2022 The Will of God
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. or he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:3-14 NIV
The will of God was purposed in Himself before we were ever created. We don't have to make it happen. If God ordained something, He would cause it to succeed. Therefore, only God can make something come to past. The mystery of the will of God is not a mystery anymore because He made it known to us (vs. 9). God may not share His intentions, His will, and His purpose with children, but He does with His sons.
In the dispensation of the fullness of time (written by Paul in verse 10) has been used by theologians as a blocking point from receiving all that Paul was sharing in reference to the will of God. God doesn't just show up when we say, "any minute." He comes in His fullness. God does not work on our deadlines. We are all (now) pregnant with God, but our third trimester time is different in each of us.
What is the will of God? To gather in ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST. The heart of God is unity, but it must be IN CHRIST (vs. 11). God, as the Lion of Judah, tore down the wall that separated heaven and earth becoming the sacrificial Lamb that declared peace between God and all mankind. Christ is the only true unity.
To make peace, God destroyed the wall of offense that separated us from the throne of God allowing us to receive His will of unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness. When we receive what he has freely given to us, we then can love someone else with that same unconditional love.
We are predestined according to the purpose of Him to work out of His purpose; not ours. Predestination is not about arriving at a place that has already been established somewhere off in the sky with mansions and streets of gold. Also, just because God has predestined a place for us doesn't mean that we will arrive if we don't cooperate with God. We are predestined to be conformed in the image of His will; in the image of His son; to be Christ in the earth.
Predestined is not a secure location, but a predetermined one. God has made peace with each of us and reconciled us all. He is at peace with the whole world. The thought of this may offend many because we ourselves are not at peace with one another. However, God is not threatened; it is us. God created government to deal with lawlessness. He gave us predestination, but within this He also gave us the ability to make choices. We must stay on the road that gets us to that destination.
God gave us the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us through "unction's within" witnessing the will of God with our spirit to help us make right choices. God won't stop us from making wrong choices because we will never be free from sin until we realize sin is not more powerful than LOVE. The strength of sin is the law. When sin holds us in bondage by fear of wrong choices then we are hindered in receiving the fullness of our Father's love.
The thought that God is going to bring wrath upon us can push us into sin because it keeps us in bondage of believing that we can never be good enough to please God. When we realize that God doesn't stop loving us, we don't have the guilt of separation from God, but now must deal with the consequences of our own actions. If we miss the mark, it doesn't change the destination, but the time it takes to arrive. The destination has already been established. It is the times and the journey that brings each of our unique experiences when we arrive.
During the time when Moses was leading the children of God in the wilderness, they circled the same places for forty years in search of the Promised Land. Have you ever asked, "Why didn't they get the message after crossing the same path and leaving the same animal and human "discharges" that they were not going in the right direction?" Yet, we do the same thing today with our many denominations teaching and preaching the same messages we have heard for years? Maybe it is because of the comfort of familiarity with what we already know putting off the promises of God for a someday happening instead of truly desiring to walk in the will of God?
It’s a tradition for many that believe in Jesus Christ to celebrate His birth at Christmas, then celebrate the cross and resurrection at Passover/Easter. Afterwards, about eight months later they are back celebrating His birth again. What happened to celebrating just the resurrection of who we are because of His birth and ascension?
To get where God wants us to go, we cannot have landmarks of being a seasonal Christian or a weekly check-off of going to church, but to be like Abraham looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Joshua lived during the time Israel wandered in the wilderness questioning what was outside the realm of going round and round to places that he had already traveled.
The Lord is not trying to make us comfortable but gives us a "Godly dis-ease." God works all things according to HIS own will and counsel, not according to our prayers. He doesn't move according to how much emotionalism or fasting we conjure up in praying, but are we praying by lining ourselves up with the purpose and counsel of His will?
If we have pressure and confusion to try and make something happen, then it probably isn't the will of God. The outcome may be His will, but the timing may not. The pressure should be on God. This doesn't mean there won't be opposition, especially from religion, but there should be a peace that goes beyond our understanding so that when the manifestation is brought forth, only God will be glorified. If there is an "I" in the decision, it probably isn't His will or His timing.
God only takes counsel from His own purpose which does not include desperation. He will adjust our lives, even when we miss the mark and go in the opposite direction, to bring us into His purpose that He has predestined for us in the unity of Christ. In an instant, God will bring us back into His will.
The religious system applies law and justification into the grace of God making a hardship to obtain His will. God only takes counsel from Himself. If we tell God that we are a thousand miles from His grace, God doesn't hear the thousand miles. He hears the heart desire to be in His will and instantly we are in a position with what He has already predestined. We are drawn to the Father by His Love, not fear of death or wrath of God!
We don't have to make up the lost time of being a thousand miles out to come back a thousand miles to pick up where we should have turned. God will use where we are at and instantly place us where He wants us to be. When we turn to God, after walking in the wrong direction we are instantly in His presence where ALL things are possible.
Restoration is putting us back in the original or better than what we were. We began in Adam. He has restored us in Christ Jesus. We are not just the old Adam camouflaged as new, but today, we are completely and whole new in Christ. The old Adam is completely gone.
Sinners or non-believers are not the ones holding back the purposes of God. They haven't said "yes" to God to affect the purpose. Religious systems have said "yes" to God, but they tell God how to do His will. The purpose and the will of God are brought out by the church, not the world. God loves the world and extends His love and mercy to ALL. He is not mad at anyone. To be the church, we must BE His identity in the flesh revealing His will. God says, "Love your enemies and those that despitefully use you," yet we think that God is going to bomb and destroy those that we think are His enemies. He cannot tell us to do something He cannot do Himself.
Religion challenges us to question, "What is in it for me if I come to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior?" The will of God is to seek out "what we can do for others unconditionally." God is not cutting anyone out of His will. We choose not to judicious our inheritance which is found in the saints. We must join ourselves with the saints and bless them. True leadership is "leader's hip" connection. Find someone to help them make their dreams come true and our success will automatically happen. Put your life in someone else's pouring your life in them.
Our lives are an account for what is duplicated in someone else's life that edifies and glorifies God! Our purpose is not to change the world, but to seed the world with the unconditional grace, mercy, and love of God knowing Him as our Heavenly Father.
Missing the mark is "living outside our godly identity." True godliness is living in a state of forgiveness. "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18 NIV). It is the authority and opinions which people express with their mouth that brings judgment and condemnation to others. If we would only stop and think before we speak recalling what Scripture tells us about judging others: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:1-2 NIV).
It is not God who is judging mankind today. He did that over 2000 years ago when Jesus went to Calvary. Today, God judges no man (John 5:22). This fact was given to us through John when Jesus walked the earth and it still exists today. "For I am the LORD, I change not;" (Mal. 3:6).
We do not have the power to reject the will of God any more than we could stop our natural body from going through natural development. We can have a body of a teenager with a mind of a five-year-old; however, even in our natural understanding we acknowledge that this is not as it should be. The will of God is for us to grow up in Christ to be the manifestation of His sons so that when others see the son, they see their Father. By the love of the Father the son releases to the world, those that know not God as their Father are drawn to Him by His love that is manifested through the son.
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" Romans 8:16-19.