John 7:16-19 The Message
16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Is Jesus For Real?
Do you ever wonder if Jesus actually was what he claimed to be?
Do we have trouble at times struggling with understanding what he is saying in these tremendous passages, especially in the Gospel narrative of John?
Well, if that is the case, Jesus tells you what to do: Practice what he says.
Obey his words.
Repent of your sins.
Come to Him.
Cast yourself upon his mercy.
Believe in his forgiveness, and go out in obedience and treat people the way he says to.
Then we will know from an inside knowledge that no one can take away that what He says is true, because His authority, teaching, is in line with the reality we are seeing of God at work through us.
This is a sacred principle that runs all through our life: We all learn by doing.
A doctor may learn all that the medical books can teach them, but until they get their hands into their clinical specialty, area of expertise, surgery or dispenses medicines to people who are in critical need of their service, never really learns.
The same is true in any field: We all learn by Our Doing.
When we do what Jesus says, we practice obedience and discipline ourselves, we begin to understand with a deep conviction that He knows what life is all about.
This explains the phenomenon of certain people who become Christians—some of them early, some late in life—and who immediately practice what they have learned through study of God’s Word, and then grow with astonishing rapidity.
They subtly become “more” grown up, capable, well-adjusted whole persons, seemingly almost overnight, while others who sit under the teaching of the Scripture for years hardly seem ever to grow at all; they are still childlike in their behavior, emotionally upset, anxious, timid, stagnant and fear-ridden.
This is because they are not doing what they hear.
They are only maintaining themselves in a “milk and cookies” Christianity.
Those who put into practice the truth they hear begin to grow immediately.
Now, it is graduating into whole hearted “meat and potatoes” evangelism.
They have entered the place called the tried, true, “Will of God For Their Lives.”
Ways to Know God’s Will for Your Life
When I was a young (in the faith) Christian, I seemed to continually wrestle with knowing to know what God’s will was for my life.
I wanted more than anything to follow His plan.
Interestingly, now that I’m “older” (currently 62 years old), I still wrestle with knowing and doing God’s will in my life.
Over the years of “near continual discernment” I have come to learn that this is not just something that many young persons does early in life; it is that lifelong pursuit, through study, prayer, in order to stay in the exact center of His plan.
So, then, how can we authentically, faithfully know God’s plan for our lives?
Over the past twenty-some years that I have been in both lay and lay pastoral ministry, I have discovered several vital keys to genuinely knowing God’s will.
Here they are:
1. Walk with God.
Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message
5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
For starters, if you are authentically interested in knowing God’s plan for your life, then you must genuinely learn to walk faithfully, faith-filled, with God.
You need to engage, work literally all of the soils of your life cultivate, develop and sow, plant the seeds of a harvest, then bear fruit – a relationship with Him.
Matthew 13:10-17 The Message
Why Tell Stories?
10 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are stupid!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.
16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
Christianity is all about working the soils, relationship rather than just religion.
And so you must cultivate your relationship with God.
We must seek to know Him through our labor, not just seek to know about Him.
We will cultivate that relationship best by spending time in His Word, taking time for prayer, and taking every opportunity you can to be involved in church and fellowship gatherings small group Bible study and prayer, opportunities.
When we seek “work these soils” cultivate these disciplines in, within our life, God will begin the first steps, plant the first seeds, to revealing His plan to you.
2. Surrender your will to God’s.
Romans 12:1-2 The Message
Place Your Life Before God
12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Far too many times when we say we are seeking God’s will, what we are really wanting to say to God is this: “OK, God, here’s what I’m planning to do.” “Now I need you authentically, faithfully [automatically] to rubber stamp this, all right?”
I must break into your Theology to tell you that this is not really going to be an effective thought or planning, process in discovering and finding His true will.
Before God will begin to allow the seed to germinate, reveal His will to you, you must be committed, faithful, to doing whatever it is He desires for you to do.
God will likely be slow, not as we understand slow, but God understands slow, to show you His true plan if He knows you will likely not do that plan anyway.
Jesus was willing come to die for us, so shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him?
When we surrender to Him, that is when He really begins to direct our steps.
3. Obey what you already know to be God’s will.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 The Message
The Way He Wants You to Live
12-13 And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
13-15 Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Many people seem to want to know what God’s plan is for their lives, but they overlook the fact that 98% of His will is already delineated carefully through His Word – God is very authentic, clear about many, many aspects of His will.
Honor, respect those leaders and authority figures who work so hard for you, who have been given by God, the true responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your faith journey, in your wisdom and understanding and practice of obedience.
Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part to get along with others.
Warn the “freeloaders” to “get with the plan for the community” and start earning their keep, “get along with God’s plan for His Kingdom” and to laboring for God.
Gently encourage and inspire and empower the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet, showing them places where they may rest.
Be patient with each person, attentive to their individual needs.
Be careful that when we get on each others nerves, we do not snap at each other.
Look for the best in each other and always do your best to bring out their best.
Be Cheerful – no matter what!
Pray all of the time.
Thank God – no matter what happens!
If we do not practice His Presence, obey the things God has shown us clearly to be His will, why then would we think He would reveal any further information regarding His plan for our lives?
Practice Obedience and Practice His Wisdom are critically important first steps.
4. Seek godly input.
Proverbs 11:14 The Message
14 Without good direction, people lose their way;
the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.
One key component to finding God’s will is to seek the input of godly advisors in your life.
If you don’t currently have 3-4 godly mentors, then I would highly recommend that you seek them out right away.
Think of it this way: you should understand that you are basically a composite of the five people you spend the most time with.
So, then, it is vital that you choose those five people well.
If you choose to surround yourself with godly advisors, they’ll be instrumental in helping you discern God’s plan for your life.
But if you surround yourself with people who are far from God, your hope of finding His best for your life will be greatly diminished.
The church is designed to help you greatly with this.
I would encourage you to be in church every single time the doors are opened.
The more you involve yourself with a community of believers, the greater your chances will be of finally finding authentic godly men and women who can help you discern God’s will.
5. Pay attention to how God has wired you.
1 Peter 4:7-11The Message
7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
God has created you and me to fulfill a specific role in this world.
There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has purposely created us to do.
God has gifted every one of us to perform a special mission for which we alone were created.
How amazing is that?
Wow!
So, when you seek to discover God’s will for your life, pay attention to how He has gifted you.
His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you.
The great news is that you will automatically be good at whatever it is that He has called you to do!
6. Listen to God’s spirit.
John 16:12-15The Message
12-15 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’
I experienced a major turning point in my own prayer life when I learned simply to shut up while I was praying.
That may sound odd to you, and it seemed odd to me at first.
You see, I used to do all the talking when I prayed to God.
But then, several years ago, I read Bill Hybel’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray.
That book completely changed the way I approached God through prayer.
Since reading that book, I have added a significant component to my prayer life: listening.
I take time to “very carefully” listen to what God might have to say to me.
Practically, the way I go about this is to bring a notepad with me when I sit down to pray.
Then I contemplate at the top of several thoughts things like the following:
- “What is the next step in my career?”
- “What is the next step in my ministry?”
- “What is the next step for my family?”
- “What is the next step for my marriage?”
- “What is the next step in my education?”
- “What is the next step in my finances?”
During my prayer time, I meditate on questions such as the above.
Often, God will start flooding my heart with ideas and information regarding one or more of those questions.
Sometimes, not all of the time I write as fast as I can as He speaks to my heart.
What a glorious experience to sense His Spirit on me, guiding my thoughts and words, guiding my personal studies of the bible, writing of these devotionals.
Through experiences like this, He has shown me many times with great clarity what His will is for my life.
I long for those experiences when He speaks to me like that.
Those times are truly, authentically, life changing.
7. Listen to your heart.
Psalm 37:3-6 The Message
3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God,
get in on the best.
5-6 Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.
In addition to listening to the Spirit, I also recommend listening to your heart.
I love this passage, because it shows me that, when I am walking with the Lord, He will actually let me do many really cool things that I actually love to do!
When you are close to Him, He actually begins to shape your desires so that you desire the things that He has already called you to do.
So then, His plan actually becomes a super-exciting adventure.
I always have the most fun in life when I am doing God’s will.
And that is because He shapes and transforms every single one of my “wants” to always wanting to do all those things for which He has actually created me.
8. Take a look at your circumstances.
Acts 16:6-10 The Message
6-8 They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.
9-10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.
God often clearly demonstrates His desired plan for our lives by His lining up circumstances in obvious ways.
And He also shows us what His will is NOT for us to do in that same way.
It is not His will for you to take the job that is not offered to you.
If you are of short stature it is not likely that God has created you to play 60 plus minutes of professional American NFL football.
But then again, there is the opportunity to play sports like professional soccer and be successful at a host of other amateur, professional sports opportunities
Over the years, I’ve discovered God is pretty good at opening and closing doors.
He even did that for the Apostle Paul and his entourage in the Book of Acts.
So, even Paul had to face closed doors in his ministry.
God often uses closed doors to show us clearly what He does NOT want us to do.
And He also uses open doors at times to show us what He DOES want us to do.
Of course, this does not mean that every single open door is definitely God’s plan, but it surely and certainly does help to give you some basic direction.
A Closing Thought:
Psalm 27:7-10 The Message
7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
“Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
Don’t hide from me now!
9-10 You’ve always been right there for me;
don’t turn your back on me now.
Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;
you’ve always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
but God took me in.
The next time you begin to ponder God’s plan for your life, I would encourage you to study and pray over the Word of God and mull over the above eight keys.
In fellowship with your brother and sisters in Christ, use these principles to help you to hone in on His plan.
And when you earnestly and fervently seek His will alone, you will 100% find it!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 84 The Message
84 1-2 What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
where I could sing for joy to God-alive!
3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
How blessed they are to live and sing there!
5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!
8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 