Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Words of Encouragement

There are two ways to go, you can go to the right or the left, which is right? Often in life, you have more than one way you can go. It is at these intersections of life that you must stop and ask God to increase himself in you by showing you his will.


He must increase, but I must decrease. - John 3:30





Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." - Mark 3:34-35



More Jesus. In His Will. As I continue to study this increasing and decreasing I find some things or some beliefs that I do not understand. Is there a time when I stop decreasing and allowing God to increase in me? Does it stop when I reach a certain age then I am no longer required to allow God to change me so that I can be effective for the time and era I dwell in? This I find is the belief of many.



Yet, as I read the word of God I see one set standard for all of God's people. Those that do the will of the Father belong to the family of God. Jesus says those that do the will are my brother, my mother and my sister. If you are willing to let go of your will, God says he will fulfill his will in you.



What really is my will? Will is the desire to have things my way. If I have lived a certain way, done things in a certain way all my life, that has been my will. While in general that does not mean what you have been or who you are is wrong, but if you come to a time that God says, "let it go", then are you willing to let it go? If God says to you, "do you love me" and you say yes, then his response to you is then, "feed my sheep" do you do it? How then can you feed the sheep, if you do not know where the sheep are at?

Letting go of my will means I will allow myself to be humbled to come down to reach the sheep where they are at. That is what Jesus did. He lowered himself to come down and meet us where we are. When we let go of our will and allow God to have control, he can fulfill his will completely in me. It should be our desire to please God and help others, more than holding on to our rights, those things we have earned or that we are entitled to. Jesus was willing to be spat on so that we could be fed, what an example of living the Father's will.



I seek to gain clearer understanding of God's will for my life. This means I let go of my ideas, my agendas, my attitudes, my behavior, etc. Everything that belongs to "me" I let go of.



Today, I earnestly pray with a humble heart that God's will be completely fulfilled in the lives of his people. Lord, help me first of all to understand what your will is for my life and then help me in your own way to help others to do the same.