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INDECISION

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

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INDECISION

Preface

(limiting God, decide for Him)

Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”

God’s Word is sure. God doesn’t give Himself any room to back up or fail, but we have to meet the conditions and obey His Word. Mark 9:23 says, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

Our hearts need purification. Indecision has kept us and others from the victory. When we haven’t decided to go all the way with God we have put limits on the Holy One. The Lord counsels us to choose life, so let life be chosen and unbelief be broken. Let every heart be made pure, and revival shall come!

INDECISION

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

Joel 2:32 says, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” I want you to consider the magnitude of that statement. Joel is speaking about a sweeping move of revival that God has brought before and will bring again.

2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us‑ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God has designed a means by which man can be saved.

We are about to enter into a time of a tremendous move of God. When God moves, two things happen. Please understand that God moves in a complete and full way. He says that He kills as well as He makes alive; He wounds as well as He heals; He lifts up, and He brings down; He blesses mightily, but He judges as well.

There is coming a day when you have to choose life or death, God or the devil. If you decide for evil, then so it is. If you decide for good, then so it is. However, if you will not decide, then it will be decided for you, and so it will be set for evil.

If God is dealing with you, then is the time to decide. We are about to enter into the most awesome page of human history, when God will magnify Himself in humanity in a way never before seen. The Bible describes the last day church as being without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. There has to be a move of God to cleanse the church.

The Bible describes the latter move of God to be greater than the former. Harvest rain is always greater than the seed time rain. God’s anointing will be so great that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. This will be an awesome revival with the majestic presence of God. It is going to be the manifestation and “appearing” of the Lord.

Do not always relegate His “appearing” to just the day when the Lord comes and takes His Bride away or when you stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, because the Bible says in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” He isn’t talking about being in heaven when He makes that statement, because He had just got through saying in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” You can be so filled and running over that out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water! He is talking about in this life.

I want to see God. It would be tremendous unbelief to look through the Old Testament and say that those were greater days than today. The Bible specifically says in the book of Hebrews that the new covenant by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost is greater. It is a better covenant with better promises.

When we make our decision to go on in, we will have greater things happen than what happened in the Old Testament. We are now finishing out the New Testament before Jesus comes. However, Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”

This is where the majority of “church” people are. He said that there were multitudes in the valley of decision. He mentions it twice, not for emphasis only, but also because there is a “yes” group and a “no” group. You see, the effects of indecision are the same as “no”. If you are not decided, you are a “no”. If you have not fully given an answer you are still saying “No.” Your will is involved in decision making.

Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That could be today for you, but there is a problem with it coming forth. What is the limitation? The problem is that we are in the valley of decision!!! We could call it the valley of indecision, because we haven’t decided.

Jesus said in Revelations 3:15-16 says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

When I was little I would ask my mom something, and sometimes she would say, “Maybe.” She would say that to get me off of her back, but at the same time she wasn’t giving me a yes. However, God’s Word is sure. God doesn’t give Himself any room to back up or fail. However, we have to meet the conditions and obey His Word. Mark 9:23 says, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” There are no maybes in the Word of God concerning the promises of God.

A “Maybe,” a “Perhaps,” and an “I will think about it,” until you say “Yes”, is a “No”. The effect of a maybe and the effect of indecision prove that you are in the valley.

According to the last part of Revelations 3:15 that says, “. . . I would thou wert cold or hot,” God would rather that you said “yes” or “no”, but since you are in the middle, and you haven’t made up your mind, then you are lukewarm! He will vomit you up, and nobody wants to be around vomit. People who have not decided to go on for God are like vomit.

Joshua 24:15 says, “. . . choose you this day whom ye will serve. . . .” Many times people have stared at me, and the Lord told me that they were wanting me to point to them, call them up to the front, and tell them that God is saying thus and so. God told me not to do it. He said that it was their decision and that they knew God was dealing with them. Luke 14:23 says to compel them to come in, but that doesn’t mean to drag them in.

Have you ever requested something of someone, and you knew they had all the information that they needed, and yet they said, “Well, I’ll think about it”? They just wouldn’t tell you. Folks, it is heaven or hell, and many are still “thinking about it”! They will never see above the valley, nor get up on the mountain top, and they will never get into the greater things of God until they make the decision to go on.

Please understand that when you do decide, it is going to cost you something. It will take some tribulation, and you will be stretched to the limit. Buttons that you didn’t know you had will be pushed. You will be dealt with, and your hunger and thirst will meet up with your desire and your limitations. You will fall or you will stand on the Rock Christ Jesus and do what God has said to do.

Faith is brought to you in a measure so you can get saved. God moves on preaching and witnessing and you are convicted in your heart that it is true. You have to decide right then to go on with Jesus or to back away. If you can’t decide, then God will pass on, and your answer was “no” whether you said it or not. A lot of people play word games, and I hate that type of device. Some say, “Well, I didn’t say no, and I didn’t say yes.” You say it by the life that you live!

I know of people who love to talk “innuendo”. That means saying something without actually saying the words, so that later, when they have to account for it they can say, “Oh, I didn’t mean . . . that.” That is loathsome!

Many haven’t gone on with God, because they haven’t made up their minds. We sing the song, “I have decided to follow Jesus”, but when we get up the next morning we have to continue to walk in that decision!

If you walk in indecision, other people are affected, and no one will see a glorious witness of God in your life. You haven’t said no, but you haven’t decided yes. God says that it is either yes or no. All through the Word of God you don’t see God do anything with anybody who didn’t make up their mind.

You can ask some people what color they like, what they want to eat, or something similar, and they just can’t make up their mind. They can’t seem to choose between one or the other. They will say they don’t know or they don’t care.

What are you going to do with your existence and your purpose in life? You choose what you are, and what you will become. Some people are out of their mind and cannot choose, but you and I can choose to believe God in such a way that they can be delivered, have a sound mind, and then they can choose! Hallelujah!

Indecision is a tormenting condition. You can go into gas stations now that are grocery stores with gas pumps! They’ll have something for your taste buds even if you don’t have something particular on your mind already. You can go nuts trying to figure out what to get. You might know that, “Oh, that is full of sugar,” or “That is full of fat.” Fat, sugar, and grease are the only things in the world that taste good, right? They tell me, however, that it isn’t good for me, and that I should eat in moderation, but I go into a place like that, and I look at all of that stuff and say, “Hey, I’m traveling, you know!” You left all the discipline at home, and now you have to make a decision! I know that this is funny and trite, but it can be the same way in our lives.

I have seen people trifle with their eternal soul, and the feeling must be similar, because you can go into the store and say, “Oh, look at all the stuff I can have! I don’t know what I want!” I walked into one of those places, and it frustrated me so much that I just walked out and didn’t buy anything! I knew too much! I knew those products had too much fat or too much sugar, and I just got too frustrated.

Indecision will tear you up. I think that a lot of people are undecided, because they know that once they have decided, they have to stick with their decision. God says that if you decide, and yet don’t live what you decide, then you are still saying no. If you don’t decide, then God says that is a no. The Bible says that it is better to not vow, than to vow and not pay.

It is silly to say that you are going to do something and then not do it. Some people have called upon the name of the Lord, and God delivered them. Then, they may realize that this thing is more pricy than they originally thought. Perhaps they realized the price when they came, but the blessing of the Lord was so powerful that they made the right decision, yet they have to hold fast.

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Notice the order. You have to be submitted to God, and then you have power to resist the devil. If you have not submitted to God, you have no power to resist the devil.

James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God. . . .” God will come to you as you come to God. He is talking there to Christians, because God has to first draw nigh to the sinner before they can come to Him. If they make their decision “yes”, He will come in, and then they have power to draw nigh to God.

James 4:8 also says, “. . . Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” He is calling Christians sinners. He is talking about the condition of their walk. The Bible says in 1 John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He lets us know that it is possible to sin. However, we need to get into the place where we cease from sin!

He told the double minded to purify their hearts! Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. . . .” However, if your heart is not pure, you cannot have pure faith. If your heart is pure, you can pray and have full confidence toward God (see 1 John 3:21-22).

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” God wants us to be sold out to Him. We have the mind of Christ as a child of God, but we also have our carnal mind, and Romans 8:7 says, “. . . the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” We must replace our mind with the mind of Christ.

People are frustrated because they can’t get done what they want to get done. However, we have frustrated the grace of God. He said that all things are possible to him that believeth, yet we have not fully sold out to God. Sometimes we don’t know what to do, but when we do know what to do, and still don’t do it, it becomes sin (see James 4:17).

James 1:6-8 says, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” God does not bless instability whether it is in the ministry or in an individual.

God will not answer a prayer that is loaded with unbelief. It is loaded with back door possibilities for God to fail. God wants people who are bold enough to say, “I believe God,” and to pray according as they desire, knowing the will of God. However, you and I have to decide that we are going to go on with God! God loves to be held to His Word, but God also wants us to hold to His Word. David said in Psalm 119:31, “I have stuck unto thy testimonies. . . .” He said in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

We know great revival is coming on the world for those who believe Him, but it will be of a people who have decided for Jesus and will never turn back. It is one thing to decide and to voice something, but it is another thing to do it and finish it. Jesus started out on a rough journey, but He stuck fast all the way to the death of the cross.

Crucifixion is what we need, but Gethsemane is where it is decided. Many people avoid Gethsemane. They don’t want to go there, and they don’t want to think about it. God may leave for a time, and by the grace of God He will come back around and deal with you, but you have no guarantee of that. One day God will say He’s had enough of your nos and won’t deal with you anymore. Then you will suffer the consequences.

Indecision will destroy your health. Indecision will rend your family from you. Indecision, indecision . . . you just can’t make up your mind. You say, “Well, I know that is right, and I know it’s true, and one of these days. . . .”

I don’t like that saying, “God is still working on me.” I understand what they are saying, but people are hurting so bad, and I think, “When will He get done with you, so He can get something out of you!” The Christians of the first church made a full blown commitment. They had decided to follow Jesus, so people either magnified them, ran from them, or tried to kill them.

Jesus said in Mark 4:24, “. . . with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you. . . .” If you don’t have much of a prayer life, you aren’t going to have much of an anointing. Nobody has to tell somebody else that you aren’t praying or reading God’s Word, because it will show.

You might be astounded to know the things people consider above the Kingdom of God! They are the thorns, the cares of this life, the things that get between us and salvation or a greater walk with God. What is that thing that we might have to give up? Esau sold his eternal soul for a bowl of soup! That is a little out of balance as far as values. Christians are selling their children’s souls for a bowl of soup. We are selling the revival we need so desperately for an extra meal. Philippians 3:19 says, “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”

What does that mean? Let’s say that the Spirit of God speaks to you to fast the next two or three days. He says that He is going to do something in your life, and He wants you know about something. You need to seek the Lord, and blessings will come from it. Folks, God never fails. If you say no, then God says that you are making your belly your god! You have set your belly above God Almighty. God calls it gluttony, and you don’t have to be overweight to be a glutton. It has nothing to do with your physical stature. It has to do with your priorities spiritually. You are a glutton for the world and for what is here (see 1 John 2:15).

We have many diversions, and as a child of God goes on, he gets afflicted, dealt with, and things are thrown his way. There are times when even the enemy will throw blessings your way, that you might trade the eternal things of God for limited, temporal, worldly blessings and a little bit of pleasure right now.

Jesus said in Matthew 8:13, “. . . Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. . . .” If your heart isn’t pure and sold out to God, if there is indecision, then there is something that you still lust after, and you are literally wrestling with God Almighty. That “thing” is fighting for priority.

Jacob wrestled with God all night long to get the victory for him and his house. No doubt the devil came to him on the side and said, “You are getting tired and sleepy, and not only that, you are wounded, so God will understand.” So many times we comfort ourselves with false comfort. Folks, it is nothing more than indecision given a reason.

Folks, when God begins to deal with you, it seems like He just troubles you. Sometimes it is almost a torment. You say, “I know to do right, but it seems that tomorrow is a better day. I’m just too tired. Let’s just wait until the weekend. No, I have plans for the weekend.” Indecision. When is going to be a good day? When is it going to be the right season, the right service, or the right message? When is somebody going to give you the right sign? When are we going to decide?

When you decide, and then you follow through concerning what the Lord is dealing with you about, you will be amazed at what God can do in your life.

Ananias and Sapphira were in the first revival the church had, but just in case somewhere along the line it failed, they held back part to live on to survive. That is not faith. That is unbelief, and they lied about it. I have heard it said, “If you hold back for a rainy day, it’s going to pour!”

Have you decided to live for God? If you have received Christ, then live the entire Bible, and Christ’s death and resurrection are not in vain for you. I pray you make the right decisions!

Our hearts need purification. Indecision has kept us from the victory and has kept us from helping others get the victory. We haven’t decided to go all the way with God, and we have put limits on the Holy One. The Lord counsels us to choose life, so let life be chosen and unbelief be broken. Let every heart be made pure, that there be no more lukewarm, and revival shall come from it!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL 62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail

livinghopefellowship@lazernetwireless.net

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord. Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.