John K. Jenkins Sr - How To Know God's Will

I’m not sure about the person sitting next to you, but I’m not confident about the person on your left side. However, I’m almost certain that the person on your right side wants to know God’s perfect will for their life. I’m not sure about that left-handed joker, but on the right side, I’m convinced they seek to know what God’s will is. I don’t know where you all are, but I want to be in the perfect will of God for my life. I want to be in the perfect will-somebody say the perfect will of God! Here 's what I want: the terminology I use is that I want to be in the downtown will of God. I want to be right in the center of God’s will for my life. I don’t want to be skewed off to the side; I don’t want to be in the suburbs, nor do I want to be on a side street. I want to be on Main Street, right smack in the middle of God’s will for my life. The problem is that many of us express this desire because some of us know that the safest place to be is in the perfect will of God. If you deviate and step outside of God’s will, you are taking a dangerous step by operating outside of His perfect will for your life. It’s the safest place to be; it’s the most prosperous place to be. If you go outside of the will of God, you expose yourself to dangers. But how do people get outside of the will of God? Nobody jumped up today and decided, «I’m going to walk outside of God’s perfect will .» Nobody said, «I’m going to go and disobey God.» No, we get there because we make little compromises. We 're supposed to be right down the aisle, straight down the street of God’s will, but we make tiny compromises, little moves, and we think we’re okay because we’re still on the pavement. We might not be exactly in the center of the street, but we’re on the pavement. We make little compromises and think it’s no big deal; we still think we’ll reach our destination. But then we make another compromise, and while we’re still in the general vicinity, it’s a roundabout way. We feel like we’re okay, but then we compromise again. Before you know it, we keep making little compromises, step by step, day by day-little changes, little give -ins. «Okay, I didn’t do exactly what I was supposed to,» and before you know it, we’ve drifted so far away from God’s will. We were supposed to be way over there, but now we 're over here. We’re hanging out with the messed- up people over here. Amen? We end up outside of where God wants us. We were meant to be over there; that street over there is what will take us to God’s Destiny and His will for our lives. But now we’re way over here-amen? -messed up and jacked up, and now we have to figure out how we’re going to get back to where we’re supposed to be. What I want to do today is help challenge you to know exactly how to discern God’s will for your life. As a matter of fact, God’s will is no secret; it’s not hidden anywhere. You don 't have to search for it; all you need to do is learn to discern His will by applying basic principles to your life. My assignment today is to teach you how to stay in God’s perfect will. You all are supposed to say, «Come on and show me, Pastor; tell me!» I’m glad you asked! Here are five ways, five principles, five truths to help you walk in God’s perfect will, and this is important because how many of you know that one bad decision can alter your life for the rest of your life? Yeah, one bad choice, one bad decision, one wrong connection, one wrong choice can affect you for your entire life. So how do we know what God’s will is? Here they are: Number one, Scriptural Direction. You learn God’s will through His Word. He provides clarity and specificity regarding what He wants us to do through His scriptures. Psalm 119: 105 says this: «Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.» Oh, that’s a powerful verse right there! Here 's God’s Word; He says it is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path-the way I’m supposed to go. He illuminates the path and gives direction on where He wants us to go. His word lights the way, and you know what else? His word is a lamp to our feet. He not only tells us the direction we’re supposed to be going in but also gives us light to see step by step what we are supposed to be doing. But that’s not what we are doing because we prefer darkness. We don’t like the light; we follow darkness because you’re attracted to it. Tell your neighbor, «You 're attracted to it — that’s why you did it!» You 're drawn to dark things; you have no business wanting them, yet you want them. You went down that road, knowing it wasn 't good- it was against the scriptures.