NEWSLETTER 041 MESSAGE

Message

”And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2

”What is the will of God for my life?” This question probably runs though all of our lives at some time. The will of God can seem mysterious and unknowable. Sometimes the search leads us to confusion or frustration. How do we discover the will of God?

There is the general will of God and the specific will of God. We tend to ignore the general will of God in our search for the specific will of God. Yet, if we are not flowing in the general will of God we will never find the specific will of God.

The general will of God has two aspects. First, the Bible declares the will of God. We know it is God’s will that we come to salvation, study His word, and develop our relationship with Him and others. It is His will that our mind is renewed so we can look at things from His perspective. The will of God is that we give thanks in all things. We need to be kind, look after our family, control our emotions, and everything else the Bible declares to be the general will of God. All of us could spend many lifetimes just working on the general will of God without worrying about the specific will of God!

The second type of the general will of God is the way God declares things generally work out in life. Proverbs is a good example of this. Another example is the general promise that children who obey their parents will have a long life [given in both Old and New Testaments]. This is the general will of God and shows how things generally work - especially in a Godly society - but it doesn’t mean that every obedient child will have a long life. The specific will of God may override this aspect of the general will of God especially when our faith is tested or we face persecution. We can; nevertheless, have full confidence that God will work things out for good in the long run.

When we think of the will of God though, we are most often thinking of the specific will of God for our lives. What does God want me to do? What job should I have? Who should I marry or how do I handle the kids? What church should I go to? What is MY purpose in life?

To discover the specific will of God in any situation we must be working at understanding and applying the general will of God. Living the general will of God naturally leads us into the specific will of God. It is important we see this. We cannot be lead of God if we are walking in rebellion to His general will. For example, there is no need to seek the specific will of God about marrying a non-Christian. The general will of God has already declared not to be “unequally yoked.” There is no need to seek the will of God about where He wants us if we are not already “doing everything our hand finds to do with all our might.” Most people probably need to worry less about the specific will of God and just do the general will - they might be very surprised where God will then lead them!

However, there are times when we are following the general will of God to the best of our knowledge/ability and we need specific direction. What do we do? The more important the decision, the more careful we need to be. There are several steps we can take, a] as much as possible set our own will aside and have a willing spirit to do whatever God may direct, b] read the Bible seeing if God is making something related stand out, c] spend time in prayer and fasting, d] seek Godly counsel, e] get all the information you can, f] see if you have “peace” with one decision over another - the peace of God can be a very good director. Make the best decision you can, trusting God to work it out. If you sincerely do the above, you will not go far wrong. And if God needs to adjust or correct as you move forward, He will. Trust Him.

Announcements

I am looking for suggestions on what you would like to see for new reports/courses and for what would make the paid membership site [Joshua Club] valuable to you. There are a couple of quick and easy forms here [www.free-bible-study-lessons.com/suggestions.html]. This link is available only for newsletter subscribers. Please take a moment and let me know what you think.

There is a brand new report on site: Is Christianity Prejudice? [www.free-bible-study-lessons.com/prejudice-109.html]. Sometimes we are intimidated by the charge that we are intolerant or prejudice. Is this charge true? What are the principles and ideas behind it?

If you haven’t been following the Genesis and Daniel blogs you are missing out. These have been updated 5 days a week as we move through these dynamic books. Check it out at Christian Blogs [www.free-bible-study-lessons.com/Christian-blogs.html] on our Free Bible Study Lessons site.

Finally, we are up-dating the Joshua Club membership site. Join now [www.joshuaclub.com] and grow with us.

God bless you,
Glenn Davis
Free Bible Study Lessons
Joshua Club