Principles for Knowing God's Will for your Life
the Series
Good evening,
I hope you all had a chance to read my last devotional on "Listening to your heart". If you remember I was discussing different principles to help guide you in to hearing God's Will for your life. Lets review:
- We first must be walking with God
- You must surrender your will to God
- You need to obey what you already know to be God's Will
- Seeking Godly input
- Pay attention to how God made you
- Listening to God's Spirit
- Listening to your Heart
- Taking a look at your circumstances
So my eighth, and final principle, in this series is being able to see God's Plan for your life by looking at your circumstances in your life right now. So, let’s get real for a second. Are you happy and at peace with the choices you are making daily? Do you seem to continuously have problems come up with the decisions you make? Do you just live life minute by minute, and whatever comes your way, you will just deal with it?
I hear and see people that are not very happy with their life, I see them right here at the church. Or they are spilling their beans on social media all the time. I see people constantly having problems arise, but they act like there is no hope, or they will just deal with it somehow, but deal with it tomorrow. And then there are those who are living minute by minute, and they just do not know what else to do. I hope if you are one of these people you will begin to start praying for a new start. When you became a born again Christian, if you even are a Christian, the bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new creature".
This is actually referring to you giving your life to Christ. The things you have done prior in your life that God has forgiven you for, if you are a believer. You became a new person and you have been forgiven for your past sins, as well as you will be for your future ones also. You are not to dwell on the past sins, for the future in Christ should be exciting and new.
So here goes! Have you ever asked Jesus to come into your heart? When did you do this? If you say you cannot recall, then I am telling you, that you should not have ever forgotten it. This is the most important thing you will have ever done in your life. I ask all of you this because with this series you cannot do these 8 principles unless you are a born again believer in Christ. Going all the way back to #1 principle, you have to be walking with God. Are YOU walking with God daily? If you are looking at #8 principle, "which is looking at your circumstance right now", this could be that God is seeking a closer relationship with you. It could be that you have not been praying and seeking God's Will for your life. I am not going to tell you God is not going to give you Trials and Tribulation in your life as a Christian; as He tells us that he will allow things to happen so that we may trust him as we go through them.
James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
1 Peter 5:10 says, "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
Romans 12:12 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in your prayer."
And in John 16:33, it says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
For other verses talking about this please read: James 1:2-8, Exodus 14:14, and Romans 5:3.
All these verses are telling you that as a Christian you will have tough times. Do not just sit there and blame God, or others for your problems. Pick yourself up and thank God for what he is teaching you. He wants you to show faith he will get you through it! He wants you to rejoice in all things! And he wants you more than anything to walk close to him during it all!
In closing, the next time you think about God's Plan for your life, be encouraged to receive these principles to help guide you for His Will in your life. And when you seek His Will earnestly, He will reveal it!
God bless,
E.
P.S. I would love more than anything to hear from you. I would love to know if there is something I could pray for you about. I would love to know if you actually went through this series, as it was important to me to spend some time on this because I truly want you to know what God's Will is for your life. I struggled with this for years, even as a Christian, because my life was constantly changing with new circumstances. It was not until the past 3 years since being here at Living Hope I have seen myself doing exactly what God has called me to do. He has allowed me to see my path clear in what I'm supposed to do for Him. My desires in life have been to grow closer to Jesus, help lead the most amazing Church Family, and to see my personal family grow closer together.
I pray if you are not finding joy in your life then I hope you will go back to principle #1.