Week 3: Will You Follow Jesus?- My Way or The High Way Bible Study
- Nov 7, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 29
Whose Way Will You Follow? Jesus' Way or Your Way?
Every single day, you make choices.
Some are small, like what to wear, what to post, or who to text back.
Some are bigger, like what kind of person you want to become, what you believe, what you will stand for, and whose voice you will listen to.
We usually want the easier route.
The quick answer or the plan that makes sense to us.
The outcome we would choose feels good.
That isn't a casual invitation. The truth is denying yourself can be downright uncomfortable.
But choosing to follow God's way over our own desires, means you trust that his ways are better than yours.
How to Recognize When You are Doing Things Your Way:
Your thought patterns will usually sound like:
I just want to feel happy.
I can figure this out if I try hard enough.
I need to hurry and get this over with.
Doing things God's way sound like:
God what do you want me to do?
I feel like Holy Spirit has given me peace about making this choice.
My mentor suggested I try doing things this way.
One path centers on self. The other centers on the trying to do things God's way, with the purpose of living the life God designed for you.
Maybe it's time to start asking, "Am I truly following Jesus? Or am I trying to make Him fit into the life I already planned?
How Do I Know If Something Is God's Will?
A common question believers ask is, "How do I know if something is God's will?"
The answer is not based on trying to guess based on signs, feelings, or coincidences alone.
Those could play a part, but there are also concrete things that can point you in the right direction like:
The decision draws you closer to Jesus.
It honors what the Bible teaches.
It reflected the character of Jesus.
If it pulls you away from obedience, requires you to sin, or centers on something you desire, it's time to ask a parent or Christian mentor to help you find your way.
God will never contradict His Word, meaning what the Bible teaches. This is why knowing what scripture says is necessary.
You can't discern God's leading, if you have not learned what he spoke to you through the Bible. It's the place where you learn to find connection and direction for your life. As you seek Him in the pages He gave you, that's where you will find relationship.
The life Jesus leads you into will always be greater than the one you would have built alone.
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Day 1: Journal Pg. 19
Journal Pg.19
Context: Proverbs 19 covers topics like its better to have integrity than to be wealthy. As the chapter goes on it contrasts the broken nature of human planning.
Thought: People have a lot of ideas and plans that shift and change, while causing sometimes causing confusion. God's will is like an anchor because it's unchanging so it will always stand.
Question: How are God's plans and purpose different from the way people plan their lives?
Day 2: Journal Pg. 20
Journal Pg. 20
Context: Jeremiah 29 starts with a letter to the Exiles. Jews who had been taken captive from Jerusalem and hauled away to Babylon.
Read Jeremiah 29: 10-13 Notice that verse 10 says "For thus says the Lord," which means that God is speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish exiles.
Question: Why do you think God would send a prophet to tell the people that he had plans for their welfare that would give them hope & a future?
Thought: In this passage, God lets them know they will be in exile for 70 year, but that he has not forgotten them.
Question: How could this verse help you have hope even in hard circumstances?
Day 3: Journal Pg. 21
Journal Pg. 21
Context: Jesus gave us an example of how to pray. See Matthew 6:9-13.
Thought: God's kingdom is only good and only righteous, not like this world. This prayer needs to come from the heart that all created beings bring their will into alignment with God's will.
Question: If answered prayer must align with the will of God, can you think of examples of prayer that he could say yes to?
Thought: In order for God's will to be done people must align their will to his and carry it out.
Question: When harmful or bad things happen does that mean it is part of God's plan? Or how would you explain that to someone?
Day 4: Journal Pg. 22
Journal Pg. 22
Context: Verse 31&32 tell us not to be anxious because God will provide. Verse 33 gives us a key to finding a higher way of life, which gets rid of anxiety.
Question: If you seek God first, how would your life would change?
Question: What do you think your life would look like if you only had what God gave to you?
Day 5: Journal Pg. 23
Journal Pg. 23
Related Verses: John 3:15 "that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." & John 5:24 "...whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."
Question: How do you receive eternal life? Who gave the world this gift?
Thought: Notice the word everyone and whoever in the verses from John. This means eternal life is available to all people.
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