Sermon Central
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Understanding God’s Will
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Dec 6, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: SEEK it, SURRENDER to it, and STAND in it. It’s REAL, can be REFUSED, but it’s always RIGHT! Link included to formatted text, audio/video, and PowerPoint.
Understanding God’s Will
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/God’sWill.html
We usually look at this passage and talk about surrender...but surrender to what? The will of God in the end of v. 2! Or we talk about separation...but separation unto what? The will of God! And that should be the greatest desire of our hearts: to know and to do the will of God! Good news: God isn’t playing keep a way with His will, and it isn’t far off or hard to find.
1. We need to seek the will of God
God wants us to know His will even more than we want to know it. He said, “seek and ye shall find” / “seek me early and ye shall find me” / “draw nigh to Me and I will draw nigh to you.”
We need to seek God’s will in whom we marry/where we go to college and what we do with our lives.
Joke—Kimberly is the least selfish person I know on earth. Her folks overheard her praying one night before bed: “Dear Lord, I ask nothing for myself, but please, give my momma, a very handsome son-in-law!”
Seriously, it’s not your life…you belong to God…don’t settle for less than God’s best…seek His perfect will for your life!
You don’t have the right to just decide what you’re gonna be, and what you’re gonna do…seek His will! And we all should seek His will for all decisions, big and small.
2. We need to surrender to the will of God
Eph. 6:6
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
Jesus is the very epitome of this. He knew God’s will for the end of His life, and in the garden of Gethsemane, He surrendered to that which would not be pleasant for His human nature. “Not my will, but Thine be done!” he prayed.
3. We need to stand in the will of God
Col. 4:12
…that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Once we know His will, we need to surrender to it, and then stand firm in it, not drifting to the right or the left.
A definition:
The will of God is exactly what we would choose for our lives if we had sense enough to choose it.
God loves us more than we love ourselves. He knows of greater possibilities and more success that we could achieve, if only we’ll seek and follow His plan!
God is more qualified to plot a course for our lives than we are. Just imagine the advantage you’d have if you hand crafted a person to your own design, and knew exactly what lay ahead for them throughout every moment of their future!
Just for fun-- Palindrome: [a sentence spelled the same forwards and backwards] A man, a plan, a canal, Panama
Ill.—In the Panama Canal is a series of locks, and if you want to cross there, you have to be able to accurately navigate thru them. Each lock has markers which the captain must use. He has to maneuver the ship so that the markers line up in a straight sequence.
God in His Word has given us several markers that we can go by…and when they line up we have a better assurance of what God’s will is for our lives!
The first marker:
• Recognition
A. It’s Real
The first step is recognizing that God has a will for your life. It’s a very real thing we see throughout the Bible.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
I can’t know all the details of God’s will for your life…but I know 1 thing: God does have a plan for your life! It’s a divine blueprint of you and your life, crafted by the One who designed the universe w/out any plans!
What a powerful and captivating thought, that God is so involved in something as small as little ole’ me!
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
A sparrow is so insignificant, and yet God has a plan for each of them! How much more w/ us?!
I wanted to know what a farthing is, so I could tell you today--so, I looked it up: it’s 1/10th of a drachma and 1/16th of a denarius! So…now you know! Evidently, it’s like a few cents at most in our economy.
God says, they are practically worthless, and God has a plan for them [deductive reasoning…arguing from the lesser to the greater] We are the highest of God’s creation…made in His image…It’s unthinkable that God would not have a plan for our lives!
