How do I know if an idea is from God or from myself?

A note from France reads: "How to know that idea is from God or by myself?" or "when something comes up or happens, how [is one] to know that 'this something' is God's will or from my thinking?" This is a very deep question and may not be easily resolved in one reply, but here is an attempt:

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I think we have a clue in Isaiah 55:8, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD."

Think of a prisoner who has the freedom to pace up and down in his cell, but he must stay within the walls of that cell and can go no further, no matter how much his will might desire it. So it is with man. Because of sin, man is imprisoned within a cell of corruption and wickedness which permeates to the very core of our being. Every part of man is in bondage to sin – our bodies, our minds, and our wills. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the state of man’s heart: it is “deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” In our natural, unregenerate state, we are not spiritually minded. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be” (Romans 8:6-7). These verses tell us that before we are saved, we are at enmity (war) with God, we do not submit to God and His law, neither can we. The Bible is clear that, in his natural state, man is incapable of choosing that which is good and holy. Man's will is constrained by his nature, just as the prisoner is constrained by his cell.

Interestingly, the Bible teaches that everyone has a conscience ("con" mean "with" and "science" means "knowledge"). The conscience is what the Holy Spirit addresses when convicting of sin; for example, no man can say he does not know that lying or murder is wrong. God requires truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6). The Bible goes on to show that lust is adultery of the heart and hatred is murder of the heart, etc. We learn from the Bible that breaking God's standard is sin and we need to repent and turn from our sin and put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sin.

God has put within every person the ability to know right from wrong, so if there is a thought that causes the conscience to say, "that's not right" then that is God's warning to you that His standard is compromised or broken and that thought must be rejected. When your conscience lines up with God's standard, then those thoughts must be affirmed. A great preacher once said, "When God's will is your will, you will have your will."

I pray I've answered your question.