THE DECISIONS OF FAITH
Hebrews 11:23-29
Two young men are hanging out one Friday after school and a carload of their friends drove up and said, “Come on! We’ve bought a case of beer and we are going to have great time tonight. We’re going to party. One of the young couldn’t resist the possibility of fun night with his buddies and jumped in the car. The other thought about it and said, “No guys, that’s not what I need to be doing. I’m not going with you. He stood strong in his decision even through the friendly ridicule of being called a mamma’s boy and a weinie.
Life is full of decisions, some good and some bad. As a matter of fact, that is life “The sum total of our decision making from birth to the present and the consequences of those decisions.
Observations on Decision Making: (11:23-24a)
1) the Ability to Choose Right Decisions Is the Most Important Ability in a Person’s Life
When God made man He created man in His own image. Part of that image is that He gave man a “will”, the ability to choose. What man does will that will ultimately determines the outcome of his life.
*The great question of life is not where you started,
but where did you end.
*Life’s Outcomes are simply Results of Life’s Choices
*Life’s Choices are simply Results of Life’s
Understanding -- Perceived or Reality
*Life’s Understandings are Results of Life’s Lessons
2) the Process of Choosing Right Decisions Is Learned
Primarily from the Parents
23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
By watching me, will my children learn to make decisions that are based on....
- God’s Will or My Will
Do they see you seeking God’s desire through prayer
Spiritual
Do they see
- Faith or Fear
- Popular Opinion or Righteous Truth
- An Eternal Perspective or a Temporal Perspective
- Self-Sacrifice or Self-Gaim
Is it about me or about others.
Moses’ Decisions were Faith Driven rather than Circumstance Driven
Moses’ Decisions were Based with an Eternal Perspective Rather than a Temporal Perspective
Self-Sacrifice rather than Self-Gain
3) The Learned Process of Decision Making Will Be
Applied in Accountable Years
DECISIONS BASED ON FAITH...
1) CHOOSE GOD’S DESIRES RATHER THAN THE WORLD’S DELIGHTS (11:24-26) (1 John 2:15-16)
15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Questions which must be asked:
1) Is it Right? (Would Jesus Do It?)
-use the word of God for the standard
- what are the temporal and eternal
consequences
2) Is it Right for me? (God’s will for my life)
-use prayer for instruction
*Choose God’s Favor over the World’s
Fame “Pride of Life”
(11:24) By faith Moses, when he was come to
years, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter;
“Everybody wants to be somebody”
“Everybody wants t be recognized”
Three basic ways people receive Fame or
Recognition
1- Born Into It (Prince William,
Charles and Diana’s son)
2- Earned the Recognition through
Honest Means
3- Grab Recognition through the
Ungodly Means
*Choose God’s Presence over the World’s
Pleasure “Lust of the Flesh” (11:25)
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season;
“Everyone wants to have Fun”
“Everyone wants to Fulfill the wants
of their flesh”
* Chooses God’s Rewards over the World’s
Riches “Lust of the Eyes”
(11:26)
Everyone wants to have enough money
to enjoy life
Everyone wants to be rich
Three basic ways people receive Riches
1- Born Into It (Prince William,
Charles and Diana’s son)
2- Earned the Riches through Honest
Means
3- Grab Riches through the Ungodly
Means
2) ARE MOTIVATED BY THE POWER OF GOD RATHER THAN
THE POWER OF FEAR (11:27)
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
3) RESULT IN EXPERIENCING GOD’S BLESSING
- Experiencing God’s Protection (11:28)
Through faith he kept the passover, and
the sprinkling of blood, lest he that
destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
- Experiencing God’s Provision
- Experiencing God’s Power (11:29)
By faith they passed through the Red sea
as by dry land: which the Egyptians
assaying to do were drowned.
