On the will of God on us

 

One of the most damaging theological mistakes of this age is the assumption that we know the will of God in each step of our life. This wrong presupposition is a major stumbling block for many giants of the Lord in this age. As a good father, our Heavenly Father has no evil wish for us and everything is done for our good. This is why everything at last will work for our benefit. The ultimate will of the Heavenly Father is that every faithful to have the image of Jesus imprinted on his/her face, so we can imitate Jesus in all of our lives. If we are like Jesus, everything that belongs to our Heavenly Father is also ours. This is also the ultimate will of the Heavenly Father.

Yet this does not mean, after being born again in spirit, in each second of our life we will have everything that we wish for. This is because such boundless freedom may destroy what is one of the most precious beings in the sight of the Lord, us. For God, the things that we take seriously are worthless things of the flesh that the Lord can grant us just like that if the Lord wills it. Yet, we are in the heart of God and we are the precious beings in sight of the Lord. God loved us as far as to scarify his only son for our redemption. The most loved son of God is sacrificed for us, so we can be the holy temple of the Holy Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit can make us in the image of Jesus, the beloved image of perfection that our Heavenly Father will love for certain.

 

The main purpose of God, therefore, is our salvation, and growth toward Jesus. Then God can use the salt and light in us to attract other lost souls toward the Heavenly Father. Most people love Heavenly Father because they love Jesus. The glory of God shown in the teaching, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is an acceptable witness to the perfection of the Heavenly Father. Nobody who is not by the Lord can see or listen to Jesus now, but they can see us. We, therefore, need to radiate the perfection, teaching, and behavior of Jesus in our life. This will attract lost souls to the kingdom of heaven. Everything is planned for this purpose, and everything is secondary to this main purpose of God. Given this first mission of every faithful, our Heavenly Father has no wish for us except what is good, unless it contradicts with this main purpose of God. If a thing will grow us toward the Lord and the purpose of the Lord, we will easily get it; otherwise, only God knows when we will get it or if we ever get it. People say Abraham was wealthy, yet they forget that Abraham had to cry about a child for decades. So let us see Abraham and why the Lord blessed him with wealth but not with a child for decades. 

 

When the Heavenly Father did not allow Abraham to have a child for decades, it was for a good purpose. It created a faith that is willing to obey the Lord as far as scarifying the promise. If Abraham had a kid in early years when his wife was young, his faith would be weak. With weak faith, I am not sure if Abraham would be strong enough to will the sacrifice of his only beloved son. For Abraham to be the father of all faithful, he needs to be barren for decades. This was the will of God.

 

Yes the will of God for Abraham is nothing but good and that good includes denying him offspring until he is nearly 100 years old. It would be foolish for Abraham to think that the will of God all the time for him is children, wealth, knowledge, popularity, acceptance, and nothing but prosperity. That would not create the faith of Abraham. God gave Abraham what he needs not what he wants. It was not the will of God that Abraham should have a kid in early years. This is why we don’t always know the will of God for us in each step of our life. We are children running after coke, cookies, new clothes, and toys. God is raising children in his image. A good father gives his children not what they want but what they need. What they need may include buying them childish things here and there, but not to the level that can corrupt them.

 

God is in more series business and we are children being children. This is why his ways are not our ways. This is why we know everything will work for our good at last but we don’t know the will of God in each step of our life. This is because God will give us what we need, like school, reading time, church time, punishment for disobedience, and house chores, not what we want like coke, cookie, movie time, game time, endless toys time, and endless playtime. God’s purpose is not to spoil us into disobedience; his purpose is to make us in the image of his one and only son, Jesus Christ.

 

If wealth will divert us from our direction, God will not give us wealth. If knowledge will make us arrogant, God will not give us knowledge. If health will make us forget that God is God, God will make us sick so we can seek him and know him. If Moses had been a fluent speaker, he would have found a position in Egypt that could corrupt him but making him less than a fluent speaker would preserve him for God. If the children of Jacob stay in the Promised Land, with their aggressive manners, they will not stay long there as they will perish in competition of unequal. Otherwise Lord has to fight for them protecting their sinful nature. That is why the Lord preferred to send them to slavery, so they could flourish in foreign lands. They need to fear people and they need oppression that can tame their aggressive manner. That is why it was the will of God that they must go into slavery because that is what they need.

 

After slavery and after they corrupted themselves, with the way of Egypt, the Lord needs to make them chosen people for himself, again. That is why the Lord did not choose the shortcut to the Promised Land and did not design their journey with abundance of water, food, meat, and nothing but prosperity. No, God led them to a desolate desert where they would be hungry and thirsty, so they will know that man lives not by food only but by everything that comes from the mouth of God. God wants many Abrahams to follow the cloud of day and fire of night, not idol worshipers of Egypt that they are. God gives them what they need not what they want.

 

Even Jesus was denied his prayer to escape the suffering that is upon him because only through his death he can see his full glory. Heavenly Father did not give Jesus what he wished for, but what Jesus needed. The wish of the Heavenly Father is to raise Jesus above all names, authorities, and powers, but that demands death on the cross. Jesus wished to escape the suffering that was upon him, but his Heavenly Father gave him eternal glory, which is due to him.

 

At this point, you may ask: how can I have faith in my prayer if I am not sure if it will become true or not? You may also add: if I am not sure if my prayer will come true or not, how can I believe what I say will happen? After all, prayer demands unwavering faith. You, therefore, may think this will weaken your faith.

                                                                                                                   

Think of yourself as a centurion, who commands 100 soldiers. Unless your word is overruled by higher authority, the one you call will come, the one you send will go, and whatever you order will stand firm among the soldiers under your command. You do not doubt that your word has power because you are the centurion of the Emperor. Because the emperor or a general can overrule your order when deemed necessary, does it make your faith in your power weak? It is not supposed to weaken your faith, it is supposed to make you know that you have supervisors above your head and your order should be consistent with the will of the general or the emperor.

 

As long as your order is consistent with the will of the general and the emperor, you should not have any doubt that your word will be fulfilled as you command it. What should worry you is not your faith in your words, but if your words are consistent with the will of the emperor or general. Anything that you ask for, which is consistent with the will of God toward you, will be granted to you. You should not have any doubt about it, because you are the centurion of the emperor. What should worry you is not your authority and power of your authority, but if your will is consistent with the will of the emperor and his generals.     

 

Think about the earthly court. When a lower court makes a judgment, the court does not doubt that its orders will be carried out. Yet, it also acknowledges that higher courts, up to the Supreme Court, can overrule it. Since its rules can be overruled, however, the lower court should not doubt its powers. It just needs to make sure that its judgment is consistent with the potential judgment of higher courts up to the Supreme Court.

 

The fact, therefore, is that your word has power but can be overruled by Jesus Christ. You are given authority to open and close. What you open in earth will be open in heaven, and what you close in earth will be closed in heaven. Your mouth, as a result, will define the eternal law of heaven in both earth and heaven. Your word has power, but Jesus has more power. Jesus can open and nobody can close, and Jesus can close and nobody can open. He is your emperor. Don’t doubt your power, just remember you have a king over your head, and make sure your wish is consistent with his wish. Believe your word will happen without doubt, unless it is overruled by the emperor himself. A faithful, therefore, should not doubt its words, because Jesus can overrule them, it just needs to make sure that his words are consistent with the will of the Lord.

 

This is why it is written that anything that we ask, which is consistent with the will of the Heavenly Father, will be given to us. Since we know it will be given to us, we think like we receive it. The only issue here, therefore, is making sure what we pray for is consistent with the will of the Heavenly Father. What should worry us is not our faith and what we get from it, but what the will of the Heavenly Father is. We need to know what the will of God is. So not only our prayer but also all our life can be consistent with it. The will of God is that all of us have the face of Jesus and all of us are like his beloved son. That is the will of God. God is working us toward Jesus, and anything consistent with that is consistent with God.

 

Work on collecting the lost sheep of the Lord and on growing yourself and your fellow faithful toward Jesus. That is the only thing that should worry you in life. If your prayer is accepted, then after, it is the will of God to grant your wish; otherwise, accept the Lord knows better and thank God for that. Don’t worry about things of this earth, seek the kingdom of heaven and holiness, as everything else will be added to you. God will give you things that you need not things that you want. After all, you cannot hate money and worship God, as there is no need to hate money. Yet you can stick with God and look down on money and the way of this earth. Money and the way of this earth, like prosperity, wealth, respect, power, dominance, and so on are something that you should not care about. You are from heaven, they are the dirt of this world. So, look down on them. Look up to God and worship him, and see everything from this earth as worthless. Why because you are from heaven. When Jesus needed fish, Jesus had fish. Fish is nothing but material at the service of Jesus. Jesus does not cry fish, fish, fish 24/7, as it is beneath him. Who do you think you are? Why, therefore, do you cry about useless things 24/7? Have you seen the flowers or the birds, whatever you need will be given to you if you focus 24/7 on the kingdom of God and his holiness. Your mind should be on the kingdom of heaven, and Lord will give you what you need. Don’t focus on what you want on this earth, therefore, but in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Ignore the way of this world. If you need it, it will chase you wherever you go. Don’t make an idol out of it by being covetous. If it is the will of God, wealth, prosperity, health, power, and dominance will chase you like your shadow. Look down on them, because you are born in spirit and you belong to heaven. If it is the will of God, also, like Jesus and Paul, you will live in poverty to make others wealthy. Imagine Jesus’s 3+ years of service. What is a house, what is a wife, what is money, and what is comfort for Jesus? Jesus was running from city to city, from village to village, and finally toward death on the cross to save us, as it is the will of the Heavenly Father that we will be saved. Jesus has no time for dirt, he was poor by the spirit and barren for the Kingdom of God. His treasure was completely in heaven, and his heart shows that. That is perfection, not your ways. The best among us are those who give everything for the kingdom of God, like Jesus. After all, Jesus is a measure of our perfection. So preach the way of Jesus as the perfect standard of faith, not your human ways.