Hello lovely readers,
As I begin to type this post, I have no idea where my thoughts, or where the Holy Spirit will lead me. When I first planned and made notes for this theme, it looked very different and I had not intended for it to be a series, so bear with me, as together we see how the Lord will lead.
If you have not read parts 1 and 2 and you would like to, please click on the following links:
Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 1)
Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 2)
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Last week I ended my post with the following statement:
“When we do not know, or fail to understand, or refuse to submit to God’s will, the end result is unfulfilled potential.”
I had just spoken about the parable of the talents and how the man who received one talent had:
- Buried his God-given resource, undermining his future potential and
- Had a wrong perception of the Lord.
Perhaps the difference between this man who buried his talent and the other two who maximised their potential, was relationship.
The two who went out and increased what they were given, showed that they understood their master’s requirements. All three men were given the means and the same amount of time in which to develop and increase what they’d been given. Yet one failed. Why? What made the difference?
I believe it was a failure to discern the master’s will. And this failure revealed an ignorance about the master.
Why the failure? Why the ignorance?
I put it down to neglect and complacency. Neglecting to fellowship with God, neglecting to understand how the Kingdom of God operated and complacency regarding his role as a steward.
Now when a job applicant applies for a position and is fortunate enough to secure an interview, if that applicant is wise, he or she will research the company which they are hoping to join. It demonstrates interest to the potential employer but also reveals to the applicant the company’s ethos, history, aims and objectives. The person specification and job description reveals the employer’s will.
It is the same with the Kingdom of God. The Bible reveals God’s ethos. It reveals the person specification for members of the Body of Christ. It reveals God’s will. However, only the wise, only the diligent, will have the ability to discern and fulfil it.
When Jesus shared this parable, he mentioned that the story he told was a picture of the Kingdom of heaven. I think this parable accurately reflects how many members of the Body of Christ behave today. Whilst some will diligently seek to fulfil Father-God’s will, others will accept the costly gifts of salvation yet fail to use their God-given resources and opportunities to glorify him.
When we look at this parable we can see that the onus is upon us to use the resources we’ve been given and, as we are diligent, our capacity to know more about God, about who we are in Christ, about the kingdom of heaven of which we have become citizens and in which we are co-labourers, increases.
When we submit to the will of God, our capacity to please him, to be transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ and to work the works of God increases. As Daniel says:
…the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.
(Daniel 11:32b NKJV)
Dear reader, relationship is a vital key to knowing God and knowing his will. And that relationship has to be genuine, ongoing and meaningful.
In Matthew 25:16 we learn that the servant with the 5 talents traded with them. A relationship with God requires the trading of your time (the most valuable commodity you can offer), in order to enjoy his presence. And whenever you spend time in God’s Word, you are trading that time for exposure to the mind-set of God. You are placing yourself in a position to receive his revelations, his directions, or his correction. You are trading that time to increase your knowledge of God. Whether engaged in prayer, in worship, in meditation, in silence, it is time well spent and the Bible tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek him.
Do you value what you’ve been given?
Do you appreciate the fact that we’ve been given complete access to God’s holy presence and unlimited resources?
The servant with the one talent did not appreciate what he’d been given. He buried it in the ground. Can you imagine that? No doubt it was tucked away in the earth out of sight whilst he went about his day-to-day life and it was only retrieved when he was called to give an account.
When you consider this parable, there is information here that gives another insight into God’s will. He wants us as his servants to be wise stewards of all that he entrusts into our hands. If this man had only deposited what he’d been given, so that it earned interest, he would not have been so severely punished.
The Word of God is replete with clues as to God’s will. From Genesis to Revelation we see a consistent pattern unfolding.
God wants to fellowship with his people. God wants to bless them. He wants to enter into a covenant relationship with them. But he also wants his people to love him, serve him, honour him, glorify him.
Just as he did with the Children of Israel, He wants to show us off to the world around us. He wants them to be able to look at us and examine our lives and witness how he provides and protects and promotes us. He wants them to recognise that we are children of the Living God.
Dear reader, God’s will is to love you, to shower you with the benefits of salvation, with the blessings of his kingdom. His will is for you to appreciate his goodness, to thank him for his mercies.
These are just the basics. There is so much more. Will you be a diligent servant or a complacent member of Christ’s body?
The choice is yours!
This Week’s Prayer Focus:
As I wrote this post I felt a burden for the Body of Christ to wake up, to recognise we’ve been given a privileged position and not take it for granted, so let’s pray for ourselves and for our church communities.
And as usual, before going into battle please protect yourselves by putting on your spiritual armour.
Almighty God,
I come boldly into your throne room and thank you for the privilege of being able to spend time in your presence. I want to thank you for granting me all things that pertain to life and godliness. I want to thank you for your unconditional, everlasting and extravagant love and I want to thank you for your good, acceptable and perfect will for my life.
Father God, I want to honour you. I want to love you with my whole heart. I ask that you make my thoughts and inclinations agreeable with your will. I choose not to conform to the ways of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. May your perfect will be accomplished within and through my life.
Lord God, I bring to your remembrance those of my brothers and sisters in Christ, who are represented amongst my blog followers and readers, and those who are members of the Body of Christ in the various church communities or fellowships that we attend. I ask that just as an eagle stirs up her young in their nest, so you will stir us up out of our nests of complacency. Help us to pay heed to your warning to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. Father God, I ask that you deliver us from the temptation to be preoccupied with our problems and not discern, or even care about those around us who are lost, who are grieving, who are without hope in this world.
Touch our hearts afresh. Motivate us to seek your face like never before. Enlighten the eyes of our understanding, so that we can discern your will. Empower us as individuals and corporately as a people, so that we walk in conformity with your will, so that we can effectively implement it.
I ask this in the name of your precious son Jesus. Amen.
© Carol Hind
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Sunday’s Supplications
Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.
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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a blessed week!
CREDIT: The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com
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