What is God’s Will for my life? - part 2
Thesis: Many have asked the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” and when God has answered they have chosen to ignore it, denied it’s God or even been to afraid to do it. But our relationship with God is the determining factor of whether we do God’s will or not. Our willingness to do God’s will is based on our love for God. Many have allowed the concerns of this life to silence the voice of God in their lives.
Video Illustration: From Sandlot
Overview from Group’s Blockbuster Movie Illustration:
Babe Ruth comes out of Benny’s closet to help Benny figure out how to get a lost baseball. Benny says he can’t just jump over the fence to get it. Babe tells him that everybody has a chance to do something great, but they’re either too scared or don’t even recognize the opportunity.
If only God would send a celebrity to me every time he wanted me to do something, I would never miss an opportunity. God has a will for each and every one of us, including some great opportunities to build his kingdom. Many times we are too scared to act or not in a position to hear God when he calls to us. Following God’s will requires a faithful heart and attentive ears (Belknap, pg. 62).
Introduction:
Don’t you wish that God would send a famous person to your house to clearly communicate what he desires you to do for him? It would make knowing God’s will so much easier and clearer. But God has sent a celebrity to us to communicate to you and me His will. His name you ask? Jesus Christ! Jesus showed us how to understand the will of God. He modeled it by showing that he trusted the Father’s direction for his life. He showed it by taking risks for the Father.
The reality is doing God’s will requires us to trust Him and to take a risk for Him. We need to abandon our desire to stay safe and allow God to work through us to accomplish His will. This is the moment of truth – this is where the rubber meets the road – it’s when we decide to follow the will of God or not. Blackaby notes (Page 157):
In many ways, obedience is your moment of truth. What will you do will:
1. Reveal what you believe about Him.
2. Determine whether you will experience His mighty work in you and through you.
3. Determine whether you will come to know Him more intimately.
4. (I add) Your willingness to obey God’s will determines whether you have a strong love relationship with him and a determination to do His will.
I wish I had a dollar for every time this question has been asked, “What is God’s will for my life pastor?” I know I would be a millionaire by now. I think this is the most frequently asked question by Christians. I believe it is a very important question. I sincerely believe that each of us needs to know the answer to this question, because the answer - the knowing and the doing will make all the difference in our lives. I know it will affect our joy, our happiness and our satisfaction level in this life
Scripture Text:
I Peter 4:1-2: 1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
T.S. - Therefore since the Holy Spirit uses the Scriptures- the Word of God- the Bible to speak to us and direct us and to enlighten us then we should learn how to use the Bible to discover the will of God for our lives.
I. The Bible reveals to us how God choose to be involved with men and women in their lives.
A. In searching the recorded events of God’s involvement with men and women of the Bible we discover that when God spoke to them they knew He was the one speaking. The key here is God’s always crystal clear when He communicates His will for our lives.
i. In Acts 9:4, 5 and Galatians 1:11-24 - The apostle Paul knew it was the Lord who spoke to him. It was clear, it was un-mistakable.
ii. In Exodus 3:1-22 – we discover that Moses knew he had met with God. It was clear and unmistakable.
iii. In Nehemiah 2:4, 5 - we see that Nehemiah knew he had heard from God. It was clear and unmistakable.
iv. When God spoke to me I knew it.
1. He was clear and unmistakable.
a. Call to ministry which started with Bible College.
b. Call to my first pastorate
c. Call to Christian Hills as associate.
d. Call to New Life as Senior Pastor.
v. These men and I heard from God because we had a relationship with the Lord.
1. A prerequisite for hearing and knowing God’s direction in life is that you have a personal relationship with Him.
B. These men knew they heard from God and they knew what they were to do for God.
i. Paul-was directed to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and Jews Acts 9:19-22
ii. Moses- was directed to lead the people out of Egypt Exodus 3:1-22
iii. Nehemiah- was directed to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem Nehemiah.
iv. When God speaks to us we will know what we are directed to do.
1. When it was time to move to the next ministry position. I knew I heard from God.
a. Example of a church who tried telling me that I was called to be their pastor-God never told me to go there but he did tell me to go to another place.
b. Caution: Make sure you do not let other people speak for God. God will use others to confirm what he has already spoken to you but he will not use others to specifically direct your life. He does that personally!
C. When God speaks it is usually very clear but the problem arises when they choose to deny that it was God speaking to them.
i. There is an epigram which states, “Never put a question mark where God has put a period” (John Rice).
ii. When God speaks we need to listen and act. We must guard against letting the flesh and others distract us away from God’s directive or God’s will for our lives.
1. Family members can do this because they want us around them instead of somewhere else that God wants us.
2. Many spiritual leaders tell us to not seek counsel from relatives on matters that relate to God’s will.
D. The key here in hearing God is to make sure you have a love relationship with Him. I am not talking about a head relationship – a knowledge relationship. We must have a personal intimate relationship with the Lord. It needs to be a relationship based on the premise of love – extravagant love.
i. Blackaby notes, “I think God is crying out and shouting to us, ‘Don’t just do something. Stand there! Enter into a love relationship with Me. Get to know Me. Adjust your life to Me. Let Me love you and reveal Myself to you as I work through you.’ A time will come when doing My will be called for, but we cannot skip the relationship. The relationship with God must come first” (19).
1. Hear me clearly on this if you do not have a covenant relationship based on love with the Lord you cannot recognize his voice. It is a prerequisite.
ii. Jesus said, “The sheep will know my voice!”
1. John 10:2-4: The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
iii. The key component to hearing from God is a personal relationship with him which comes from being “Born Again” by the spiritual act of repentance.
1. This act of repentance leads to the spiritual act of grace and forgiveness.
2. This spiritual act of Grace directs us to a personal relationship with Jesus.
3. This spiritual act then leads to an open channel with God.
a. It’s as if you have a direct telephone line to God’s office – to his wise counsel.
b. It’s really the hotline to Heaven.
E. When we hear from God there will always come the point of decision – the crisis moment on our part to believe God’s directive and to act. We can choose to listen or not listen. We can choose to act or not act.
i. But one of the keys to understanding God’s will for you is found in believing God and obeying God.
1. Blackaby asserts on page 98 in Experiencing God:
a. You will have to believe God is who He says He is.
b. You will have to believe God can do what He says He will do.
c. You will have to adjust your thinking in light of his belief.
d. You trust God and then obey.
e. When you obey, God does His work through you and demonstrates that He is who He says He is.
f. Then you will know God by experience.
g. You will know He is who He says He is.
ii. The reality is if we choose to follow the path God directs us too then we will discover that His way is always the best way.
Application: When we know we have met with God. When we know that he has spoken to us to do a specific task then we must go and do it. We always have the choice to say “No” but that choice is never what is best for us. What is best for us is to say “Yes” and then go do it. Because when we do God’s will when we obey God’s directive for our life that is the best thing we could ever do with our life.
T.S.- God first and foremost leads us to his will by his word but the second way God leads us to his will is through the inner promptings that come from the Holy Spirit.
II. The inner promptings of the Holy Spirit lead us into God’s will for our lives.
A. They may lead us in a direction that maybe we would have never considered or even desired.
i. But they still lead to God’s will.
B. It’s that inside voice telling us to go this way on the path and repeatedly nudges us to go that way.
i. Jude 3 offers a great example of this type of prompting:
1. Notice Jude planned on writing a message about salvation and then was lead by inner promptings of the Holy Spirit to talk about their need to contend for the faith.
2. This is a great example of being prompted by the Holy Spirit in a different direction.
ii. Share how the Holy Spirit has prompted you.
1. The call to ministry
2. The call to 1st pastorate
3. The call to Christian Hills as associate pastor
4. The call to Amery as senior pastor
C. Christians need to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance because it will always lead to God’s will for their lives.
i. We can choose to rely on our own insights or the Holy Spirit’s.
1. The problem area always arises when we are lead astray by others or even ourselves but the Holy Spirit will never lead us astray.
2. We have to remember that people and ourselves do not naturally do things God’s way because we do not think like God (Psalm 118:8).
3. This is why we need to let the Holy Spirit lead us.
D. Blackaby notes that “God’s Holy Spirit reveals his will to those who are seeking his mind and his heart. God’s spirit will do this through four avenues: (Ideas from Spiritual Leadership pages 179-185)
i. The Holy Spirit guides through prayer.
1. Prayer is the connection to His counsel.
2. Prayer should always be the believer’s first course of action when seeking direction from the Lord.
3. Prayer-less Christians are like Captains of a ship without a compass. They can guess where they are going but they have no idea that this is the right direction.
4. One of the common denominators of fallen Christians is that they have neglected their prayer life.
5. You should never be to busy not to pray. It’s your lifeline to survival in a fallen world and your compass to lead you home and into the will of God.
a. Hybels states, “My second warning is for those who make the equal and opposite error. You are thinking, ‘I don’t need any structure or rigorous habits to make my heart grow. I’m a play-it-by-ear type. I go with the spiritual flow. I’m going to let go and let God do whatever he wants to do, and I’ll just see what happens.’ This typical American attitude, at best, is naïve; at worst, it is self-deceived. We just cannot grow with no structure, no sense of intentionality about our spiritual life, any more than we can lower our body fat or develop good muscle tone or increase our net worth by just sitting back and waiting for whatever happens. If the goal is really important to me, I discipline myself in order to achieve it” (44).
b. Hybels reveals, “I use to make excuses for my fainthearted prayer life. I don’t have any good models of persevering prayer, I told myself. I have too many responsibilities to fulfill, so I don’t have the time to pray properly. But God convinced me that I was not being honest with myself. The real reason my prayers were weak was that my faith was weak” (31).
ii. The Holy Spirit guides through God’s Word.
1. Blackaby states, “God’s Word is the plumb line for Christian living.”
2. We measure everything in life to the Word to make sure it aligns with what it says.
a. This becomes our safe guide to living the level life God desires us to live.
b. It’s the measurement which tells us we are in line with God’s will for our lives.
3. Knowledge of the Bible is essential for knowing the will of God for your lives. If you do not know what it says it can never guide you in making right decisions.
iii. The Holy Spirit guides through other believers.
1. Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
2. Blackaby notes, “The Scriptures advise people to seek the guidance of several counselors, thus avoiding the disastrous trap of merely duplicating the mistakes of one person.”
3. Many have suffered monumental disaster in their lives not because there was no one to warn them but because they would only listen to those who told them what they wanted to hear.
iv. The Holy Spirit guides through circumstances.
1. Blackaby states, “Wise leaders watch for God’s activity in the midst of their experiences” (184).
2. He adds, “A chance encounter with someone at the airport, an unexpected check in the mail, a surprise phone call are all viewed by leaders in light of what they have been praying about and reading in Scripture. Spiritual leaders astutely evaluate “coincidences” to see if these are God’s answers to their prayers” (184).
3. Share about when you did the study on the cults and God brought each one across your path after completing the study on each one.
a. This is the activity of the Holy Spirit.
4. This power point slide was a confirmation to me that the Holy Spirit is involved in our lives. I prayed a simple prayer last week asking the Lord to show me a power point slide that symbolized God’s will. An inner voice said this Saturday to go to Sermon Central and I would find my slide. I went there and there it was. I sang praises to the Lord!
Application: The important point to recall here is that you are willing to listen and respond appropriately to the Holy Spirit’s nudges – His promptings – His teaching moments – His direction.
III. God also leads us to his will by using the counsel of mature Christians and the Body of Christ.
A. Swindoll states, “This does mean some guru in Tibet or serious-looking stranger at the bus stop. This is an individual who has proven himself or herself wise and trustworthy and, therefore, qualified to counsel on a given matter” (49).
i. Example of this Moses father-in-law Jethro in Exodus 18:19-27
B. Really the definitive measure of a spiritual leader’s success is measured by how many people they move off their own self centered paths to God’s divine path for them.
i. Leaders have the God given directive to help followers of Christ to spiritually grow and discover the will of God for their lives.
ii. Getting people to have personal encounters with God is the key for every mature believer in Christ.
iii. Leaders are to move people onto God’s agenda not their agenda.
C. It is imperative to understand that God speaks to us through the Body of Christ.
i. Blackaby – The Parable of the Train tracks:
1. Suppose the eye could say to the body, “Let us walk down these train tracks. The way is clear. Not a train in sight.’ So the body starts down the tracks. Then the ear says, “I hear a whistle coming from the other direction.” The eye argues, “But nothing is on the track as far as I can see. Let’s keep on walking.” The body listens only to the eye and keeps on walking. Soon the ear says, “That whistle is getting louder and closer!’ Then the feet say, “I feel the rumbling motion of a train coming. We better get our body off these tracks!” If this were your body, what would you do?
a. Would you try to ignore the conflict and hope it passed away?
b. Would you take a vote of all your body members and let the majority rule?
c. Would you trust your eye and keep on walking since your eyes have never let you down before?
No you would get off the rain tracks as soon as possible. Those may seem like silly questions to ask. God gave our bodies many different senses and parts. When each part does its job, the whole body works the way it should. In our physical bodies we do not take votes based on majority rule, ignore conflicting senses, not choose to listen only to one sense and ignore the others. To live that way would be very dangerous. Because the church is the body of Christ, it functions best when all members are able to share what they sense God wants the church to be and do. Members of a church cannot fully know God’s will for their lives in the body apart from the body. A church needs to hear the whole command of God through its members. Then it can proceed in confidence an in unity to do God’s will (128,129).
ii. One of the biggest problems in the church today is no one wants to be committed to God’s Body the church. Many say they stand alone before God and don’t need the church. But the Bible makes it clear that a Christian is to be involved in the Body of Christ.
iii. I Corinthians 12: 12-31: 12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
a. Key phrase - “One body, many parts…”
b. Last week Trent spoke on the gifts and how important it is to use them in the body.
c. If you want to know what God’s will is for your life then use your spiritual gifts for his church- His kingdom.
i. See list of Spiritual Gifts and their definitions.
ii. To discover your gifts here are websites that you can go to and take different gifts tests. See the bulletine!
2. Hebrews 10:25: 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
a. God desires to lead and guide His people through the local church and we must be willing to allow him to do so.
Application: God has placed mature wise Christian leaders and the Body of Christ the church on this earth for a reason. They are placed by the Lord in their positions to help direct the flock. A true spiritual leader will always as Blackaby states, “Spiritual leaders have a God-given responsibility to do all they can to lead their people on to God’s agenda” (122, Spiritual Leadership). The church is here to help direct and encourage one another to do God’s will.
IV. God also leads us to his will by giving us an inner peace about a certain course of action we are taking in our lives.
A. Swindoll notes, “God’s inner assurance of peace will act as an umpire in your heart” (49).
i. Personal example: Moving from Chicago to this area reflects this inner peace.
1. God’s sense of inner peace lead to us experiencing many miracles in our lives.
a. Share some: God’s provision, God’s assurance, God’s my boss!
ii. When you have the peace of God you know it’s the right thing to do.
1. Phil. 4:7: 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
2. Col. 3:15: 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
3. I Cor. 14:33: 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
Application: When we have the peace of God in a certain decision then we know we are moving in the will of God.
Conclusion:
The Bible reveals to us how God choose to be involved with men and women in their lives. Therefore we need to explore it and gain the insight from it to know God’s will for our lives.
The inner promptings of the Holy Spirit reveal the will of God to us in our lives and we need to be sensitive when he nudges us in certain directions. The Holy Spirit works in these different areas in our lives:
• He guides through prayer
• He guides through God’s word.
• He guides through other believers
• He guides through circumstances
God also leads us to His will by using the counsel of mature Christians and using them in the context of The Body of Christ – His church.
God also leads us to his will by giving us an inner peace about a certain course of action we are taking in our lives.
