How do I know what God's will is for my life

What is God's will for your life? Many students desire to do God's will, but struggle because they don't know what God's will is. The following are some principles from God's Word that will help you to discern what God's will is for you. God does have great plans for your life! We were created by God, in His image, for a purpose. Just as God set apart from birth Isaiah (Isaiah 49:1), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5) and Paul (Galatians 1:15) for a specific purpose, he also has a specific plan for your life. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declared the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). The Bible says that God's will is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). God's will, first and foremost, is that we have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God wants us to be Christ's disciples. This means Christians must be committed to following God's will daily, whatever the cost. “If anyone would come to me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The Bible will help us to know God's will. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). God promises to give us wisdom if we just ask Him in prayer, believing that He will give it. Sometimes we need to just ask God to give us wisdom to discern His will. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). In Philippians 4:6, God tells us that we can pray about everything. God has given us the Holy Spirit for guidance. “...when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13a). We should listen to the advice of godly men and women that God has placed in our lives. Many times the advice of a parent, pastor, youth minister, Sunday school teacher or other mature person is just what we need to hear to help us decide what God wants us to do. “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 12:15). “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). The Bible says that there is a peace that comes when we are pleasing God with our lives. When deciding between two alternatives that you have been praying about, sometimes one of the options will give you a greater peace. That option is probably God's will. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isaiah 32:17). We should trust God in faith that He will accomplish His will in our lives. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in your will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God has given each of us gifts and abilities to use in His service. God always equips us to do what he calls us to do. If you aren't gifted in a certain area, God is probably not calling you to minister in that area. (see Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and Ephesians 4:11-13 for lists of spiritual gifts and a discussion of them.) Remember that God's ultimate purpose for all of us is that He would be glorified (1 Corinthians 10:31) and that the gospel and God's kingdom would be advanced (Genesis 50:20 and Philippians 1:12). [ If this information has been helpful, please prayerfully consider a donation to help pay the expenses for making this faith-building service available to you and your family! Donations are tax-deductible. ] Author: Dawson McAllister of Dawson McAllister Live! Copyright © 1997, 1998, Dawson McAllister Live!, All Rights Reserved - except as noted on attached “Usage and Copyright” page that grants ChristianAnswers.Net users generous rights for putting this page to work in their homes, personal witnessing, churches and schools.

Adolescent Spirituality

Adolescent Spirituality 1 Adolescent Spiritual Development by Donald Ratcliff, Ph.D. Reprinted by permission from Salt and Light (2002) I was a teenage hypocrite. Or at least that is what it would seem to most people, although I would not have thought so at the time. I was an adolescent who attended church regularly, prayed at least occasionally, and even worked at a Christian radio station on the weekends. At times I would lead people in the “sinner’s prayer” as they listened on the radio. When people called the radio station, I sometimes provided advice of a spiritual nature. Many people looked up to me as something near ideal as a Christian teenager. I was even featured on the cover of a magazine for Christian teenagers! But the fact was that when I was with my friends, I was a different person. Most of my friends were anything but Christian. I don’t recall hurting anyone, although we did cause discomfort with some of our pranks—a favorite was ringing the church bell in the middle of the night. We also did a few things that were outside of the bounds of the law, primarily for the excitement of the experience. Often teenagers participate in such risky behavior because they enjoy retelling the experience over and over with friends (Lightfoot, 1997), and I suspect that was a strong incentive for my group as well. At the time, my experience as simultaneous saint and sinner did not seem as wildly incongruent as it does in retrospect. I have been quite perplexed with those memories. My experience also points to the complexity of the topic before us. Adolescence is such a strange time of life, and to speak of spirituality during this time period only adds more complexity. What is Adolescence? Perhaps it may clarify things to define what we are talking about. First, what is adolescence? The simple definition seems clear at first, but quickly becomes murky. Adolescence, of course, is that period of life between childhood and adulthood. But when does childhood end and when does adulthood begin? For most of history, and for many non-Western cultures today, those two events coincide—childhood ends and adulthood begins with biological maturity, often celebrated with a special rite of passage such as the Jewish bar mitzvah. The time “in-between” childhood and adulthood is a few days, a couple of weeks at most, after which the twelve or thirteen-year-old is considered an adult; ready for career, marriage, and starting a family. It has only been about a hundred years that we have had a several year period termed “adolescence,” where the child is no longer a child yet is not considered an adult (Koteskey, 1991). Like many things—both good and bad—adolescence is the product of the Industrial Revolution, although it did not become firmly rooted in American soil until the Roaring Twenties, and became universally accepted with the Baby Boom generation of the late 1940’s and 1950’s. This social invention was created, in part, so that the prolonged education deemed necessary for a literate society would be readily accessible (it is also possible that high unemployment was a motive for removing teenagers from the labor market). It was a grand social experiment, this invention called “adolescence,” but the results at best can be described as mixed. When the negative consequences of the invention of adolescence are considered, such as increased use of illegal drugs, sexual license, vandalism, and other evils, the results for some teens is closer to catastrophe. Thus adolescence is an invented period of life when teenagers are provided with an ambiguous role to play—if they are neither children nor adults, what are they? They decide who they are, and do so in two ways. First, adolescents individually choose an identity, rather than having an identity provided for them, as it was prior to the Industrial Revolution (a boy usually entered his father’s trade, a girl followed her mother’s role). Adolescents also define themselves collectively in the phenomenon of “youth culture” (Davies, 1991), usually in the form of new music, unusual styles of dress, and creation of innovative words (“argot”), all of which distinguish them from children and adults. As a result, adolescence is in constant flux, as the youth culture of one era is infused into the mainstream culture of the next, and people bring selected parts of their adolescence into adulthood, leaving the next generation of adolescents to reinvent itself with different music, different styles, and different lingo. Adolescent Spirituality 2 What is Spiritual Development? In his summary of the literature, Kenneth Hyde (1991) describes many religious aspects of adolescence, such as their behavior, attitudes, influences, and understandings of religion. While most Christian schools and churches have emphasized learning about the Bible, God, and beliefs, the last few years have produced a new emphasis upon the experiential aspects of faith, often termed “spirituality.” This is in part because one can know a great deal about God, and even make an initial commitment to the Christian faith, yet not have an active, ongoing relationship with God that includes religious experiences. “Spirituality” emphasizes awe, wonder, and other experiences that are beyond mundane, everyday life, and that connect the individual to something transcendent and/or of ultimate importance. While spirituality includes experiences with God, it can also include awe and wonder from experiences such as viewing a beautiful sunset that overwhelms the person emotionally and even perceptually. Spiritual experience can be either positive and constructive, or negative and counterproductive (Hay & Nye, 1998). A Few Negative Spiritualities [this designation is similar to what Berryman (1991) terms “pseudo-play”] 1. Violence 2. Suicide 3. Bullying 4. Illegal Drug Use 5. Risk-Taking 6. Controlling with Detachment and Disguise (by “spirituality sponges” who are parasites, says Berryman) 7. Lack of Moral Impulse/Corruption 8. Lack of Concern for Others 9. Meaninglessness 10. Prejudice 11. Materialism 12. Evil Personality (M. Scott Peck) The Importance of Being Grateful and Tips to be Grateful Count your Blessings and not your Crosses we were told as children, and this holds as true for us as adults. Being grateful for what you have reminds you not to be envious and jealous and helps us in our quest to be content and happy. Here are the following tips to develop an attitude of gratitude- 1. In the morning and at night before going to bed, say a prayer of gratitude even for mundane things such as a new day, the fact that you have a home, family, job and so on. 2. Be grateful for each meal; that gives you three occasions in a day to be grateful for; to remind yourself how grateful you should be that there is food to eat on each of those occasions. 3. Verbalize one thing each day that you are grateful for, to a partner, friend or family member. Those that live alone can express the same thought of gratitude to a journal. 4. Be grateful for things you desire. Putting your goals into words can help you achieve those goal. 5. On the hour, each waking hour, look around and give thanks for one thing – set a cell phone timer or watch to go off each hour to remind you to do this.

The Refined (EagerWaiters): "False God Whoring"

The Refined (EagerWaiters): "False God Whoring"

"Becoming A Blessing"

Eph. 4:14 - 'Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our
minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different
or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the
truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in
every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.' NLT


A lot of times we get so caught up with our own problems, situations, or negative circumstances, that we forget the mandate that God has on our lives to win others for him. We can start so many "better me" campaigns until we totally forget that there is a world out there dying in sin. We are the cure! The world is waiting on the gift that we have to make things right for them. God has given us the power to show the world righteousness instead of sinfulness. God has called us to share his truth with them so they can be saved. But if we spend all of our time working on ourselves, then when will we ever be ready to bring others into the kingdom?



You see, that's the devils plan for a lot of us today. To get us so caught up in ourselves and healing our past hurts and pains, that we cannot concentrate on the people that need our help. So the world dies because we spend all of our time trying to live? You can buy tons of self help books, watch Oprah, pray for yourself, name it, claim it, be loosed, set goals, write the vision, declare your destiny, find your purpose by design, tap into your inner self, heal your past, go confront all those that ever hurt you, go on Maury to say "look at me now", practice self love, etc. but what about the world that doesn't know God? Jesus made you a Son of God by his death, so now you have the same power he had. Lay hands on yourself and get delivered so you will be some good to the Kingdom. Stop using all of your time trying to fix yourself and spend time walking in the newness of life. God made you a new creature instantly. Sure it takes time to grow in grace and learn of God. But don't forget, you are responsible for everyone you know that doesn't know! You should not always be your focus, but you should set your heart to help someone know the way. Yes, you are blessed, but now it's time to be a blessing!



Suggested Reading: Matt. 16:24, Luke 9:23, John 15:13, James 2:8

"Break It Down"

Joel 2:12 - "That is why the LORD says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time!
Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning."


There are many things in this life that cause us pain and grief. Many problems in our lives can break us down and humble us. God uses all kinds of situations to get our attention and he will allow certain things like money problems, shame, or persecution to get us in a place where we can hear him or change our direction. These are things that are a part of our growth as a Christian. But there should come a time, after we have walked with Christ for a period, that we should mature into a better Christian. Thus, we should not have to be broken down and made to endure pain as an attention getter, but we should get to the point where we decide to deal with our own flesh and our ungodly appetites.



God wants our hearts. Our mouths and even our reputations can glorify God without our hearts truly belonging to him. This is why, in this scripture, that God asked for our hearts. But he didn't stop there. He gave us a formula for it. Fasting, which will destroy the will of the flesh. Weeping, which will break down the outer image. And mourning, which will bring passion for new growth. These things should not have to be induced, but they should at some point be voluntary for your growth as a strong, mature, believer. There should come a time when you decide that you are going to fast to deny the pleasures of the flesh. You should weep before God in shame or agony over his displeasure in your sin. And you must learn to mourn, or be sorrowful for where you are and allow it to make you passionate about moving forward in your rightful place in him. Pray for these desires and pray that God will move you forward. Don't stay where you are. The world needs you better.



Suggested Reading: Phil. 3:14, Heb. 6:1

"False God Whoring"

Judges 2:12 - 'And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which
brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the
gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves
unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.'


The devil is a deceiver. Be careful believers, that you do not fall into the snare of the enemy. That you keep yourselves from touching things that bring honor and glory to the enemy or things that defy the most high God of heaven. You see, there are many gods in the earth and right now we are in an era where the enemy is trying to steal the glory of God from the church and steal the power of God from his people. So called Christians are beginning to compromise and do things that bring glory to the enemy and uplift those that worship and serve false gods. Believers are trying to justify going to clubs, listening to sinful music, living an immoral lifestyle, piercing themselves, tattooing themselves, joining cult-like organizations that promote false god worship, pledging into organizations and clubs who's origin is pagan and godless, and even accepting ministry from people that serve other gods and do not worship the true and living God of the bible. We are beginning the end ladies and gentlemen! This is what Paul preached to Timothy. These are the perilous times. Be careful that you do not go whoring after other gods and that you do not defile yourself or your walk, by accepting the gospel of the enemy that is being preached by godless, pagan prophets.



I received an email one time with an attachment that talked about a conference where a so called Christian minister preached a sermon based on the words of Erykah Badu's song. She apparently got a standing ovation and 900 or so women were in attendance. What a shame! You see, Erykah Badu is a spiritualist that promotes false god worship, and is apart of a religion, when she is Erykah, that does not recognize the Word of God as being the truth. So, when she is Erykah Badu, she is a worshipper of a false god, involved in a false religion, and does not recognize the words of Jesus Christ. But when she is not in her Erykah Baduizm character, she is member of a church in Dallas, TX where she supposedly worships the most high God, until she has to become Erykah Badu again! (Does that bother her pastor?) She even has songs with people like Common and others that take the word of God and sing it, mixing it with sin and curses. And the believers that want the worlds music so bad, are buying it, and by singing it or dancing to it, are in agreement with it. This is whoring after false gods my people! This is just what the children of Israel were doing. You see, God did not allow them to touch things that came from false gods, nor could they accept anything that was attached to false gods. So, why are we now trying to embrace the message of false god worshippers into the church? Why are so called Christians trying to justify singing songs that were inspired by false god worship? Why are so many so called Christians fighting for the rights of these false god worshippers and standing up for their right to listen and support them more than they are declaring the Word of God as the true God's message? That's because many of the modern day believers that club, that join pagan clubs, that sing and support sinful music, that watch sin filled videos and movies, that support the secular music industry, etc. do these things more than they ever read the bible. Most of them want the world and the things in the world more than they want the Word and the things of the Word. Wake up people! Turn from your whoring after false gods and the things that are attached to false god worshippers. Though you may find pleasure in them, you do it at the expense of your relationship with the most high God. He will not receive you if you are whoring after other gods. And God not only turned his back on the people that did these types of things in Romans 1, but he also turned his back on people that "found pleasure" in those that did it! Wake up people of God. Turn from these things and find pleasure in what the true and living God has to offer you. If you truly belong to him, you will desire his things, right?



Suggested Reading: Deut. 5:7, Deut. 8:19, Josh. 23:16, Rom. 1:32, Rom. 1:25, 2Tim. 3:1

"Anointing Vs. Talent"

1 John 2:27 - 'But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in
you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught
you, ye shall abide in him.'



Many times we tend to throw the word "anointing" around like it is a something that gives a person an extra edge over others when they are singing, performing, or preaching. We sometimes say when a person sings good, they have talent, but when their singing makes us cry, then it's the anointing! Or, often times we feel that when a preacher teaches good, he is talented. But when he hollers and sweats a lot, he is anointed. Many of us are so backwards on some things in the church today. Church people sometimes get careless and we begin to repeat what we have heard all our lives and never look it up in the Word. But that's why the EX Daily Word is here. I refuse to believe a lie and I refuse to just repeat stuff without looking it up for myself and knowing the truth about it. Let's look at this for a moment. The bible talks about the anointing in the Old Testament as mostly an act of blessing and selecting someone by pouring oil upon their head. The passage in Isaiah 10:27 that says that the "yoke of bondage shall be destroyed by the anointing" is talking about a God's people being enslaved by Assyrians and the word anointing in that passage is speaking of a certain grease that could make the yoke slip off of the slaves neck! I have heard that the anointing of God "destroys the yoke" all my life and I thought it was talking about some special gift that preachers and musicians had to break bondage off people while they sang or preached. But it means to be greased so that chains of slavery or yokes would not hold you.



The anointing of God is not some talent that a person possesses. Just because you felt what they were doing deep inside does not mean that it was God's anointing. Talent can make you cry. Talent can make you shout and dance. Talent can tickle your emotions and make you feel something that resembles the presence of God. Remember when you went to secular concerts or listened to secular artists like Luther or Prince? Remember how they could make you cry and give you emotions that resembled the same feelings you get at church? That's because it probably is the same feelings you got at church! That's why we can't rely on what we feel. But we have to know what we know about God. You see, it's getting very hard to tell the real from the fake. The enemy has come into our churches and has started to mimic what we felt was anointing and has made it easy for us to believe a lie. We even call homosexuals, secular artists, immoral preachers, and sinful Gospel artists "anointed" because they have talents that resemble what we feel the anointing is. But that's not God's anointing because you cry when they sing or you feel something. God's anointing dwells within you and has nothing to do with feelings. The anointing is merely the power of the Holy Ghost that empowers you to be what God has destined you to be. It's not a feel good potion or a tear jerking magic that good singers and preachers possess. It's God's leading and guiding power that teaches you his truth. This is what the anointing of God is for. Not to make us more talented and to make us preach harder. Not to make us sell more records or sing with better runs and riffs. Not to make folks fall out or foam at the mouth when we touch them. The anointing of God is the power of the Holy Ghost and his purpose is to teach us how to be what God desires of us and to also empower us to do supernatural acts according to his purpose in us. Notice I said "his" and not "it's". Many of us have made the person of the Holy Ghost an "it" like he is just an act and not a personality. But he is the third person of the Godhead and HE leads and guides us in all truth. When a person refers to the Holy Ghost as an "it" then they are talking about their emotions. You know when a person really knows the Holy Ghost and is anointed by him. They have a relationship with him and he leads and guides them!



Suggested Reading: Isaiah 10:27, John 15:26, John 14:17

"An Occasion To Owe"

Matthew 6:2 - "When you do something for someone else,
don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'msure -'playactors' I call them - treating prayer meeting and street corner
alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but
that's all they get." -The Message Bible


Don't you hate it when people do something for you and then keep reminding you of it? I would rather someone not even do it, than for them to do it and throw it up in your face to make you do something for them or to make you feel like you are in debt to them. That is witchcraft! Whenever you manipulate a person by holding something over their head, it is witchcraft and God is not in that! We are to be a blessing to people, not an occasion for them to fall. When you do something for someone, forget about it and allow God to bless you for it. Did you know that if you bring it up, you forfeit your reward? God said that if you seek to get applauded for it, then that's all you will get in return!! So, keep your mouth shut once you do it so you can reap the blessing God has 
in store for you.

Even in marriages and relationships, people sometimes hold on to what they have done for you as a form of manipulation! They won't let go of what all they have done for you, how they forgave you for certain things that you did to them, or how they came to Christ first and brought you in when you were still a sinner! When you keep bringing up things like this, you hold people in bondage and keep them from moving forward. This causes people to be moved in a counter direction based on what was done for them or to them, instead of what thus saith the Lord about them and their future. You see, God has a plan for you but whenever you are manipulated into doing something because someone feels you owe them, then you step outside of your designated path and you are moved out of God's will. That is witchcraft once again. You see, when you call the psychic hotline or use tarot card, horoscopes, or any other form of guidance other than the word of God, you change your course based on what they say instead of what God says. This puts you in a very bad place. Witchcraft totally counters God's direction for you and it changes the course of people's lives. But even worse than that, people can be stopped or hindered by other people bringing up their past and holding on to things that should be forgotten. Let go of it! Whatever you did for a person should be a done deal. Stop bringing it up and using it to manipulate them. Don't be an occasion for them to be in debt to you. Let it go! What you have done for them should be God's business anyway and if you want him to reward you, then you have to stop seeking restitution for it.

Suggested Reading: Matthew 6:1-8

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EagerWaiters: UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN NATURE AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT

EagerWaiters: UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN NATURE AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT INTRODUCTION.

EagerWaiters: STRENGTH & BEAUTY

EagerWaiters: STRENGTH & BEAUTY