God's Will

Tuesday, November 28, ‎2023

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day:   1 Chronicles 16:8

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

 Memory verse: Philippians 4:8 ►Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Today's reading: EZEKIEL 33-34 1 PETER 5

God's Will

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

This is God's will for us all. But there is another place where the Bible states God's will for us:

1 Peter 2:

15 For this is God’s will, that you silence the ignorance of foolish men by doing good. 16 Live as free people, but not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Rather, live as God’s slaves. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

To live as a slave does not sound like freedom to the 'natural mind' but living as God's slave is the most freedom any of us will ever know. This is where trust comes in. Only a person who commits to being God's slave can know that freedom and it, like God's peace that passes all understanding, cannot be described-it must be experienced.

In Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus said, "Follow me" and Peter and his brother Andrew dropped their lives and walked away and followed Jesus and walked with the King of Kings in perfect freedom. But think about them for just a second. They were stinky fishermen and young...They were rough and unrefined and made mistakes everyday yet Jesus kept them on as His apostles 'in-the-rough'.

We are all 'in-the-rough' and, if we follow Jesus in submission and obedience, we will experience His freedom day by day-failure to victory-sinning and repenting and experiencing His forgiveness and His unconditional love.

The will of God is complete freedom in Christ Jesus-complete freedom-that cannot be explained outside of personal experience.

Experience freedom-follow Jesus.

...because He loves us...  

Holy Father in Heaven,

My desire is weak and I lack focus because I am focused on me and not You. Please forgive me and build my faith and fire for You and Your kingdom.

High and holy God and greatest friend,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen