Flowing With the Will of God
Flowing With the Will of God
The greatest difference in the world well may be that which exists between the person who is doing God's will and the individual who is living in his or her self-will.
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (I John 2:17)
I have an intense desire to do God's will in every area of life. I do not know where it came from, but I recognize that it is a gift and not of my own doing.
One day in Bible school, about seventy years ago, I told the Lord that if He would give me the ability, I would always do His will. I have kept that promise to the present day.
I take great joy in doing God's will, It is the rejoicing of my heart to do so.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8–KJV)
I have not heard many people say they delight in doing God's will. Yet, I truly believe there are many people who do God's will. But it is my desire that everyone in the world would do God's perfect will at all times. Can you imagine what kind of world that would be?
I think people imagine that doing God's will at all times would be impossible; that it surely would lead to the most miserable life that anyone could experience.
Where did this concept come from, I would like to know? Who said God wants us to have a miserable life? Who taught that God's commandments are so difficult we cannot possibly obey them; and there is no need to try because we go to Heaven by grace?
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (I John 5:3)
Paul's doctrine of grace has come to mean that if we express belief in Christ we need not worry about pleasing God by our behavior. There is no need to press toward God's moral image. It all has been accomplished on the cross, and we receive the fullness of image and find ourselves at rest in God's will by "believing" in Christ.
If this were the case, considering the behavior of numerous Christians, we might just as well be in Hell as to be in Heaven.
We have been terribly deceived by the master deceiver, Satan.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:5-10)
Paul says we are to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed. Are we really to do that?
Paul commands us to rid ourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. Are we really to do that?
Paul directs us not to lie to each other.
Paul urges us to take off the old self with its practices and to put on the new self which is being renewed knowledge in the image of its Creator.
How are we to put to death our sinful urges?
When I am teaching, I use I John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Recently a man told me that he had confessed his sins and repented, but he kept falling into them again.
The Bible says God is faithful and righteous to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I suppose that means from the unrighteousness of the sin that has just been confessed and repented of.
Now, God does not lie. His Word shall stand as a rock forever. When God says He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness, then that is what He means; and that is what will happen when we confess and repent of a sin.
Where is the problem? As you might expect, the problem is with us. We imagine that by some sovereign act, God will reach down and pluck out of our personality whatever is causing the sin. Then we never will be tempted again.
That is not how it works. When we confess and sincerely repent, God takes fire and life out of the sin so we can overcome it. This is how we put it to death.
God shall remove the sinful urge when our body is changed from corruption to incorruption in the Day of Resurrection.
Meanwhile the spirit that causes us to sin is still present somewhere in our personality, although greatly weakened. It is at that point we have to be believing, courageous, and forceful. We stand on the Word of God. God said He will cleanse us. So we declare what God has said and stand on it.
I personally have been confessing and repenting of my sins for many years. I do not practice them any longer. God said they are dead, and so I regard them as dead. I simply will not practice them any longer, by the help of Jesus Christ. I choose to walk in victory in the Lord Jesus.
Any believer who is following Christ in cross-carrying obedience can do the same thing. When you are bound with a sin, confess to God the doing of it. Then declare that with the help of Christ you never will practice it again for eternity.
In the case of a bondage that will not leave (for it is a battle), go to some of the elders of the church. Have them pray with you.
If you do not have a will to fight, pray for that will. It is in the fight against evil that the conquering spirit, that all of God's rulers must have, is formed. Make certain it is formed in you!
If you are determined, that spirit shall leave!
What are some factors that hinder us from doing God's perfect will?
First of all, our belief that doing God's will is impossible. The truth is, obeying God is entirely possible and expected. Anything else is rebellion. Living according to our own will is rebellion against our maker.
The barrage of materialistic impressions in America.
Fear of what it might mean to do God's will.
Ignorance of how to find God's will for ourselves.
The various sinful impulses that live in our flesh and spirit.
Pride in our own abilities.
Marrying the wrong person.
An ambition to do "great things," to be someone important.
A passion for adventure, for novelty, for change.
A desire to accumulate more money than is necessary for our survival.
The raw demands on us to acquire the basic elements of physical survival. When we are so impoverished we can think of little else than surviving the next few minutes, we still should be seeking God's will and assistance. This is true even when we are facing danger of some sort.
Our self-will, self-love, self-centeredness may be the greatest hindrance to doing God's will. How do we overcome these powerful forces that are such an important part of our personality?
The overcomer of the Church in Smyrna must endure the prison in which he or she is placed. We understand that such confinement is under the strict control of the Lord Jesus, in that He said, "You will suffer persecution for ten days."
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown. (Revelation 2:10)
When Christ permits us to be placed in some kind of prison, the purpose is to destroy our self-life. We can choose to escape from our prison, to come down from the cross, or to be faithful to the point of death.
The main problem with the world and with the churches is self-will, self-love, self-centeredness. We simply cannot flow with the will of God when we are attempting to follow our self-will. We cannot have fellowship with the Father and the Son when we are being directed by our self-will.
We pray continually, as Paul advised. All through the day, and when we are awake at night, we keep looking to the Lord Jesus for the wisdom and strength to accomplish whatever is at hand.
For every little action and decision, from the time we get up in the morning until we go to sleep at night, we look up to the Lord Jesus for the wisdom and strength to do the best possible job. If you will do this faithfully you will find that it brings the Presence of Christ into your life.
We may think that Jesus is not interested in how we drive our car, how we take care of our baby, how we teach our college class the basics of quantum mechanics, or what we buy when we go to the store; but He certainly is! Christ is vitally interested in everything we are and do.
We must be coming to some kind of change in the spiritual atmosphere. I never heard anyone teach that we must flow with God's will to this extent; but it is as clear to me as the atonement made on Calvary.
I have found the following passage to be helpful:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1,2)
Our problem of obeying God usually involves the needs, desires, and fears of our physical body. We must decide once and for all to offer our body as a living sacrifice.
But if we will permit our body to do so, it will direct just about every aspect of our life. We have to make our decisions in Christ whether or not our body is pleased with this.
If we are eager to rest in Christ we may be tempted fo believe we should do nothing but wait until Christ speaks to us. This is a false rest. It will lead to passivity, a condition in which we lose our ability to make clear-cut decisions. If we are seeking to do God's will, and find ourselves continually reversing the decisions we have made, that is a danger signal. It signals that we are bound by passivity.
In order to deliver yourself from passivity, pray and make a decision. Then do not change your mind, unless the result of your actions reveals clearly that you have made a wrong decision. Do not trust in omens, fleeces, or signs.
Do nothing that is against the clear teaching of the New Testament. Be practical and objective, and the Lord will help you find the right path and give you peace and joy.
Notice how Paul follows his admonition to test and approve what God's will is for us.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; (Romans 12:6,7)
How do we know when we are to prophesy, to serve, to teach?
We have to live close to Jesus, merging our life with His Life. The point is, we do not sit around waiting for the Lord to "move us". We always are actively looking to Christ to learn when we are to employ our ministry or gift.
It is my point of view that most believers do not know what their ministry or gift is. They have not earnestly and continually prayed that Christ would enable them to minister as part of His Church, His Body. They are living according to their self-will, as are the people of the world.
I have come to the conclusion that the problems in the churches and in the world arise from the fact that few people are devoted to finding God's will and doing it. This is so disastrous! Whether we are a Christian or not, we should be seeking the will of God at all times. Otherwise we are as a rat in a revolving cage, working furiously at nothing of true importance, certainly not anything of eternal significance.
Perhaps change is upon us. There are verses in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John that imply there shall come a time when the Lord draws closer to us. Maybe that is happening, because now it is clear that the will of Christ is to be done, and it is entirely possible for us to do it!
The Bible came to us by the revelations given to a few Jewish men. God does speak to people, even today. I realize there are some who disagree with this, but I know from personal experience that the Lord will speak to us if we keep looking to Him.
Peter advises us to study the Scriptures and obey them until the Day Star, who is Christ, arises in our heart. This does not mean we then cease meditating in the Scriptures. Rather the meaning is that now we receive continual directions both from the Scriptures and also from Christ who is guiding us and writing His eternal moral laws in our mind and heart.
We are to be filled with the Divine Nature.
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (II Peter 1:19)
It may be true that we never, for eternity, will abandon the Bible. Meanwhile the Day Star shall increase in us until we are filled with all the Fullness of God.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews admonishes the seasoned Christians to whom he was writing to strive to enter the rest of God. What is the rest of God if it is not a life lived according to God's present will for us?
For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:10,11)
God finished all His works, including our individual destinies, at the beginning of the world. Then God rested. God requires of you and me that we cease from our own works and enter what God has planned for us.
Many obstacles seek to prevent our resting with God; but we never will find righteousness, love, joy, and peace until we learn to enter God's rest and rest with Him, flowing in His perfect and complete will.
Sometimes we are exhorted to live by Bible principles. We study the Bible and try to find rules by which we are to live. This is a good and wholesome way to approach life. But we must add to this endeavor the conscious directions of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, as someone said, we are trying to follow Christian principles without Christ.
It is not unusual for Christian people to beseech God for what they want or need. This is a good practice. God knows what we want and need, but He requires that we ask. "We have not because we ask not."
But there is another kind of prayer. It is to find out what God wants and needs. Have you ever asked God what He wants and needs from you?
It is a good idea to ask God for a report card, to find out how well we are doing. You and I were not placed on this earth to survive and please ourselves. We have been subjected to this rigorous experience that we might learn about the Nature of God!
There exists in America today an excellent opportunity to learn to pray and act according to God's will. If we have been born and raised in America we have profited from the blessings that God has given us because of godly, praying people who went before us.
Now we see that our nation is abandoning Christ and the Bible. As a result, there are problems in every aspect of our culture, such as in the financial, educational, and moral areas. Also, at the present time there are natural disasters in America. It reminds me of Amos declaring that there would be water in one area and a drought in another.
I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. (Amos 4:7)
When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? (Amos 3:6)
What are we to do? Are we to pray that God will restore to America our financial, educational, and moral strength? Or are we to ask God what He desires?
God is very displeased with the practice of abortion, for example. As long as the murder of little developing boys and girls continues, our nation will become increasingly weak.
How then should we pray? Should we ask that God bless our nation while the abortion, public nakedness, homosexual practices, and other immoralities abound?
I have gone to the Lord about this. His response has been: "Tell the congregation that they must press much closer to Jesus than they have been doing, so they can stand and help others to stand during the Divine judgment that is approaching America."
Our purpose in life is to do God's will. We are to learn how to find God's will. Then we are to perform it faithfully every day and night.
We are simply and quietly to do God's will.
We are to do the will of God conscientiously and consistently, meanwhile, through Christ, throwing off our sins and self will.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)