Welcome to this weekend's In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley. Today's message concludes our study of 1 and 2 Samuel with a powerful look at the life of King David and how believers can follow his example. Here's more on faithfully serving God's purpose. How do you make decisions? What's the basis of your decision-making process?
All of us make decisions every day.
Sometimes they appear to be insignificant and they become, as we see in time, they were very significant.
Sometimes those decisions have little or no consequence, and sometimes they have great consequences.
Sometimes the consequences are joyful, sometimes they're not so joyful. We were all in the process of making decisions. And those decisions don't just affect us, they oftentimes affect other people. And We all have a basis for making them. That is, we all make our decisions based on something.
Well, what I want to talk about in this message is how do we make godly decisions? How do we make wise decisions in our life?
Well, there are many examples in the Scripture, but I want us to look at one particular passage. And one particular man who learned very early in life how to make godly decisions. And I want us to look at the contrast between the right and the right. and the wrong way. And I want to give you a little background.
Everybody knows Daniel by the fact that he was in the lion's den. But more important than that is something that his parents taught him very early in life.
Well, Jeremiah the prophet Had been prophesying to the nation of Israel for a long time that because of their sinfulness, because they'd walked away from God, the judgment of God was coming upon them. And so here is one thing, for example, he said. Therefore, thus says the LORD. The God of Host. Because you have spoken this word, behold, I'm making my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it will consume them.
And this is the judgment, he said. Behold, I'm bringing a nation against you from afar. O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.
Their quiver is like an open grave. All of them are mighty men. They will devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons, your daughters, devour your flocks, your herds, devour your vines, your fig trees, demolish with the sword, fortified cities in which you trust. Yet even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make you a complete destruction.
Now naturally they didn't like it.
So what did they do? They threw him in jail. They didn't like what he was prophesying, so they put him in jail thinking that would stop it. But here's what happened. in the 32nd chapter.
Then the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me? Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will take it.
So when you turn to the book of Daniel, What's happening is that what we just read prophesied began to take place. And that is Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem. Judah and took away hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. killed many, of course, burned the gates, tore the walls down. And one of those who was taken to Babylon was Daniel.
He was probably somewhere between 13 and 16 years of age, somewhere thereabouts. And he, along with a number of other Hebrew children, young people. were taken to Babylon, and the king said, Now here's what I want to do. I want to take the smartest ones, the most educated ones. the ones who are handsome, the ones who seem to have a lot of potential.
And what we want to do is we want to babylonize them. That is, we want them to think like we think. Act like we act, live the way we live.
So I want you to teach them the literature, teach them our worldview, teach them about our gods. In other words, I want you to change their whole way of thinking. And in fact, I want you to give them all a different name so they will forget their God.
So this is the context of what's going on.
So here is um Daniel? And he had three friends. And I bet most of you who at least went to Sunday school know their names. What are they? Shadrach, Meshach, and the Vinego, yeah.
Well Daniel's name meant God that is Elohim. And they gave him the name of Belshazzar.
Now, that's not the same as the Belshazzar who becomes the king. But they gave them all a different name so that they would forget their God. And so these things began to happen in their lives, and of course, they were. Growing in the middle of all this, and up until a certain point, there was no resistance. They did exactly what they were supposed to do.
And then there came a time when they decided no more. We cannot do that. This is where we take our stand. And so what I want us to talk about in this message is this. I want to talk about the whole idea of what's the basis upon which you make decisions in your life.
And there are two words I want you to remember if you forget everything else about this message. And I want to define two words because here's the crux of everything we want to talk about. And I want to define, first of all, The difference between a principle and a preference. A principle is a moral rule based on the Word of God guiding our conduct. It's a fixed or predetermined mode of conduct.
That is, if I'm going to operate on the basis of a principle, Then It is a principle, a moral principle in the Word of God. That's one way to think and one way to make decisions. And when a person comes to that, these are principles out of God's Word. and their principles by which we establish our whole Sense of conviction, our belief system. That is, all of us have convictions, we all have a belief system of some sort.
And so the question is, what's the basis of what you believe? Those of us who are believers, we say the basis of what we believe is the Word of God. And so we make decisions consistent with that. For example, Let's take the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not steal, lie, cheat, commit adultery.
These are basic principles of the Word of God.
So if a person says, I'm a Christian and I live with the truth of God's Word, then we live. consistently with what God teaches in His word.
So when a person says, I live by principle, what you're saying is this. I have established a roadway in my life. And I'm going to walk that roadway. And I'm going to do what My convictions tell me to do because my convictions are based on the word of God.
So when you think about What are the principles in your life that you live by? Can you say, for example, I live by principle?
Now the other word, preference, Preference says Decisions and choices based on likes, dislikes, and desires.
So here's the way that person operates.
Well, today... It's a bad day. I don't like this day, and so you know what? I'm just going to call in and tell them I'm sick.
Now, I'm not sick, of course, but I'm going to call and tell them I'm sick.
So Preference says I'm going to lie. Because lying will give me what I want today, and that is a free day. Preferences say I'm going to operate on the basis of the circumstance. I'm going to operate on the basis of my feelings, my desires, operate on the basis of things that please me, honor me, make me look good, make me feel good, or could profit me. And so a person makes decisions based on one of those two.
Either I'm going to live by the principles of the Word of God, or I'm going to just sort of be all over the place. The question is: why do people do that? Let's think about it. Why do people choose to live by preference when it's not the best way to live?
Well, one of the primary reasons is they fear rejection by other people. If I don't do what they want me to do, and I don't go where they want me to go, then they're going to reject me. If that's not where God wants you and you are convicted about it, it doesn't make any difference what they think, but that's the reason people choose to live by that. And you see, if you take different aspects of your life, Whether it's money, Or any of these other issues we talked about, and you live by preference, then where are you in life? One of the reasons is because people cannot stand rejection.
And sometimes financially, if it's a matter of money, the issue is greed. In other words, are you willing, for example, to cheat somebody out of something so you can have a little bit more? And you think about all the things that we hear in the news about people making financial decisions that are dishonest as they can be and try to justify it. You see, They're living by preference. What can profit me today in this situation, no matter what it is?
The same thing about promotion and position in life. If to get that promotion, I've got to make the other guy look bad. and outdo him in every way I possibly can. then what happens? You're living by Preference, not by principle.
Principle is: I will do my best, I will do all that I can, not just to impress somebody, but because I want to do my best, and then if I get a promotion, fine. Every single aspect of life You have to decide, is it going to be a preference, is it going to be a principle? And lots of times people who grow up Believing the Word of God, and somewhere along the way, they step over into the preference side. Listen to me. Once you do...
Once you start living by preference, it'll be real easy to go further and further and further away from your conviction. And into preferences, and then here's what will happen: you'll start defending yourself. And then you'll start trying to prove that it's okay. And I see people do this oftentimes when it comes to drinking. I remember going to this guy's house, and he wanted me to come talk to him and talk to him about his son and so forth in college and giving him a hard time, this, that, and the other, and so forth.
And he was a member of the church at that time, another church I had. He wanted to know why his son wasn't doing thus-and-so.
So I just happened to say, you got anything to drink? He said, yeah, help yourself. I opened the refrigerator and there's a six-pack. I closed it. I said, you know what's wrong with your son?
He said, no, that's what I asked you to come over. I said, you're the problem. I just walked over and opened the refrigerator and I didn't have to say anything else. You don't want your son to drink? You don't drink.
You don't want your daughter doing things that you know are absolutely disastrous. Then what kind of life are you living? Principals say I have a guideline that is for my protection. And once I go beyond the guideline, I'm like the guy who's wobbling down the highway with no center line, pitch black night, and listen, no lights on the highway, and I'm all over the place. And that's the way most people are living.
They're living by preference and They lack moral convictions. They never stop to say, now what do I really believe? What is it I really and truly believe about life and about how I treat people and how they treat me and what I do and how I give and am I jealous, am I generous? In other words, what are the guidelines? The guidelines are all right here.
In the Word of God, both the Old Testament and New Testament, teaches how to live. And it's always by principle, not by preference. And when people start living by preference, they get in trouble. All of life It's a decision-making process. And when we decide, this is the way I'm going to live.
These are the principles I'm going to follow. No matter what. And sometimes, as we said, it's costly. But God always honors obedience. And you have to decide, am I going to be obedient to God and just leave all the consequences to Him or am I not?
And you see, God does not want us to live with this upheaval on the inside. How am I going to suppose this happens? And suppose I get this off, and suppose he says this, and suppose she says that. Listen, when you're living by principle, you know how you're going to respond. You say no to sin.
Note of things, listen, that may not even be sin, but things that you know will not get you where God wants you to go, and things that can become sin eventually you say no. Because of where it will lead you. Principles are for our protection. They don't prevent us from having fun. They're for our protection.
And so if you're worried about your future, you can forget that. Listen, you live by principle. God will get you. where he wants you to go. With the influence He wants you to have to achieve the things in life He wants you to achieve.
But when you decide. that you go in the preference way. What you've done is you have lost His power in your life and you have lost the potential that you have and you have lost the blessing that was out there waiting for you. to the way God operates.
Now there are certain requirements. if you're going to live by principle.
So let's look at them for just a moment. I'll just mention a few of them. First of all, you've got to decide I'm going to live for a cause that's greater than myself. And that is, I'm going to live for Jesus Christ, for the kingdom of God. And bear witness of who he is in my life, I'm going to live for something that's more important and greater than I am.
And that is the kingdom of God. That's number one. You have to decide that. I'm going to live for myself. Any of these other things go.
Secondly, I must be very clear in my mind as to what I believe.
Now watch this. There's some things that are non-negotiable. If you're unmarried, and somebody wants to go to bed with you. That's non-negotiable. No.
What about non-negotiable? That means this conversation is over, the decision has been made, we move on to the next subject. Non-negotiable. Once you get an offer of something that is ungodly, watch this. And you start turning toward that to consider it.
You're in trouble. If you have a principle in your life, listen, principles don't move. They don't change. I think also you have to expect conflict. That is, if you're going to live by principle, you can expect conflict.
Because they're going to be people who don't like it. and don't want you to be a part of their life because They don't like the way you're living. You can expect conflict. Another thing is this. You've got to make a decision and go.
I'm leaving all the consequences to God. If he lets me suffer, so be it. If He blesses me in most unusual ways, so be it. But I'm going to leave the consequences of my obedience by living by these principles. I'm going to leave all that to God.
But you have to come to that conclusion in your life and make that decision. The last thing is this. If you're going to live by principle, You've got to believe. In the sovereignty of God, that He is in absolute control of every single thing. That means when you live by principle, you're living in obedience to him.
And therefore you believe that he is great enough, powerful enough, loving enough. and interested in you enough And with you in every circumstance of life that you don't have to worry about the consequences. To he is.
So I would simply ask you this. Which one of these best fits you? They can call you dogmatic. They can call you a fundamentalist. They can call you anything they want to call you.
But which one fits you best? A you're a person who knows what you believe. You committed to those beliefs because they're the moral laws of God. And you don't budge, period. Does that mean you're perfect?
No. Does it mean that you will never sin? No. But in the decision-making process in your life, That's how you live.
Now Here's what I want you to remember. Two words. What are they? And the other thing I want you to remember is this. How would you feel Driving 75 miles an hour.
down a dark road, no white line, and the ditches on both sides. Would you not agree that that is Dangerous. When you set aside your principles, That's the road you choose to follow. And Father, how grateful we are this morning for Daniel. His life his courage, his convictions.
the principles by which he lived. I pray for somebody who is unsaved, not a Christian. Living a life of pure preference. And already knowing it's not working. There's no peace, no joy.
No happiness, no security. I pray, Father, for those believers. Who would have to say, that's the way I've been living, by preference, not principle? that you would change both those hearts. And we pray that each of us would have the conviction to follow The Principles of the Word of God.
Every day of our life in Jesus' name. Amen. Uh Thank you for listening to today's podcast titled Serving God's Purpose. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
