Tag Archives: God’s will

What’s Really Important – Matthew 6:19-21

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“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, NIV).

In this one concise statement Jesus reveals a fundamental attribute of human behavior: People do what’s important to them!

In other words, your priorities dictate your behavior.

Your life in this world is not so much a matter of what you get out of it as what you put into it.

All of us have plans for the future and goals we want to achieve in life. These could be plans for success in your career, a six or seven figure salary, a new home or maybe an exotic vacation.

Whatever the plans or goals are, we strive for those things that are important to us. And, Jesus makes it clear in this pronouncement that the things that we personally value are the things that control our lives.

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Good Trouble – 2 Samuel 19:1-8

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“‘Now get up! Go out and encourage your soldiers, for I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the trouble that has come to you from your youth until now!’ So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: ‘Look, the king is sitting in the gate.’ Then they all came into the king’s presence” (2 Samuel 19:7-8, HCSB).

Sometimes we let our own personal problems and feelings overshadow what God is doing all around us. Such is the case with King David upon hearing of the death of his son and heir apparent, Absalom.

David’s army of Judah had just defeated an army of the other tribes of Israel in a civil war that Absalom led against David. David’s army prevailed and Absalom was killed in the fighting. When David heard the news of the victory and of Absalom’s death, he immediately went into mourning for his son: “So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, ‘The king is grieving for his son.’” (vs. 2).

David let his own grief overcome not just his kingly responsibilities but even his gratitude to God for saving the nation.

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Why? – John 12:27

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“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!” (John 12:27, NLT).

Recently, I’ve been reading Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why. The premise of the book is that successful leaders influence loyalty to a product, movement or idea because they communicate why their organizations exist. According to Sinek, knowing your why is more important than  knowing what you do or how you do it. And, knowing your why will help you know what to do and how to do it.

So, apply this on a personal level. What’s your why? Why do you exist? Why do you do what you do?

In a conversation in John 12 that Jesus had with some of His disciples concerning His impending death, He seemed to be very aware of His Why. He knew exactly why He existed and why He did what He did.

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Folding – Romans 12:1-2

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sheet_of_paper“So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.” (Romans 12:1-2, CEB).

This meditation is a hands-on lesson in how God works in our lives. Give it a try.

  1. Take a blank sheet of paper and in the middle of the sheet of paper write in large letters:

MY WILL

  1. Then in the top left-hand corner write in smaller letters:

GOD’S
PERFECT
WILL

  1. Fold the paper in half folding the bottom half behind and to the top so that the words are still showing.
  2. Then fold the paper in half folding the right half behind and to the left so that the words are still showing.
  3. Again, fold the paper in half folding the bottom half behind and to the top so that the words are still showing.
  4. And, again fold the paper in half folding the right half behind and to the left so that the words are still showing.
  5. You should  now have a small square of paper in your hands that is 1/16th of the original paper size with the words printed on it: GOD’S PLAN FOR MY LIFE. These words probably fill or almost fill the small square of paper in your hand.

Here’s the point of this exercise:

We like to think of God’s will as something that is being revealed a little at a time. It’s like something we discover as if it is unfolding before us.

Actually, finding God’s will is more like folding than unfolding. It’s more like the displacement of our own will in favor of God’s will. It’s a place God leads us, not a place we discover.

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God Is With You. No, God Is In You. – Haggai 1-2

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indwelling-holy-spirit“Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the Lord’s message to the people: I am with you, says the Lord… be strong, all you people of the land, says the Lord… Work, for I am with you, says the Lord” (Haggai 1:13, 2:4, CEB).

The Lord told Haggai to encourage the people to get to work to rebuild the Temple. God encouraged them to get started and reminded them that they were able to do it because He was with them.  God reminded them in both chapters of this two-chapter Old Testament book.

Now, God is with us by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And He has an assignment for each of us that accomplishes His purposes.  So, we should be bold and get to work doing His will because “I am with you, says the Lord!”

Here’s the problem: Instead of being bold, we are reticent about doing God’s will. We hesitate because we don’t know what His assignment is for us.

Or we think we don’t know. Or we think we can’t accomplish His assignment for us because it’s so overwhelming.

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God’s Will? Go Figure… – Romans 12:1-2

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God's Will-Go Figure“So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature” (Romans 12:1-2, CEB).

In this life the only right you truly possess is your right to your self–that is, your will. Your will is the the unique quality of self or being that God has created to make you distinctively human: “The Lord God said, ‘The human being has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil'” (Genesis 3:22, CEB).

In other words, human beings have free will. And, they are free to use their wills to choose good or evil.

You are free to choose how you live your life. You can choose to live according to your own will or you can choose to live according to God’s will.

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Living Providentially, Part 2: Failing Smart – Proverbs 20:24, Romans 8:28

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failure“A person’s steps are from the Lord; how then can people understand their path?” (Proverbs 20:24,CEB).

“We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, CEB).

According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:28, our steps are indeed from the Lord and we can know and understand God’s will and where He is leading us. We can live providentially.

But, when things go bad, we act like it won’t work out. We don’t believe these bad things can be part of the “all” things that work together for good.

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Living Providentially, Part 1: Good Happens – Proverbs 20:24, Romans 8:28

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failure“A person’s steps are from the Lord; how then can people understand their path?” (Proverbs 20:24,CEB).

“We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, CEB).

Does Solomon ask a rhetorical question in this proverb? How can we know what will happen to us in life since it is all determined by God?

Or, is he decrying the fact that it is impossible for human beings to know God’s will because we’re not spiritual enough to fully understand God?

Maybe he is simply issuing a challenge: God has a plan for your life, so discover what it is!

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God Is Good! All The Time? – Nahum 1:1-8

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God-is-Good-All-the-Time“The Lord is good, a haven in a day of distress. He acknowledges those who take refuge in him. With a rushing flood, he will utterly destroy her place and pursue his enemies into darkness” (Nahum 1:7-8, CEB).

Nahum prophesied during a time when Judah was attempting to gain independence from its Assyrian overlords. His prophecy foretold the destruction of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.

Nahum begins his prophecy on the downfall of Assyria by laying a theological framework describing the character of God. In verse 1 Nahum says God is jealous and vengeful, full of wrath, and rages against His enemies. He says that although God is great in power, God is calculating  and severe when administering justice: “Who can stand before his indignation? Who can confront the heat of his fury?” (vs 6).

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God’s End Game – Lessons from John 6

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GodsEndGame“They asked, ‘What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent'” (John 6:28-29, CEB).

Most Christians are trying to find and do God’s will in their lives. In fact, a lot of our personal prayer and Bible study efforts are focused on knowing and doing God’s will.

As we attempt to find and do God’s will, we have a tendency to gauge whether a thing is God’s will by our circumstances. If things are going our way and we’re successful, then we must be doing God’s will. But if we’re facing difficulties and things aren’t going as planned, then we must be missing God’s will.

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