How can you know God’s will, and be sure that your decisions are right in His eyes?

It always is a difficult question: What is God’s will for me when I must make a decision? If I could hear God’s voice from heaven, I would not have a problem. But now this is not the way in which God speaks to me. But I can hear His voice in another way: When I read his word, the Bible.

If, then, I have to make a decision, asking: “How will I know what is God’s will for me? the answer is:God told me His will in His word. Therefore I must first read the Bible to see what God wants me to do. I do not mean that you must use the Bible like a magic book, opening it in any place with your eyes closed, and that God will then tell you what to do. Of course God can also tell you what His will is, using this way. But in general we believe that this is not the way in which God shows us His will. Usually he will talk to you through your daily Bible Study, going on according to your daily program, reading what you would have read anyway. He can also remind you of something that you learned because you regularly read the Bible every day.

Reading the passage that you are reminded of again, you can often see what God wants to tell you. But even if there are not clear answers for every particular situation that you may face, the Bible still gives general guidelines, principles and rules by which you must make decisions and according to which you can act.

2. A second way in which God shows you His will, is through the Holy Spirit who speaks to you in your heart.This is what people usually mean when they say: “I heard a voice inside that said …” But you must be sure that the “voice inside” does not say anything that is opposed to what the Holy Spirit tells you in the Bible. The leading of the Holy Spirit in you will never be different to His leading through the Bible.

3. In the third place the Holu Spirit can help you to know the will of God through your conscience. It is also God’s voice that talks to you in your conscience. But, as we have said, you must always test your conscience and the leading that you receive from it by the word of God. A person’s conscience definitely is not always reliable in decisions about right and wrong, because even one’s conscience is tainted or corrupted by sin. Even if it is true that the Holy Spirit takes control of your conscience when you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and enlightens it, so you can know the difference between right and wrong, you still are an imperfect being. Therefore you may not simply rely on the leading of your conscience, but you must always test it to the principles of the Bible.

God also gives you peace in your heart when you make the right decision; the peace that goes beyond all understanding and which you can only get from Him.

4 In the fourth place the Holy Spirit leads you by using our common sense. In the short version of the law in Matthew 22:37 and next verses Jesus Christ said that we must also serve God with our minds. When you accepted Jesus Christ in your life, the Holy Spirit also brought light into your mind so you can make sound decisions. Your common sense, and your knowledge and experience of life are all methods that he uses to show you God’s will so you can make the right decisions.

5. Then there also is a fifth way through which God shows you His will: through the circumstances that you experience In Acts 16:7-11 we read that the Spirit of God stopped Paul and his companions to go to Bithinia, but later the Spirit gave Paul a vision in the night to show him that he had to go to Macedonia to bring the Gospel to the people living there. The Holy Spirit can clearly also use circumstances to open or close a door to you. If you must make a decisione, and a door closes on you, or there suddenly is a new possibility, you must decide that God wants you to decide according to those circumstances.

6. When Christian friends give you advice, you can often listen to them.

You can be sure that God is leading you if most of these guidelines have the same message. Usually God will confirm to us in more than one way what His will is.

We hope that this will help you. A child of God must always pray about decisions, and live in a close relationship to the Father, so you will learn to know His will.

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When will the Second Coming of Christ be?

The Lord Jesus shall come again. This is a clear teaching of the Bible (Acts 1:11; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 25:1-12; Acts 17:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 16:52).

But the Bible tells us quite clearly that nobody, except God the Father, knows when Jesus will come again (Matthew 24:36) and all attempts of man to figure out the exact date will be wrong. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that his second coming will mean the end of the world (Matthew 24:3) and the judgement of the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

It will be a joyful day for all true Christians because it will mean their full salvation (with resurrected glorified bodies and souls), but a very awful and terrible day for all unbelievers: Matthew 13:49,50; John 5:25-29; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:23-24; Phillipians 3:20-21.

Because that day will come suddenly just like “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) we must be prepared every day for His coming. We must be wide-awake, true Christians who follow Jesus with our whole hearts.

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What should I do when I am tempted?

Temptation comes from Satan (Genesis 3:1,13; Matthew 4:1-11) and it also comes from the evil desires within us (James 1:14). Satan also uses other people and things to tempt us (Luke 10:25; 1 Corinthians 10:9). Temptations came in order to draw us away from God and to make us weak and unable to witness for God.

Jesus was tempted and He received help from God (Matthew 4:1-11). Even though Jesus never sinned, He spent long hours in prayer gaining strength from God. We need it even more, as we find it so easy to sin. When you are tempted you need to pray for God’s help so that you will not give in. God has promised His help and you need to claim it and not try to face temptation on your own (1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9a).

Secondly, you must avoid the things that you know will be temptations. You must do your part as well. You cannot expect God to help you in temptation if you go into it with your eyes wide open (1 Timothy 6:11; Ephesians 4:27).

Thirdly, you must resist the devil. When you give yourself to God and accept Jesus as your Saviour, you can say ‘No’ to Satan, but only with God’s strength (James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-13).

Do not be too discouraged if you fall at times, but ask for forgiveness and for the ability to be more alert next time. When you overcome temptation, remember to thank and praise God and go on in his strength.

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It is allowable to eat pork or not?

We read in Leviticus 11:4-7 that the Jews were forbidden to eat pork. That is why they choose not to eat pork. But those Jewish laws are no more applicable to Christians. The Jews in the first congregation of Acts tried to force the Christians to obey the Jewish laws. That is why the church leaders decided to hold a large meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the matter. Read Acts 15:23-29. They made an important decision, and that is that the Jewish laws no longer apply to Christians. Read also: Acts 10:13-15.

But if somebody believes it is wrong, it may be better for him not to eat pork (Romans 14:13-23).

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How can you avoid temptations when you are alone with your boyfriend or girlfriend?

1. Make sure that he/she is a true Christian like you – read 2 Corinthians 6:14. Both your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Sex before marriage is sin, so ask him/her to respect Gods laws.

2. Don’t believe the lie: “If you won’t have sex with me, you don’t love me.” If a boy really loves a girl, he will respect her chastity which God gave her to preserve till the day of her legal marriage. So boy, please help your girl to preserve it, and girl, please remain pure till the day of your marriage when sex won’t be defilement any more, when you enjoy it with your own true husband.

3. Don’t stay up late in the night with one another.

4. Don’t just sit idle. Idleness is an effective tool in the hands of the devil.

5. Don’t experiment to see how far you can go. Don’t allow your boy more freedom than what God expects from you. Be sure of this: You’ll fall into sin.

6. Don’t say: Pastor, we live in modern times. All the TV stories show that these things are common. Yes I agree, but joy is still joy and sorrow is still sorrow. How many beautiful young people cry in their hearts today because the permissive spirit of modernism ruined their lives.

6. Do things together like sport, hobbies. Join other young people, but beware of the snares of the devil at some places like disco’s etc.

7. Think into the future when you may have a beautiful son or daughter. Do today what you will expect them to do when they are alone with their special friend.

8. Pray together and take part in the activities of your church.

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Must we wash one another’s feet?

The night in which Jesus was betrayed, He washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:12-17). Before that, the apostles were in an argument with one another about the question “which of them should be accounted greatest” (Luke 22:24). Then the Lord gave them a practical demonstration of true humility and what he meant when he said: “Who is greater – the one who sits at table or the servant who waits on him? Surely the one who sits at table. Yet here I am among you like a servant” (Luke 22:26-27).

This is the lesson He taught them when He washed their feet. Christians must be willing to serve one another regardless of status or importance.

We do not need to take water and wash one another’s feet in our days. It was a custom in the days when Jesus was on earth. People did not travel by car or bicycle or by other means. They had to travel on foot. Their shoes were sandals. The roads were dusty or muddy when it rained. At the entrance to every house there was a waterpot and towel, and servants (where it was possible) washed the guests’ feet. It was a humiliating task. But Jesus esteemed himself not too important for a task so humiliating.

What he wants to say to you and me is: Don’t try to establish your own importance in church or society. Be willing to do as I did to serve your fellow men, especially Christians with a sincere heart and humility. Do not be cross when someone else is called to do an important work for the Lord, while you must do a little job. No! do anything for Jesus – not to be honoured by men – but because you love the Lord dearly.

But even today it may make a great impression if the leader(s) of a group surprise the group by washing their feet and praying for each one in turn. This will emphasize the important message that Jesus tried to teach His disciples. In some churches in Africa the footwashing is even observed as a third sacrament besides holy communion and baptism.

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Is it right for a Christian to swear?

No! Never. The Bible says clearly that a Christian must not swear or use foul language. Some people, when they are in conversation take the Name of the Lord in vain so often, that it hurts you to listen to them. The Christian must set an example in his conversation by using the name of God with respect when he prays to Him or speaks about him. They must not use his name as a stop word.

Swearing was an abominable sin in Israel. People who blasphemed the Creator were put to death (Leviticus 24:16; 2 Samuel 16:13). All believers must listen to the Bible when it says: No bad language must pass your lips, but only what is good and helpful to the occasion (Ephesians 4:29). Matthew 5:22 says: If anyone sneers at his brother he will have to answer for it in hell.

A Christian’s pure and pleasant language should witness to the fact that he belongs to the Lord and loves Him (Colossians 4:16).

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The Christian and ancestral spirits

1. A Christian belongs to Christ, and no longer to himself. He no longer belongs in the first place to his old family. He now belongs to the family of God, which is called from every tongue and tribe and nation. Therefore we must obey our Heavenly Father first of all (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Exodus 20:2).

2. The Lord Jesus explains in Luke 16:19-31 that the spirits of the dead cannot speak to us. They cannot help us or harm us.

3. The Bible warns us that Satan sometimes pretends to be an angel of the light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He may therefore sometimes pretend to be our ancestral spirit. His purpose is to lead us away from trusting in God alone. Therefore we sometimes see people healed after bringing a sacrifice to the spirits. Satan has a lot of power, but not as much as God. By healing people Satan wants us to leave the true faith and to obey lying spirits and to follow the teaching of demons (1 Timothy 4:1).

4. God forbids us to consult the spirits of the dead (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6: 20:25; Deuteronomy 18:10-11; Isaiah 8:19-20). So we read that God rejected and killed king Saul because he called up the spirit of Samuel (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).

5. We may not bring sacrifices to anyone except God (Exodus 20:3; Acts 15:28-29; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). All other sacrifices are sacrifices to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20; Luke 4:8).

6. We must always remember that Jesus made us free from the spirits (John 8:36; Hebrews 7:25). He set us free from the worthless manner of life handed down by our ancestors (1 Peter 1:18-19).

7. We now belong to the family of Christ because we seek to do God’s will (Matthew 12:46-50). Our old family may not keep us back from obedience to God (Acts 7:3; Luke 14:26-27; Matthew 10:37). If we have to give up our family ties because of Christ, he promises to gives us a hundred times more in return (Mark 10:29-30). If I refuse to obey God, I remain part of the family of Satan (John 8:44).

8. It is dangerous to try to change your life without allowing the Holy Spirit to fill your life (Ephesians 5:18). If you try to walk two roads at the same time, you may become seven times worse than you were before (Matthew 12:45). You cannot serve God and the ancestral spirits at the same time (2 Kings 17:34-40; Matthew 6:24; 7:13-14).

9. The ancestral spirits cannot intercede for us with God. We have only one Mediator, Jesus Christ. Only he has the power to intercede for us (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25).

10. God tells us in his Bible to receive his new life with our whole heart. This new life is only received through Jesus (1 John 5:11-12). Don’t look back. This new life is much more wonderful than anything the spirits can offer us (Luke 9:23-26, 62). God wants to look after you (Philippians 4:6). Trust him.

Read all the above verses in your Bible and underline them.

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Is temptation sin?

No! temptation itself is not sin. If it is sin, then (we say it reverently) Jesus committed sin when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and Jesus never committed sin (Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Peter 2:22). Temptation is the work of the devil. When we listen to temptation and obey it, we commit sin. If you open your Bible and read James 1:12-15 you will know what to do with temptation:

1. You can withstand temptation and overcome it – verse 12.

2. God tempts nobody – so no temptation is evil in itself but it affects you only when you yield to it – verse 13.

3. See the effects when you yield to temptation – verses 14-15.

Read 1 John 2:16.

Martin Luther said: I cannot stop the birds flying over my head, but I can stop them from building their nests in my hair. So it is with temptation. You can, by the power of the Lord which is at your disposal, have victory over temptation.

God’s Word promises in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

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To which race did Adam and Eve belong?

In the days when Adam and Eve lived, there were no cameras. Ancient artists painted Adam and Eve in the skin colours of the Greek and Roman people of their time, but we do not really know what they looked like. The Bible tells us absolutely nothing of the colours of their skins. When God said that he created man according to His image he meant a being with intelligence, with a free will to serve God and to be able to live in righteousness and holiness (see Genesis 1:26) and did not refer to skin colour.

But the Bible teaches without doubt that all the nations of the earth are descendents of Adam and Eve (read Acts 17:26). How the differences in the appearance of the nations – the narrow eyes of the Eastern people, the red skins of the American Indians, the black skins of Africans and Indian people of India, the yellow colour of the Chinese etc. came about, we do not know. Anthropolo-gists (scientists who study man) says that the rays of the sun could have caused excessive pigmentation (darker skin colour) near the Equator to protect the skins. That is why the people near the North Pole are specially white. This is only a theory. The Bible only speaks about a skin colour in Jeremiah 13:23, but not with contempt.

Some people even ask why the devil is black. The devil has no skin like a human being. He is painted black because he is the chief of the powers of darkness, against the Light of God. This has nothing to do with the skin colour of people whatsoever.

Every sinner who comes to Christ honestly finds a new heart whiter than snow (Psalm 51). His skin colour is no factor at all.

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