God's will

October 7, 2003

Hi...

I've been brought up a Christian, so I've been 'indoctrinated' since young.

Whatever I've learnt about God has been from family or church, from sermons etc....seldom from my own experiences with God....cos most of the time I feel I'm just following my parents' faith blindly...

Recently, I've been confronted by God's will, or rather, what it means and encompasses.

I know, or rather, have been brought up to believe that we all have to follow God's will and trust in it....

However, I seem to have the impression - seems likeother Christians have done things to make me believe this - that God's will is oppressive and opposing. I just seem so convinced that His will is always against our will and if we ever truly desire something, no matter how good it is, God will never allow it...and that the end result is that we'll be forced to accept something that leaves us dissatisfied, unhappy and depressed...

Some people have even implied, through their descriptions of God, that our will, or the desires of our heart, are never God's will, or will never be...

This sounds scary to me...

I know it is right of us to follow God and do what he wants us to do...

But whatever I've been convinced to believe doesn't sound like God...I mean, I know he's not a tyrant and all, and absolutely nothing like that....

I also feel that that belief is rather warped and that I should not feel this way, but I can't help but feel unsettled by what I've mentioned above....

I guess I just have lotsa doubts....

October 7, 2003

First of all let me say that what you know about God should come from the Bible and not your families experience or church peoples experience. And what you learn from sermons should come from the Bible.

The Bible is a reflection of God and His will. Romans 12:2 tells us that Gods will is good, acceptable, and perfect. Let me tell you God is not a tyrant. God is a loving Father who cares about every aspect of your life. He cares about you and He cares about your future. He wants you to be happy. And He wants to give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." All He wants is for us to take delight and pleasure in Him. He wants us to love Him.

When we delight in God, He will make the desires of our heart line up with His will. But notice I said when we delight in God. If we are just playing church then we are sure to end up out of the will of God.

God can be trusted. It's a shame that church folks make God seem like some kind of tyrant.

Let me encourage you to get in the Word of God for yourself. Ask the Holy Ghost to reveal Jesus to you in the Word. I guarantee that He will make Himself known to you.

And you will find a God that is loving and trustworthy. Let the Word shape your knowledge of God.

whatsitmean · October 8, 2003

But whatever I've been convinced to believe doesn't sound like God...I mean, I know he's not a tyrant and all, and absolutely nothing like that....

You must believe that God exists and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

His reward is the exact and total opposite of what you describe here: and that the end result is that we'll be forced to accept something that leaves us dissatisfied, unhappy and depressed...

'Christians' that become like this have done the very thing thing you are seeking to avoid and have not personally pressed on to know the Lord but have lived on what other people have told them and tried to force themselves into being what they falsly percieved God wanted them to be.

No man shall be condemned because he did not change his own heart, but because he did not cry to God to change it, who gave him his Holy Spirit for this very purpose, and which he, by his worldly-mindedness and impiety, quenched. Whoso hath ears to hear let him hear: and may the Lord save the reader from an impenitent and unfruitful heart!

Clark's commentary on Mat 13:23

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Matthitjah · October 8, 2003

Grace and Peace and Love to you. In Jesus christ's name!

Ixoki,

G-d is not a tyrant!

It is just that he being your Creator and having known you before He placed you in your mothers womb. Desires to give you what you most need. That would be Himself!

This is not the act of a tyrant! The Father wishs to give you that which is the fuel on which you were designed to burn. A tyrant would keep it to himself or hoard it.

He does this because He Loves you above all. He also has given you free will. This also is for His Glory. He would be a tyrant if he said you must worship me. There would be no Glory in that! Much like satan. He says bow down to me and I'll give you all the worlds richs. G-d says worship me and I will give you life and abundently. Who is life? He is. All life has sprung forth from Him!

G-ds very will is diametrically opposed to you. To yourself. You have not the mind of G-d. Yet if you find yourself no longer counting . Only seeking what he has prepared for you. Then you will find yourself so happy . That all the preconceived notions you thought you had in your fantasy of vanity. They will be forgotten and you will seek only what is his perfect Will. You will find that His Will and Love far surpass those expectations of the world and even your own wills.

This is faith and faith will bear fruit. The Lord is good. Taste and see! Crazy thought and crazy notions for sure. You must get outside of yourself to see the Lord.

Now you may think like Eve that what the snake has to offer looks so much better. It tingles the ear and awakens the flesh. This you must rule over. For what the Lord has in store for you is indescribable by our standards.

What you thought and what you planned were small in comparison to what your father thought and planned for you.

You are His child and he has good things for you! Incalculable and unthought of.

Lord G-d I pray and ask in Jesus name. That you would answer this childs questions Lord. That he/ she would just Bless Your heart and seek Your will for his/her life. That in the seeking he/she would see that they even now he/she are in Your very Will. In Jesus name and on His shed blood! Amen! Lord G-d You are so very good! So very precious, Amen!

Bless you! :il:

Dave

endure4salvation · October 8, 2003

Please be aware that there is a difference between God's will and God's plan for your life.

God's will has always been the same--to save us from our sins amonst other things like being Christlike and evangelize the lost.

God's plan for YOUR life is as different from anybody else's as you are from them. God's plan for your life will include God's will, but it will vary according to where life has you at that moment.

nebula · October 8, 2003

I'll just say this. I was pursuing a ministry a singing. I even had the priviledge of singing with a worship band for my church's youth group. but I kept getting hints and nudges that I ought to be in the worship dance ministry. Well, I couldn't do both. So, I shoved those hints and nudges aside. After a time though (and this time frame was in the segment of years), I suddenly discovered I no longer had the grace for singing (not singing itself, but the weekly grind of practice and voice training discipline and all that). I just did not want to continue this route. So, I recalled all those hints and nudges, and sought the leader of the worship dance team about joining. Guess what. She told me that the Lord had spoken to her that I belinged on the dance team two years previously (but to wait for me to approach her)! Can you believe that?!

Another thing. I was likewise given hints and nudges about going into the teaching field as a career. One person even gave me a "word" of sorts about it. But at the time, I was too terrified of the idea of managing a classroom that I couldn't do it. About eight years after I graduated from college, I found myself in a situation where it made more sense for me to go back to college to take more classes, and I had been given enough encouragements and strength that I needed to feel OK about having to manage a class (or that I would be OK by the time I graduated!). So, I signed up for the classes I needed to get started, and found myself being blessed left and right in the pursuit.

Was I being disobedient all those years? Some would say yes. I believe I had a process of learning to go through. The band was the right thing for me at the time, and I found a lot of inner healing from my interaction with them. LIkewise, I was in no way ready to be a teacher when I graduated from college. Maybe I neede all those hints and nudgings to help me get to where I needed to be once the timing was right. Maybe I learned lessons from the process. The thing is, "my desires vs. God's desires" isn't so much the issue. It may seem it, but it isn't. I understand your fear, and I've struggled through it myself. I'm not sure how to adequetly explain what I have learned in this area, but I hope the spirit of the message somehow comes through with what I have posted.

God bless!

October 8, 2003

So how would we know whether we are following God's will?

Is it simply by praying and telling Him that we are willing to submit to His will?

And are we allowed to ask God for the 'desires of our heart' when we pray?

I know God will either answer yes or no to our prayer requests, but I've been told also that if one truly submits himself to God's will then he won't ask for anything 'cos he'll just be following.....

endure4salvation · October 12, 2003

So how would we know whether we are following God's will?
Is it simply by praying and telling Him that we are willing to submit to His will?
And are we allowed to ask God for the 'desires of our heart' when we pray?
I know God will either answer yes or no to our prayer requests, but I've been told also that if one truly submits himself to God's will then he won't ask for anything 'cos he'll just be following.....

It would take hours of research to find all the verses that deal with your questions, so I will just give them without reference.

God's will is His purpose for every person to ever live...to become obedient to His Word. If you are activly seeking a personal relatonship with God via Jesus Christ and are striving to please Him, you are already in God's will. He wants you to be saved from your sins.

Now God's plan is totally different. God has a specific plan for YOUR life and wants you to ask Him for it.

He is your strength, with Him you can do all things (Philipians 4:13), but without Him you can do nothing (John 15:5). He will give you the Holy Spirit in power (Acts 2) if you want it.

Jesus specifically said you are to ask for what you want, and James told us in chapter 1 that we should have confidence when we ask or we won't receive. But the key is to be so Christlike that you only want the things that will benefit God.

Yes God wants to bless you and keep you happy, but that is NOT HIS FIRST PRIORITY!!!

His first priority is that you obey His commands. It is contengient on your entrance into heaven, as shown in the following passages:

Romans 2:7
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

2 Thessalonians 1:8,9
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.

Hebrews 5:9
And, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.

1 John 2:3,4
We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.

James 2:12-13
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful...

As you can see, obedience is required for a Christian. Once you are in God's will, you can seek God's plan.

If you have a desire that you would like, pray for it. And as Jesus told us, keep seeking, keep knocking on the door, and keep praying for it. If, during this ongoing prayer, you feel like the Spirit is not leading you in that direction, or you don't feel peace about it, then God may be trying to change your heart on the matter.

God works with us. He has given YOU special gifts and you should use them for His glory. Give Him credit for everything, as He told us to say, "we are but servants doing our Masters will."

Please ask any more questions and I will help where I can. God bless you!

October 13, 2003

I believe that God's ultimate purpose for all of us, which includes His plan for our lives, and His perfect will, is to create a right heart in us, renew a right Spirit in us, to fill us with His fulness which happens when we love Him, and keep His commandments. This means that The Father and The son will come and make their abode with us, and Jesus baptizes us in The Holy Spirit, so we have the fulness of The God Head in us and God's will to complete our transformation into His likness and image has been accomplished and we will be exactly like Christ was when He was here on this earth, and like He said we will do all things that The Apostles seen Him do. If you will accept the fact that you have the power in you to submit yourself so completely to God, The Holy Spirit will take you through this process one step at a time, and you will be in God's perfect will. Which takes us to the freewill choice factor. All the knowledge you need to make this choice is written for you in The Bible, and The Holy Spirit has been sent to reveal The Truth to you. So listen politely to what people tell you, but always check it against what The Bible says, and ask The Holy Spirit to verify it for you.

refugepsa91 · October 14, 2003

God is not oppresive....and if it is something we want then all we have to do is ask Him....but I found that before that could happen with me I had to be happy and content with what I already had....I thank God for the sock on my feet , the pillow under my head....if we can't be happy and thankful for the little things then why should He give us more

And yes sometimes His answer is no....but I can look back and remember times I prayed earnestly for something....and to look at it now I think boy I sure am glad He didn't answer that one ...He knows what is best for us all the time even if we don't! :il: