THE WILL OF GOD
Jesus told them, "This is the will of God, that you believe in the one he has sent." John 6:29
Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:28
What does the Lord your God require of you except to listen carefully to all he says to you, and to obey for your own good the commandments I am giving you today, and to love him, and to worship him will all your hearts and souls. Deuteronomy 10:12,13
Obedience is far better than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22,23
God doesn't want burnt animals; he wants our life-long service. Psalm 40:6-8
God isn't interested in penance; he wants a broken and contrite heart. Psalm 51:16-19
It isn't offerings God wants; he desires our obedience and promises that he will be our God and we shall be his people.
Jeremiah 7:21-23
God doesn't want sacrifices, he wants love; he doesn't want offerings, he wants us to know him. Hosea 6:6
God hates pretense and hypocrisy; he wants to see a flood of justice. Amos 5:21-24
God is not satisfied with sacrifices; he wants us to be fair and just and merciful, and to walk humbly with him. Micah 6:6-8
God doesn't want gifts; he wants us to be merciful. Matthew 9:13
God's will does not mean we must hear his voice. He leads is different ways. When seeking God's will (1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God's Word; (2) ask mature Christians for their advice; (3) check your own motives--are you seeking to do what you want or what your think God wants?--and (4) pray for God to open and close the doors of circumstances.
God wants to live in our hearts, not just meet us in a sanctuary.
We learn of God's will through the counsel of others, his work, and the leading of his Spirit in our hearts, as well as through circumstances
The majority opinion is not necessarily God's will.
God wants us to enjoy life but to avoid those activities that could lead us away from him.
God's greatest desire is for us to come to him.
God doesn't expect us to understand everything about him, but to be willing an obedient servants, faithful to what we know is true and right.
God desires dependence, trust, and faith in him--not faith in our ability to please him.
The joy of being with a close friend is the closeness God wants to have with us.
God desires that all come to him, trust in him, and be saved.
God wants us to come to him with our struggles and doubts.
God wants changed lives. He wants his people to be fair, just, merciful and humble. God wants us to become living sacrifices not just religious deeds, but living rightly.
GOD'S WILL
The following came from the a Bible study guide
entitled "Clearing The High Hurdles, Overcoming
Obstacles To Obeying God's Will" by Charles R. Swindoll;
Chapter 10
CLEARING THE HURDLE
OF CONFUSION
In their book God's will: You Can Know It, Leslie and Bernice Flynn illustrate some popular ways of discerning God's will.
A lady received a brochure outlining a tour to Israel. She had the time, money, and strength to take the trip but wondered if it were God's will. Rereading the pamphlet just before retiring, she noted that the airplane for the trip was a 747 jet. She tossed all night, restlessly arguing the pros and cons of fulfilling a lifelong ambition to visit the Holy Land. Awaking in the morning, she looked at her digital clock. It said 7:47. She exclaimed, "It must be the Lord's will for me to take he tour."...
A pastor who had served as a deacon in his preordination day, toyed with the idea of buying an honorary doctor of divinity from a diploma mill. Reading 1 Timothy 3:13, he was confident he had his answer, "For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree."
These methods may strike us as unbelievable, but who of us can honestly say we've never done anything like that? Because we yearn for God to guide us, we've willing to read almost anything as a sign from heaven--especially if it confirms what we really want to do.
The hocus-pocus method of knowing God's will can backfire, through. Like the young man who needed a car but didn't know which one to buy. He saw the color yellow in his dreams one night, so the next morning he went looking for a yellow car. He got one alright--a lemon!
"Do not be foolish," Paul writes, "but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17). God commands us to know His will, but sometimes trying to figure it out can be downright confusing.
How can the high school senior know which college God wants him or her to attend? Which vocation to pursue? Whom to marry? And how many children to have?
How can people know which church to join? How can the employee know whether to accept the out-of-state transfer? How can the older couple know when it's time to retire?
How can any of us discern God's will?
TWO CATEGORIES OF GOD'S WILL
Through the centuries, many a scholar has pulled his beard out trying to comprehend the vast universe we call God's will. Grazing into the theological sky, we see two galaxies of His will that
seemingly collide--His sovereignty and our freedom. In some inscrutable way, however, they coexist in perfect balance.
GOD'S DETERMINED WILL
On the one hand, God has already sovereignly determined what will happen in our lives. As the supreme ruler of heaven and earth, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ...works all things after the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:4a, 5a, 11b). He alone steers the ship.
Boastful King Nebuchadnezzar learned this truth the hard way. God reduced him to the level of an animal until he recognized who was the true captain of the universe. When his reason returned, he proclaimed,
"And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, `What hast Thou done?'"
(Dan. 4:35|
In his book Knowing God's Will and Doing It!, J. Grant Howard, Jr. describes God's determined will in these impressive terms:
It is inevitable, unconditional, immutable, irresistible, comprehensive, and purposeful. It is also, for the most part, unpredictable.
The fact is, we don't know what His determined will is until after it happens. It's as if God has scripted and filmed the story of our lives, He knows ahead of time what the next scene holds. But we don't. We've viewing the film for the first time. However, we do know how the story ends. If we've trusted Christ for our salvation, we look forward to a happily-ever ending in heaven. That's the only aspect of God's determined will we can know for certain.
GOD'S DESIRED WILL
Although we don't know what the next scene of our lives holds, we can know what God wants it to hold. Howard writes:
The determined will is that which will happen. The desired will is that which he wants to happen in every person's life. It is not inevitable. It may or may not happen. It is not unconditional. It is based on our decisions. It is not irresistible. We can choose not to do it. And most significant, it is not a mystery. It is something we can know and should do.
Wait a minute, God could desire something and not have it fulfilled? Yes. Take a look at Matthew 23:37.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gather her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (emphases added)
With that same divine passion, God yearns for us to be wise and clearheaded (Eph. 5:15-18), for husbands to love their wives (vv.25-28), for His people to speak the truth (4:15,25), for us to steer clear of sexual immorality (5:3). But in His sovereignty, He had given us the freedom to choose our response.
A simple chart will help clarify the differences between God's determined will and desired wills.
Determined Will * Predestined
* Comprehensive, eternal
* It will occur
* Cannot be frustrated
* Emphasis: God's sovereignty
* Purpose: To glorify God
Desired Will
* Calls for our cooperation
* Limited, temporal
* It may or may not occur
* Can be resisted
* Emphasis: Our responsibility
* Purpose: To glorify God
TWO QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED
In light of our responsibility, two questions emerge: How does God Make His will know? and, How can I know that I'm in His will? Delving into these issues requires four conditions. First, physical and emotional health, the lack of which fogs our ability to interpret God's will. Second, a true desire to know His will. Third, a willingness to change if needed. And last, faith in Christ, because spiritual sensitivity and discernment are "family truths" that can only be applied by the members of God's family.
With that said, let's dig into the first question.
HOW DOES GOD MAKE HIS WILL KNOWN?
God has given us three lights to guide us down the path of His desired will. First, we look to the light of God's Word. Second, we see how our conscience is reading our circumstances. Third, we seek wise counsel from others. To put it succinctly, when we want to know God's will, we need to look up, look in, and look out.
1. Look up into His face by opening His Word. God's Word is the brightest beacon showing the way, as the psalmist wrote: "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). In it He gives us precepts and principles, specific instructions and general directions. Howard explains,
The sign reads "SPEED LIMIT 25 MPH" is a precept. The sign that reads "DRIVE CAREFULLY" is a principle.
Precepts are black-and-white, with no grays in between. They are finely tuned commands that remove all guesswork. For example, "Do not associate with a gossip" (Prov. 20:19b); "Do not lie to one another" (Col. 3:9a): "This is the will of God...that you abstain from sexual immorality" (1 Thess. 4:3).
Principles, on the other hand, are like umbrellas, covering a variety of situations. For instance, Paul says,
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything, (1 Cor. 6:12)
Can you identify a principle from that verse? To what specific situations can you apply that principle? The answers require sound interpretation and mature thinking.
In most situations, biblical precepts and principles will illumine the direction God wants us to take. Sometimes, through, each of our choices falls within clear scriptural boundaries. Then what do we do?
2. Look within to what God is saying through your conscience. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (vv.12-13)
What does Paul mean in the phrase "work out your salvation"? Simply this: If we have trusted Christ for our salvation, then we have entered a lifestyle called Christianity. Now we must flesh out that lifestyle, experience it, live it out. And we do this in a spirit of "fear and trembling," which essentially means a sensitive heart. This sensitivity produces a deep desire not to miss God's direction; so we stay keenly alert to His working, paying close attention to doors He opens and closes.
And yes, closed doors, as Chuck Swindoll points out in his booklet God's Will,
are just as much God's leading as open ones. The believer who wants to do God's will must remain sensitive and cooperative, not forcing his way into areas that God closes off. The Lord uses circumstances and expects us to "read" them with as sensitive, alert conscience.
Sensitive, as you're probably guessed, is the key word here. The Lord promises to guide us:
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go:
I will counsel with My eye upon you." (Ps. 32:8)
But He warns us not to be uncooperative and stubborn,
"...as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check." (v. 9a)
Instead, when we feel the Master's hand and hear His voice in the circumstance of life, we should follow Him.
3. Look outside listen to the wise counsel of qualified, godly people. Just as a quarterback calls time-out to consult the coach about the next play, we need to seek the insight of objective, experienced people--particularly in those fourth-and-one situations when you don't know whenever to punt or plow ahead.
The proverb says,
"Without consultation, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they succeed."
(Prov. 15:22)
We can see this truth in action in Moses' life, when Jethro, his father-in-law, advised him about how to better manage the crowds coming to him, (Exod. 18:13-27). Also, the apostle Paul exhorted older women in the early church to counsel the younger women about marriage and good character (Tutus 2:3-5). Today, those in business regularly hire consultants to help them succeed. Schools do too. Seeking counsel, then, is simply a smart thing to do.
HOW CAN I KNOW I'M IN GOD'S WILL?
After we've made our decision, how do we know we've chosen God' way? First, whether things work out happily or trouble intensifies, we have inner peace. Paul says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Col. 3:15a). His settled assurance in our hearts is our most important barometer, letting us know if we've made the right choice.
Also, when you're in God's will, you experience a sense of satisfaction like nothing else could offer. No other job would be as fulfilling--even one that paid a higher salary. No other place to live would feel like home. You know you're right where you belong.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you'll know our choices are in God's will when they glorify Him--when they reflect His holiness, His righteousness, His purity, His kindness, His truth, His love, His life. As Jesus told us,
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glory your Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16)
There's no higher measure than this.
HOW CAN I KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS ME TO DO?
(RBC Ministries Booklet Q0704)
The Bible clearly tells us:
Worship God, not idols (Ex. 20.3-4).
Honor your parents (Eph. 6:1-3).
Do not murder (Ex. 20:13).
Do not commit adultery (Heb. 13:4).
Do not lie (Ex. 20;16; Eph. 4:15,25).
Do not covet (Ex. 20:17; Rom. 7:7,8).
Do not lust (Mt. 5:27-28).
Forgive others (Mk. 11:25; Eph. 4:32).
Love God and your neighbor (Mk. 12:28-31).
Be holy (1 Pet. 1:16).
Do not marry an unbeliever (1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14-15).
Help a brother in need (1 Jn. 3:16-19).
Don't take a Christian to court (1 Cor. 6:1-8).
Do not steal (Eph. 4:28).
Be reconciled quickly to the person with whom you have a dispute (Mt. 5:23-24).
Tell the truth (Prov. 12:22).
The list could go on and on, but the point is this: The Bible is full of God's clear commands that offer us direction for most of life's decisions. The more we know of God's written Word, the more quickly we will know what God wants us to do.
page 13, paragraph 2, lines 14-32 & page 14, paragraph 1
...the Bible offers these principles:
Don't try to get rich quick (Prov. 28:22).
Put your treasures in heaven (Mt. 6:20).
Don't follow the crowd (Rom. 12:1-2).
Be subject to authorities (Rom. 13:1-4).
Choose the best (Phil. 4:8).
Work for God, not your boss (Col. 3:23).
Be faithful (1 Cor. 4:2).
Don't be enslaved (1 Cor. 6:12).
Treat your body as God's temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Glorify God in everything (1 Cor. 10:31).
Live by grace, not legalism (Gal. 5:1-6).
Don't give Satan opportunity (Eph. 4:29).
Use your tongue to edify (Eph. 4:29).
Seek the good of others (Phil. 2:3-4).
Work hard (1 Th. 4:11-12).
These are only a few of the many principles that come from God's Word.
page 14, paragraph 3, lines 15-31 & page 15, paragraph 1, lines 1,2
God often does lead us through the use of good judgment. After all, He did give us a brain to use and a lot of available information.
page 17, paragraph 2, lines 6-8
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