Exodus 33:12-15 (NKJV) Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
God’s plan and purpose were to give the Promised Land to the Israelites, but the land was inhabited by giants who would not surrender without putting up a fight. The Israelites had the choice of either dealing with these giants on their own or submitting wholly to God and having God fight for them with His presence. Moses was a wise leader who pleaded with God to go with them. Likewise, we must also seek God for His will and ensure that His blessing is in our pursuits.
So how do we know whether something is the will of God? God has revealed certain specifics for us to ensure that our prayers are answered. We need to abide in Him, walk in His ways, His will, and His calling for our lives.
John 15:7 (NKJV) you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
However, we often carry out our agenda in life and expect God to bless it and bail us out if needed. We expect and demand that God blesses our plan, and we become disappointed when God does not. What we need to know is that God is not obliged to bless our plan when He was not even consulted, and we are certainly in no position to dictate God to do things for us. It might be a good idea to start a business, migrate, have a joint venture, or purchase a franchise. Nonetheless, these are all men’s ideas, and not necessarily God’s ideas. Therefore, we should always obtain God’s endorsement before we rush out to execute our ideas.
Because He is the Lord of our lives, we must consecrate our plans, ideas, and dreams to Him. If it is our idea without consecration, we will need to fund it ourselves, but if God has given us the idea, we will own the idea, and know what the final product will look like because We are impregnated with it.
Sermon Series: Unless Your Presence Goes with Us
好主意还是上帝的主意
出埃及记 33:12-15 12摩西对耶和华说：“你吩咐我说：‘将这百姓领上去’，却没有叫我知道你要打发谁与我同去，只说：‘我按你的名认识你，你在我眼前也蒙了恩。’ 13我如今若在你眼前蒙恩，求你将你的道指示我，使我可以认识你，好在你眼前蒙恩。求你想到这民是你的民。” 14 耶和华说：“我必亲自和你同去，使你得安息。” 15摩西说：“你若不亲自和我同去，就不要把我们从这里领上去。
上帝的计划和目的是将应许之地赐给以色列人，但这片土地上的居住着的，看起来强大的人们不会交出土地，除非引发一场战斗。以色列人要么选择以自己的力量对付这些强大的人，要么完全顺服上帝，让上帝以祂的同在为他们争战！摩西是一位智慧的领袖，他恳求上帝与他们同行。同样我们也必须寻求上帝和祂的旨意以确保祂祝福我们所行的道路。
那我们如何知道是否是上帝的旨意呢？上帝也为我们揭示了某些细节，以确保我们的祈祷得到回应。我们必须常在祂的里面，行在祂的道路上、旨意中，以及祂对我们生命的呼召里。
约翰福音15:7 你们若常在我里面、我的话也常在你们里面、凡你们所愿意的、祈求就给你们成就。
然而很多时候，我们倾向于在生活中执行自己的议程，并期望得到上帝的祝福，也要在需要时拯救我们。我们期望甚至要求上帝祝福我们的计划，并且会因为上帝没有祝福我们的计划而沮丧。我们需要知道的是，上帝并没有义务祝福我们的计划，因为我们根本没有征求过祂的意见，当然也没有资格命令上帝为我们做事。创业、移民、成立合资企业、购买特许经营权可能是个好主意。然而这些是人自己的好主意！并不一定是上帝的主意。 因此，在我们急于实施自己的主意之前，一定要先得到上帝的认可。
因为祂是我们生命的主，我们必须把我们的计划，主意和梦想分别为圣并交给祂。假如我们没有把我们的主意分别为圣，我们就需要自己为此筹资。如果上帝给了我们主意，我们就拥有了它，并知道最终结果会是什么样子，因为我们与这个主意一同在上帝里面开花结果。
讲章系列：除非你亲自与我们同去
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