Lesson Seven
The Will of God
God's Will in Principle or His Plan for Your Life
| A. | God has clearly revealed through His written revelation, the Bible, what He desires for each of His creatures. But wait a minute, that doesn't help us determine whether we should buy that car, or take this job. What is God's will and plan concerning these things? | ||
| 1. | You will never find the will of God or His plan outside of the Word of God. You can find God's will and plan by renewing your mind (Romans 12:1-3). You renew your mind by letting "... this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). You must replace carnal thoughts with God's thoughts by immersing yourself in the word of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). | ||
| 2. | You must be in conformity to the clearly revealed will of God before He will reveal His plan to you. Your priority should be to fulfill the general will of God in your daily life and then trust Him to guide you in the detailed plans. | ||
| 3. | The question then comes, How does god reveal His will concerning these things to the seeking individual? | ||
| Sometimes God reveals His will through opportunities, circumstances, the wishes of parents, the advice of friends, the evaluation of one's own abilities, personal inclination, the needs of the day and conscience. | |||
| B. | Three things concerning God's will and plan are true: | ||
| 1. | The Word of God directs. | ||
| a. | God often guides through verses of Scripture that speak loudly to you. | ||
| (1) Be cautious don't just open the Bible, close your eyes and point to a verse at random. god is a God of order. | |||
| (2) saturate yourself with the Word of god so that the Lord can bring various portions of Scripture to your mind. | |||
| b. | God's will never contradicts His Word, therefore, know your bible (Psalms 119:105; Joshua 1:8-9; Psalms 1:1-3). | ||
| 2. | Our inner conviction agrees. | ||
| a. | God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us, and He bears witness with our spirit that a certain course of action is right or wrong (Romans 8:16; Acts 13:2; John 16:13). | ||
| b. | Again be cautious; is the voice you hear the voice of your own desires, or is it indeed the voice of God? | ||
| (1) The old man is deceitful and desperately wicked. | |||
| (2) Delight yourself in god and He will give you the proper desires (Psalms 37:4). | |||
| 3. | The circumstances permit. | ||
| a. | god opens and closes doors of opportunity. | ||
| b. | Nothing happens to the child of God by chance, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). | ||
| c. | As road signs serve as guideposts in our travels, we accept circumstances as guideposts in the direction of God's leading. | ||
| d. | Caution: god on occasion allows Satan to control circumstances, as in the case with Job (Job 1 and 2). | ||
| 4. | "When the Word of God, the impulse of the Holy Spirit in my heart and the outward circumstances are in harmony, then I am convince that I am acting in accordance with the will of God" - F.B. Meyer. | ||
| 5. | My desires may be my own and not God's, and so I can't fully trust my desires; the circumstances may be dismal or contrived by my adversary the devil, and so I don't want to blindly follow opened or closed doors; but "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). There I must ultimately place my trust. | ||
| "And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy work I will let down the net" (Luke 5:5). | |||