C.H. Spurgeon

Sinners, let me address you with words of life; Jesus wants nothing from you, nothing whatsoever, nothing done, nothing felt; he gives both work and feeling. Ragged, penniless, just as you are, lost, forsaken, desolate, with no good feelings, and no good hopes, still Jesus comes to you, and in these words of pity he addresses you, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Whose Will Are You Following

Many times we may wonder, “What is God’s will for my life?” We see people searching or we ourselves pray and ask God to show us His will for our lives. We may even struggle with whether God wants us to be a pastor or teacher, an evangelist or missionary, a deacon or music director, but I believe we sometimes miss what is already laid out for us right in front of our face in scripture. While looking for the “higher” calling, we miss the revealed will of God.

I believe, according to scripture, we can be following two completely different wills off and on all during our lives. We have the will of God and we have the will of man. Here I choose to link the will of the flesh and the will of Satan [if you will] into what I call the will of man for the simple reason that both are contrary to the will of God and war against the Spirit. So you could call here, the will of man, the will of the flesh or one’s own personal will.

One can be out of the revealed will of God by a couple of reasons: [1] One may be ignorant of scripture being yet a babe in Christ [Hebrews 5:13, 1 Peter 2:2]; [2] One may be a new or aged Christian yet slothful in studying and reading the Word [2 Timothy 2:15-16]; [3] One may read the Book but lacks a real personal prayer life [James 1:5]; [4] One may be in outright rebellion against God and His Word [1 Samuel 15:23]. We could list more, but this should at least cause us to be aware of our lives and fellowship with God.

Whose will are you following“ is something that one must ask themselves, most likely on a daily basis and sometimes even hourly. It is not always obvious to others and if one is not careful it will not be obvious to themselves either. On the outside one may be appearing to obey the revealed will of God, yet on the inside be rebellious to the core.

Anytime that we choose to follow our own desires, emotions, opinions, etc. over what is plainly explained, exampled, and given in scripture, we are indeed following the will of man over the will of God; whether do to ignorance or rebellion. If there is knowledge, disobedience is then open rebellion.

Christ was the prime example of obedience to the will of God over one’s on personal will. Luke 22:42, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Even when we find ourselves in distressed or unknown situations that we may not truly understand or do not really want to be, we must trust and follow God’s will over ours. For “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” [Romans 8:28]

If we turn from God’s revealed will in scripture to follow after what we desire or feel to be better [“I know what the Bible says, but…"], we may very well miss the blessing right around the corner.

Yet, if we trust God in the little He has given us to do [Luke 19:16-17], and we follow His will as He has given in scripture, we may find that God may indeed give us our desires to serve Him, may reveal His hidden will for our lives, and we might even realize that we are already living it!



Check out Bobby's blog as he says "Run That By Me One More Time ".

3 comments:

Bobby Cohoon said...

Good thoughts. You write some nice stuff!

Bobby

Neva said...

Linked over from Bobby's blog. Enjoyed the post. Submitting our will to God's will is a day in and day out struggle for most of us. Praise God for His patience.

Peace
Neva

Splinters of Silver said...

Bobby - I appreciate it. I also enjoyed your latest.

Neva - Thanks for visiting and the comments. Thank goodness for His understanding "we're just human". :)

Tim

John Bunyan

To be saved is to be preserved in the faith to the end. 'He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.' (Mt. 24:13) Not that perseverance is an accident in Christianity, or a thing performed by human industry; they that are saved 'are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation.' (1 Pet. 1: 3-6) But perseverance is absolutely necessary to the complete saving of the soul…. He that goeth to sea with a purpose to arrive at Spain, cannot arrive there if he be drowned by the way; wherefore perseverance is absolutely necessary to the saving of the soul.