The Will of God
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The cry of a heart that wants God to rule here on earth. The hope of all Christians who are grieved at the evil they see in this world.
Have you ever wondered how God speaks to people in heaven? Have you ever wondered how people in heaven know what to do? Do you think people in heaven sit around and say..."Gee I wonder if its God's will to sing to Him right now? How do you think God communicates His will in heaven? These questions are important for us to consider if we want to come to an understanding of how God speaks to us here. May thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How do people in heaven know how to do God's will.
First we need to start with a conviction. God wants us to know His will. God wants to communicate with us. If we don't start here we may never know God's will. Common today is the belief that God has this 'perfect will' for our lives. We need to discover it. It's our job to seek, fast, pray, watch...and through all this perhaps God will reveal. I think that is wrong. God is already revealing. God is already speaking. It is not so much that we need to coax God into speaking. We need to train ourselves to hear. Only then can we experience the leading of God in our lives.
Second we need to start with a framework within which God reveals His will. This framework is called 'friendship with God'. We have the potential for a 'unique, personal and dynamic relationship with God...and it is from this relationship to God as friends that we encounter His will. John 15:14ff. We meet the Father as His friend. We meet Him as a person, a person who matters and is cared for. He cares for our desires, our wills, our personalities, our problems. It is from meeting the Father as our friend that true discernment flows.
Third we need to develop the gift of discernment. We make decisions all day long. The quality of our decisions will determine the quality of our life. We can decide to fight, or no. To love, or not. To learn, or not. To read, or not. We make decisions all day long. What we need to become are discerning people. Those who practice discernment as a lifestyle. "Discernment can never be successfully carried out if it is only an occasional act that is foreign to one's usual total life. We discern as well as we live, and we live as well as we discern." We need to discern, not just in the big decisions of life...but in all decisions of life, We need to become a discerning people. ROM12:1-3. We become discerning first by studying the Word of God, by renewing our mind in the truth.
This discernment arises out of prayer. Prayer is talking to God. And we need to talk to God if we are His friends. Prayer will nurture that discerning spirit that we are longing to develop.
Understand this...God does not have more work for us to do!!!! Not so. To God, relationship comes before responsibility. God wants to talk to us, to walk with us. His number one priority in our lives is to be our friend. He doesn't love us for what we can do for Him, He loves us for who we are. If you want to know His will, Know Him. It's that simple. Develop your spiritual disciplines. Develop that ability to look to God and be His friend.
As we develop this quality of discernment we need to understand its limitation. We can never have absolute certainty regarding anything we do. We can only be assured that we are acting in faith. Our discernment does not lead to absolute, infallible and irrefutable answers, but only to an assurance that we are living and working in response to God.
It is kind of like mountain climbing. One person in the lead forging the path for us, secured by a rope and securing the way for us. But we need to follow. We can never be sure that our next step will be the right step, but we can be assured that it is a step in the right direction. And if we slip then the rope that the leader secured will help us. But unless we follow and work in unison with the one leading, we will never climb that mountain. Discernment develops that ability to submit to the leadership of God. Again, in order to do that, Christ must be Lord, the Father must be God, Holy Spirit must rule in our hearts. God must be the only God.
It is important that we understand discernment. It can mean different things to different people. It means only one thing to God. Discernment is a discriminating choice between two or more competing decisions. It is in itself an act of judgement. We judge through a situation to reflect what is best. Phil 1:9-11. Paul's prayer for us is that we be able to decide or discern what is best. In doing so we become pure, blameless and FRUITFUL. Think of discernment as 'seeking the best.'
1. it is a choice between 2 or more good options
2. It honours previous decisions and commitments.
3. It seeks what is best for today, what's past is past.
4. Discernment is a lifestyle, not a curiosity
5. It is a personal, conditional point of view.
Discernment involves recognising God's voice amongst other voices. So how do we hear God's voice? You already have (I hope), but you don't recognize it as God. That's because you are looking for unique revelations, a WORD, something special, and God doesn't usually speak that way. Here is the path that God follows...
1. Rom 8:16...The love of God...We are his friends, His children. We can be assured of salvation
2. John 16 The Spirit convicts of sin. The Holy Spirit convicts, ie makes us feel guilty for our sin. We need to be aware of this. The Holy Spirit's guilt is the only guilt that is redemptive in nature, and He is the only person who should use it.
3. John 16 The Spirit leads us into truth. We can learn to be a discerning peopleby being a people who respond to truth. We need to be committed to truth.
UNLESS YOU ARE LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT IN THESE THREE AREAS, YOU MAY NEVER KNOW THE PEACE OF THE FOUTH. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS SPOKEN TO EACH OF US IN THESE THREE AREAS...HAVE WE LISTENED????
4. John 10 My sheep hear my voice, and they follow.
Have you followed the Father as He has prompted you? Do you care about discernment? Are you a discerning person? What does discernment mean? How can you develop it? What is the difference between a wise person and a discerning person? What do you need to do in order to decide what is the best? If God knows what's best, and he speaks it to you, why don't you hear it? What stumbling blocks are in your life right now that prevent you from hearing the voice of God? What are you going to do about it? Have you often tried to listen to God's voice for a decision while there was sin in your life? What did you hear? Was that God speaking? Have you ever wondered where God was when you were disregarding important truths that He was revealing in your heart? Where was He? Are there areas in your life that you haven't been choosing the best in? Are there areas of your life that you haven't been listening to truth because it is what "you wanted"? Did it profit you? Where was God? Do you often regret past mistakes? Does it do you any good? God takes you today just as you are...Will you start again?
The past is gone, who keeps bugging you about it? Is it God? What does God do about your past? Will you accept His new start?
