← Cornerstone Chapel - Audio Podcast
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Let's take our Bibles and go to Colossians Chapter three. We're going to continue with our worship and our study of God's Word. Now in Colossians Chapter three, we're making our way through this book together. And I'm going to look at just three verses today, verses 15, 16 and 17. And then I will say this to everybody. You can read ahead because the verses that follow this have to do with marriage. And I'm going to be bringing a teaching next week on marriage and having a real heart to heart about that topic. So please be here next Sunday and read ahead. But for today, Colossians 3, 15, 16 and 17. This is what Paul writes. By inspiration of the Spirit, he said, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. I want you to underline there in your bibles in verse 15 and verse 16. There are two directives from Paul in this passage that begin with the word let. So in verse 15 he says, Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. And in verse 16 he says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Probably the most often asked question that I get from people over the last 35 years that I've been in ministry is this question, how can I know God's will for my life? And I believe that these two directives are two of the most important directives in trying to discern and understand God's will for your life. So simply, today's teaching is discerning God's will. Discerning God's will. We're going to also be looking in Romans chapter 12 so you can get a head start there. In between Colossians 3 and Romans 12, we're going to be looking at four things that help us to discern God's will for our lives. Let's first have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this time in your word today. And I thank you for all those who are here and those who are watching online. We just want to commit our Bible study to you, Lord, that you would always be most glorified and exalted above anything and anyone. We just lift up the name of Jesus in this place because we know that you told us if you are lifted up, you will draw all men to yourself. And, and we just want people to come to you, Jesus. So thank you as we read your word together for your instruction for us today. We pray specifically that you would help us to be wise about ways to discern your will. What are your plans for our lives? What are your directions for our lives as it relates to specific things. So we just pray for that wisdom and discernment today and ask you to bless this time in your word together. It's in Jesus name we pray. And everyone said amen. When people want to know what God's will is for their lives, it's generally regarding what I would say are the big questions. The big questions. Because there are, you know, small questions like everyday decisions that all of us have to make that we don't really need to pray and fast and ask God's will about. Because the small, everyday decisions don't necessarily affect the trajectory of our lives. These are the mundane questions that we wrestle with from day to day. You know, like you wondered for yourself, you know, what should I wear to church today? And you might be wondering, where are we going to go eat after church? And things like, you know, is it time for me to upgrade my phone plan? You know, should I, you know, should I exercise more? Is it safe to eat at Taco Bell? Now, actually, that one could change the trajectory of your life. So maybe you should pray and fast from Taco Bell about that. But in other words, there are everyday decisions that we make that don't have too many consequences and thus may not require knowing God's will. I really don't think that God really cares what color socks I'm wearing today. It's, that's not a big deal. But then there are big questions that could have permanent or substantial consequence being a good or bad consequence. And thus we need to really seek God for some of those bigger questions. Questions like what college should I attend and who should I marry? And what career should I pursue? Or what job should I accept? What town should we live in? When should we start a family? Where should our kids go to school? Who should be my friends or not be my friends? And on and on. And how we answer these kinds of questions can dramatically affect our future. And so for these and other questions like those, these big questions, we need to discern God's will. And the question is, what does God want for my life? Now, that assumes that you really want to know. Because sometimes, unfortunately we try to make decisions, even the big decisions, and we think these are a no brainer. So I've got it God, thank you very much. And we don't even invite him into the equation because we think too much of ourselves and we think I got this, I got this. Only to find out later after you've made a mess of things that you don't got this. But the good news is that even if we sometimes miss the perfect will of God, that He is merciful and he is gracious and he is loving as our heavenly Father, and that he will redirect our lives because he's merciful towards us, sometimes we either neglect to invite God into the equation in the first place and thus we don't really seek his will in a matter or number two. There are also these times when we've done our best to seek his will. We've really tried to discern God the best we possibly can and we still get it wrong. So the good news is, listen, as a Christ follower, God in His mercy will still redirect our lives. And I like to point people to Romans chapter 12. So I'll put the verses on the screen or you can look also in your Bibles cause we're gonna spend a little time here. Also in Romans 12 I like to point people to Romans 12 to help us understand the big picture concerning God's will. This is what verses 1 and 2 says. Paul writes, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove, or some translations say, test, what is that? Good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now on the screen I underlined those last three good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Because we mostly think about just his perfect will. But look outside of his perfect will, there's still a good and acceptable portion of, of God's purposes for your life. And I like to think of it like this, that God's will is like a target. And obviously we desire to aim for the bullseye. Because when we think about, okay, what does God want? We don't want really anything less than what he wants. So we endeavor to aim for his perfect will. That would be the bullseye. But I think what Paul is writing to us here in Romans 12 is this idea that yes, there is this perfect will of God, but on the Same target in the parameters. There's also his acceptable and goodwill. Some of your translations say good and pleasing. But it's this idea that as a Christ follower, even if you don't necessarily hit the bull's eye every time, if you love Jesus, you're still on the target. And thus, as a Christ follower, God, because He's rich in mercy, he will constantly be rich redirecting our lives so that we can still accomplish his ultimate purposes that he has in mind for us. I. I think that at the end of our lives, every Christ follower, when you get to go to heaven, if you could look back on your whole life from the time you were born to the time you, you went to be with the Lord, the path that you took will not be a straight line. I mean, if we only Jesus had a straight line from the time he was born until the time he was crucified, rose again, and ascended back into heaven. And because he was constantly in the exact perfect will of God, so it's a straight line, but for all of us, it's going to be somewhat zigzagged and you're going to sometimes get it right. I got the bullseye. And then there's other times you're like a little bit off center. But because God is rich in mercy, we're still within his acceptable and goodwill. Often, unless you're doing something completely disobedient to God, and thus he will continue to nudge us and redirect us and guide us to steer us along the line of his perfect will. I think this is important to understand because unfortunately, too many Christians have this fatalistic view of God. They have this fatalistic view. It's a fatalistic, legalistic view. And they think if I make one wrong move, then I'm doomed and my life is ruined and the whole trajectory of the course of my life is completely off course. And I think that we need to just step back a little bit and realize that in the broader picture, as long as you love Jesus, you're still on the target and God can redirect your life and he can make amends for the things that we do unintentionally that are wrong or misguided because he loves us. This is the idea of grace and how we are still within his acceptable and good will, even if we may not be perfectly in the bullseye of his perfect will. So, you know, example, let's say that you have a job offer. Let's say it's in Cleveland, and you're like, you know what Lord is This your will that we should uproot our family, move to Cleveland, take this job. And so, you know, you're weighing it before the Lord, you're praying about it, maybe you're even fasting because it's a major decision. Uproot the kids, move to another city and you decide, okay, I believe it is the Lord's will. And you end up moving and you're not two weeks there and you realize this is a disaster and your kids aren't happy and the job isn't what you thought it was going to be. Certain promises made or not, promises kept, your spouse is miserable, your whole family, your dog's throwing up, it's a mess, and you're like, got it. I think I missed. I think I missed the mark. I didn't hit the bullseye, and now the trajectory of my life is completely off course. Hey, hey, hey, you know what? You could actually move. It's okay. You could move again and God's going to redirect your life. And by the way, by the way, this is all part of being a Christ follower and understanding the big picture of the target. You're still in God's acceptable and goodwill. You, you may have missed his perfect will, who really knows? But I'll tell you this. He's still going to teach you things while there. And, and you don't even know, but that you still might actually be in his perfect will because that's a destination on the way to somewhere else that he wants you to go, but he wanted you there first in Cleveland because somebody needs Jesus and he. And he brought you there on a short term mission trip. Okay. Yeah. And because you never know. So you can't get all sullen and think, oh, no, we've made a big disaster because you don't know what God's always up to. It might be his perfect will, or maybe it's within the target. Maybe you missed the perfect part. But he's still going to teach you stuff there and he's still going to grow you there. You're still going to learn things and draw closer to the Lord. So we don't always know. And that's why we have to do the best we can to really understand what is God's direction leading and will in my life. Now, that said, there are some things, I think, that the Bible tells us that we have at our disposal to better discern what God's will is. And I'm going to stay here in Romans for the first couple of points. So back to Romans, chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. Let me read again and I'm going to emphasize a couple things here, but notice here in your Bibles he says, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God. Here we go. That you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And then verse two, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then notice this, I underlined this last part on the screen that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Some of your translations say, then you will be able to prove this is a that then statement, meaning this is a conditional promise here. If you get the first two verses, then you will better be able to prove to understand what God's good, acceptable and perfect will is for your life. So there's two wonderful points here for us to help discern God's will, found here in Romans 12:1 and 2. And the first one is, if you're taking notes, a holy life. Living a holy life will better help you to discern the will of God. That was Romans 12, verse 1, where he says, I beseech you therefore brethren, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, holy. God wants a holy life from us. Now, unfortunately, the word holy is not that often discussed in the church and it really is never discussed in the world. Except the word holy will sometimes be used in the. In the world when it is like an adjective to a cuss word, okay? Holy bleep. You know what I'm saying to you? I know we have these other expressions like holy cow, you know, And I can remember my grandfather having an expression and my dad used it and I've used it all my life too, and that's holy smokes. Holy smokes. And I don't even know what that means, everybody. I've been hearing it for generations and I've been saying it. I don't even know what holy smokes means, okay? Because when I really think about it, I mean, smokes, that's slang for cigarettes, right? People in the back of Walmart, they're taking their smokes break. They're like, you got some smokes on you, it's time for a smoke break, I think. All my life I've been saying holy cigarettes and I didn't even know holy cigarettes, holy vape, you know, I mean, I don't know, I don't know where the expression came from. And don't bother emailing me, I don't really care where it Came from. I'm just saying that we don't often use the word holy. Can I tell you something if you don't already know this? The only word in the entire Bible that is used in triplicate to describe the character and nature of God is holy. It is holy. It is spoken twice in the Old Testament, once in the Old Testament, once in the New Testament, and both times it is spoken about the character and nature of God. It is on the lips of angels. In Isaiah, chapter 6, verse 3, it says, and one seraphim cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. A similar scene in Revelation 4, verse 8. The four living creatures do not rest day or night, saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Of all the words that could describe God, the Bible doesn't say love, love, love is God. It doesn't say just, just, just is God. It doesn't say wise, wise, wise is God, though. He is all those things and more. The only word that is used in triplicate to destro to describe God's character and nature is the word holy. And that's why he wants us to be holy and obviously part of holy living, dedicating our bodies. See, understand Old Testament times, they would offer a sacrifice to God. It was a dead sacrifice. I mean, they would slaughter an animal. It was an offering, but it was a dead offering. Paul says here, now, conversely, as followers of Christ, you need to offer a living sacrifice. That's our bodies. That's part of our worship to the Lord. Do you guys understand this? God cares about how you use your bodies. God cares about how you use your bodies. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, it says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. That's the rest of the verse. So he calls us, honor him, honor the Lord with our bodies. Now, obviously, one of the first things that probably comes to your mind and should come to your mind is your sexuality. Because our bodies, our physical bodies, our sexuality, look, that all belongs to God. Everybody that belongs to God. He calls us to holiness. In fact, if you want to know a specific verse that actually says specifically what God's will is, 1st Thessalonians 4, verse 3. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from Sexual immorality. Committing our sexuality to the Lord is a big deal to God, and it means faithfulness in marriage and it means abstinence and singleness. But it's not limited to sexuality. When the instruction here is, offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God. I mean, it's everything about us. It's our eyes, what we look at, it's our ears, what we listen to, it's our feet, where we go, it's our mouths, what we say, what we put into our bodies. I mean, this is all part of. Now you might wonder, how in the world does this relate to discerning the will of God? Here's how it does. I'm going to simplify it real easy. Are you ready for this? How can you expect to know the will of God unless you are living God's way? You cannot know God's will unless you are living God's way. And God's way is holy, everybody. That's why Peter, in his epistle in 1st Peter 1:16, he instructs us with the mouth of God, be holy, because I am holy. It is irresponsible, let alone hypocritical of us to think that we will ever be able to discern the will of God when we are living in direct disobedience to the way he tells us to live. You cannot be living however you jolly well want, in violation of Scripture and then expect, well, God, please direct me to that person I'm supposed to marry, or please direct me to that job, or please, why is God obligated to reveal to us his unknown will if we are not living in his known will, and his known will is revealed to us in the pages of the Bible. So he calls us to holiness, and that is one way that we can present ourselves to God so that we can more clearly discern his will for our lives. Number two. Also here in Romans 12 is a renewed mind. That's verse two where Paul wrote, and do not be conformed to this world. Some translations say the pattern of this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why does he tell us this? Here's why it's important. We are so exposed to the way the world thinks, just by living in this world. I mean, we're inundated with social media news feeds constantly that our minds are being shaped or at the very least, influenced by the world's thinking. And so what Paul is saying there in Romans 12:2 is, when you get saved, you have to have a whole new mindset. You can't Be thinking the way the world thinks. Because the way the world thinks is often in conflict with the way that God thinks, in case you haven't known, noticed. And thus we have to renew our minds. We have to be transformed in the renewing of our minds. If you want to know what God's will is for your life, you have to start to think like God thinks. You have to bathe your mind in a way that you have Christ's mind so that you can better understand Christ's will for your life. Colossians 2, verse 8. Paul would write, see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. There's this constant red alert the Bible gives us about, look, don't think the way the world thinks. Don't live the way the world thinks. You know, you're in the world, but you're not to be of the world. So we have to renew our minds and think the way that God thinks. So when it comes to discerning God's will, it's like, well, I need to think the way God thinks about this. I can't be thinking the way the world thinks. So, example, let's say in regards to relationships, like, you're praying for someone to marry, and you're like, God, who was that person that I could marry? And look, you can't be thinking the way the world thinks to discern who you're supposed to marry. We're living in a hookup culture. We're looking in a hookup culture right now. That's where we're living in a. Just, you know, let's just experiment with each other sexually. See if we can figure out, maybe live together. Let's just, you know, test drive the car before we actually buy it. All this kind of nonsense. Everybody. And, and, and, and God says, no, no, no, you gotta be thinking differently. Because if, if you want to know my will, you're gonna have to think the way that God thinks. So you have to be asking bigger questions. You have to be asking questions like, well, are they a believer? That's a big one. Do we share the same values? Are we spiritually compatible? Do we have the same biblical worldview? You should be asking those questions. And yes, by the way, am I physically attracted to him or her? You should be asking that too. Okay? Don't over Christianize stuff, please. Do not over Christianize. Well, you know, it's really not about the outward appearance. It's about the heart. No, it's about the outward appearance. You better be attracted to them. They better be attracted to you. You got to look at them every day. Don't like, over Christianize this. Well, Pastor G, I know a verse like, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Yeah, but he's not marrying that person. You are better look at the outward appearance. Look, I'm not saying that any of us are Hollywood movie stars. Like you're supposed to look for a Hollywood movie star. By the way, they're all plastic anyway. They sneeze and they'll break. I really sincerely mean this. Everyone is attractive to someone. I really sincerely mean it. There are not ugly people in this world. Really. There are just people that some are attracted to and some are not. Okay, but you better be attracted to the one that you marry, for goodness sakes. You don't want to be going around going, well, you know, they're not that good to look at, but they have a good heart. Stop it. I know these over spiritual people who are just like, you know, it's really about the heart. Okay, I hope they do have a good heart. You ought to be asking big questions. But. But it's okay, like, you should be physically attracted to them, too. Anyway, the idea is this. When it comes to relationships, when it comes to career paths, when it comes to how to raise kids, when it comes to how to manage money, you better think the way God thinks. You better know what God thinks about something. If you really want to discern his will about a matter, stop thinking the way the world thinks about things. Start thinking the way God thinks. Now, as part of renewing your mind, this feeds right into point number three. And now we're going to go back to Colossians where we started. Part of renewing your mind is through the counsel of God's Word. It's through the counsel of God's Word. That's why in chapter three, verse 16, Paul. Back in Colossians, Paul said, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Notice not lightly, not occasionally, richly. You and I may not know exactly what God thinks about a specific situation in our life when we're trying to discern God's will about a matter. But when you read your Bible to renew your mind from the way of the world, to think the way that God thinks, then you can then apply how God thinks to your particular situation. And. And you might say, well, that's the problem, Pastor G, I don't know how God thinks Yeah, you do. Because he told us how he thinks in a big book. And in this big book, he tells us. This is his idea of stuff. This is his heart about matters. This is his what he determines to be right and wrong, true and false. So we have the counsel of God's Word at our disposal. When I graduated from high school, my grandmother gave me a Bible as a graduation gift. And she wrote on the inside cover of the Bible that she gave me, she wrote Psalm 119, verse 105, which says, your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And I love that about God's Word because think about what that says. Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. There are some more immediate, pressing decisions that we need to make. And I'm not talking about the mundane, everyday things. I'm just saying there are some things that are near and we. And we have to get God's wisdom on it quickly. God's Word instructs us like a lamp to our feet, but also like a light to our path, because it also helps us to understand things in the more distant future, maybe a year or two down the road, where God will help us to understand something that hasn't yet come to pass. But His Word acts like a lamp to shine the way forward down the path. In Psalm 32. 8, we read, I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you. Now here's the beautiful thing about God's Word, and some of you might need to write this down. When you read the Bible, sometimes it will speak to you directly through passages and sometimes indirectly through principles. So directly through certain passage, you might read a verse that is very specific to what you're going through. But at other times, you're reading God's Word because you're gleaning the principles of God's Word that help give you wisdom to discern God's will for your life. So sometimes directly through passages, sometimes indirectly through principles. Like, you know, you're back to the Cleveland example. You're like, I can't find the word Cleveland in my Bible. Where's the word Cleveland? Not in there. But if you study God's Word enough, you understand his heart, you understand how he thinks, and then you're more discerning and you're wiser for having read Scripture because you can be also guided indirectly by principles. I'll give you an example of how this, you know, played out in My own life years ago, when our church was very young. Okay, we're heading now into our, like, our 35th year. And our church was maybe year, I don't know, five or six. We spent the first seven years down the road at Simpson Middle School when our church first started. And I was getting antsy, and I know the small flock we had, we only had like a couple hundred people when we were there in the school. But after like, five or six years, I was like, I want to get out of this school. I want to find a building. I want us to build. I want us to have a real church and not just come here to Simpson Middle School. It was a dark and dreary and dank auditorium. And, you know, it's aqua green carpet down the aisles and orange plastic chairs and smelled like middle school kids. And I just, like, this is dreary. And, you know, every week we'd be, you know, Terri and I would just be praying like, lord, bring somebody to the school as you build your church, as you do your work. And, you know, we were just faithful. We're going to teach God's word, and we're going to worship the Lord. And sincerely, everything now that you see here is a direct result of God honoring those two things. But. But I can tell you, I can tell you, yeah, praise God. Praise to the Lord. But I can tell you. But I can tell you, in those first few years, we were so anxious to get out of Simpson Middle School, and I was just, like, looking at different properties and looking at different buildings. Could we buy this? Could we convert that into a sanctuary? And one day, I'm having my devotions, and I'm going to read you a verse that otherwise would be a verse you probably would read over and not think much about. But it spoke the principle of. It just leapt off the page for me. Here it is. It's Proverbs 24, 27. Here it is. Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready. After that, build your house. Now, let me tell you how the Lord spoke to me as a principle, right? Get your fields ready. What did Jesus say? The fields are wide unto harvest. Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. And I knew that that verse was speaking to me about, you just take care of the sheep. You just feed the sheep. You just minister to those who are in the field. Because the harvest, the fields are white. Unto harvest, you worry about the fields, and I'll worry about the house. And just dedicate yourself to that. And I'll take care of the rest. And that verse spoke to me. See how. And you will read a verse in your Bible that wouldn't make sense to anybody else except you on that day because God bore witness to your heart. You see what I'm saying? That's why it's important. Get into your Bibles, read your Bibles, because God will reveal his will to you, either directly through a passage or indirectly through principles. And then I got to hasten to the last one, but this is important, so don't skip it. The last one is the comfort of God's peace. That's verse 15, Colossians 3, where Paul said, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Now you can circle peace of Christ and then also circle the word rule. The word rule in the original Greek language is brabuo. Brabuo means to act as an umpire. To act as an umpire. It means generally to arbitrate or to decide. Now, we all know that umpires, they call balls and strikes. They call fair and foul balls. They call who's out and who's safe. They're constantly making judgment calls in the moment. That is until AI, you know, they lose their jobs because of AI. But anyway, I'm not liking that ABA system. But anyway, that's a whole other subject. The idea is like an umpire making a constant judgment call. The peace of God will help you to arbitrate things and to make judgment calls in your life. What is the peace of God? It's not a feeling. The peace of God is that still small voice, that internal compass of the Holy Spirit that begins to bear witness to your soul about something that is yes and amen or no, don't. And if you've been a Christian long enough, you know what I'm talking about. The peace of God in your heart. When you have the peace of God about something, you know it's green light. When you don't have the peace of God, it means don't move. This is very important and it takes some time to understand this. Because when you first become a Christian, you know discerning the peace of God. But I'm telling you, if you've been a Christian long enough, you know when you have God's peace about a matter and you know when you don't. Am I right? And let me tell you something. I can tell you personal, personal experience. The times I've gone against my peace, I've regretted it. Never go against your peace. Never go against your peace. If you don't have 100% green light on something. It may not be a red light, but it might be yellow. Like, I'm not really sure. Don't make a move. Telling you, I'm pleading with you. This is pastoral advice, everybody. I don't care how. How interesting the opportunity is. I don't care if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I don't care if you think this is going to be the end all to end alls. I don't care how pretty she is. I don't care how charming he is. If you do not have the peace of God, walk away. Walk away. I'm trying to save somebody some heartache here. Walk away. Do not go against your peace. Let the peace of. Of God rule like an umpire. This is fair, this is foul, this is right, this is wrong. Because most of us, if you've lived long enough, could testify to what I just said a minute ago. Anytime I've gone against my peace, I've regretted it. We don't want to live life with regrets. Will we always get the bullseye? No. But God, in his mercy, if we love Jesus, will steer us because we're still on the target, his good and acceptable will. And we'll look back at the end of our lives. It'll be a little zigzagged, but friends, stay close to Jesus. Practice these four things. You want to try to know God's will for your life? Well, then, live a holy life. Have a renewed mind. Get into the counsel of God's word, and never go against the comfort of God's peace. Amen. Let's pray together. Father God, we thank you for your word today. We are all very frail and dependent people upon you, Lord. We want to be in step with your will. And sometimes we get it and sometimes we miss it. But we're so thankful that you're a merciful Father to guide us and redirect us and help us, Lord. Because there are times that we think we're out of your will and all along we were right in the center of it. We just don't always know, Lord. So we have to lean on you. We have to trust you. We know that you will direct our lives according to your path if we would just stay close to you and trust you. Help us, Lord, always to follow these things, Lord, that you've outlined in your Word for us. And I pray right now for those who are just really in a heavy time trying to discern your will for something in their lives. I'm just going to pause in my prayer right now. And if you're just. You just really desperately are trying to search God's heart about something, you want to know his will about something, I'll just pray for you. If you want to slip up your hand, just slip up your hand. Say that's. I'm going through something right now. Yeah. God bless you guys. Yeah. Father, you see these hands that are raised and you know the different things that people are going through, how they're searching your heart. They want to be in step with your will. Lord, would you please reveal yourself to them and your purposes? Thank you, Lord, that you can use the confirmation of others, you can use the direction of your word. You can use a variety of things, Father, but I pray that you would do your good work to help the sheep of your pasture to be in step with your good purposes for their lives. And thank you that you are a good shepherd and a good father. We may from time to time get it wrong, but Lord, you are so gracious to us, to redirect us, to steer us, to guide us. Bless, Lord, bless those who are desperately seeking your will and answer them in your timing, according to your perfect plans for our lives. And we give you all the praise and the glory and the honor in Jesus name. And everybody said amen and amen. God bless you, everybody.