Friday, October 2, 2009

Is It Important To Know God's Will? Do I Even Have A Special Purpose? (Part 1 of 6)

Is it important to know the will of God? Do I even have a special purpose? (Part 1)

-Let’s look at what the scriptures say-

1. Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!

- What is Jesus saying? “….but only he who does the will of my Father” will enter the kingdom of heaven. It sounds to me like Jesus thought it was pretty important that we not only know the will of God, but that we also do it. Many times this verse is used in the context of our salvation. I want you to look at it today and use it as a challenge. Challenge yourself to look at it and see the importance Jesus has just placed on doing the will of the Father and ask yourself “Do I know the will of my Father?” This can be a scary verse for many people, don’t let it scare you from realizing the importance Jesus has placed on God’s will and seeking it out.

- In verse 24 Jesus says that a wise man will hear his words and put them into practice. Let’s read what the Life Application Bible says in its study about this scripture. “Some self-professed athletes can “talk” a great game, but that tells you nothing about their athletic skills. And not everyone who talks about heaven belongs to God’s kingdom. Jesus is more concerned about our walk than our talk. He wants us to do right, not just say the right words. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe.”

- There is a great importance for not only knowing what the will of God is but also that
we do it.

2. Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

- God has planned in advance good works for us to do. The word prepare means to get ready. God has already gone ahead of you and made things ready. He has made a way for anything He asks of you to be done.
- We all have a call and a purpose.
- You are the workmanship of God! He made you the way you are for a reason. God does not make junk. We are not equipped for anyone else’s good or bad so do not compare yourself to others and wish you had their gifts. Know that everything about you has a purpose.

3. Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose.

- God is not going to give you a task & then leave you to go do it alone & by your own
power and strength. It is by His power & strength. He is working in you to help the job get done. Don’t let the fear of your assumed inabilities keep you from serving.

- If you want to do His will-but you are afraid- simply submit. Submit first to doing it
and God will be working in you & with you to help you accomplish His plan. God
does not want you miserable. The enemy wants you to be afraid of what God may ask
you to do. What if God asks me to do something I really don’t want to do? That is not
what God is about, that is what the enemy is about, making you afraid. Fear keeps you
still. Don’t let your fear keep you still.

- God will help you to want to fulfill His purposes for your life. He will stir your heart
and give you new desires. Ask God to help you overcome your fears concerning His
plans for you. The word Will as a verb means to wish, to desire, to like. Read the
scripture again and replace the word will with one of the words from the definition.
It may read like this: For it is God who works in you to desire and act according to
his good purpose.

4. Colossians 1: 9-12 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

- Some things are very clear to us as being God’s will and they are written for us to see
and obey. If that was all there was to God’s will then Paul would not have to be praying for God to fill them with the knowledge of His will. He would just teach it to them. Here we can see that God also has unique personal plans for us that we need to seek out, pray about and be obedient to.

- How does Paul ask God to show them his will? Through all spiritual wisdom & understanding.

- What does it mean to be filled with spiritual wisdom?
a. God’s Holy Spirit lives inside each of us and gives us spiritual wisdom. The Holy Spirit will guide you. It can only speak to you the things of God.

b. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Listen to it. Do you know the difference between your own thoughts and that of the Holy Spirit? Do you know the difference between your own thoughts and that of the enemy?

1. We now know we can expect to hear from the Holy Spirit in our minds.
Sometimes it will be thoughts, sometimes impressions. We need to be able to
understand that we will have to take all our thoughts captive. Any time you are
“thinking” something and you have to take a pause to say hmmmm, where did that
come from, take it captive immediately. If you get an impression and it seems odd
then take it captive immediately and discern who it is from.

c. We need to understand who God is. We need to know His voice. If we feel we are receiving something from the Lord then pay attention to whether it lines up with the word of God. Does it line up with God’s characteristics? The enemy will try to trick you and deceive you. We need to know if something is from God. We need to know the voice of our Shepherd. If you find yourself thinking negatively about yourself &
you are telling yourself that someone else is much better equipped to do what God
has asked…. Take that captive. That is not from God. Do not listen to it and cast it
away immediately. Understand your thought life, understand who is speaking to you.
Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. This will serve you well.

- We should know God’s will so that we can live a life worthy of the Lord & live a life
That is pleasing to God.

- What pleases God? Bearing fruit in every good work. Growing in the knowledge of
God. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have great endurance. Patience. Joyfully giving thanks to the Father. Being filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding concerning God’s plan for us and being obedient to it is pleasing to the Lord.

By these four scriptures we now know:
1. Only he who does the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.
2. What you do is just as important as what you believe. We must walk the talk.
3. God has planned in advance good works for you to do.
4. Each one of us has a call and a purpose.
5. God will be working in you to help you accomplish whatever He leads you to do. We are the vessel & He has the power & strength to get the job done.
6. Doing the will of God is pleasing to the Lord. It allows us to live a life worthy of the Lord.
7. We must pray and ask God to fill us with His will for our lives.
8. We receive His will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. Get to know the Holy Spirit in you and do not grieve it.
9. It is indeed important to know the will of God and we do in fact have a special purpose planned out in advance for us to do.

Okay, so now we understand that it is important to know His will for our individual lives. We understand that God has wonderfully made each one of us and has in advance known where we would be at each moment of our lives and has pre planned good works for us to do.
Maybe this was something you understood already but still you have no clear understanding of His plans for your life. Let’s take a look at what keeps us from knowing God’s plans for us.

Please read Saying Yes to God (Part 2)

1 comment:

Heart2Heart said...

This is a great post! Too often people are looking for the grander things in life that they can hope to offer, but it is in the little moments in our lives where we make the biggest impacts!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat