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Q1. (1 John 2:18) What is this antichrist that John expects to come? What is the difference between the antichrist and antichrists in the church John is writing to? In what ways do we see the spirit of antichrist at work in our day? John warns about an antichrist that will arise prior to the coming of Christ and pretend to be Christ. This is the antichrist mentioned in Daniel 9:26-27 (referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:15), Revelation 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 - the one who will proclaim that he is God. Then, there are also the other antichrists John refers to, the false teachers that were in the church during his time, and are in the church even today. These are false teachers who offer a false Jesus and a false gospel. They are enemies of our Lord Jesus, and fake Church leaders that are opposed to Christ and His truth – they are most dangerous because of their ability to pretend to be what they are not. It is remarkable that today there are so many who deny Jesus Christ – perhaps a warning that the coming of the Saviour is near. We can identify them all by their lifestyles and their **** for money and material things. True believers are led by the Holy Spirit, and can stand against false teachers and the Antichrist.

Q4. (1 John 2:15-17) What kinds of sins are covered by the three examples of worldliness that John gives? Why are these sometimes so difficult for us to discern in ourselves? Why is worldliness so harmful to our future? Worldliness is characterized by the craving for physical pleasure; we have this preoccupation with gratifying our physical desires. There is also the craving for everything we see; we want and want and want, never having enough; we covet and accumulating things, bowing to the god of materialism. Finally, there is pride in our achievements and possessions; in other words, an obsession with our status or importance. By contrast, God values self-control, a spirit of generosity, and a commitment to humble service. Because of our pre-occupation with these sins, we often do not recognise these sins in our lives. We are so self-centred and caught up in this rat-race. Worldliness has no future; the world is passing away and a new order is coming; one where our Lord will reign. So we do not live for a world that is passing away; rather we know that “he who does the will of God abides forever”.

Q3. (1 John 2:15-16) What is "the world" in verses 15-16? What kind of love of "the world" keeps us from loving the Father? The world referred to here is everything on earth that is against Christ; any part of our life in which the Lord Jesus is not loved and welcomed. I have heard it defined as “human society insofar as it is organized on wrong principles, and characterized by base desires, false values, and egoism.” I like the way Dr Ralph puts it: “the worldly realm that is in rebellion against the heavenly realm.” We are plainly warned not to love the world or the things that are in the world, for the simple reason that love for the world is not compatible with love for the Father. John is not saying we must not love the created earth itself; he is referring to our worldly view towards life. All that the world has to offer may be described as the **** of the flesh, the **** of the eyes, and the pride of life. All that that comes from our evil nature, like our carnal bodily appetites, are the **** of the flesh. Then, there are the evil desires that arise from what we see – the **** of the eyes. Pride of life refers to our unholy ambition for self-display and self-glory. I have heard it said that the weed in the garden of life is “self”.

Q2. (1 John 2:12-14) John encourages "children," "young men," and "fathers." Why do you think he takes time to encourage them? In what ways does he encourage them? John takes time to encourage Christians in their different stages of spiritual maturity; mentioning 3 groups of believers – the new, the youthful, and the more mature. New believers might not know very much, but they do know the Father. Youthful believers are strong in the Lord and have overcome the evil one because the Word of God lives in them. The more mature believers know Jesus, having experienced a long and close relationship with Him. He encourages them by assuring them of the reality of their sins having been forgiven, the reality of their relationship with Jesus Christ, and of the fact that the Word of God lives in them. The good news is the fact that their sins have been forgiven. God has forgiven all their sins, the past, present and future sins. This was made possible because of the name of Jesus. God forgives sins on the basis of His Son's atoning death on the Cross. This means that all who believe in Jesus and repents will receive forgiveness of sin. Now they have close fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and their Heavenly Father.

Q5. (1 John 2:3-6) How can we be serious about obeying Christ without become legalistic and judgmental, with the self-righteous attitude that the Pharisees had? How do love and legalism differ? How can we be serious about obedience and make love our centre? Being in Christ we have this desire to please our Lord Jesus. This we do in a threefold way – by keeping His commandments (v. 3), also by keeping His word (v. 5), and walking as He walked (v. 6). To keep His commandments is to obey the teachings of the Lord Jesus as found in the NT. To keep His word means not only obedience to what is written, but a desire to do what we know would please Him. To walk as He walked is the full expression of God's standard for His people; it means to live as Jesus lived. We do this not because of legalistic rules, but out of love and gratitude for our Saviour.

Q4. (1 John 2:1-2) What assurance does John give us if we do sin? How does this comfort us? How does it make us want to avoid sin? We know God is absolute perfection and that He demands this from us as His children. On our own we can never even try to achieve this perfection since we stumble continuously. Our faith in Christ brings many changes - a new relationship with God, a new spirit, and a new outlook on life - but it doesn’t eradicate all traces of our old life. We still have the same body and the same mind, which can often lead to some of the same difficulties. Our sin, our disobedience breaks our fellowship with our Heavenly Father. We may disgrace Him but we still remain His child by re-birth. The good news is that if we sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who immediately comes to our aid and restores our relationship with the Father. This is a great comfort to us knowing we have the best defence attorney pleading our case – remembering that He has already paid the price for our sins. Once we truly realise the ultimate price paid, the suffering and the humiliation that Jesus went through for our sins, we will want to avoid sin. We are forever indebted to Jesus – His dying for us, He freed us from the guilt of our sins and restored us to God by removing every barrier to fellowship. God can show mercy to us because Christ has satisfied the claims of justice.

Q3. (1 John 1:9) How would you define "confession"? Why is confessing our sins so important? What happens to us if we stop confessing our sins? What are the promises given to us if we do confess our sins? How is forgiveness of sins different from cleansing? Confession of sin is our personal acceptance of God’s divine sovereignty. We acknowledge His right as our Creator and Heavenly Father to set the standards by which we must live. However, in this life our obedience to God is never perfect and we must depend on confession of our sins for God to forgive us and restore our fellowship with Him. Confessing our sins is important because each time we sin our personal growth and effectiveness as a Christian is weakened. At the same time the Holy Spirit is grieved. We do not lose our salvation but a rift forms in our fellowship with God. If we stop confessing our sins this rift widens as our sins pile up, and the only way we can restore our relationship with our Heavenly Father is by personally confessing to God the sins that caused this breach. God may use various ways to encourage us to comply. The down side is that there can be the loss of inner peace, and He may even discipline us. On confessing our sins, God promises to forgive us and also cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The forgiveness we received when we put our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ was for all our sins – past, present, and future, paid for Jesus on the Cross. However, as far as fellowship in the family of God is concerned, we need forgiveness from God. Confession is only made to God the Father. Confession of sin does not give us a license to sin. We cannot just sin and confess repeatedly thinking that God will just continue to forgive. Cleansing refers to the removal of the guilt of sin. We can now continue to grow in Christ, and there can be growth in the Spirit.

Q2. (1 John 1:5-7) What is the result when a Christian walks in darkness, that is, continues wilfully to do what he or she knows to be wrong? How does this involve self-deception? What is the result, according to verse 7, when we walk in the light? How do we get back into the light if we sin? If we continue to walk in darkness we are not in fellowship with God, our Lord Jesus, or our fellow Christians, and we need to urgently question our salvation. We know that God is absolutely Holy, absolutely righteous, and absolutely pure and that no sin can exist in His presence. With Him there is no grey area – we are either in darkness or in light. We must not deceive ourselves; sin is sin. All the excuses we use like it is hopeless to resist sin, or bluffing ourselves that we sin no more, and even accepting that sin is not so bad, all deceive us. We must accept that we struggle with sin and only with the help of the Holy Spirit, and as we grow in Christ, are we slowly winning the battle. So, if we wilfully continue to sin, and say that we have fellowship with our Lord, we were never saved at all – we walk in darkness. We have nothing in common with God because there is no darkness in Him, and we are living a life of deception – we are living a lie. On the other hand, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with the Lord Jesus and fellow believers. We are members of God’s family, and by walking in the light we not only have fellowship with one another, but the blood of Jesus Christ also continually cleanses us from all sin. We know that God’s forgiveness is based on the blood of His Son that was shed at Calvary. We get back into the light by confessing our sins so that we can receive forgiveness. There must be an urgent and genuine sorrow and repentance on our part.

Q1. (1 John 1:3-4, 6-7) Why is our fellowship with fellow Christians so often just on a surface level? How can we have fellowship at a deeper level in Christ? What would it take in your Christian group or your relationships with other believers to deepen your level of fellowship so it is authentically Christian? Our fellowship with Christians is often just at a superficial level, and I feel this has a lot to do with our lack of genuine love for Jesus and for one another. We can only have fellowship on a deeper level if this fellowship is based on the Person of the Lord Jesus. And there must not be any false opinions concerning Him – He existed from all eternity and came into this world as a real Person. Today, we are not standing up for Jesus, and this is resulting in the compromising of our faith. There are so many false teachings concerning Jesus resulting in our faith being diluted and causing us to turn away from the Truth. In the end we are conforming more and more to the world’s standards. For our fellowship to be authentic Christian we have to be in a right relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. First we have to come to Christ and receive Him as our Saviour. Also, we must confess our sins so that we are in fellowship with God. Combined with our love for one another, we will then have something in common – a shared life together with the life of our Lord Jesus. Oneness with one another, with Christ and with the Father. Just as the Father is in Jesus, so is Jesus in us, and we have unity with one another.

Q5. (Proverbs 11:14) Why is it valuable to counsel with spiritual people in the Christian community when we're learning to discern God's voice? How is having a spiritual mentor helpful? What is the danger of always going to another person to confirm God's word? Why is out-growing a mentor a common occurrence? I have found with life changing decisions, it’s always safest to seek advice from fellow believers. On my own I might be blinded by prejudice, by emotions, or even by a wrong understanding of the situation. It might be that I do not have all the facts and have a wrong impression of where my decision might ultimately lead me. Here having a spiritual mentor might help, as so many of my believer family are experts in certain fields and their advice would be most valuable. But then again, they might also be blinded by their perceptions, so ultimately the decision is mine and the best is to rely on prayer and patience. I have found not being rushed and waiting on the Lord has always worked for me since His timing is always perfect! However, to trust Him with the timing is not the easiest thing to do, but it always works. We so often do not have the patience, and make hasty decisions that result in bad conditions. To avoid this, we must trust Him and not act in haste. We should never become despondent or discouraged when passing through trials, remembering that no problem is too great for our Heavenly Father. At the same time, some of our problems in life are never removed, and we must learn to accept them and to prove His grace sufficient.

Q4. (Mark 14:36; 1 Peter 3:7) Why is it necessary to recognize and then surrender our desires when we are seeking God's will? What happens if we neglect to do this? How can holding on to sin distort what you think you are hearing from God? Our desires are not always in sync with those of our Lord. Initially, our heart was filled with envy and strife - only determined to enrich ourselves. In other words, only to gratify our natural appetites/desires. We have low morals and whether at home, at work, or in social life, we are constantly contentious. Having no concern for fellow humans, and being two-faced, often only using people for personal gain. We need to recognize this, if we don’t, we will find these desires taking over our thought processes again. As we mature and draw closer to our Lord Jesus our thoughts will take on a new nature, and they will start to be in sync with Him. We will naturally be humble of heart, gentle, mild-mannered, and at the same time always have a genuine love for others - totally the opposite behaviour of this world. In words and deeds, we will remind others of our Lord Jesus - living a morally pure and spiritually clean life. In order to be in fellowship with God, we must have confessed all our known sin, and also admit that we are sinners by nature and saved by grace. God has stated over and over in His word that all have sinned – denying this is a complete denial of the reason the Lord Jesus died on the Cross.

Q3. (Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 John 2:16). Give an example of what the voice of the flesh - our lusts and desires - might sound like. Give an example of what the voice of the world might sound like. Give an example of what the voice of the devil might sound like. Why is a knowledge of the Scripture necessary for discernment of these voices? “The Lotto is paying an enormous amount tomorrow. You need to buy a 100 tickets immediately and thereby not miss out on this chance”. This is the voice of flesh – a **** and desire for material things; for coveting and accumulating things. “Why go to church. You don’t need to go to church, they are only after your money. Besides Jesus is not relevant today. That all belongs to some ancient myth”. This is the voice of the world – wanting me to conform to this world's values, “Look at what you have done in your life. The house and cars you possess. The successful business you own. All part of your own making: your superior business brain. What a success story”. This is the voice of the devil – pride in our achievements and possessions – an obsession with one’s status or importance. Not giving our Lord any credit. Without Scripture we would not know the truth, and would not be able to differentiate between truth and untruth. It is our safeguard against false teaching and is our source of wisdom and knowledge – equipping us for life. Only by comparing the voices we hear against Scripture will we be able to discern the truth.

Q2. (Hebrews 5:14) Why will a person have to make mistakes in the process of learning to discern God's voice? If mistakes are part of the process, how can this be of God at all? In today’s fast moving world, we are continually bombarded with news. Much of it is not always true. Combined with our own thoughts and the thoughts of others we need to be able to distinguish all this from the voice of God. This may not be easy, and there is a learning curve involved in which we will bump our heads every now and then. Mistakes are part of growing up. We have to be able to discern truth from untruth if we are to grow from infant believers to mature believers. We must train our conscience, our senses, our mind, and our body to distinguish good from evil. At the same time, we must learn how to tell the difference between a correct use of Scripture and a mistaken one? This is only achieved with perseverance and an honest desire to know God better. Fortunately, the Lord has left us His inspired Word to help us. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. We should read it, meditate on it, and apply it to our life, because it is our safeguard against false teaching and our source of guidance for how we should live. As we mature in God’s truth we will become more confident in being able to discern God’s voice. But then again only if we belong to Him and have been saved by His grace through faith in the Lord Jesus, will we hear His voice. The bottom line is: the more time we spend intimately with God and His Word, the easier it is to recognize His voice and His leading in our lives.

Q1. ((Judges 6:36-38; Psalm 95:7-10) Does Gideon ask for a sign because of his unbelief? What is the difference between Gideon's seeking confirmation, and "testing God" in a way that displeases God? Does God mind if we ask for confirmation? When might God be upset with us for asking for confirmation? No, not because of his unbelief, but rather because he wanted confirmation of what he thought God had told him. Gideon wanted to be really sure that he had heard correctly, and that the plan to strike down the Midianites was not an illusion or a wishful thought. He and his men were not used to war, and he must have wondered if he was following God’s call. Gideon was a believer and was not “testing God” as such, but wanted confirmation about the instructions he had received. However, he had the angel visit him, which was confirmed by the fire consuming his offering, and also God had helped him in forming an army. All of this should have been enough to convince Gideon of the authenticity of God’s message. But still Gideon wanted to be certain that he heard correctly, so he asks for confirmation, and hits upon the idea of the fleece. His situation was a desperate one that had huge implications, but normally I would be very hesitant to question our Lord. No, I don’t think God minds if we ask for confirmation. God knows our mind and if it is genuinely based on our trusting Him as our Heavenly Father, I’m sure He will not mind. In this way we are made more aware of our weaknesses and how much more we are to depend on Him and not ourselves. He knows how readily we lean on our own imagined resources and think that we can cope without total reliance on Him. For our own good He allows us to be fully aware of our weaknesses. God would be upset if we are asking Him to prove Himself rather than by faith asking for confirmation.

Q4. How can pride corrupt our hearing from God? How do we protect ourselves from being deceived by our pride? Pride blots out any voice of God we may have been able to hear. It puts ourselves before our Heavenly Father, at least we think so - it’s all about me, me, and I. I read once that Self is the weed in the garden of life. A stubborn weed! I cannot remember where I read it, but I love this because it is so true. We cannot make demands on God. We cannot try and manipulate Him. By doing this it only shows that we are ignorant of who He actually is! Once we truly know Him, we will come before Him as a humble servant – no more pride. We need to be patient, acknowledging Him for who He really is. We can protect ourselves from being deceived only when we recognising our sin of pride and self-sufficiency. This can easily occur when we become complacent and allow affluence and prosperity to boost our pride so that it becomes a snare in our life. God intends us to humble and to acknowledge that our sufficiency depends entirely upon Him.

Q3. (Psalm 32:8-9; John 7:17) Why is a willingness to obey without understanding the reasons for God's commands so important? How does obedience sometimes help us understand God's workings? We need to trust God instead of us remaining in control – we seem to forget He knows best, and is the source of all wisdom. He is all knowing and sees everything past, present and future. There must be complete surrender of our stubborn will to the point where we desire God’s will. It is only when we get to know Jesus well that we will be able to trust our Heavenly Father and want to do His will. The better we know Him the more will we find our will and desire to be in harmony with His. This ultimately leads to our loving and obeying our Lord and Saviour more and more. We may have spent a lifetime studying Scripture but still have no desire to do God’s will. The rebellious, carnal-minded person cannot discern the things of the Spirit, because the worldly-minded person has no desire to do God’s will. A good example of this were the Jewish rulers. In John 7:17 there is a promise if we are sincere in seeking the truth – God will reveal it to them. Walking in obedience helps us in understanding God. His ways, will always be proved to be the best for our wellbeing - no true believer of Christ will ever perish, our eternal security is secure. We hear His voice day by day and obey His Word. The Lord Jesus knows each of us each by name, and as true sheep not one will be lost through an oversight or carelessness on His part. We must obey Him, first by exercising saving faith in Him, then by walking with Him in obedience.

Q2. (1 Samuel 3:7; Hosea 6:3; Philippians 3:10-14) Why is a desire for a relationship with God more important than seeking to hear His voice? How does hearing His voice contribute to the relationship? Why are we commanded to "press in" to know the Lord? How does Paul's passion for a relationship with God inspire you? The story of Samuel and how he learned to recognize God’s voice provides an important lesson for us as believers. At first he was unable to recognize God's voice, even though he was busy with religious activities. The Bible tells us that the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him, and he had not yet developed a relationship with God. So, we have learned, that it is important to get to know our Heavenly Father personally, and to have a personal relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ before we are able to hear His voice. Hearing His voice, and obeying builds up a closer relationship. However, we should never ask God to speak if we are not prepared to act on the message we hear. The devil seeks to imitate the voice of God, so we must carefully discern the source of the message. As we grow in our knowledge of Scripture, and develop a closer relationship with Jesus, we will be better suited to discern truth from lies and recognize His voice. Paul’s all-consuming passion to know God should truly inspire us - it caused him to count everything else as worthless in comparison to that tremendous blessing. It should give us an ardent desire to know God through His Son Jesus Christ (John 14:9). To know each aspect of His character - as the Good Shepherd, as the Bread of Life, and as the True Vine. Building this close relationship with Jesus is a lifelong pursuit, and will have a lasting influence on our finances, workplace, friendships, and home life. When He has first place in your heart, we will look forward to quiet times with the Lord. Our days will be structured around receiving and obeying instruction from Him. Prayer will be as much about listening to Him as about speaking. Turning away from ungodliness and worldly pursuits will appear a small price to pay for the blessings of intimately walking with God. Over time, as we maintain both a strong desire and a firm commitment to know God better, we will want to keep Him in first place, and eventually our desires will be replaced with His. We must persevere with this relationship, and it is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that we will be given the ability to stay on course.

Q1. (1 Samuel 3:1-10) What was Eli's counsel to Samuel, when he recognized that God was calling to the boy? Was it good counsel? What is the significance of Samuel recognizing that he is a servant? Eli told Samuel to go back and lie down, and if the LORD speaks to him again, he must answer by letting the LORD know that he is listening and awaiting to be told what to do. Yes, it is good advice. It’s best to lie still and be alert, not to be running around in confusion, waiting for the LORD to speak again. Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God”. In the same way, today, as Christians we have to learn to recognize God’s voice, and this can only be done if we know God, and not only know of Him. Right from a young age Samuel knew that he was set apart to serve God. So, over time he developed a close relationship with his LORD enabling him to serve God as a priest, judge, prophet and advisor to the people. We read how throughout his life, he remained loyal to the LORD, serving Him faithfully and obediently in everything he did.

Q4. (Acts 16:6-10; Psalm 27:14) Why does God sometimes not talk to us? Is it always because we aren't receptive? What should we do when we don't hear anything from God? Often it may seem like God is not talking to us, that He isn’t answering our prayers, and even worse, we may begin thinking that He does not understand the urgency of our situation. Thinking like this is wrong as it implies that God is not in control. We have to learn to wait on God, and this is not easy. Especially in our fast moving world today. It’s not always because we are not receptive. It can be because God is using this time to teach us something. We sometimes need this time to reflect on the fact that God is the only true source of wisdom and goodness which He will make available to His children. So it is most important and profitable to wait for His guidance – not to be too hasty! That is when we make our biggest mistakes. Instead of being impatient we should be making good use of this waiting time to discover what God is trying to teach us. In the meantime, in seeking God’s will, we should be sure that our plan is in harmony with God’s Word. We are to remain patient and wait until we hear a word from God about His will and His ways.

Q3. (Acts 5:1-11; 8:23; 14:8-10) Sometimes God nudges by giving you, insight into the spiritual state of people around you. What should you be asking God about once you receive this insight about them? Have you ever had a nudge from God that resulted in a person receiving help? What did you learn from this? A great friend of mine was involved in a property development which many of us saw as the wrong move. I had a dream about what he should be doing instead. At first, my wife and I were very hesitant about telling him of my dream. So we prayed about it earnestly for a while, and it was only when we were sure that this was a message from the Lord, that I approached him and told him about the plans our Lord had for him. He listened half-heartedly, but never responded or later mentioned anything about our discussion. What did I learn from this? Well firstly, I had regrets in ever having told him about my dream. In actual fact I felt like an idiot. But I knew I had prayed about it and I knew my motives were sincere; only having his concern at heart. I even began doubting if this was ever a message from the Lord. I don’t get any joy in reporting that since then he has only had endless expenses, staff troubles, and a deteriorating health. We now pray for the Lord’s help in getting him out of the position he has found himself in.

Q2. (2 Samuel 5:19, 22-25) What's the similarity between God's brief, inarticulate nudges or promptings, and David's use of the Urim and Thummim to receive direction? What happens when David needs more than a "yes" or "no" answer? In Scripture we read of the many ways in which God communicated to mankind. He used the Urim and Thummim, theophanies and audible voices, dreams, visions, and prophetic inspiration. But in David’s case I’m inclined to think that David made more use of promptings and nudges from God. He had a very close relationship with God and the Holy Spirit must have influenced his decision making. The use of the Urim and Thummim was perhaps used as a sort of confirmation. When he needed more complex answers he must have used multiple questions. Where I live, South Africa, we have Sangomas (Traditional healers) who perform certain rituals by the throwing of bones. Essentially, the bones are scattered by hand usually in a circle and then read. Meaning is deduced in accordance with the position in which the bones fall. Quoting from Wikipedia: “Traditional healers of South Africa are practitioners of traditional African medicine in Southern Africa. They fulfil different social and political roles in the community, including divination, healing physical, emotional and spiritual illnesses, directing birth or death rituals, finding lost cattle, protecting warriors, counteracting witchcraft, and narrating the history, cosmology, and myths of their tradition. There are two main types of traditional healers within the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, and Tsonga societies of Southern Africa: the diviner (sangoma), and the herbalist (inyanga). These healers are effectively South African shamans who are highly revered and respected in a society where illness is thought to be caused by witchcraft, pollution (contact with impure objects or occurrences) or through neglect of the ancestors. It is estimated that there are as many as 200,000 indigenous traditional healers in South Africa compared to 25,000 Western-trained doctors. Traditional healers are consulted by approximately 60% of the South African population, usually in conjunction with modern biomedical services”. I feel that today we don’t need games of chance to make decisions, or the casting of lots, the rolling of dice, or even flipping a coin. We have the Word, the Holy Spirit, and prayer which are sufficient for discerning God’s will.

Q1. (Acts 8:26-40; 16:6-10) Are promptings from the Holy Spirit clear enough when we're seeking God for direction? Why is "no" just as important an answer as "yes"? Have you ever felt God's promptings to take some action? If you followed through, what happened? Yes, the promptings of the Holy Spirit will be clear enough, but they are more dependent on whether our spiritual ears are open or not. The Lord uses different ways to guide us - His Indwelling Spirit, Scripture, consecrated thinking, our emotions when they are put at His disposal, the insights of people, and signs in the world around us. However, we need to be often in prayer, and there has to be a willingness in allowing the Holy Spirit to use our thinking, our feelings, and certain circumstances to make His guidance clear. There is no difference whether the answer is Yes or No - both are just as important. Both can guide us into a new direction or confirm or negate the current direction. A Yes guides us to the right choices, and a No guides us away from the wrong choices. As we seek God's will, we need to know what God wants us to do and where He wants us to go, but we also need to know what God does not want us to do and where He does not want us to go. Yes, we had the most exciting experience. We wanted to move away from the coast to a more inland village. My wife and I prayed so hard for this to happen. And when it did eventually happen we got the best house we could have imagined. It was only by Divine Intervention that everything fell into place. The previous owner was not going to sell, but circumstances changed his mind. They had decided to emigrate to Australia and were going to keep the house, we were interested in, as a base in South Africa. Then his wife’s brother was attacked here in South Africa. That was it – with our high crime rate they decided to sell the house. The timing of our sale and our purchase was unbelievable! Then after we had moved, I was in a new area and I received so many prompting, and nudges for me to make right choices for our new home. This happened so often that I’m sorry today that I didn’t diarize it all. This whole episode was so amazing that we felt God’s hand in it every day. We often think back on how the Holy Spirit guided us. We are so grateful and in awe for all the help and guidance we received. God is so great, loving and caring!!!!! Every time, in my life, that I have followed the Lord’s guidance blessings have flowed from it. In seeking God’s will, we have to make sure we are in a right relationship with our Lord Jesus, and in harmony with God’s Word. Also our motives are to be honourable, and in sync with our Heavenly Father’s will!

Q4. (Acts 10:19-20) Why was it important for Simon to get a very clear command from the Spirit to go with his visitors? What would he have done if the word weren't so clear? What does he do when he is criticized for taking this action (Acts 11:2, 12)? What kind of faith does it take to obey the Spirit and take an action you know you'll be criticized for later? Do you disobey when you know you might face criticism for obedience? Our Lord wanted to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. It was therefore important for Peter to get a clear command to overcome his Jewish teaching of separation and to understand what God had taught him in this vision. If the word he received was not so clear he would have carried on believing that Gentiles are outcasts, and are not to be associated with. When Peter gets back to Jerusalem he is criticized for eating with Gentiles. It was only when he had told them the whole story did they begin to understand and in the end they praised God for what had happened; as we read in Acts 11:18: “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life." Peter’s response to God’s word shows complete faith in the LORD, especially knowing that he will be criticized for it later. It also shows us that the Lord moves us in our growth, preparing us for the next step in becoming more and more like Him. I cannot think of a situation when I disobeyed any word I had received from the Lord. However, I admit it will take a special kind of courage, which only comes from the Lord, to not obey a command that will bring any kind of disapproval or even an attack.

Q3. (Acts 19:21; 20:22-24; 21:12-14) What would have happened if Paul hadn't been sure of his instructions from the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem? Would you have tried to dissuade him? It's comforting to receive encouraging words. What level of maturity does it take to receive a direction that might lead us into hardship and danger? What happens when we choose the easy way, when God leads us on a difficult path? In every city Paul visited he was told by the Holy Spirit that he had to go to Jerusalem. Although he did not know exactly what the turn of events would be in Jerusalem, he did know that he would be facing hardships and perhaps even prison. I don’t think it was ever an option for Paul not to go to Jerusalem. He had to obey our LORD - it was an inner compulsion, which he was apparently unable to throw off. What would I have done? Would I have tried to dissuade Paul? I suppose without a clear message from my Lord, in all honesty, I would have been concerned about his safety, and in all probability would have tried to prevent him from going on to Jerusalem. On the other hand, to receive encouraging words do make our choices easier and give us greater courage. To obey instructions that might lead to hardships and danger, shows total commitment and maturity. All Paul wanted to do was to obey God and to please Him, even if this meant he would be called upon to offer up his life. I remember what he wrote in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain”. No sacrifice was too great for the One who died for him. His only concern was that he completed the task he had received from the Lord Jesus, and this was to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. It is so much easier to choose the easy way. We might easily be dissuaded from following the Lord because of wrong guidance from friends and family. Also, the concern for our own safety or comfort can keep us from pressing ahead to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance in difficult circumstances. It is easy to equate being in the Lord’s will when everything is working out happily, but much harder when things are not going our way.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 12:9a; Acts 18:9-10; 23:11; 27:24) How do you think it feels to Paul for God to personally encourage him when he is afraid and hurting? What do we learn about God that He speaks to Paul in this way? I know how I would feel after receiving the same encouragement from my Heavenly Father – totally committed and motivated! Like Paul, whenever I find myself going through a rough patch, that is the time to spend some extra time in the Word; and it is then that God speaks (through His Word) to me. In Paul’s case, God gave him a promise: “My grace is sufficient for you.” It was possible for God’s grace to go to work in Paul’s life once he accepted his affliction. This then enabled Paul to experience the power of Jesus in his life – transforming weakness into strength. It was this weakness that gave him the courage and hope needed. Paul recognised his limitations and started to depend more and more on God for his effectiveness rather than on his own energy or effort. Here we notice that our limitations not only help develop our Christian character, but also deepen our worship – in admitting them we affirm God’s strength in our life. We learn that He is a loving and caring Heavenly Father, full of mercy and grace. Always there to lend a helping hand and always ready to personally praise us for a job well done. This reminds me of Hebrews 4:16 that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), and that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us (1 John 5:14).