"When I planned this, did I do it
lightly? Or do I make my plans in
a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, “Yes, yes” and ‘No, no”?
But as surely as God is faithful, our
message to you is not “Yes” and “No”…....
V20 For no matter how many promises God has
made, they are “Yes” in Christ.”
And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God."
Are we a people who are constantly making plans lightly and then when our circumstances and situations change then we change accordingly?
As a people learning to move by the wind of the spirit, what does this look like in respect to the things we say yes to and believe the Holy Spirit has spoken them, but minutes later or perhaps months later, we say the Holy Spirit is no longer in that and move on?
Once upon a time our word was our bond, but these days legal contracts are being drawn up because we can no longer trust a persons word that they will follow through and say and do what they said they would do. Our Kiwi culture has this saying 'Yeah Nah' as part of its language and humour and yet underneath it all it is undermining our society and the commitment of which we stand behind our yes's and our no's.
One thing that I have learnt in learning to walk in 'freedom' and 'authority' in Christ is that there is greater responsibility that is taken for our actions. One of those responsibilities is learning to say 'No' and what to say 'Yes' to, so that we do not become 'yoked' to a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1) Others don't yoke us, we yoke ourselves as we take on things we are not supposed to take on and so learning to say No is a huge part of growing in maturity in Christ. Also we need to understand the truth behind our 'No' and our 'Yes' because sometimes these come out of simply selfish reasons and not the Lord directing us according to His word.
Matt 5:37 says "Simply let your Yes be Yes and your No be No, anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
We need to be a people who don't make decisions lightly but consult the Holy Spirit in our decision making process and then we can stand firm in faith on the decisions that are made. 2 Cor 1:21 "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ"
James 1:5 "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. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
When we make our decisions and stepping out on those decisions in faith believing and receiving confirmation that this is what we are to do, then we can stand firm in faith believing that God will work everything together for good and we can trust that God has a purpose in it and that He will get the glory for it.