Train with Your Personal Coach

Navigating The New Year: 
Train With Your Personal Coach:
John 16:7,13

God has not left us alone to navigate life!

(To download and print blank sermon notes to complete while you listen, click HERE.)

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

A Few Prerequisites

1. Realize that God will guide me

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:2–3)

2. Ask God to guide me

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,” (James 1:5a)

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” (Psalm 27:11)

3. Believe God wants to answer

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:5–6)

4. Prioritize listening to and obeying God

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.” (Psalm 123:2)

 “My quiet time is not for a devotional thought, but for a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father.  It alerts me to what God wants to do in my life the rest of the day.”  Henry Blackaby

7 Ways To Practice Discernment

1. Does it agree with the Bible?

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

2. Does it make me more like Christ?

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29)

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

3. Do wise, mature believers Confirm it?

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15)

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” (Proverbs 19:20)

4. Is it Convicting rather than Condemning?

“for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10)

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

5. Do I sense God’s Peace about it?

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...” (Colossians 3:15a)

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

6. Does this help or hinder my gospel Witness?

“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:22–23)

“Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”                                                                                (1 Corinthians 10:32–33)

7. Does it Glorify God?

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The secret to hearing and recognizing God’s voice is getting to Know Him better every day.

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:47)

Specific guidance flows out of our daily walk with God!

• Focus on your relationship with God

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matthew 22:37–38)

• Put yourself in a Position to hear whatever God says to you

F – Frequency

I – Intensity

T - Time

Making It Personal

• Life transformation begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Is this relationship real and evident in my life today?

• What is my current practice of prioritizing time to listen to God? What adjustments do I need to make in my schedule to prioritize this time?

• In what area(s) do I most need to practice discernment as I listen for God’s guidance in my life right now?

• Is there anything that God has clearly spoken to me about that I have not done yet? Why haven’t I obeyed?  What is the next step I need to take on the pathway toward obedience?