Quote from Forum Archives on January 22, 2001, 2:47 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Knowing the will of God is something all followers of Christ
have struggled with, and continue to struggle with. I think that
Neil Anderson deals with the questions and issues surrounding
this well in his daily devotional from last Saturday.

Do you think that the will of God is elusive? I wonder. If God
wants us to do His will, how can He make His will impossible to
understand and follow? I personally do not think it is like that
at all. I believe that God's will is simple to understand, but
not necessarily easy to follow. I believe it involves reading
and knowing the Word of God, recorded in the Holy Bible, which
teaches us many things. Then it involves continual prayer,
asking God to take the things we have read in His Word and
directly apply them to the events of our lives as they occur.

This involves action on our part. It involves spending time to
know God, and have a personal relationship with Him. It involves
responding to God. Those things do not take huge amounts of
intelligence; the Bible records that children can (and do)
readily understand these things. What is does take is faith,
belief, trust, and action. God can provide all these things for
us, too, but it does take a response, a personal and individual
response, from each one of us. To me, that's the only way I can
know the will of God. How about you? Where do you stand?

Brother Brian

Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Saturday, January 20, 2001
To: <masinick@yahoo.com>
From: Crosswalk.com <listreplies@crosswalk.com>

N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

January 20

THE WILL OF GOD

If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the
teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself
(John 7:17).

Knowing the will of God is not just a twentieth-century problem.
People were struggling at the time of Christ. Some people were
saying of Him, "He's a good man." Others were saying, "He leads
the multitude astray" (see John 7:12). How could these people
know whether He was leading them into truth?

Seizing the opportunity, Jesus set forth standards of divine
guidance. His first admonition was, "My teaching is not Mine, but
His who sent Me. If any man is willing to do His will, he shall
know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak
from Myself" (John 7:16, 17). The essential prerequisite to know
the will of God, according to Jesus, is a willingness to do it.

What is the will of God? God's will for those who believe in Him
is to be alive in Christ for the purpose of establishing His
kingdom by overcoming the evil one and becoming fully the people
He has called us to be. Notice the opening words of the Lord's
Prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"
(Matthew 6:9, 10). When praying this prayer, we are asking for
God's will to be accomplished on earth as it presently is in
heaven. Apparently God's will is being perfectly executed in
heaven but not on earth.

Are you totally committed to do God's will without knowing for
sure what it is? Do you hold any reservations about turning your
will over to God? Do you really believe that God's will for you
is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2)? If God is God and
you call Him Lord, doesn't He have the right to exercise His will
in your life?

Father, may Your will be accomplished in my thoughts, words and
deeds today as it is being accomplished in heaven.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil
Anderson at christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors -
CBD). < shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
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