“According To His Will?"

I John 5:12-15

12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13) These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

14) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

T

he biggest problem of the saints of God, today, is that too many operate according to their own understanding. Too often, instead of consulting the mind of the Lord, we go to Him (and His servant) with what we want. Then, we are frequently disappointed when “it” does not work. Though we attribute this to our “bad luck” or the fact that “nobody likes me,” the fact of the matter is that “it” never could have worked, for “it” was not according to His will.”

Just like children, instead of understanding that the Lord’s interest is in preserving and protecting us, we accept that He is unfair and unjust. Is this not the way that our natural children view us?

Contrary to what we would be lead to believe, a life lived for oneself, rather than being fulfilling and satisfying, will be full of unhappiness and upsets, for all would have been done our way. The Lord could never allow one who has been saved to do things “his” way and be successful, for this would mean that every man has a “right” to do things according to how he sees them. This would eliminate any standard of, and leading by, the Lord.

If we are honest, we will admit that if it were left to us to plan our tests and trials, we would never grown, for we would take the easiest route possible. Tests and trials are neither “easy” to endure nor pleasant, but as we go through them, the point is to accomplish something. We, like Jesus, must “…despise the shame” and look to the joy that is ours upon the successful completion of the test. You see, the Lord tests us because He knows what we are capable of enduring. He can see us as shinning like gold, but because we allow the devil to blind us to our full potential, we “resist the refining.”

Our “top priority” must be to be saved. If we are not committed, we can look to do nothing for God because we can be neither led nor controlled. This “inability” has stopped many right “in their tracks.” For any to be successful, we must be willing and able to receive instruction and carry it out!

The Church of God is suffering, today, because of the influence of the World. You see, we no longer have the proper reverence of God. Without respecting Him, there is no respect for our position “in” Him. This leaves us feeling that there are very few restrictions on our behavior. As long as we feel that it is alright to go our own way and do our own thing, there will belittle to deter us.

If we learn nothing as we go through this life, if we successfully complete it, we will learn to sacrifice. The sacrifice of oneself is the secret to salvation and the greatest “lesson” that a “human being” can learn.

The Lord has made it easy as possible for us to learn His will, for all that He requires is that we ask Him. The saints of God have not gotten the concepts of the “perfect” and “permissive” wills from the Lord or the Bible. He makes it clear that if we but ask, He will reveal to us anything that is necessary for us to know. He does not speak of anything, but His will. If He is perfect, how can His will be anything less?

Knowing the will of God is that which eliminates all of or excuses. Once we consult Him, we have a clear “road map” as to how to proceed in any given situation. Without this, we are doomed to failure, for any other resolution of a problem would point to us (flesh), rather than God—and there is no fleshly resolution of anything for the saint of God.

Life in the flesh is dictated by Satan. Since he does, indeed, possess that “right,” he also has the right to dictate to you if you so choose to live.

Doing thins, accomplishing things, beginning or ending them “according to His will” involves so much more than simply wishing it to be so. All that is done this way will lead to prosperity (both natural and spiritual) and health. You see, this is part of His will. He wants us to be successful—but can only allow it within His will. We really have no choice but to “play by His rules,” for, you see the “rules” are His and He will not change His law for us!

It takes spiritual “guts” to stand up for and upon what God stands for. All who intend to belong to Him are going to find themselves without a choice but to accept the truth of the word of God and walk in it! It is the devil’s job to try to get us to believe that we are fools for living saved when “nobody else is.” We are actually fools when we believe Him, refuse to be “set apart” and then, as a result, hinder our own blessings!

All of this can be avoided in us when we determined to learn God’s word, adopt it as His will and then live according to it! The life thus lived is immeasurably blessed.