understanding of the
character and nature of god
that is always god's
it is always god's intent to lead you
upward you go from glory to glory
strength to strength faith to faith he's
never trying to
lead you downward into a pit he's always
trying to lead you up and over in
victory praise god so
every time
that we are tied into divine guidance
my friends
that just means you're on your way to
the place of victory and triumph that
god has designed for you to stand in and
to enjoy praise the lord so
having said that we're now going to
jump into these various acid tests it's
not just one acid test
it's plural test
because
although i made the title singular
really uh we have some subheadings that
we need to look at
but i tell you there are
so many voices out there
that would speak that would vie for our
attention and we have to be very careful
that we only follow the guidance of the
lord praise god so
having said that
and i know for certain that you would
like to experience the leading or the
guidance of god concerning his plan and
will for your life then let's look at
some of these as
acid test proofs
these undeniable evidences when ran
through the laboratory of god
that we can
walk away with the certainty
that we are either perhaps off course or
right in the center of god's will or
maybe there needs to be some adjustments
and the coordinations need to be
corrected and we can cover that as well
god's ready to help us out we're in
proverbs chapter 3. let's begin today
with verse 17.
it says her ways are ways of
pleasantness
now these are the ways of wisdom
but the ways of wisdom are
tied into the ways of god in other words
there are no ways of god that are
foolish or or you know nonsensical the
ways of god are the ways of wisdom so
we're looking at here that the ways her
ways are ways of
pleasantness
praise god
now this is very important you need to
understand
that when the lord leads
and we're going to work with an asset
test right now
he is determined
to lead you into
pleasantness again the scripture
her ways are ways of pleasantness these
are the ways of wisdom
uh wisdom being personified as a female
here with the with the usage of the word
her
but these are the ways of wisdom these
are god's ways
her ways are ways of pleasantness now
the word pleasant
in the hebrew is the word no
um and it means agreeable
it means delightful
and it means bright
and beautiful
glory to god so think about now
the
acid test we're pouring uh the chemicals
into the test tube we're swirling things
around we want proofs of what works okay
that's the whole thing about science is
that you should be able to verify it a
scientific fact is something that you
should be able to replicate over and
over getting the same results that's
what we're endeavoring to do right now
and so divine leading can be
tested against
this reality that when god leads he
leads into pleasantness so all of god's
ways think of it like this all of god's
leadings
all of god's methods of guidance are
pleasant
agreeable
delightful
bright
and beautiful
well you know by that alone that the
lord's not trying to lead you down into
the pit
[Laughter]
you know you know by that alone that god
is trying to lead you in a good way in a
good direction praise god
because god's ways are pleasant
you
therefore have the ability to live a
tension free life i i feel happy just
saying that a tension free
life i've met believers in the church
that are so stressed out they have gone
to the doctor and that they don't really
know what the problem is and you know
what the doctor has diagnosed with
several individuals that i've known
personally stress
and they think it's maybe a muscle part
or maybe something like that the doctor
says it's because you're completely
stressed out now you can see the stress
on them but sometimes when they're in it
they can become so
tense
that they failed to realize
god doesn't want you living your life
like this this is not good for your
health
oh my goodness praise the lord
so god's ways are pleasant therefore you
have the ability to live a tension-free
life free from stress
and strain
you know i have a wonderful friend we've
been friends for quite a few years now a
catholic priest
he lives in france he's much older than
i am and we have wonderful conversations
in the lord about the lord and the
things of god and
one day he said to me he said pastor
stephen
he said i don't see how you're able to
do so much
and stay
so relaxed you're you're doing all this
television you're doing these other
things you're doing this that and the
other and you're writing books and all
this stuff is always going on
and how is it that you're doing this but
you're just relaxed
i said well
i said my friend i said the ways of god
are pleasant and
that pleasantness or that sweetness
means that i don't have to get all
tensed out
all uh messed up tangled up and uh you
know all
i don't have to do that um
there is a
a pleasantness that's literally
supernatural
and he agreed he could see that and we
both know of course and you do too
that that is something that's coming
from the lord
but anytime
you are endeavoring to pick up the
guidance of the lord to go a certain
path
watch out
if there is tension
and there's apprehension and it's it is
getting tighter and tighter
it very well could be
that you're trying to go in a direction
that god does not want you to go okay
praise the lord so we're working with
the acid test
of pleasantness praise god is it
pleasant thank you jesus now
it is true i would have to say that
i don't know
the
life that some know
i
meet many people i had a delivery driver
today dropped something off of the house
and he he kind of had that
uh what what those in the world called
the daily grind
where life is not
pleasant life is a grind and you have to
get through it there's a really good
coffee shop in southern california
called the daily grind
but they're grinding coffee they're not
trying to grind out life
you shouldn't have to grind out your
life you shouldn't have to wake up every
morning as i heard a preacher once say
and go out and earn another lousy book
wow
that's a bad attitude something there's
a chip on the shoulder of
some type of frustration against god
and the delivery driver today was um
he was you know i got along with him
just fine and he actually delivered the
package quite well but he was just um
he was not happy he wasn't happy about
his life i wasn't happy about all kinds
of things i just tried to cheer him up i
tried to drop a few little nuggets in
there about the lord and uh
but you know
god wants us to have a path
of
pleasantness praise god that is in the
scriptures okay so when you're trying to
verify the right direction to go
note that if there is
all this tension
coupled with apprehension uneasiness
then most likely
the voice or the guidance that you're
endeavoring to pick up on is not the
voice of god but
be
be aware of this it could be the voice
of the stranger
now as you grow in the lord
you will realize that there is the
authentic voice of god but there is
another voice that can come
and sometimes it can it can seem
uh
like it's wisdom but scripture says
there's a way that seems right under man
but it leads to death
uh there can be like this uh voice that
would come that would be a voice of the
world system or even
literally the voice of
the devil
i have had
the devil come to me once one time it
happened when i was ministering
in india
and i had uh i'd gotten there of course
a couple of weeks earlier and i'd done
all these television programs
about eight tv programs a day and so i
was just recording them eight a day
eight a day and i was i was getting
depleted because i was doing so much
ministry in the studio but then after
the end of all of those recordings
there was a very large meeting that i
had to speak in
now the previous year i had gone to that
same meeting and we had we had a trip
i was just a tremendous powerful move of
the holy spirit all kinds of miracles
and stuff like that but this time when i
showed up uh the enemy and uh his his
forces were ready to fully resist they
did not want that to happen again and
not only that i had been ministering and
pouring out so much that week that when
i got there
i was physically exhausted i was prayed
up
i had spent the whole day with the lord
getting prepared but i was physically
exhausted and
it's like that night when i went to
minister it's like there was a wet
blanket thrown on the whole congregation
and
so i stood up in the uh platform the
podium the minister you know and so
after the praise and worship they called
me up
and as i'm standing there
talking and greeting the people satan
came up to the pulpit now he's invisible
he's a spirit he came up to the pulpit
and said to me
you are not going to do good tonight
you're wearing my color
and i was wearing a black safari
everybody thought it looked really sharp
i did too
was custom made just for me
but he was he was messing with me in
every single way
and uh you know stop and think about it
the devil went all the way to india just
to harass me well he's not doing it to
me just to because of of who i am he's
doing it because of the threat against
his kingdom and he knew what happened
last time
and uh i just uh
i i heard the voice it was uh and
remember the devil
he is the fallen cherub
and when he appears it's not like he's
this fictional character that has these
red horns and a pitchfork and a you know
you know tail sticking out or something
like that
uh when i've seen him and also when he
came there in south india he came like a
distinguished prince
calm
not not all worked up you know like not
like i'm cursing you nothing like he
called just calm
real
real cool
but cold because he's he's dead
and uh that he spoke it to me in that
type of a voice you're not going to do
good tonight you're wearing my color
and uh
not even so much like a threat but just
like i'm in control tonight so i had to
dig really really deep and uh
and finally
we did get a breakthrough and the holy
spirit did begin to move and things
started happening
and
after i'd prayed over every single
person a couple thousand people i was
i was at that point
more depleted than i'd ever been in my
life even with all of the running and
track and field i'd done earlier in my
life and stuff like that i had never
known a level of exhaustion like that
ever before
and much to my complete
surprise maybe even my dismay
the pastor stood up after all of that
and said this
is so wonderful i'm going to have pastor
stephen come back up and we're going to
have him just pray over everybody again
and i almost i almost fell out
i i walk back up there uh just totally
wiped out
and i tried to get it going again and i
was so
depleted i didn't i realized i just took
the microphone and i handed it to
another minister i felt a great man of
god uh prophet sadiu silverad she was
sitting there
and uh i just handed him the microphone
i sat down and
kind of like just threw the whole thing
in his lap
he was certainly ever able to uh uh
minister uh that remember be ready in
season and out of season of course
somebody likes to do he's ready to go uh
day or night or anything like that but
my goodness there's these voices
there's these voices and uh when it
particularly comes to guidance
you have got to discern the voice of god
from all of this other all of these
other wavelengths that are out there
even voices even ones that could even
appear audible i told you about the time
uh in my when i've shared my testimony
about when all i had left was four
dollars i was homeless i was in a
destitute position i was hungry and
through that whole tormenting ordeal i'd
saved four dollars four one dollar bills
i never spent them because i figured i
could at least go to mcdonald's and have
one final meal
you know before i you know whatever
happened to me i died or whatever could
take place at least i would have have a
full stomach at least for a few days all
right so i'd saved them but sitting in
that little meeting
uh with the evangelist ministering and
he was going to and he took up an
offering for medical so he get medical
supplies and take it to south america
well sitting in that meeting in texas
with the offering basket coming around i
heard
the voice
of an angel speak to me on this side
of my shoulder right behind my shoulder
he said take the four dollars
and give it in the offering basket
that's coming give the four dollars and
immediately immediately another voice
spoke over on this side of my shoulder
it literally reminded me of the tom and
jerry cartoon uh you know those old
animated cartoons where you have tom the
cat and he's trying to be good uh and he
doesn't want to hurt jerry the little
mouse and he's got the he's got the
angel and the devil telling him you know
do this do this and uh there's a battle
going on uh uh unfortunately sometimes
tom obeyed uh the bad guy we're trying
to get the mouse well anyhow
that literally is what was taking place
with me and this evil spirit this demon
that was
that you see the devil doesn't know
everything that god has planned for you
but he can see
an aura or a light that would denote
calling and destiny and his purpose is
to destroy it before you ever get up and
get going and of course he doesn't stop
until
our time is done but i tell you what
this voice on the other side the dark
side immediately spoke and said don't
give that you'll starve if you do
and i
sat there for about three seconds
caught in between
this this tug of war going on on both
sides and i and then the holy spirit
came down
and i saw it as clear as day i said you
dirty devil i said i'm already starving
and i just took the four dollars and
right then is when the basket showed up
and i just threw it in there unless i
think any more about it
then the basket passed on
whoo glory to god and of course god did
a miracle beginning started to happen
the next day the next week a major
america broke loose and god pulled me up
out of the pit so
these things of knowing the the voice
and the guidance of the lord we're going
to have to get real sharp on this
because there are other voices
there could even be voices of relatives
or friends that may be sincere as they
speak with their voice and their
guidance can be sincerely wrong it can
be completely wrong yet they think they
are speaking on behalf of the lord
you're going to have
to learn
the voice of god and the true and
authentic
guidance of the holy spirit that's why
you're going to need some
asset testing equipment
so that first one the first test is the
test of pleasantness is it pleasant
again
her ways are ways of pleasantness
pleasant agreeable delightful bright and
beautiful
so think about that praise the lord okay
let's move on to number two
number two is also found in the same
scripture her ways are ways of
pleasantness and all not some
not 80 percent all and all her paths
are
peace
this one is a heavy one right here all
of her paths are peace
all god-given guidance
is characterized by his peace that
follows
divine guidance and peace
i would call them best friends
i want to say it again divine guidance
and peace are best
friends they go together they hang out
together
so if peace is absent
we really
need to re-examine what we think could
be guidance
but could be a wrong voice
peace will always not just sometimes but
always accompany a leading that is from
god because he always speaks peace to
his people
hmm
wow let's take a look at that in
scripture that would be psalm 85.
psalm 85
let's drop down to verse 8
i will hear what god the lord will speak
for he will speak peace
to his people and to his saints but let
them not
let them not turn back to folly hmm
wow so what does the lord speak he will
speak peace to his people and his
saints
now there are as i've said earlier
often multiple voices
that are vying for our attention so
there is a way to determine which voice
is genuine and which voice would be
counterfeit
the bible says that out of the mouth of
two or three witnesses
every truth shall be
established
and of course paul
spoke that in second corinthians chapter
13 verse 1 but he's quoting from the
book of deuteronomy which would be
chapter 19 verse 15 that you need two or
three witnesses to establish every truth
by the way jesus quoted more from the
book of deuteronomy than any other book
you're going to need to learn torah you
need to get into scriptures because it
gives you a solid foundation
of justice
of what god views as being right what he
views as being wrong and it will it will
cause your understanding of grace to be
balanced and it will cause
you to have a great working knowledge of
the will and the ways of god praise the
lord
all right so
god gave multiple witnesses to his
people concerning his divine guidance
and leading so we know there needs to be
peace let's dig into this even further
by going to the prophet isaiah
chapter 48. now one of these scriptures
we've studied in detail but the
scripture that comes right after that
one
oh
we can't ignore it let's jump over to
isaiah 48 verse 17.
isaiah 48 verse 17
thus says the lord your redeemer the
holy one of israel i am the lord your
god who teaches you to prophet
fascinating verse we've examined that
before
a very very
uh potent verse
i am the lord your god who teaches you
the prophet who
leads you
again we're talking about being led by
god
we're talking about divine guidance
who leads you by the way
you should go there is a way that you
should go there is the general way which
is in conformity with god's word but
there is the specialized way
that is tailor-made just for
you and you need to know what that way
is who leads you by the way you should
go now verse 18. a lot of people get all
excited about verse 17 and rightfully so
but we have to balance it with verse 18.
oh
that you had heeded my commandments
then your peace
would have been
like a river
your peace would have been like a river
so verse 18
reveals that god's leading brings us
into a realm of peace similar to that of
a river
in other words the river
is symbolic of ever flowing
constant peace
wow praise god
so the way
is that he leads is synonymous with
peace like a river
thank you jesus glory to god and
perhaps
the most famous chapter maybe the second
most famous chapter in the bible
uh we're going to go now to psalm 23
and one of the most well-known
psalms in the bible and one of the most
well-known chapters in the bible psalm
23 verse 2.
now let's start in verse 1 so good verse
1 the lord is my shepherd i shall not
want he makes me to lie down in green
pastures he leads me divine guidance
divine guidance he leads me where
beside
what kind of waters steel waters
that is symbolic of peace he leads you
beside still waters and this peace also
as we saw in isaiah is like a river that
is a perpetual
constant flow
praise the lord
so that's how he leads us
so
think of it like this we're doing
another acid test
if you feel
apprehension
or something's upsetting you
then know that the enemy could be trying
to
crash your destiny because peace
is not in the equation
because everything about divine leading
is associated with peace
peace like a river
and here the divine leading he leads me
where beside the steel waters not into
absolute chaos where there's no way to
be grounded or centralized or have any
ability to change it
so god wants you to have peace by the
way this is why
when you're endeavoring to discern
the path that god has for you
you need to get quiet
because that's associated with with
divine leading it's it's so often
unveiled in quiet calm places lay down
on the grass next to a very tranquil
stream going by like david is referring
to here
with maybe some sheep bleeding off in
the distance i'm not saying you could
actually recrea
recreate this natural environment but
you can see the type of atmosphere
that's calm
non-stressful so that you can
discern the leading of god in an
environment
that is peaceful like that oh praise god
so create that environment and while
you're in it
ask god questions
david would ask god all kinds of
questions lord shall i should i go up
against the philistines the lord would
say yes lord how should i do it take
them straight on and move when you hear
the angels at the top of the trees okay
lord got you on that
lord we beat the philistines really good
thank you for your advice and your
counsel uh lord they're trying to fight
me again lord how should we do it this
time do you want to do it different god
says yes this time is going to be
different
come around from behind them
and he inquired of the lord pastor
stephen i guess that david he was a
military genius
no god's the genius davis just followed
his instructions and that makes david
look good
what does divine guidance do it takes
you to your throne
that's all god wants to do he wants to
enthrone you in your calling so that you
can glorify him and exalt christ through
your life experience
what about moses
moses would inquire of the lord not not
only after he had received divine
insight and guidance
concerning the path that god had for him
as a deliverer but moses was very wise
moses would be like um
okay lord i've got it okay so you're
going to work through me to deliver your
people god's like yes and moses is like
okay uh lord i have some more questions
and that's what you need to do you need
to get down to the nitty-gritty with god
and you need to bring it all out and you
need to say god what do you think about
this or what what am i supposed to do
about this and moses is like lord uh by
the way you know i'm not a very good
talker and he's like hey i could really
you know i really don't want to do the
speaking so god's like okay got another
mouth for you that's covered what else
you need well lord you know i i don't
want to really you know have this whole
thing fall apart in his eyes because
pharaoh you know he's
lord i'm going to have to absolutely
have signs and wonders and miracles
god's like boom got it got it covered
anything else on your list
but can you see he's asking asking
asking
and you're going to need that clarity
because it's not just
having a generalized understanding of
the direction that you need to go you're
going to you're going to have to dig
deeper into that why because all kinds
of voices will be saying i'll do it like
this do it like that do it this way do
it that way oh we did it this way and
you know and on and on it goes and there
could be wisdom in the way others have
done it but
but
concerning how god wants you to do it
when he's working with you it could be
completely different or it could have
some similarities you'll never know
until you get quiet in a peaceful place
and do what ask him all of these we
could even call them the little
questions
remember it's the little foxes that
spoil the vines with these areas that we
don't attend to
praise god
all right let me say this
i've met quite a few christians over the
years who in their in their exuberance
their their their zeal even for the lord
they have followed what i would call
self-fabricated leadings
a self-fabricated form of guidance why
because they want to go to that
direction so uh they can create reasons
and all kinds of justifications for why
they're wanting to go that way
and um
i've seen some of them even with the
complete absence of peace and all kinds
of tension and stress still
just blast forward like a like a tank
and uh
this is very serious
um
behavior here that we have to be very
wise and move forward with absolute
assurance of knowing
praise god so that's what happens
sometimes where
christians uh
they start getting knowledge and
but they still need more and they start
moving too fast um
kind of a funny scenario but the same
way in martial arts the most dangerous
ones are the ones white belt uh then you
get past your white belt you get your
yellow belt and your orange belt and
right around that area
you know the the macho thing starts you
wanting to kick in i can i can fight
anybody no you don't you don't even know
what you're doing okay
you need at least two years
[Laughter]
i did martial arts for 14 years i fought
in the uh the karate world championship
in las vegas
made it to the quarterfinals
and uh that you know survived didn't
didn't get any teeth knocked out didn't
get knocked unconscious or anything like
that i
did okay in my weight class and so forth
uh
but my friends um
you you're gonna have to dig past
elementary levels
and pray put your time in put your
waiting in ask your questions in a see
you cannot ask questions in an anxious
environment god does not answer prayers
that are anxious prayers well i don't
have time pastor stephen i just got to
throw this stuff up and hope something
comes back down
nothing's coming down except maybe some
fake voices some counterfeit voices
because they know you're vulnerable
you can't rush this stuff
develop your walk with the lord glory to
god thank you jesus um
okay so this is why
it's
vital
that we know
[Music]
the right answers before moving forward
because if you're going the wrong
direction
and you're even self-fabricating
supposed wisdom i've heard from god
brother are you sure i'm sure how dare
you ask me you know and uh so they're
blasting on
there's
there's some awful consequences to that
uh the first one would be found in
philippians chapter 2
verse 13. let's jump over there
some of you are going to get you're
going to be maybe a little apprehensive
i don't want you to ever be fearful
about what god has called you to do but
i would and i don't want you to miss the
move or something like that that god
would have or the opportunity but i do
want
uh any aspect of
of foolishness
any aspect of
spiritual arrogance or any aspect of
selfish ambition to be crucified praise
the lord all right we're in philippians
chapter 2 verse 13
for it is god
it is god who works in you
both to will and to do for his good
pleasure this is extremely important
what god
does lead us into the things that he
does lead us into
requires
his
involvement
if he does not lead but you still go
he is not involved therefore what you're
trying to do can
never be fulfilled
or
accomplished
wow that's a mouthful i'm going to say
it one more time
what god does lead us into
requires
it's not an option it requires his
involvement you can't do it without him
again it is god who works in you both to
will and to do for his good pleasure so
if he's not in it he's not a he's not
commissioned it
then that energy that comes from god
it's not there
and and you're now trying to execute
something that's beyond your ability to
do
what god does lead us into requires his
involvement if he does not lead if he's
not guiding but you still go anyhow he
is not involved therefore it cannot be
accomplished and fulfilled because
it's
him working through us but he's not
going to work through you in something
that he is
not authorized
praise the lord okay now we see it also
here's one of my favorite verses in the
bible psalm 127. let's jump over there
psalm 127 verse 1.
verse 1 unless the lord
builds the house
they labor in vain who build it unless
the lord
builds the house now god's not going to
come down with a hammer
and you know a sawzall and uh you know
pull out his black and decker toolbox
and say men i'm here to help you build
this house
god works through people but god
energizes you it gives you wisdom and
gives you understanding and gives you
favor and gives you peace and gives you
all of these things that you need to get
it done for him because it's his work
but unless the lord builds the house
unless he authorizes it unless it's his
will they labor in vain
who build it
well pastor stephen we're going to build
it anyhow oh
you're going to be like nimrod build
your own babylon huh nimrod's the
founder of uh babylon not a nice guy
when it says in the bible that he was a
great hunter
um you have to understand the word usage
we kind of lose it into english
but the rabbis taught that what that
means that expression he was a great
hunter before god
that means he was a man who was against
god and he was hunting souls
that's the whole
system of babylon babylon is hunting
souls to pull them into a system of
chaos a world of darkness without god
that was the kind of city that was the
type of atmosphere that he was
endeavoring to create so you're going
you you're going to need the lord to
build the house that he has for you and
you could build something in the energy
of the flesh
but
you'll get no reward from it from the
lord because he cannot honor or reward
that which he would consider to be
disobedience praise god
so don't go building just anything
that you receive because you believe you
have guidance wait and prove it out
first
run your various acid tests to make sure
it is meeting these requirements
praise god that it would be pleasant
and very very important that it would be
peaceful hallelujah and
we see in the book of zechariah chapter
4
verse 6
this is the word of the lord to
zerubbabel
let this be a word to you okay
not by might
nor by power
but by my spirit
says the lord of hosts if you think you
can get your assignment your calling
your specific uh thing done that god has
placed upon your heart to do without him
you're fooling yourself
so that's why you need to trust in the
lord's power but that power is released
in
that area that god has
placed you in you have to run in your
lane if you get out of your lane in the
olympics and track and field you get out
of your lane on the relays you're
disqualified it doesn't matter if you're
faster than everybody else you're
already out
you have to stay in your lane
so it's not by might nor by power but by
my spirit says the lord of hosts oh yes
you run oh yes you work yes you build
but you're going to need the spirit of
god to empower you to get it done and
everything else that only god could do
the miracles and favor and all of that
other good stuff okay and let's take a
look at another scripture that keeps the
the emphasis strong
on trusting the lord
and that would be over here in first
samuel chapter 2
verse 9 for by strength
no man
shall prevail
pastor stephen i see the plan
i see the path i see the guidance i'm on
the move uh do you have all the details
uh you could be going in the right
direction but you're gonna have to
refine this a little bit more pastor
steve i don't i'm just gonna start i'm
gonna run
before you run or before you build the
house or whatever it might be
you know get all these things ironed out
ask the questions like moses ask the
questions like david and then you
develop
a reputation for not losing you're
winning winning winning david was
winning winning winning all the time why
he's asking questions he's inquiring of
the lord
and he's getting peaceful answers
hmm
praise the lord because he needs god's
help philistines they're not a pushover
big strong men over there giants over
there
he needed the lord praise god and how
about the whopper one
john
this would be in the gospel of john john
chapter 15
verse 5.
jesus said
for without me
you can do nothing
think about that jesus said
without me
you
can
do
nothing
and he's not going to do things that he
that he's not going to get into your
life and start working and doing things
when what you're doing is not that
area that god has guided in you into you
have to get into the area of god's
guidance
praise the lord
and then when you get into it he'll help
you
he'll help you he's with you praise god
get dialed in whoo praise the lord get
the spiritual gps dialed in
hallelujah
glory to god
when there is peace in our hearts there
will be triumph
in our pursuits
i want to say it again
when there is peace in our hearts
there will be triumph in our pursuits
why because the pursuits are vectoring
with the guidance of the lord
thank you lord now
we can also identify and be sure that
the lord is the one leading us
by the joy of the lord that accompanies
his leadings i like this one a lot i
know you will too
psalm 89 please let's turn over there
psalm 89
verse 15
blessed
are the people
who know who know
the joyful
sound
blessed are the people who know
the joyful
sound
thank you lord jesus
hallelujah the voice of the lord
is a joyful
joyful
sound
his guidance
sinks
with joy
hmm
praise god
a few days back pastor kelly and i had
something
uh
open up for us that was a great blessing
and we knew the lord was in it we had
prayed
and the timing was right
everything was right
the person who helped
it was a lady a christian lady who
helped us
to fulfill it and finalize it
was there
and
just laughed her
laughter began to break out and it was
just
it was so
joyful and god was so in it
that it it's almost like the trees were
about to start clapping their branches
it's like the mountains were smiling
we're in the foothills of the mountains
here
it just it's like all of nature of
creation was witnessing god is in this
100 percent and it made my wife and i so
happy
glory to god i get so happy just
thinking about it right now i was
actually dancing earlier
god
hallelujah enjoy dancing in joy for what
the lord has done
my friends if there's no joy
watch out
pastor steve i'm i'm moving on with this
but there's no joy
oh
watch out
watch out
blessed are the people who know the
joyful sound the sound the voice
of guidance
will have
joy in it
when it's the lord's guidance
praise god
praise god
hallelujah um
so we prove which voice we are hearing
and
following with these various
acid tests from these uh wonderful
scriptures
thank you lord watch out my friends i i
just feel the warning watch out for the
stranger's voice
we do need to look at this
john chapter 10. let's go over there
just for a moment
john 10 verse 2
but he who enters by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep
to him the doorkeeper opens
and the sheep hear his voice and he
calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out verse 4. and he
brings them out
and when he brings out his own sheep he
goes before them and she follow him for
they know
his voice
yet
they will by no means follow a stranger
but will flee from him for they do not
know the voice of the strangers now
here's the thing about the voice of
strangers
it's the wrong voice
but the sheep
they don't follow it but they still
hear it
you can't
you can't uh
you can't live in a a room with padded
walls and never come out
there there's these voices and voices
speak and you cannot say well i'm not
even going to listen well sometimes
you can't help but hear it
and it could be a wrong voice but we
always want to stay away from the voice
of a stranger
thank you lord we prove which voice we
are hearing and following
thank you lord so as we
operate in the lord's laboratory take
out our test tubes and do these various
acid tests
concerning the lord's guidance
we see that guidance
will include
the path of pleasantness
the path
of
peace
the path of
joy
and
ah
we need to add one more
the path
of guidance of the lord
must
also always be
scriptural
oh the devil he's so tricky
he's so tricky let's let's look at this
one uh the acid test of scripture by
going to psalm 12
we're going to go to psalm 12 praise the
lord
and i want us to look at verse six
the words
of the lord
are pure
words
like silver tried
in a furnace
of earth purified
purified
seven
times this is what i would like to say
that it's okay
to test
guidance
it's okay to test the word how with the
scriptures you want to line that up with
the word of god because
you need to understand
that the devil knows scripture i believe
he knows the entire bible now he's a
he's an outlaw rebel spirit who is
spiritually dead
confined to
uh
facing the reality that he will spend
his eternity
in the
lake of fire that burns with fire in
brimstone which is why you don't want to
go there if you're not born again you
don't want to go there because he's
going to be there roasting in the fire
all the demons all the evil spirits all
the wicked rebellious people that never
received christ you don't want to go
there it's bad company not only a
pain
pain beyond comprehension from this
natural perspective
so you want to live for the lord and get
on the right path praise god
so we can test
we can test guidance
and the the devil can
he can give scriptures
and even make statements uh in order to
try to confuse people sometimes he will
actually quote the scripture right but
he's quoting it out of context
other times he will take a scripture and
he will quote it
but he'll he'll leave a word out or
he'll twist it
or pervert it and if you don't know the
word and you don't get in there and
verify the word
then he can pull a fast one over on you
he could he could literally uh take your
life out prematurely
and he's done that to ministers by
distorting scripture and by speaking and
they would not verify it against the
word and the devil would say something
like it is the will of god now they
don't know it's the devil it's just a
voice it is the will of god that you die
in five years
you know something something like that
and uh
uh so a a preacher that's not grounded
in the word will think oh i heard a
voice from i heard a supernatural voice
it must be god
yeah i always thought i'd die young
no no no no
we're gonna run everything through the
word of god now think about this
if the word of god
can be scrutinized see the words of the
lord are pure words like silver tried in
a furnace of earth purified seven times
if the word can be scrutinized like
purified silver
then
then certainly any form of guidance that
we would receive can be scrutinized as
well praise god i mean
you talk about scrutiny of the word i
remember one time
hearing kenneth hagin
teach on
probably uh the scripture that he was
most known for mark chapter 11 verse 23
and i listen to that man for over one
hour
take that verse and just open it up and
you know he he's digging into each word
into the statements of jesus
that i said lord i well when i first
caught that revelation what we would
call the word of faith revelation
i said lord i have never seen your word
reverenced
in such a way
where a man takes it and examines it
with such scrutiny
that
he's literally leaning his entire life
and belief system on
every saying that's in the bible
particularly the sayings of faith which
was his area of specialty and
and study
and guess what that level of scrutiny of
the word it's not like the word says
don't look it's not like scripture says
don't study me too much because you're
going to realize we have errors no you
realize the entire word of god is pure
and that it can be scrutinized to a t
and it comes out flawless just like
silver comes out it comes out shining
perfect and so
i do believe that true guidance from the
lord yes we we can verify it against
scripture because the devil he likes to
try to
particularly work on people's egos
especially
young believers or sometimes young
ministers and it's not uncommon that a
young minister will come uh uh maybe to
a seasoned minister and say something
like i heard a voice
well now uh my spiritual son what did
the voice say the the voice told me that
i'm gonna have a great ministry oh
that's good what else did the voice say
the voice said that my ministry will be
greater than john uh the apostle and
greater than peter the apostle and
greater than paul the apostle greater
than all three of them combined
now you can see
how that is nothing but a trap of the
devil to set somebody up and puff them
up with pride so then they can have a
collapse in failure and just quit the
whole thing and walk away
and that's why those of us that are
grounded in the word um yes we can give
a balanced
uh
how can i say interpretation from
scripture hallelujah because scripture
balances scripture well i'm standing on
this verse pastor stephen yes but
there's other verses too we have to we
have to interpret that verse in the
light of these verses so that we have
the right context and when we don't go
out and do something crazy
praise the lord glory to god glory to
god
so i think for some of you
for not all of you of course but for
some of you there needs to be more
inquiring of the lord to more precisely
filter out the guidance
of the path that god has for you i think
you're picking up on something good i
think you're picking up on something
that is uh
on the heavenly radar
but you're going to have to
you're going to have to flesh this out
more or else you could go with literally
maybe 15 different directions and
there's only one that you're actually
supposed to go in
well pastor stephen what if i don't know
then just find out uh wait at the in the
tranquil peaceful place and find out and
the lord will speak you know the lord
he's a great conversationalist the lord
does talk
i was going to call
uh a minister
when was this two nights ago and i said
well lord since i'm going to call him um
haven't spoken to him in a while lord it
would be good to have a word from you
that way i could give him something that
would just be a blessing to his heart
and i sat there for about
uh four minutes it took uh and i'd
already been in prayer for some time but
i'd been sitting there for about four
minutes since i asked the lord that and
then
it just floated up in my spirit the lord
says this is the word for him this is
his core assignment right now
and i called him had a little fellowship
we caught up i said by the way i said
i asked the lord for a word for you and
this is what the lord said right now is
on your radar and this is the core
assignment of what god has you to focus
on right now and he said well stephen
he said that's exactly what we're doing
right now
our whole staff is working all out to
accomplish this and this is the big push
that we're doing right now so my friends
god talks
you you can't you can't say well god
he's not showing me no he'll show you
but you can't be anxious you have to be
calm and relaxed and uh you know walking
with the lord and
he'll talk to you he'll show you these
details that you need so my friends
concerning divine guidance
apply these
excuse me asset tests because in
scientific realms you know they're going
to do these various tests why they want
to know absolute truth
and so that's what we're doing we're
endeavoring to
qualify
and authenticate the true voice
and not go in a wrong
route or
end up going down some rabbit trail okay
or something like that all right let me
pray for you heavenly father i thank you
that we are examining your scripture
concerning the asset test of divine
guidance and father we just thank you
that i know for your people as they're
listening there's been a few of these
points maybe not all of them but perhaps
one
that really stands out and they think
that's the one i need to really lean on
right now so father we just thank you
for proper alignment
and
clarity because you're positioning
your people in a very specific
time uh to get them positioned and in
the right place for what it is that you
have for them so they will be most
effective and so that they will be
enthroned in their calling to bring you
glory now father we thank you we thank
you for divine guidance we celebrate
your leading and we celebrate your
goodness in jesus name we pray bless
your people in jesus name amen
and you may be thinking
if you don't know christ as your lord
and savior you may be thinking well it
would really be nice to have a guide
and to know god's plan for my life
you're only one prayer away from that if
you would like to get your life right
with god
right now
then fully surrender your heart to him
by praying this prayer say lord jesus
save me from my sins
i give my whole life to you
jesus
wash my sins away with your precious
blood
and write my name in your book of life
and lead me
and guide me from this
day forward
jesus
i take you as my lord and
savior
in your name i pray
amen
and amen woo welcome to the family of
god
now let's take holy communion together i
would like to invite you to grab some
unleavened bread i use these little
wafers you can get these online
amazon or wherever christian bookstores
and if you don't have one of these you
could use a cracker that'd be just fine
and grab some grape juice praise the
lord and let's pray
heavenly father we bless
the bread the jews we consecrate it and
set it apart as holy through this prayer
and we thank you father god this is the
flesh and blood of jesus and so father
as we receive the lord's body
we thank you that we know we can't do
anything without him if he's not in it
we're
we're stranded
and left to our own
ability at limitness and lord we just we
need you
so we thank you for divine guidance as
we receive the flesh of christ
to be clarity
and knowing the path that you have for
us we thank you o god
father in jesus name
amen let's receive
praise the lord
praise the lord
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we asked it if we've committed any sins
done anything wrong thought anything
wrong or bad attitude or whatever it
might be
big big or small or this or that father
we ask that you would forgive us wash us
with the precious blood of jesus cleanse
us
from all unrighteousness
we forgive father anyone who ascend
against us we forgive them completely we
bless them and we move on with you
thank you father
thank you for the blood of jesus and we
thank you father that we're going to
spend all eternity with you
in heaven and join you and and and the
next phase of our lives whatever that
would be whatever plan that would be
father we thank you we know it's not
just sitting on a cloud playing a harp
although maybe every now and then it
might be
but father we thank you there's all
kinds of other wonderful things but
right now we thank you for the earthly
plan
that you have for our lives we receive
your wisdom and your blessing and your
guidance in jesus name amen let's
receive the blood of the lord jesus
christ
praise the lord
praise the lord
praise the lord glory
glory
glory
glory to god let us lift our hands to
the lord lord we give you praise and
glory and honor
we thank you for revelation concerning
the path
we thank you father god that the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of christ is flowing right now
concerning the path the way that you
have for us
we thank you father god that this
guidance
is like a river a perpetual peace
flowing into our lives and father we
just would ask that it would ever be
disruptive forces
that are because
we have gotten away from that guidance
that you would help us to get centered
as quickly as possible we give you
praise thank you for keeping us in the
center of your will
and
father we thank you that
obviously we have to continue the walk
by faith because this is an ongoing
journey
that unveils as we continue to take one
step forward
but father we thank you for the primary
path
uh the primary commissioning and
assignment knowing those basic things
and then
working out these other areas as we
progress along so father we lean on you
we trust you and we thank you for
unfolding guidance
we give you all of the praise that you
care so much about us
that you've made the path to be so good
we thank you now father let us please
you as we execute
actions and plans and so forth may it be
pleasing to you because we've caught
your heart and we we've seen the route
that we should go and we celebrate you
and we praise you thank you father
we give you praise in jesus name
amen and amen my friends thank you for
watching i'll let you get back to the
laboratory to carry out your asset test
acid test that is and i look forward to
seeing you back next time god bless you
bye-bye