Tag Archives: God’s will

Planting the seed of Faith in the hearts of men

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

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Scripture passage : Mark 5:1-20

The grace of God in our lives is the seed of faith in others life through our testimony. How? The man who was possessed by legions of demons was untamable in the area of Decapolis. Every one knew his torment and pain; they knew him as a man with the demons and very dangerous. No natural man could have compassion on him; rather they were all disturbed by his behavior. But Lord Jesus delivered him and gave him a new life without any bondage. When he asked the Lord, whether he can come with Him, the Lord said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” The grace of God that is showered on this man through His compassion was the beginning of his testimony. If we look at the next verse, he started to proclaim the name of Jesus and His compassion towards him. When the people heard they all marveled, nobody repented and come into the kingdom. Our Lord knew how the gospel could be reached to the people who are in unbelief. He sent this man to proclaim the testimony to plant the seed of faith in the people’s heart. When someone in the kingdom team comes along and waters it with the gospel, God according to His will and their willingness to obey to the gospel make that seed to grow to its fullness. One plant the seed, another one waters it and nurture it and God will make it grow (1 Cor 3:6). This is the plan of the Kingdom and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Thought of the Day: The blessings including the salvation that we receive are because of the grace of God and this grace is the testimony in our lives. When we proclaim these blessings to others according to God’s plan (“Go home to your friends, and tell them…”) then the seeds of faith will be planted in men’s lives. Are we proclaiming according to God’s plan?

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God’s Will – Conclusion

18 Friday Oct 2013

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I Thes 5:14-18 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We have seen so many things related to both sides of the coins.  One is our character and the other is the work for His kingdom. When one side is etched well by our submission to the will of God in our character, then the other side God imprints. When God is impressed upon our yielding of our character to His will, He impresses His purpose as an imprint on the other side for us to know about it. Until then we will know the will of God here and there and sometimes we maybe blanked out completely in one area because we may not have yielded completely on that area on the other side of the coin.  Knowing the will of God sometimes looks like waiting for a parcel and checking everyday with the deliveryman. One fine day it arrives. Likewise, if we constantly devout our life to know the will of God, by aligning our character according to the word of God, then in due time He will impress His will based on our yielding. Let us yield ourselves completely to God and allow our Lord Jesus Christ as the Captain of our Faith ship. He will lead us through Holy Spirit in this perilous sea.  To God be all glory and honor forever and ever more. Amen.

God’s Will: Suffer according to God’s will

17 Thursday Oct 2013

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1 peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Heb 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

As we are coming to the end of study of God’s will, if we look back about the will of God and His leading, one thing we can see commonly is sacrifice.  To do the will of God in our life, we need to sacrifice our fleshy desire, worldly pursuit and to make life-changing decision during the course of life. There are many who suffer, not because of the will of God but because of holding onto to their faith only. Faith when it is not executed according to the will of God, it is like a ship without the rudder and it is headed for a shipwreck.  If we are running on the course in which our Author and Finisher of faith established for us, then any sufferings that we endure will be counted worthy. If we are suffering while going in some other course other than what is set for us, then those sufferings and pains will have no reward.  Suffering that we endure according to the will of God is a tool that God uses to align us more towards His purpose. He will make Himself known to us through these sufferings and pain. When He makes Himself known to us through His desire, then we would be strengthened and we will be in a position to execute the tasks for God’s kingdom with clarity and patience.

God’s will: Understanding God’s will when you are placed in a difficult situation

16 Wednesday Oct 2013

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Ex 14:1-4  “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.”

God might have placed you in a situation, where your relationship or some type of difficult situations caves you in. He might have placed you in such way that you see red sea like barrier in front of you, dry hot desert on the sides and Egypt at your back. You don’t want to go back to Egypt, because God said so. What should you do? The enemy is waiting to attack you if he gets a chance, but surely, he is threatening you that he is going to come near you and you will be finished. What should you do? Wait for the east wind to do its work. In this instance, God’s will for the Israelites is to ‘Go Forward’ but there is no place to go forward. They have to wait for the east wind to finish it course to go forward; the east wind brought dryness upon the land. That wind of dryness dried the red sea to make way for the children of Israelites. Likewise, when you are is difficult situation, if the will of God is not attacking the enemy but to wait in faith, then God will use the dryness in your situation to a blessing if you just wait for the east wind to finish it course in faith. The work of God will be manifested in you and through you so that you will be soon freed from the difficult place in which God placed you, and your enemy will be defeated ultimately. God will gain honor in all these things. You are just an instrument to gain honor for His name. Would you wait to fulfill what God has purposed in His heart or you will quit from the difficult situation according to your reasoning and craftiness? Would you lament and depressed about your situation or you will wait in faith and patience to go forward to inherit His blessings? The choice is yours. God has given you wisdom. So choose wisely. May God give you peace in any situation that you face today and help you to withstand the pressure in faith. Amen.

God’s Will: Do not be rebellious but listen to God and do according to His advice – Part 2

15 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Isa 30:1-3 & 5 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; 2 Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation. They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, Or be help or benefit, But a shame and also a reproach.”

Egypt is the world, a place of bondage. Pharaoh is represented as the ruler of this world. Who keeps the people under bondage, oppress them and make their life difficult and ultimately leading to death without freedom.

In the above verse, God clearly says how they are going into the world, relying on the worldly advice and its strength and wisdom. These are all done by not asking the advice of the Lord God.  When they reject God’s advice, receive the ruler of this world’s advice and still wear the name of Christ, then how God will be pleased with you. He is classifying those people who are like above as ‘Rebellious’.  They add sin to sin in their life sometimes knowingly and sometimes out of ignorance. Most of the time people go to worldly advice, false prophets, or an elderly person who may be a wolf in that congregation, because they do not know how to receive the advice from God. There are many who are ready to give worldly advice but only few can give godly advice. Sometimes when people are giving advice it may look godly in their words but it will have a deadly motive behind those words. If we don’t establish our hearts with the knowledge of Jesus Christ through the scriptures then we will take what comes our way and do it without even discerning it. Do not seek the world or its advice. Do not go to the world for advice. There is an everlasting, living and loving God is for us. Go to Him in prayer, which is the secret place where you place your supplications, needs and wants. He who hears it in secret will reward you openly with your request.

God’s Will: Do not be rebellious but listen to God and do according to His advice – Part 1

14 Monday Oct 2013

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Isa 30:1-3 & 5 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; 2 Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.

Will of God is known by the counsel of God, devising a plan in our mind through the Holy Spirit and performing it according to the advice of the Lord.

Counsel – Counsel is to exchange knowledge for a particular situation or scenario. This knowledge is in the Word of God. The knowledge that is present in it is very vast and no one can fathom.

Devising a Plan – Now having received the knowledge from the word of God, using that knowledge we need to devise a plan according to the mind of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is He who gives us plans or forms a particular way to execute a task in our mind. Only through the knowledge that we received through counsel will enable us to understand the plan of the Holy Spirit.

I Kings 19:11-18
If we look at God’s conversation with Elijah in a soft voice, He devised a plan according to the situation that is in hand and asked Elijah to execute it. The desire of God on who should be the next prophet in his place was established in that conversation along with other instructions. Having read this multiple times, are we in a position to listen to God’s voice to know His will and plan? Do we read the scriptures to get enough knowledge about God’s ways and His preference? Do we sit with God and having a conversation with Him and devising a plan for an issue at hand or receiving a plan from Holy Spirit regarding the Kingdom of God?

God’s Will: Redeeming the time – Part 2

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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Eph 5:15-17 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Col 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Col 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

Wisdom: Wisdom is what took Rebekah to one-step higher than what the servant of Abraham would have expected from a normal bride. The wisdom in how she behaved spoke and acted all culminated and made him to wonder at her. He remained silent until all the things were finished to see whether the will of God and His ways are established in His master’s life. And it did; Rebekah became the bride of Isaac one of the forefathers of Faith.

Do we have these qualities (Compassion, Patience, urgency and wisdom) within us to be selected as a bride for our Lord and Bridegroom? When we as a church, failed to do these things then we are not ready; but somehow we remain indifferent to the message of His coming. Paul says in Eph 5:15-16, we need to walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. In addition, he suggests that be wise to understand the will of the Lord. Redeeming the time with all these attributes will help us to know more about His will and will it help us to be ready for His coming to be joined as His bride.

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.” Eph 5:14

God’s Will: Redeeming the time – Part 1

12 Saturday Oct 2013

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Gen 24: 18-21 So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

Rebekah fulfilled God’s will by redeeming the time. How?

Compassion: She was compassionate enough to feed the stranger with water and the camels. This is the attribute, which made her eligible to be looked as a bride for the servant’s master Isaac.

Patience:  “until they have finished drinking” This is her reply for the stranger she met near the well, regarding his camels. This statement is what sealed the favor of the servant, which he prayed to God about.  Watering for the camels could be a daunting task because they consume more water to withstand the desert travel. It shows her patient character in helping others even though that will take some time and energy.

Urgency: When we read the above passage, we can see her urgency in fulfilling the desire of God through this servant of Abraham to be a part of great lineage.  “Then she quickly let her pitcher down”, “Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water” These actions of her indicate some sort of urgency in fulfilling the thirst of this new stranger. This kind of urgency is very important because the days are evil and His coming is very soon.

Contd…

God’s Will: Don’t turn back– Remember Lot’s wife

11 Friday Oct 2013

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Gen 19:17 & 26 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 17:32-33 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

God commanded Lot and his family to run from Sodom and do not turn back to look at the city. Lot and his family once occupied the city of Sodom, is no more safe for his family. While they are fleeing, Lot’s wife turned back and became a pillar of salt. What can we learn from here? We should not turn back and look at things, which is not the will of God for our life like Lot’s wife. For example if God wants to take you out from one fellowship and plant in another fellowship according to His will, then however good that fellowship looks for us we should leave that and join the new fellowship that God wants us to be. This could be applied for our job, relationships, church, ministry or other church related activities. We should not look back at the good things, which are not under the will of God for us anymore. This is one hard lesson that we need to learn, if we want to be in the will of God and go forth for the work of God in His kingdom.

God’s Will: The other side of the coin – Fear of God

10 Thursday Oct 2013

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Proverbs 16:6 In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.

Job 28:28 And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

The sons of Eli did not fear God and performed many evil things in the house of the Lord. Nadab and Abihu brought profane fire before the Lord. If we see these incidents, in both scenarios, sons of Eli and sons of Aaron were called to do the work of God in the tabernacle as a priest. Both did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and were perished by the hand of the Lord. What is missing from them even when they are working for God as a priest? The fear of the LORD is missing. In the case of the sons of Eli, God said in I Sam 3:14 “… the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever” The sons of Eli rejected God, did not have the fear about God, and pushed their limit that there is no more atonement for them. When all these things happened, they were not able to obey the voice of their Father because God desired to kill them (I Sam 2:24). Prov 16:6 says “…And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil” If we do not have this basic foundational character in us, we would be bold to do evil things in the sight of the Lord, even in the church and its related activities.  We can see today and hear many reports about this. Men who serve God in the name of Pastor or priest or committee member, they steal money from the offerings, they commit sexual immorality, they speak deceit words to steal their jewels and money from them, all in the name of Jesus and His church. Such bold activities are performed, because of the lack of fear of the LORD. All such men who once anointed by God, received the Holy Spirit and enjoyed the goodness of God will face the judgment of God. Many can speak about ‘in depth’ truth in their sermon, but if they lack the fear of God then there is no wisdom in that sermon and it will not produce any understanding to the hearers.  Fear of God should not leave us. If it leaves from our character and in our approach to Christ’s work, then we will be automatically out of His will.