What is God's will for you? (Part 1)

The will of God isn't a mystery.  It isn't out there in a mystical cloud waiting to be deciphered like a puzzle with a million pieces.  Is your will a mystery?  It is to me at this moment because I don't know what you want to do.  But the fact that you have a will isn't a mystery.  You have the ability to choose or refuse.  So does God.  His will is simply what He wants or doesn't want at any given moment.  It isn't a mystery in the sense of being an enigma, but it is a mystery in the same way your will is a mystery, as the Apostle Paul said,


"No one knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man in him.  In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."


I can't know your will, or God's for that matter, unless you or God choose to reveal it.  But again, this isn't mysterious.  It's the way things work in a relationship, as the Prophet Amos said,


"How can two walk together unless they agree?"


Agreements happen when two wills unite. For example, if you and I decide to take a walk together, I can "submit" to your will, or you could "submit" to mine, or we both could already agree on where we wanted to go. In other words, I could say, "I'll go wherever you want to go.  It's up to you." Or you could say the same with me.


The same is true with God.


What is God's will for you? 
It's for you to agree unconditionally to go wherever He wants to go. 

The truth about God's will for your life

You can't find God's will for your life.
It's not out there.
It's not a mystery.


God is a person, the person, the supreme ultimate person.
He has a will, the will, the supreme ultimate will.
You don't find God's will.
You submit to God's will.
You can do it right now.
You should do it right now.


What is God's will for your life?
His will is for you to exchange your will for His.
No longer seek your will; seek God's will alone, no matter the consequences.
You can do that now, right now.
You should do that now, right now.


Don't wait any longer.
Pray this prayer with me:


"God, I exchange my will for yours from now on.  Please help me to do this.  Amen."


From this moment forward, do what you know God wants you to do:
Love God supremely.
Love people impartially.


Live only for God, no matter what.
Treat people like you want to be treated, no matter what.


Now you know the truth about God's will for your life.


Jesus is Lord.
Amen.

How to KNOW GOD'S WILL for YOUR LIFE (2)

Our Father who is in heaven,

you are is supremely unique,

different from everyone and every thing.

You should be respected because no one is like You,

Unborn and Undying,

Perfectly good, perfectly powerful, and perfectly wise.  

Control earth now.  Be completely in control on earth now, just as you are in perfect control in heaven.

(My paraphrase of the prayer Jesus taught His followers.)



The new age is here, right now. 

The Spirit of God is on earth,

right now, in me and in all who follow Jesus. 

We don't need to wait any longer. 

God is here, on earth, right now, in my body,

and your body if you follow Jesus.

This is the good news:

The time has come. 

God's new world order has already begun. 

 



All people should therefore change what they think about life and accept the good news.

If you follow Jesus, you are a witness of this.  You bear witness to this.  The Spirit of God is in you. 

 

Follow the Spirit of God.

Speak as He leads you to.

Act as He leads you to.

 

This is the new age of God, God's new world order: 

The Kingdom of God.

 

To follow God's Spirit is to do God's will,

on earth as it is done in heaven.

 

 

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How to find GOD'S WILL for YOUR LIFE

"Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own."  The Lord Jesus Christ.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 
The Apostle Paul

You don't find God's will, you do it.  In doing it, you will experience this revelation: 

Jesus is God, and His words are the very words of God. 

So what is the will of God for you? 
Three things are always God's will: 
Continually enjoy God.  Continually pray to God.  Continually thank God.

CONTINUALLY ENJOY GOD.
Find happiness in God who created you, Jesus who saved you, and the Spirit who lives in you.  How?  Acknowledge the goodness of being made, being created, and existing.  You are alive and well, able to read my words with a sound mind.  You live because of God, your Creator.  Your sins are forgiven and forgotten as if they never happened because of God your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Spirit of God Himself lives inside of your body, right now, affirming the truth of the words you now read. These things are real and satisfying.  Enjoy them.  This is God's will, and in doing this you will know God's will.

CONTINUALLY PRAY TO GOD.
Talk to God about everything, everywhere, all the time.  You experience peace and sanity by telling God everything you are thinking, feeling, and wanting.  You feel Him listening and paying attention to you, and you hear Him responding to you in your spirit.  When you pray like this, you will know God's will with certainty because you are certain that you are doing God's will right now.

CONTINUALLY THANK GOD.
Thank God for creating you, Jesus for saving you, and the Holy Spirit for living inside of you.  This is God's will, and in doing this He reveals His will.  When you thank God for life, salvation, and union with Him, He reveals your purpose in life, salvation, and the Spirit's leading.  Try it now with me and tell me your experience of God's will is revealed to you. 

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for creating us, saving us, and living in us.  We enjoy knowing You, we enjoy your listening ear to our prayers.  We know it is Your will for us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in every situation.  We are doing Your will.  By this we know your will for us right now. 

Tell me in the comment section how you experience God's will revealed to you.
God bless you.  I love you.  Olatunde.

Why you should STOP seeking God's will

God's will is not a mystery.
It's a choice.

You choose to do as He chooses, right now, right where you are.

His will is just that, His will.  His authority.  His right to choose and refuse.

As His creature, His son, or His daughter, you choose to be what He made you to be and do what He made you to do.  This is God's will.  A choice.  Not a place.  Not a mystery.

It's easy.
Not so much in the sense that doing His will always feels good.
But it's easy to simply decide to submit.
Unless you don't accept who He is and thus who you are.

Who is He?
Who are you?

He is the Creator, perfectly good, perfectly powerful, perfectly wise.
You are His creature, good only when you are what He made you to be.
Powerful when you submit to and receive His power.
Wise when you accept your ignorance and receive His omniscience.

If you accept who He is and who you are, then you accept your purpose, which is to submit to His will for you.

God's will is not a mystery.
It's a choice.

Choose to submit to His will, and you will have found His will for your life.

Your God Given Responsibility

Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; 

that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it. 

1 Chronicles 15:22

 

Your God given responsibility is to use your God given abilities.

This is God's will for you.

This is your calling.

 

You don't need to wait for anything else to be revealed to you to know what God wants you to do.

 

This is comforting for us because we are not called to do or be anything beyond or other than what we are.  In fact, we have a moral obligation to be what God made us to be and do what God made us to do, which means we also have a moral obligation to refuse to be what we are not.

 

I'm experiencing this vividly.

 

In seeking a job, my first inclination is to simply do whatever job I find, whether I'm skilled at it or not.  After all, I have a family, a responsibility to provide for them.  Does it really matter how I do it as long as it do it?

 

I'm learning that it does.

 

To take care of my family does not negate God's glory.  In fact, I believe the only real way to take care of my family is to seek first God's glory, to seek first God's kingdom.  Seeking this first, God will add the provision of my family's needs--through giving me a job!  But not just any job. He will give me my God given vocation, the job by which I will glorify Him by doing what He made me alone to do.

 

The same is true for you.

 

 

 

What Does YOUR NAME Mean?

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”  Ruth 1:20-21

Your name, what you are literally called, is in fact your calling.  The meaning of your name is who you are supposed to be, and what you are supposed to do.  It is the atmosphere your life is supposed to create.  A woman named Naomi understood this.

Naomi's husband and two sons died.  At the time of her life as an Israelite woman, this left her destitute and desperate, considering her life bitter by the hands of the Almighty.  So she no longer wanted to be called "Naomi," which means "pleasant."  Instead she felt her name should be "Mara," which means "bitter."  She believed her name should match who she really was and what her life was really like.  Naomi understood the significance of what you called her.  So does God, who gives names according His callings.  Look at how He does this:

• God said, "No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations."
• God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah."
• God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
• God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel.

God called Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Israel.  Literally.  He called them by their names, by these new names, because of their new identities and destinies.  Their names, what they were literally called, was their calling.  The same is true for you.

What does your name mean?

If you don't already know the meaning of your name, you can look it up as soon as you finish reading my words.  The meaning of your name is who you are, or at least it should be.  Look up the meaning of your name and see if who you are fits what your name means.  If it doesn't, it should.  Or at least you should strive to be what you are literally called.

But what if your name has a "bad meaning," or no real meaning at all that you can find?  A man named Jabez was in your situation.  Listen to him:

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.”  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

The name "Jabez" sounds like the Hebrew word for pain.  But Jabez didn't want that to be his identity or destiny.  So Jabez prayed that it wouldn't be. And God granted his request.  The same is true for you if you feel the name your parents gave you doesn't express your God given identity and destiny. 

If you agree, pray with me:

"God, my Father and Creator, You alone know who I am, and what my name should be.  If the name that I have expresses who you see me to be, then affirm me.  If not, give me a new name, a new identity, my true destiny, that I may be who you see me to be.  In the name of Jesus, amen."

• If you don't know the meaning of your name, look it up right now. 
• If you already know it, and it is how God sees you, be the meaning of your name. 
• If your name doesn't express how God sees you, ask Him what to do.

 

How To Be Led By the Spirit in 5 MINUTES

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

After you read this post, you'll know how to follow the Spirit every day of your life, for the rest of your life.

Daniel prayed three times a day.  That's the first thing for you to do:

1. Divide your day into three parts:  Beginning, Middle, and End.
For example.  Say you work a 12 hour job.  There are three 4 hour segments in your work day.  You get to work in the first segment.  You most likely take a break by the second segment, and you are getting ready to get off in the third.  These are the sections of your work day.  Having divided your work day, go to the next step.

2.  Take 5 minutes at the beginning of these 3 segments to pray.  When you pray, tell God what you have in mind to do, what your plans are.  NOT HIS PLANS, FOR NOW.  Yours.  I'll explain this later.

3.  Having told God YOUR plans (NOT ASKING FOR HIS), see if you sense "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding."  If you do, then you know you are in agreement with God's will, and you should proceed with your plans.  If you don't feel perfect incomprehensible peace that can only be described as from God, then go to YOUR "plan b," and c, and d, until you do sense God's peace.

Take at least 5 minutes of uninterrupted time in prayer to seek God's perfect incomprehensible peace at the beginning, middle, and end of your day, whether it is your work day, or your time at home.

Now, why did I focus you on what YOUR plans are and NOT God's plans? 

In this "stage," it's easier to know what you want to do.  Some believers try to "discern God's will" and they can't...because they are so distracted by their own will.  God knows this.  You know this.  So instead of trying to act like you're trying to find God's will at the time, be honest.  God knows what's plaguing your mind.  I'm not saying to disregard God's will, or to not seek His will.  I'm saying start where you are in your maturity with Christ.  If you are at a place where you can silence your mind, spirit, and emotions and genuinely seek God's will, do that. 

But if you're learning to follow the Spirit, the beginning stage is like with young children.  At first, you just say "yes," and "no" to their requests. Young children aren't usually going to come to their parents and say, "Daddy and Mommy, let your kingdom come and your will be done in my life. Not mine will but thine be done!"  They are immature and thus, to a certain extent, self-centered.  But parents work with them from where they are.  God does the same.

You know what you have in mind, and you also know that you do want God's will to be done in your life, even if its' not your will.  So start with your will, and see if it agrees with His will through Him giving you peace in prayer.  As you grow, you will begin to be "neutral" spiritually. This means when you do already have something in mind, you won't be hell bent on it.  You can go either way.  Or, you really won't have any preference at all because you've come to know that God's will is so much better than yours. 

You know where you are in your relationship with Jesus. 
Everything I've written can help you, no matter the stage of your walk with Him.

If you agree, pray this prayer with me:

"Father in heaven, I plan to seek your will, three times a day at least for five minutes at least.  Starting now.  In Jesus name.  Amen."

Now take 5 solid minutes to pray to God. 
Let me know how it went.

What It Means To Be CALLED (Part 2)

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."  Isaiah 43:1b

To be called is to be summoned, chosen, and empowered for a specific task that only you can do.  The key word to focus on is SPECIFIC.

Only you can be what you are called to be, and do what you are called to do. 

This is how you know your calling.

 

There was only one Noah, and only he could build the ark.

There was only one Abraham, and only he could have Isaac.

There was only one Sarah, and only she could mother Isaac.

 

One Moses.

One Joshua.

One you.

 

In fact, you can imagine your calling as the literal calling of your name, what you are literally "called." Your name is your calling, the meaning of your name and the reputation of your name.  We see this  consistently with God, who gave and changed names.  We see it from the beginning of his summoning or callings of created things.  He named all of creation.  He named the man. The man named woman, and the first woman.  Each name was a calling.

 

God changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Sarai's name to Sarah.

God gave the name Isaac to the child of promise, and the name Israel to Jacob.

Each name was a calling. 

 

The names of John the Baptist and the name of Jesus were their callings from God.

 

It's the same with you.

You are called by name, by your specific name. 

Only you are you, and only you can be you.

 

To know and experience your callings in life, all that is necessary is to see what you alone are, and what you alone can do.  If you agree, pray with me:

 

"God, my Creator, I honor You in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior.  Thank you for making me.  Thank You for saving me.  Thank You for indwelling me by Your Spirit. You knit me together in my mother's womb and created my inmost being.  I am Yours.  You are mine.  We are one.  I dedicate my life to fulfilling my calling, to fulfill the purpose for which You made me.  Only I can be me.  Only I can do what You made me to do.  Thank you.  Amen."

 

Now look into your life and see the unique places you hold in relationships to others.  For example, I only am the husband of my wife and the father of my children.  These are my callings.  I alone, as Olatunde, son of God, am writing to you right now what the Spirit gives me, and is giving me alone.  There is no other Olatunde in all of creation writing this blog that you are reading. 

 

In the same way, there are things that only you are doing and can do.  These things are obvious.  These things are what you are called to do.  Do them for God's glory and fulfill your destiny.

 

Your God Given Commission

The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.  Deuteronomy 31:14

God has a commission for you just as He had one for Joshua, just as real, just as powerful.  But how do you know it and live it?  Where is your Moses and your tent of meeting?  How has God called you, and how do you present yourself to His call? 

Here are two glimpses of your God given commission that you can look for in your life.

1. A Significant Transition
Moses' death was near.  But God's mission for Israel wasn't complete.  Moses needed a replacement.  Joshua had proven strong and faithful throughout Israel's journeys.  He and Caleb alone believed God could take them to the land of promise.  If you have been faithful in following the Lord in spite of obstacles, and you are witnessing a significant transition, seek the Lord's commission.

2.  A Significant Affirmation
Moses himself, a man clearly called and empowered by God, received the word of the Lord concerning Joshua's commission.  Moses took Joshua to the tent of meeting and gave Joshua words from God, and from himself.  In a time of significant transition, seek a significant affirmation.  Be sensitive to leaders in your life and especially to what they say to you and about you in relation to the transition.  These are glimpses into your God given commission.

Take your God given commission seriously, reverently seeking it until you find it.  Seek it through obedience to what you already know, and through prayer.

Pray this prayer with me,

"Our Father in heaven, we seek your God given commission.  If there are significant transitions and affirmations you have for me, show them to me.  I only want to do what You've commissioned me to do.  In Jesus name, Amen."

Now seek your God given commission with all you heart, continuing this prayer.
Let me know that the Lord shows you.  Leave a comment. God bless you.

How To Know God Will Reveal His Will To You

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"  Matthew 7:11

If my son Matthias wanted to know my will for him, I'd gladly tell him.  The same is true for God your heavenly Father and you.

Let's say Matthias made a mistake in hearing or following my instructions, but I know he wants to do what I said.  All he wants is my will and pleasure.  What would I do about his mistake?  I'd redirect him.  If I wanted him to go left, but he went right, I'd say, "No Matthias, stop where you are and turn in the other direction." 

What if Matthias deliberately disobeyed my clear instructions?  What if I told him to empty the trash before going outside to play, but he went outside anyway, leaving an overflowing trash can in the kitchen?  My will for Matthias hasn't changed.  I would go outside and get Matthias, discipline him, and redirect him to do what I said in the first place.

Either way, as a father who is serious about my will being done, I would make this clear to Matthias if he wanted to know it.  I would redirect him if he made a mistake.  I would discipline and redirect him if he deliberately disobeyed.  But my will wouldn't change, and my revelation of my will to him would be clear, no matter what.  I love my son, and I want him to know what he's supposed to be doing.

If Matthias said, "Dad, all I want to do is your will, please tell me what it is,"  would I let him just "figure it out?"  Of course not.  I'd be very happy and humbled by my son's desire to please me, and I'd make my will as clear and easy to follow for him as possible. I'd help him do what I want him to do.  I'd be with him and give him what he needed to do it. 







You can know the will of God in the same way Matthias can know my will.  Ask your heavenly perfect Father right now what He wants you to do.  Be sincere.  If you really want His will more than anything else, it will touch His heart, just as it touches me to see my son trying to please me and do what I say.

Pray this prayer,

"Father God, all I want to do is Your will.  All I want is to be what You made me to be, and to do what You made me to do, where You made me to do it, how You made me to do it, and why You made me to do it.  I live to be what You made me to be.  Please show Your will to me, and provide for me to do it.  In Jesus name, and by your Spirit, and for you glory, Amen."

Until He reveals His unknown will to you, do His known will for you right now.  You know it's God's will for you to love your neighbor as yourself, for example. So love your nearest neighbor as yourself by treating him or her like you want to be treated.  Go ahead.  Whoever is near you, do something for him or her that you want him or her to do for you in the same situation.  Genuinely greet him.  Sincerely ask her how she's doing. If you are treating him like you want to be treated, you are doing God's known will in your life right now.  You can't know His unknown will unless you are doing His known will right now.

Know that if you prayed that prayer and meant it, you just touched the heart of God, and He will gladly and clearly show you His will:  what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why to do it.  He will help you do His will, giving you everything you need to accomplish it.

 

The Very Next Step You Take In Your Life

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.~James R. Lowell

 

Today, at this moment, while you are reading, you are in a state of decision. 

• You just made a decision. 
• You are making a decision. 
• You are about to make a decision.

It is a decision, for truth or falsehood.

It is a decision, for good or evil.

It is a decision, for God's will or yours.

"Or maybe I just decided which cereal I would eat. Maybe my 'decision' wasn't that big of a deal."

You know what I mean.

You know the decisions I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the very next step you take in your life.

God once asked a woman named Hagar,

"Where have you come from, and where are you going?"

Hagar made a decision to leave one situation and to seek out another.  God approached her at the very next step in her life.  So He is approaching me.  And He is also approaching you.

Ask yourself the question right now,

"Where have I come from, and where am I going?"

What is the very next step in your life?

The answer to this question should reveal the will of our God for you.

If it doesn't, then don't take another step.

Pray this prayer:

"God, show me where I've come from, where I am trying to go, and where you want me to go"

God gave us this promise in scripture:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."  Psalms 32:8

God will instruct you, teach you, and counsel you in the very next step you take in your life.  But it's your decision.  Your choice.  You may choose or refuse to follow His instructions.  This is your moment to decide.



2 Ways to Find and Do God's Will for You

There is nothing better or greater than the will of God for your life.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  It's God's will for you to do His will, so any and every attempt or prayer towards that end will get and keep God's attention, guaranteeing a response from Him on your behalf, for today and for your future.  Here are 2 scriptural ways to find and do God's will for your life.

1. Set yourself apart to God.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification..."
First Thessalonians 4:3a

If you know nothing else, you know God wants you to be set apart for Him alone.  This has been the case for all of God's people from Noah.  Abraham, Isaac, and Israel were set apart for God, a holy nation.  And believers in Christ are called to be saints, according to Paul.  If you believe in the Lord, you know already that God's will is for you to be set apart.  You are to "present your body to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,"  according to Paul.  In doing this, you know without doubt you are doing God's will right now, and you have the promise of Paul that you will be able to "prove what the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God" is.  (See Romans 12:1-2)

If you set yourself apart to God, you will be doing God's will, and God will reveal His will.

2. Always rejoice, pray, or give thanks.
Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
First Thessalonians 5:15-18

It is always God's will for you to do one of these three things, depending on your situation. Of course, you rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, according to Paul's words to the Corinthians.  And James said those who are happy should sing psalms, while those who suffer should pray.  Paul said if you are anxious, pray, giving thanks to God, and making your requests known.  In other words, depending on what is happening with you or to you, you can know that it's God's will for you to do one of three things:  rejoice, pray, or give thanks.  In doing one of these three things, you are doing God's will, and God will reveal His will.

In other words, you cannot know God's will for your immediate or distant future if you are not doing God's will at the present moment.

• Set yourself apart.
• Rejoice, pray, and or give thanks.

These things are always God's will for you.
If you do them, you will always know God's will.