Time with Jesus - 13 Oct 2013
GOD’S WILL FOR ALL CHRISTIANS
|
|
1 And so, dear brothers and
sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has
done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find
acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. 2 Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but
let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is
good and pleasing and perfect. Rom 12:1-2
NLT
|
|
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge
you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender
care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always
try to do good to each other and to all people. 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 19 Do
not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do
not scoff at prophecies, 21 but
test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from
every kind of evil. 1 Thess. 5:14-22 NLT
|
|
JOHN 8:44 NLT
|
|
44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love
to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character;
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
|
|
1 THESS. 5:14-22 NLT
|
|
1
|
Warn those
who are lazy
|
2
|
Encourage
those who are timid
|
3
|
Take tender
care of those who are weak
|
4
|
Be patient
with everyone
|
5
|
See that no
one pays back evil for evil
|
6
|
Always try to
do good to each other and to all people.
|
7
|
Always be
joyful
|
8
|
Never stop
praying
|
9
|
Be thankful
in all circumstances
|
10
|
Do not stifle
the Holy Spirit
|
11
|
Do not scoff
at prophecies
|
12
|
Test
everything that is said
|
13
|
Hold on to
what is good
|
14
|
Stay away
from every kind of evil.
|
imprison
your body. But in Jesus Christ, you are free to roam the world.
Even so, this little list is plenty to focus on. Believe me
when I say, Phyllida and I are still busy with this list after over a half century
of following Him! No, it’s not easy. Satan does his best to ensure we don’t
find it easy!
But Jesus Christ is faithful. He gives us the power to walk in
His ways; and when we fall, He helps us get up again and get going. That’s Jesus’
will for us; to endure to the end and receive the crown of life. We will
receive them after obeying His will for the remainder of the years we have left
in this world. Thank You Lord. Even so, Come Lord Jesus,
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Sunday, 13 October 2013
|
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
||||
©
|
These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
|
©
|
||||
INTRODUCTION
|
DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
|
THY
WILL BE DONE
|
||||
I’ve never believed in “Dot
Theology”. Dot theology tells us that God’s perfect will for us is in the
very centre of something like a dartboard. Anywhere else on the “dartboard”
is His permissive will. To miss the dartboard entirely, is not His will. It
sounds very simple and logical. Frankly, this is a load of nonsense. Paul put
it as follows; 2 Don't copy the behaviour
and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and
perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT
This
does not mean that God has three “wills”. A good will, a pleasing will and a
perfect will. A better way of stating it today would be to say that when you
are in His will, you will find it good, pleasing and perfect. It implies that
everything else is not His will. Frankly, God has only one will. Everything
else is not his will. There is no such thing as the permissive will of God.
Show me a permissive Bible and I’ll acknowledge His permissive will. So we
are either in it, or not in.
To my
way of understanding, anywhere on the dartboard is His will. Off the dartboard
isn’t His will. Think about this for a moment. This morning I got out of bed
at 05h45. If it had been 05h44 or 05h46 would I have missed His perfect will?
When I brushed my teeth, I started at the top and worked down. I brushed
tooth number 12 before number 11. But if I’d brushed number 11 first, I would
have been in His perfect will. Later on I chose to put on green socks. What
if God’s will for me was to be barefoot. Am I now out of His will because I
chose to wear green ones? Of course not. What I could say is that God wants
me to brush my teeth. Whether or not I do, is up to me.
Another
illustration is to consider what I should be doing each day. His will is for
me to work. Perhaps He has a reason for me to work in a bookshop. Let’s
assume I get a job in a bookshop. He is satisfied. If I am cleaning shelves or
serving a customer, He is satisfied. I am still in His will if I serve
customer A or customer B. That’s why He gave me free will. He wants me to
decide. He is not standing watching to see if I cleaned shelf A or served
customer C. That’s up to me. Note that if I’m in the shop working within the
law and not doing anything contrary to His commands, He’s happy. But if I
steal from the till, it’s a sin!
To
find His will is not too difficult. First ask Him what it is. If you are a
six foot 150kg rugby player, don’t ask if you should be a ballet dancer. You
would rebel! In most cases, His will for you is what you like doing. I like
writing. I would not be interested in flower arranging. He’s made me the way
I am. I like it this way. If you want to be a ballet dancer or a flower
arranger and are talented that way, go for it! It’s most likely His will for
you. Don’t make it so complicated. Ecclesiastes tells us 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your
might. Eccl 9:10 NIV. That’s where
you’ll meet with God. He doesn’t guide people who aren’t busy. That’s where
you’ll find His will. For you it will be good, pleasing and perfect.
The
secret is to carry on doing what you are already doing. Then watch for his
instructions to go left or right. They will shine out to you like traffic
lights. Then do what he says. That way, life will be abundant and exciting.
You will be kept on the edge and you will know His peace. That’s where you will
find God’s will for you. Where He directs and where His peace is found. OK so
you make a couple of mistakes! Get up and carry on! It’s not His will for you
to quit.
Jim
& Phyllida
Strickland
|
10 Your
kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it
is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10 ESV
|
Jesus prayed, “The Father’s will, that’s done in heaven
each day.
Will also come upon the Earth in every little way!”
It sounds so complicated. But why should that be so?
It’s not as though the Father’s will on Earth we do not know!
He spelled it out quite plainly, on tablets made of stone.
The concepts are so beautiful; they clearly have been shown.
To always love the Lord your God with spirit, heart and soul.
To make your love for neighbours your sure and steadfast goal.
There also is a rider. To love your enemy.
These two “commands” of God sum up the things He says must be.
He spells out the specifics we all can understand.
Like “Don’t commit adultery”; such actions have been banned.
Only married couples should ever copulate.
“Don’t commit adultery and do not fornicate!”
We know this isn’t popular. But Father makes the rules
And blatant disregard for this is only done by fools.
Of course we all have weaknesses. There’s yours and there are mine.
But we resist temptation through Jesus Christ Divine.
So if you look at someone with an attitude of lust.
You are an adulterer. Perhaps that seems unjust.
But if you love your neighbour, you won’t harm him or her.
So only do the things you know that Jesus would prefer.
All of these commandments are generalities.
Do not murder; do not steal and liars do not please,
The Maker of Creation. These are a bagatelle,
To keep your eyes on heaven and not be sent to Hell.
Now this is just the framework, of how we ought to be.
Let’s be more specific. What is God’s will for me?
How do we detect it? How can we ever know,
That what we’ve started doing, is the way we ought to go?
Here’s a little rule of thumb, I think may well assist.
If you keep it in your mind, His will should not be missed.
Think about the High Street than runs right through the town.
There are many traffic lights, to slow the traffic down.
When you reach a corner, keep looking straight ahead.
Listen for the Master’s voice ringing in your head.
If He says turn left or right, then that is what to do.
If He tells you nothing, the way in front of you,
Is how you should be going. I’ve never known it miss.
You’re walking in the will of God. You can be sure of this.
He’ll give you confirmation, just keep on keeping on;
And vain imaginations will very soon be gone.
So walking as God told you within His will each day
Is how we ought to live our life and do it Jesus’ way.
Jim
Strickland
Written
13th Oct 2012
|
||||
17
Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the
Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians 5:17 NLT
|
||||||
14 In
the same way, it is not My heavenly Father's will
that even one of these little ones should perish. (lost sheep)
Matthew 18:14 NLT
|
||||||
3 It is God's will that you keep away from sexual sin
as a mark of your devotion to him.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 GW
|
||||||
2 That way you won't be guided by sinful human desires as
you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what
God wants you to do.
1 Peter 4:2 GW
|
||||||
18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures 21
Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant
wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able
to save your souls.
James 1:18 & 21 ESV
|
||||||
16
since it is written, "You shall be holy, for
I am holy."
1 Peter 1:16 ESV
|
||||||
34 And
looking about at those who sat around him, he
said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother &
sister & mother."
Mark 3:34-35 ESV
|
||||||
24
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of
mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on
the rock. 25 The rain came
down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet
it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
Matthew 7:24-25 TNIV
|
||||||
17 The world and all its
wanting, wanting, wanting is on
the way out--but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
1 John 2:17 MSG
|
||||||
