GOD'S WILL FOR YOU

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the WILL OF GOD lives forever

1 John 2:17

In pondering the Will of God for your life, I am sure many thoughts enter your mind. Thoughts of what God desires of you as well as thoughts about the consequences of not meeting those requirements.

Before we begin this study on the Will of God for You, let me first assure you of the loving God we serve. Yes, He is Holy, Pure, Perfect, Just and Righteous. And yes, He requires the same of us. (1 Peter 1:16) But, He is also the One who made us (Psalm 100:3) and knows we are but dust (Psalm 103:14), sinful and wicked from birth.

God, in His loving nature, full of grace and mercy, has provided a Way for us to achieve this righteousness He requires of us and this Way is His Son, Jesus Christ. In whom, we are to place our faith and trust as Lord and Savior. (John 3:16) Therefore, this study is geared toward those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ and through the guidance, direction and control of the Holy Spirit, God will work His will in your life as you daily surrender, submit and commit yourself and your ways to Him.

Our daily prayer should include our acknowledgment of God's control over our lives. So lets begin with the following prayer and allow the Holy Spirit of God to mold and shape us into the image of Christ which is the ultimate outcome of His Will for You.

Dear God: Praise and Bless Your holy name. Thank You for the work you are performing in us and we know beyond a shadow of doubt that You will complete it as You have promised in Your Word. (Philippine 1:6) We confess of all thoughts, words and deeds that are not pleasing in Your sight and humbly received Your forgiveness and cleansing. (1 John 1:19) Father we give you total control of our lives, make and mold us into what You desire us to be. We want to live a life pleasing to You, to bring You glory that we might receive eternal rewards. Thank You and Praise You for it is already done in Jesus Name. Amen

Call to Salvation

Why know the Will of God

The Bible gives 9 basic reasons for wanting to know the Will of God for your life. Specifically, we want to know because 1) we love God; 2) to please God; 3) to receive Blessings; 4) to receive future rewards; 5) to appropriately handle discipline; 6) to be good godly examples; 7) to be approved; 8) to glorify God; and 9) we have an obligation to know His Will in order to allow Him to fulfill it in us.

1) Read John 14:15-31

To love God is to obey Him. Jesus loved the Father and did exactly what He commanded of Him, even unto death. Can we say the same?

2) Read 1 John 3:22-24

We know we are right with God when our hearts and conscious do not condemn us before Him. We have confidence in praying when we obey His commands and do what is pleasing to Him.

3) Read 1 Peter 3:8-12, 17-18

Always seek to do good, even if you suffer because of it. The Lord's eyes are open to the righteous, ready to bless him and His ears attentive to answer his prayers.

In my own life, there have been times I have suffered because of my faith. Not everyone can understand your level of commitment to the Lord. But if that is the only charge that can be brought against you, then you are Blessed of God. Because the above verses make it clear that "it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."

4) Read Hebrew 10:25-31

There is a "Day" coming where we will all be judged and held accountable for our lives. Those who continue to sin, insulting the grace of God, will be judged. As the Bible declares, it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I am convinced that there are some who do not believe Judgment Day is coming. They do not believe the only choices of eternal destinations are Heaven or Hell. There is no in-between-ground where those who were considered "good people" will go.

5) Read Corinthians 3:31-32 and Hebrews 12:10

Be sure of the fact that God discipline those He loves. Just as an earthly father administers discipline in order to properly raise children. Our Heavenly Father is personally concerned with our spiritual growth and will discipline us in order that we might repent of our sins and grow into Christlikeness. The degree and severity of the discipline is directly related to our willingness and submissiveness toward correction.

For example, a parent of more than one child knows what it will take to get each child in line. I distinctly remember my mother having to spank my brother, Jesse, and needing only to raise her voice at me and I would crumble.

6) Read 1Corinthians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:7 and 2 Thessalonians 3:9

Paul describes Timothy as a godly example of one who is faithful in the Lord and a model of the "way of life in Christ Jesus." Can this be said of us?

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him.

Psalm 4:3

7) Read 1 John 2:28-29

The Bible is clear that those who seek to do what is right are marked by holy living. The major reason for knowing the Will of God is to avoid shame and disgrace at the return of Christ. To have a hope not just to merely wish, but have unshakeable confidence concerning the future. The basis of our faith is that Christ will return for us.

I know deep within my heart that I was predestined, foreknown, called, justified and can be assured with absolute trust that I will live forever with my Lord. No I do not always do, say and act righteously. But the pattern of my life is not marked by sin and disobedience. I have disobeyed God and fallen into sin from time to time, but I try to always remember 1 John 1:9 which says to confess my sins to my Father, receive His forgiveness and be cleansed from all unrighteousness. I am not fooled into believing that I can sin and sin and ask forgiveness and that is it. It requires more than merely asking forgiveness, I must repent (turn from it and what caused the sin in the first place). In turning from the sin and turning toward God, I am then not only forgiven, but also cleansed at the same time. So, there must be a "turning from [sin]" and a "turning to" [God] in order to be delivered.

8) Read 1 Corinthians 10:31

We, as Christians, must understand that our sole purpose for existence is to glorify God. We do this by all that we do and say. Paul explains here that whether we eat or drink - do all to the glory of God. The way I try to remember this, is to test what I do and say by placing it in the light of Christ. I ask myself; will saying this bring glory to God? Will doing this bring glory to God? If I cannot say or do it in front of God and know that He is pleased, then I know that is something that I should not say or do.

The key is to live a life that brings glory to God so as to not cause others to stumble. Others should be able to not only see Christ in us, but to notice "something different" about us which causes them to want that "something different" as well.

Now, this will not always work this way. There will be some who will resent what they see in you and criticize and come up against you because of what they see in you. But to God be the glory and pray for that person.

9) Read Ephesians 5:25-18

Surely, we have an obligation to know the Will of God. We have no excuse available to us. We have God's written Word. God has also given us His Holy Spirit, who is always present, all wise and all powerful to impart to us His will. Not only does God make His will known to us through His Spirit, He also enables us to do His will through and by the same Spirit.

The problem is that we have done an injustice to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. We have thought of Him as something that causes us to jump and shout during our favorite song or to fall out and speak in tongues. But as I read my Bible, Jesus tells us exactly why He was sending the Holy Spirit. John 16:13-14 says the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. The Holy Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth.

There are many, many references in the Bible that reveal what the Holy Spirit of God is empowered to do. The most wonderful thing is that the Holy Spirit has been given to help us worship, serve and obey God.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sounds like a Holy Spirit filled person is one with a grateful and thankful heart full of praise and worship of God, under the full control of the Spirit.

This brings me back to my test mentioned earlier. Is my treatment of others bringing glory to God? Do I encourage others in their walk with the Lord? In what way does my life bring glory to God?

Children of God

While we pine away over the love we do not have, God is willing to give us the love we need. How long have I rejected His love only to find him still there when I finally reached out to receive it. And this is no small matter for me, as I was always seeking love from others. It was not until I came to know the love of Christ (and still learning) that I stopped searching for it from others. I can truly testify to the freedom I have found in the love of Christ from the bondage of others. It was always easy to hurt my feelings and the fear of being rejected tormented me and caused me to live a life in pursuit of pleasing others. For those who have discovered this truth, understand how I can use the word "tormented." For people will always let you down in one way or another, knowingly or unknowingly. I have let others down in one way or another, knowingly and unknowingly. But God is the only one in whom we can rely all the time, in all things and in every way. How great is His lovingkindness toward us. Psalm 86:13.

It is awesome to know that God loves us and desire to be loved by us. The first and great commandment reveals this, LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. Deuteronomy 6:5.

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Isaiah 30:18

The LORD detests the way of the wicked

but he loves those who pursue righteousness. Proverbs 15:9

How God Reveals His Will

God reveals His will to us in many, many ways. It would take another 3 series to look at most of them and we would still have only scratched the surface. For purpose of illustration, we will look at 5 ways. 1)God reveals His will through His Word; 2) through control of our thoughts (directly and indirectly); 3) through Satan (surprising huh); and 4) through circumstances and 5) discipleship.

1) Read Psalm 119:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Do we long for the word of God? How much do we desire to read, study and meditate on His Word? Can you say as this Psalmist, "My soul is consumed with longing" for the Word. I can testify that once you understand how important and life-giving the Word is and that it is sufficient and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, God-breathed and is able to thoroughly equip us for every good work, you will, along with the Psalmist, "long for the Word."

2) Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-11

Most times if we are patient even in the midst of unpleasant circumstances when we are prone to falter in our faith, God can cause the circumstances to benefit us. Unpleasant circumstances are not easy for any of us to bear. I am learning that, if we would seek God and what He is wanting to teach us in the circumstances, they will be a benefit to us and not as harmful as we imagined.

Sometimes God is not wanting to change our circumstances as much as He is wanting to change us. I am learning to first look within through prayer and meditation before presenting God with list of things I need changed. My sister-in-law, Wanda Harris, told me she has a "Honey-Do List" for her husband of things that need done around the house. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves giving God "Honey-Do Lists."

The Bible speaks of having "godly sorrow" over our sins. Godly sorrow is heartfelt sorrow over the wickedness of our sin rather than over the painful consequences we face because of our sin. This is a truth that hit me between the eyes. I wondered whether I am sorry for the actual sin in my life, knowing it is a sin against God. Or am I more sorry for the consequences (the situation and results) my sin has caused me. 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 makes it clear that it is godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Remember our formula, turn from sin and turn to God.

3) Read Job 1:12, 2:16; Luke 22:33 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-8

The above Bible Scriptures are 3 examples of Satan having permission from God to test Job, Peter and Paul (respectively). The #1 principle to understand when trials come into our lives is that they cannot happen without the permission of the Almighty God and if He has allowed it, He is in control and will cause it all to work out for our good. So we can do as James says, count it all joy and be not surprised but know that the testing of our faith will produce godly character. After Job's encountered with Satan, he was found with twice the blessing God originally gave him AND A POWERFUL TESTIMONY. After Peter's encounter with Satan, he was restored and went on to be a great minister of Christ and it is upon his POWERFUL TESTIMONY that Christ started His church. After Paul's encounter with Satan, he was given a POWERFUL TESTIMONY of the grace of God which is sufficient in all things.

I am beginning to see a pattern here, perhaps our TEST come to provide us with a TESTIMONY in which we will give glory to God.

4) Read 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

We are given the Spirit of God so that we may know what God has freely given us. What has God freely given us? He has freely given us SPIRITUAL TRUTH. If we are not living this Spiritual Truth, the Bible says it is because the Spirit is not within us. Specifically, the Bible says the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit. Once I understood this, I am no longer surprised when those around me (including myself at times) begin to make excuses for why the Word cannot be followed. Some of these excuses sound good and are very practical. But, I am reminded of a former boss of mine who was good for saying, "excuses are acceptable only to those who make them." (Enough said)

5) Matthew 16:24

This Scripture presents an excellent concept, "what would you give in exchange for your soul?" You might read this over and say, well it is not all that serious of a matter. If you are one who believes this, then how do you explain Jesus' command to "deny yourself and take up your cross" in order to follow Him? Doesn't sound like you have a choice in deciding how serious He is, but rather how serious are you.

A Message from David

The monthly personal message from Charles Stanley to his partners in July posed a great question for us to consider in closing.

As you look back over your life, what is your life's message?

What part of yourself do you want passed on to others?

Will the Lord be able to say of you as He said of King David in Acts 13:22 "I have found David ... a man after My own heart, who will do all My will?"

Return to the Index for 1999 Newsletters