Decisiveness

The Ideal Man as Visualized by Isaiah (Version I)

The ability to make good decisions requires a knowledge of the good. The resolve to execute good decisions promptly requires a commitment to realize the potential of the good in our lives. Do you have the moral framework out of which you are empowered to recognize a truly good decision? Are you filled with a sense of purpose which enables you to act decisively in pursuit of that which is good?

One of the most inspirational voices in all of biblical literature is the prophet Isaiah. One of Isaiah’s most enduring legacies both to Judaism and Christianity is his depiction of the ideal man of God. This individual is at times described as an ideal David and at other times as an ideal Moses who was first called ‘the Servant of the Lord’ (Deut 34:5; Josh 1:1). Isaiah’s ideal man of God will play a decisive role in God’s greatest plans. He will lead God’s people in all aspects of righteousness. One important aspect of his righteous character is precisely that of decisiveness. Isaiah 11:1-10 offers a beautiful, poetic description of the ideal man of God.

11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD– 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

A fruitful tree springs out of the family of Jesse, the father of David. The fruitful tree symbolically depicts the ideal man of God upon whom the Spirit of the living God rests. He understands the way of the good, the way of wisdom, because he has learned it from God. The Spirit of God provides him, and by extension us, with understanding, counsel, knowledge, and a reverence for God in our lives. The ideal man of God has the moral framework to recognize that which is a good decision. He is not influenced wrongly by peer pressure. The prophet further states that the man of God will not make decisions by mere appearances or what sounds like it might be good, rather he acts decisively because he acts with righteousness. He does what is right no matter what the cost. He is so filled with a sense of mission and purpose that righteousness is said to be the very clothes which he wears. The final scenes of this stirring paragraph describe how the world around the man of God is suddenly transformed. His decisive stance for the goodness of God changes fear into trust, danger into safety and ultimately spreads the knowledge of God throughout the entire world. Is there any greater impact might we might possibly seek for our own lives?

Closing:

The action steps for decisiveness involve looking at things from more points of view than my own, not giving in to peer pressure and sticking to the right decision. How are these steps reflected in the character of the ideal man of God portrayed in Isaiah? How can I emulate this in my own life?

Spent a period of time in prayer with God, ask for forgiveness for your past failures to act decisively for God’s goodness in the world and ask him to fill you with his Spirit so that this aspect of his character might be realized in all of our lives.

The Ideal Man as Visualized by Isaiah (Version II)

BIBLICAL MODEL – The Ideal Man of God

The ability to make good decisions requires a knowledge of the good and a sense of purpose which prompts you to act decisively in pursuit of that which is good. These traits are included among the features of God’s ideal man as described by the prophet Isaiah.

The ideal man:

• is filled with the Spirit of the living God.
• has learned from God the way of good and wisdom.
• has received from the Spirit understanding, counsel, knowledge, reverence for God.
• has a moral framework to recognize that which is a good decision.
• is not wrongly influenced by peer pressure.
• does not make decisions by mere appearances or what sounds like it might be good.
• acts with righteousness.
• does what is right no matter what the cost.
• is so filled with a sense of mission and purpose that righteousness is said to be the very clothes which he wears.
• transforms the world around him through his decisive stance for the goodness of God: fear into trust, danger into safety, ignorance of God into knowledge.

Read Isaiah 11:1-10.

11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD– 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

DECISIVENESS IN OUR LIVES ––

Some practical evidences of decisiveness we can see in our lives are seen in the following “I will” statements:

I will look at things from more than one point of view before making up my mind.I will make the right decision and stick to it.

I will do what I say.

I will not give in to peer pressure.

I will not look back.

Divide into pairs and discuss:

1. What are some of the hindrances to our lives in being decisive?
   (Some possible answers: laziness, pride, fear, lack of awareness, lack of discipline, lack of trust in God, lack of devotional time with God and His Word)
2. What are some of the benefits of being decisive?
   (Some possible answers: pleases God, yields benefits to others and self, avoids lost opportunities, helps develop good character)

DECISIVENESS IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK–

Spend 2 minutes in personal reflection with God:

1. In what situations in my past did my failure to act decisively result in losses or disadvantages to others or myself? Ask forgiveness of God now, and commit to asking forgiveness of others this week, as appropriate.
2. What decisions need to be made this week – including all that I have been procrastinating about? Write them down.

Ask God to:

• forgive you for times when you have not been decisive.
• help you complete all of the decisions on your list this week.
• give you wisdom and strength to make a good decision in each case.
• help you develop the practice of decisiveness.

Jesus’ Journey to the Cross

Mark 14:36

            …Yet not what I want, but what you want.

 Jesus, just before the guards from the High Priest took him, spent time in prayer on the Mount of Olives (also known as Gethsemane).  He was about to face the most difficult moment of his 33-year-old life and possibly the most difficult time a human being has ever had to face.  He, as an innocent man, was to be beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and crucified for crimes he did not commit.

Jesus had declared he was going to fulfill the purpose for which his Father had sent him.  He had spoken and traveled openly, declaring he was doing the will of his Father, doing what the Father was doing, and saying what the Father wanted to be said.

Jesus knew that at the appointed time he was to die for the sins of the world, the sins of you and me, in order to deliver us from our sinful nature and allow us to become children of God.  He knew he had to be in the right place at the right time in order to fulfill God’s plan for the redemption of creation.

Now we find him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking the Father if there was another way to accomplish the goal of redemption and pay for the price of the sins of the world.

Because of the decisiveness of Jesus, his disciples trusted him to be obedient to the Father.  He was able to discuss with the Father other alternatives to reach the desired end.  Jesus never “tried to get out of” his commitment to deliver us from our sin; he only expressed a question about the method used to achieve the ends.

Because of the decisiveness of Jesus, he never turned back, once the plain direction was established. He made up his mind and knew the Father’s direction was correct.

Because of the decisiveness of Jesus, we can have confidence that our sins are forgiven and we are acceptable to the Father as his children.

Does your family know that they can trust your decisions as being well thought out and trust that you will not change your mind at the first whim?

Do your co-workers know that once you have decided on the right course of action, you will not change “mid stream” and leave them hanging?

Do you live your life by what others think, or do you do what is right because it is right, no matter what the personal cost?

Decisiveness will make you the leader that others trust, respect, and respond to.  What a wonderful place to start sharing your faith, as others know they can trust your decisions!

Here are five “I will” principles to practice in order to incorporate the character trait of decisiveness into your life (write these on a poster, board, or overhead transparency).

1. I will not look back
2. I will do what I say
3. I will make the right decisions and stick to it.
4. I will look at thing from more than one point of view before making up my mind
5. I will not give in to peer pressure.

Closing #1: Let’s dialog about it with one another.

• Shift the group into small discussion groups of 3-4.
• Encourage groups to list the hindrances in their own lives to practicing decisiveness in their families and with acquaintances.
• Ask groups to share their feelings with the whole group.

Closing #2: Let’s close in silent prayer, ask God:

• To forgive you for things in your life that cause you to focus on yourself instead of the needs that are around you.
• To show you how to practice decisiveness in your life.
• To make you aware of opportunities to grow in this character trait.

Wisdom from God

INTRODUCTION

 When a cartoonist wants to show a character like Donald Duck or Sylvester wrestling with a moral decision, he often draws a little angel on one shoulder and a little red devil on the other shoulder, each trying to persuade the character to make the good or the bad choice.  We, too, often find ourselves wavering between two choices, not knowing which one to take.  Unfortunately for us, the wrong decision is not usually dressed in red.  How, then, does a Christian make the right decision and stick to it?

 ASK GOD FOR WISDOM

 James 1:5 (NIV*)

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

 Wisdom means the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances.  It is the ability to make decisions with the understanding of which option is from God and which is from a lesser source, like our culture or peer pressure.  Whenever we are unsure of which option to take, we can ask God and He will generously supply what we need, guiding our choices.

 Thought Question

• Why can’t I decide for myself without God?

 Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

 The book of Proverbs has more to say about wisdom than any other book in the Bible and it asserts that our own understanding is faulty.  Although all our ways seem right to us (c.f. Prov  16:2, 21:2), the verse above says if we trust in God and ask Him for help, He will guide our choices.

 Thought Question

• Can I ask my friends for input?

 Sometimes God guides us through our reading of Scripture, sometimes through inner promptings, and sometimes through the counsel of wise, godly friends.

 Proverbs 13:20

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

 Proverbs 15:22

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

 GET RID OF DOUBT

 Once you finalize your decision, stick with it.  We must have confidence that God will align our desires with His purposes.  While it’s normal to have second thoughts, 2 Corinthians 10:5 states we are to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  So consider doubt as a thought to get rid of.  James 1:6 says, “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”  In the next verse, he calls this indecisive, wavering person “a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  If your mind keeps going back and forth, maybe you are not convinced God’s way is best.  Do you treat God’s wisdom like any human advice that you can take or reject as it suits you?  Do you find yourself wavering between your feelings and what you know God wants?  If you want to stop being tossed about, rely on God to show you what is best.  Ask Him for wisdom and trust He will give it to you.  Then your decisions will be sure and solid.

 CONCLUSION

 Review silently or in a small group the “I will” statements and ask God to help you with the one that is hardest for you.

• I will not look back.
• I will do what I say.
• I will make the right decision and stick to it.
• I will look at things from more than one point of view before making up my mind.
• I will not give in to peer-pressure.

*All Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version