In, but not of this world (4)

It is our calling, no matter what the circumstances are, to shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people (Philippians 2:14-15) I wrote in my previous post.

Is that possible? Do we have God's promise that it is possible to shine in and so defeat the darkness?

Yes, we do. In 1 John 5:4-5 it is written: For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

We achieve victory over this dark world through our faith. Note that it says 'we achieve'. It is not something we can passively obtain. We must take action in order not to let this evil world influence us and eventually overwhelm us. 

We have to make daily choices in order to shine like stars. Conscious choices in our:

• THINKING - Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2)
• TALKING - Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone (Colossians 4:6)
• ACTING - Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God (Psalm 1:1)

Easy? Nope. Possible? Yep. Otherwise it wouldn't be asked of us. We simply cannot think like everyone else is thinking (fear, crisis, defeat, anger etc.). We simply cannot talk like everyone is talking (negative, fearful, repeating the news) etc. And last, but certainly not least, we simply cannot act like everyone else is acting (selfish, greedy, proud, lawless etc.)

The Bible clearly teaches us to live a different life, to be in this world but to not adapt its ways!

A mandate to shine

The other day I came across a sentence in one of the books I am currently reading, that really stuck with me... I mean like glue. 

Shine where you are.

Shine where you are. Four simple words that made me wonder what would happen if we all did that? Just imagine... we would live in a different world!

What if we would shine exactly in the place or position we are in right now? Not when things get better, not when we have it all together, not when we are healed, not when we are out of trouble, not when our government changes... but now, right where we are.

Maybe you don't want to shine, maybe you prefer complaining and grumbling. 👉 But for believers it is different, we have a mandate to shine! Think about that.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky (Philippians 2:14-15, GNT).

Just imagine...

Why do conspiracies exist?

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about conspiracy theories and just as many warnings to stay away from them because they mostly fall in the category 'fake news'... well, so we are told.

The more information that is available, the harder it gets to filter true and false stories. It seems that with every secret revealed, a contra-theory rises up. It is a vicious battlefield we find ourselves in, whether we like it or not, whether we follow conspiracy theories or not.

May I point out that the Bible speaks clearly about conspiracies. 👉The question thereby is not whether a conspiracy is true or false, but rather why it exists. Let's take a look at one of the most intriguing questions in the Bible, as found in Psalm 2:1,

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

It could be a question asked by many people today. WHY do nations (corporate level) and peoples (private level) engage in plots and schemes? Why can't we live in peace together? Why all this uproar? David answers the question in verse 2: The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

In the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) it is written like this: Why are the nations in an uproar, the peoples grumbling in vain? The earth’s kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together, against Adonai and his anointed.

Kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together against Adonai, against God and against the Messiah (Messiah means anointed one)... Somehow David received this insight, that all the violence, wars, and uproar of nations were acts of rebellion against God. I mentioned it in one of my previous blogs: ultimately this is all a battle between good and evil, between light and darkness, between God and satan. It would be dangerously ignorant to deny this, simply because it plays out right in front of our eyes, every day!

Yes, there is an evil plot to overturn all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy. Yes, there was, is, and will be a plot against Jesus and what He stands for: love, grace, righteousness, peace, forgiveness, purity, and joy. The early believers acknowledged it: Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed (Acts 4:27).

The other day I saw a picture of an individual in a big demonstration. He was holding up a sign that said, 'if Jesus comes back, kill him again'. The sheer hatred against the Son of God who went around doing good and healing all who were sick and oppressed, plays out on an individual as well as a corporate level. Yes, there is a conspiracy (a huge one), there is no denying it.

Our reaction? We should pray as the early believers did (Acts 4:29-30): Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Antidote to frustration

While the age-old battle between good and evil, between darkness and light, intensifies... one might wonder whether we have any influence at all on happenings around the world. How can our voices be heard? How can our responses be of value?

A few thousand years ago, the philosopher sighed: History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Well, I would be a fool to contradict him. In general, humanity does not learn from the past. On the contrary, I would say. Humanity forgets the past rather quickly and conveniently and acts as if every happening is a new issue.

I was reading Psalms 9, 10, 11, and 12 the other day. David cries out to God about the increase of wickedness and chaos in his time. In Psalm 11:3 he asks the following question,

👉The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?

Such a great question! Such a timely question for us today. What can we do as believers? How should we respond? What is it, Lord, you want us to do in such a time as this?

I believe prayer is the answer. Specific prayer that is! Personally, I don't think that praying for 'things to turn back to normal' will be effective. There are larger things at stake than our comfort. Remember: We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Once we truly realize that we are not in a natural battle between people, but a spiritual battle between powers and principalities, we can target our prayers and aim for God and His angels to move on our behalf. We should pray that:

• the evil plot will be exposed, and thus lose its power
• the truth will be revealed
• deception will be replaced with discernment, and
• love will be our language

I truly believe that targeted prayers are the antidote to frustration about the current world crisis.

Prayer for your area

In my previous blog post I wrote about Prayer for the Nations, a prayer group we set up years ago. Besides this group, where we focus on nations and people groups, we have also started a prayer meeting where we specifically focus on our region.

This group came into existence about two years ago when we were praying with a group of family and friends for my brother-in-law, who was very ill at the time. When He went home to be with the Lord, we decided to continue the prayer meetings and shift the focus to regional prayers.

We come together once a month and we pray for towns and villages, for the mayor and political parties, for the churches and healthy leadership.

We are small in number (10-16 per evening), but we pray with people from various denominations (such as Dutch Reformed, Evangelical, Pentecostal etc.). We share communion and we thank the Lord for what He is doing in our region: Alpha courses, prayer meetings, adding new believers, starting up new churches, vacation Bible schools and much, much more.

We thank Him for His healing and saving power and the testimonies we hear in our region. It is so encouraging to come together in this way and focus on His promises. We always get words and impressions from the Holy Spirit to share with each other. I write everything down in a special notebook, so we will know when certain prophetic words will come to pass!

Corporate prayer will not replace personal prayer, but it certainly strengthens the bond we have as believers.

Prayer WILL change this world.

If you're not involved in a specific group, may I encourage you to start a prayer group?

Give me an F

In my Bible alphabet blog series F stands for Faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith is not theology, it is substance. It can be felt and it can be seen!

Have you ever looked up at someone because of their unshakable faith? Have you ever asked God for greater faith? I believe it is not a weird question at all, the disciples asked Jesus the same thing when they saw Him do all kinds of great stuff.

His answer can be found in Matthew 17:20 (TEV), I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill "Go from here to there!" and it will go. You could do anything! Notice that this translation says faith as BIG as a mustard seed. Jesus' perception of size is different than ours! He basically tells the disciples, and us today, what mustard seed faith is: something very small you can use in order to do something very big!

Faith without works is dead. Faith that exists in our head or on paper only, is no faith at all. Faith without works is like a bird in a cage: it cannot spread its wings. So, maybe you have faith in Gods promises for a project, for a change, for healing or deliverance... small faith, big faith, trembling faith... it doesn't really matter. The key is to put it into practice...

Putting our faith in God and His promises means we add action to our belief. Let's illustrate this with some simple examples: If you believe today will be a sunny day, leave your umbrella at home! If you believe God heals the sick, go lay your hands on someone. If you believe God will provide, stop worrying!

Go ahead, take whatever faith you have and talk it over with the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to help you use it in a way that brings results.Together we can move mountains!

Give me a B

[Samaritan woman at the well by Zambian muralist Emmanuel Nsama]

In my Bible alphabet blog series B stands for Believers.

The word comes from the Greek verb πιστεύω or pisteuó which means to believe, entrust, have faith in.

The first group of believers mentioned in the Bible [are NOT to be found in the book of Acts!] were actually the people of the Samaritan town Sychar. 

Jesus spoke with a woman from that town and because of her encounter with this Jewish man, many of her own townsfolk became believers. John 4:39-41: Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.

So, believers are people who have put their faith (trust, confidence) in Jesus Christ and believe His Word. In Biblical times the believers were known for their communal living as recorded in Acts 4:32, The believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

The Bible further mentions how new believers modeled after each other, a process that is still going on today! The apostle Paul writes about the Greek believers in Thessaloniki: You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia... (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7). And more than that, it went worldwide. Paul writes that their faith in God became known everywhere.

I want the same to be true for the faith of modern day believers!

Devout

'The book of Acts is about the actions of the apostles, not about their intentions', I heard someone say. That is a good reason for Christians to read that book regularly. It shows how believers under the New Covenant can and should live.

Besides it being a practical book, it is also a book full of colorful characters. The other day I was reading about this Italian guy Cornelius (who invited Jewish Peter for a not-so-kosher meal at his house). The Bible says about him: He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly (Acts 10:2).

Well, there you have it again; a sentence, a single verse that really makes me think. Cornelius was a devout man. What exactly is a devout man? I am asking myself. Being devout has often kind of a negative religious sound. Devout people are fanatic, hypocrite or narrow minded... But what does the Bible say about being devout? Cornelius and all his family were God-fearing, he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

Looking back at one of my previous posts I noticed that the fear of God is a condition for church growth. Fear of God is also an attribute of devout people. God-fearing is being translated in this verse as being a person of: 

• generosity and
• prayer

A devout (God-fearing) person prays much and opens his/her wallet with joy to give GENEROUSLY to those in need. I think this is truly something we have to learn as believers! Recently we asked everyone in our church this question: Make a rough inventory of your expenses (apart from home payments and food). Think about: memberships, magazines, clothes, gadgets, snacks, vacation etc. How does this stand in relationship to your investments in God's Kingdom?

Well, needless to say that it brought about much discussion and comments :) But believe me, it is a great exercise to find out where our heart really lies.

Church growth

Last month we were in Israel, for the umpteenth time :) It has been more than thirty years ago that we first set foot in that country. And yet, each time we go again we discover new places; villages, beaches, forests, parks and excavations that we skipped during previous visits.

This is so much like my travels through God's Word. I am currently reading, for the umpteenth time, through the book of Acts... and yet, I discover news things again. In chapter nine, verse 31 I read the following: Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

We have come to believe that the church grows best during times of persecution and crisis. This is a principle of all times and places. But here it clearly says that the church grew during a time of peace. So, that is a possibility we should not ignore. It seems to me a great encouragement for the church in the Western world. We do not have to wait for persecution in order to grow.

I have been reading many articles recently about a general decline in church membership. But something has to be wrong in the way we think. From a biblical point of view the number of believers can grow in a country where there is freedom of religion and peace. According to the above scripture there are only two conditions:

• living in fear of the Lord, and
• encouragement by the Holy Spirit

The NKJV says in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. Well, that is surely good news for all churches decreasing in  numbers. Let's put aside our plans, ideas and strategies and designate a few (Sun)days for all members to fall on their knees and to cry out to the Holy Spirit to do His work.

I would love to hear good reports.

Those who had been scattered...

'Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day... and you'll grow, grow grow.' Remember that song? I used to sing that as a child, not realizing the words were/are very prophetic. The song is a payer, a proclamation: read your Bible and GROW!

Currently I am walking through the Book of Acts and I am taking my time to do so. It is not about reading a Bible book as fast as I can, but for me it is all about stopping and thinking about the scriptures I am reading. That way, traveling through the Bible becomes a real adventure. In the coming weeks I will share some of my thoughts on this blog, just for meditation purposes. I have done so before, when I took you all on a journey through the gospel of Luke. The blog posts I wrote then, were short and powerful. I hope you will find inspiration again.

This morning I was reading in the 8th chapter of Acts. It describes how persecution began against the first Christians, On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

That is bad news, for sure. Just imagine that they would come to your house and dragged you off to put you in prison. Such a horrible thought. Yet, it still happens every day in many nations around the world.

Verse 4 of the same chapter tells us how those first believers reacted to this situation, Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Wow! The believers were being scattered throughout the land. Did they give up all hope? Did they complain about their circumstances? Did they feel sorry for themselves? NO! They made good use of the situation, they preached the good news wherever they went. They used their negative situation in a positive way. We can surely learn a good lesson from these first believers.

The question I am asking myself and you, as reader, is: how do we react to negative circumstances? Are we able to use them in a positive way?

Happiest church

At the moment I am reading an interesting and inspirational book. It is called Faith under Fire, written by Andrew White (the vicar of Baghdad).

Apart from my own books and books by fellow bloggers, I hardly ever recommend or review books on this blog (simply because by doing so, people will try to put me in a box). But books about the world wide (persecuted) church really have a place in my heart. They ALWAYS teach me important life lessons. At some point Andrew White writes:

"Despite the fact that St. George's is constantly under fire, it is the happiest church I have ever served in..."

That one sentence jumped off the page and I thought: wow... It puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Father, forgive us for being spoiled...

Fertile soil

Recently I was reading the parable of the sower again, maybe for the umpteenth time, and again I was pleasantly surprised to discover how timeless Jesus' teachings are. In Luke 8 Jesus tells the parable of the sower to a large crowd and later explains it in detail, to his disciples.

He basically tells them what to expect when sharing the gospel. There are four different ways people will react to the Good News according to His words in verse 11-15,

• Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. It is really sad when this takes place, and maybe you have seen it happen to someone you know. Remember that we can always pray for another moment to come.
• Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. Faith without roots will not survive, the first sign of a storm will knock it down. Our faith should be rooted in love, Gods love. Let's remain in His love!
• The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. I believe, many Christians find themselves in this group nowadays. Jesus mentions worries, riches and pleasures in one sentence; it doesn't matter if life's distractions are good or bad, when they keep us away from the Word, they will eventually choke us. Choking... one of the biggest problems for believers in the Western world. Worries, stress, fear, materialism, luxuries... if not careful they will keep us from maturing.
• The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. This is our goal, this is where we want to be! Retaining the Word, cherishing it, which means we will keep it close and meditate on it day and night. By PERSEVERING we will produce a crop. Fruit bearing does not happen automatically, we need to be faithful and not give up.

Can you describe the soil of your heart?

Kindness

It doesn't matter how many times we read the words and lessons of Jesus, we can always learn something new.  This week I stumbled upon a comment from the Master that made me go... ouch! Is this really in the Bible?

I was reading through Luke chapter 6, a chapter full of wise and practical life lessons for Believers. Verse 35 says, But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High... There is enough meat in these words alone to do a blog series of 10 weeks! But this time, my eyes were drawn to the concluding words Jesus gave, words I haven't heard too many sermons on, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

He (God) is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Is this the picture we have of God? Is this the picture people see when they see us? Often we have this image of a God who is cruel to the wicked and maybe even punishes Believers who have done wicked things. But Jesus, who knows the Father best, tells us something else. God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. What a lesson to learn! Are we kind to the ungrateful and wicked?

God = love and 1 Corinthians 13:4 says that love is kind. It is Gods nature to be kind. What about us? The Bible teaches that kindness benefits people. Proverbs 11:17 says it simply like this, A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself. I don't think we would call ourselves cruel, but the question today is: are we kind? Not necessarily to our kind of people, but to the ungrateful and wicked.

Kindness is fruit (Galatians 5:22) that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in our lives, so that we will become more and more like Him. How can we grow in this area? By being kind to the ungrateful and wicked people that cross our path every day! That is a challenge we must take up if we truly want to be called sons and daughters of God.

I am the Lord, who exercises kindness... [Jeremiah 9:24]

All you need...

Which mountain needs to be removed today?

Eagerly desire...

This is already the 3rd post I am writing about 1 Corinthians 14:1. There is such depth and insight in that single verse, Follow the way of love, and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

'Eagerly desire spiritual gifts'. It's kind of weird, but when I think of the words 'eagerly desire' I tend to think of selfish greed and of the pursuit of goals and longings... maybe that is just my interpretation of the English language and a bit negative. The Webster dictionary says: excited by the desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement...

Now that paints a slightly different picture, it deals with excitement, zeal, and hunger. Why would Paul call the believers to eagerly desire spiritual gifts? Gifts can only be given, right? We can do nothing to earn them. Why desire something that is up to God to distribute? As human beings we often eagerly desire many things, but I do not meet too many people who eagerly desire spiritual gifts. Personally, I think Paul is referring to his earlier statement as written down in 1 Corinthians 12:1, Now, about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. We are NOT supposed to be ignorant when it comes to spiritual gifts. Why not? Because the spiritual gifts must be used to build up the church. If we are ignorant about the spiritual gifts, how can we build up and strengthen the church? It is no wonder we see churches falling apart, believers lacking power and not many miracles done. That is not God's fault, but ours... because often we are ignorant.

If you desire to build up and strenghten the church, the body of Christ on earth, then please do not hesitate to study the Word about spiritual gifts and start to use what God will give you! Talk with someone who is studying the same thing, read a good book about it with the Bible as reference and most of all... pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you, He is after all your teacher.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (John 14:26).

The Way

Last week I started to dig deeper into 1 Corinthians 14:1 within the context of the surrounding chapters. Why? Because we can find so much more behind the words than we see at first sight:

Follow the way of love, and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift op prophecy.

[1 Corinthians 14:1]

Paul starts with a very clear commandment: follow the way of love. In doing so he points back to his words preceding the 13th chapter, and now I will show you the most excellent way. This way is the way of love. The word WAY here is the same word that Jesus used to describe Himself with: I am the way, the truth, and the life (see John 14:6). In the Greek language that is the word hodos (road, path, a general term for a thoroughfare to get from one place to another, manner of life). The way of love is the way of Jesus and not a road we think is popular or convenient. The way of love is living the way Jesus lived; humble, compassionate, serving, gracious and loving. That is never the easiest way, but it is an excellent way.

It is interesting to learn that the first believers in the book of Acts were called 'people who belonged to the Way' (see Acts 9:2). Again that same Greek word hodos. They were known as people who followed the Way, the way of love. When we think of Christians following Jesus, walking the narrow road, we often think of a road full of trouble and difficulties, a road with many restrictions and no fun. But that narrow road is actually the way, the path of love. Divine love with the characteristics as summed up by Paul.

I desire that we will be known again as people who belong to the Way, as people who follow the way of love!

Follow the way of love

Painting: Yvonne Nederend

As you may have noticed after reading my previous post, I am reading Paul's first letter to the believers in Corinth, Greece. This morning I lingered for the longest time at the beginning of chapter 14. Ah, such treasure in a single verse! I kept reading and re-reading it and discovered the riches behind the words. Please, read with me:

Follow the way of love, and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift op prophecy.

[1 Corinthians 14:1]

I decided to write a series of posts on this single verse in the context of the surrounding chapters. Today I would like to start with just the first few words of that scripture: follow the way of love. Paul refers here to his words preceding the 13th chapter: and now I will show you the most excellent way. That way is the way of love. What does it exactly mean to follow the way of love? When reading the 13th chapter you will notice that it sums up the characteristics of godly love. I am glad Paul gave us this summary, so we will know what to follow. Following the way of love means that we must learn to

• be patient
• and kind
• not to be envious
• not boastful
• not proud
• not rude
• not self seeking and
• not easily angered

Following the way of love also means that we should not keep record of wrongs, that we do not delight in evil, but that we rejoice with the truth. Following the way of love means that we can learn to always protect, always trust, always hope and always persevere. Well, I have enough food for thought for the next couple of days, and I hope you will too. In my next post I will continue to unravel this particular verse. Until then... choose the most excellent way on purpose!

PS: Painting 'My heart for Jesus' can be seen at Yvonne's weblog Creative Worship.

Church as we know it

The church as we know it is in trouble, big time. Not because of persecution or hardships, but because we've made a mess of things and we forgot to read the Book. There's fighting, debating, corruption, abuse and apathy, all at the same time. The media loves it and Jesus is crying. He must be, because the church was His idea!

The church as the body of Christ on earth, now that He is in heaven, what a brilliant idea. His work continues, we're moving, loving, serving and working. The church, His beloved bride to be. Where did we go wrong? We do know the church the Bible talks about is not a building, but a group of believers coming together. Yet, often we don't know how we should be coming together. Of course, we have programs on how to plant a church, maintain a church,  emerge a church, do church and even on how to grow a church. We have traditional, contemporary, Spanish, renewal, healing and worship services. We have services for young and old, for kids and teens, for seniors and singles. You name it, we'll make it happen, you'll get a comfortable seat and feel right at home.

I am studying 1 Corinthians 12 and when I came to verse 28 I thought about the people that we think should make up a church: a pastor, some elders, a worship team, Sunday school teachers and a deacon here and there. That would be a good start, right? Hopefully the pews will fill up with people who are willing to sit still and listen. However, according to what Paul writes to the Corinthians, church should be a little different:

• And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles,
• second prophets,
• third teachers,
• then workers of miracles,
• also those having gifts of healing,
• those able to help others,
• those with gifts of administration,
• and those speaking in different kind of tongues.

Hhmm, when was the last time you saw a worker of miracles in your church? I mean, seriously! Or a prophet? Let's be honest, do we really take these instructions seriously? If God appoints these people, where are they? Are you one of them maybe?

I know the Bible says a lot more about gifts and services in the church, but in this Scripture Paul writes very clearly about the 8 kind of workers God appoints in the church, any church... Can you imagine what church would be like if we would operate in these gifts whenever we would come together? Wow...

The Will of God

The instruction is general, the responsibility is personal

A few weeks ago we traveled to North Eastern Germany where we were invited to give a series of workshops at a conference. My husband and me enjoy teaching as a team and during that weekend we spoke on the will of God, the plan of God, the voice of God and the power of God in our lives. I thought it would be fun to share some of the nuggets on this weblog, in a nut shell of course :) So, let's start with the will of God for our lives.

The will of God is a general instruction for all believers. There is really no such thing as the will of God for our individual life; that would be called the plan of God. Often, we confuse the will of God with the plan of God. The will of God = the Word of God = the Law of God. His will is His system, or His testament for the believers. Jesus states in Matthew 12:50, Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, is my brother and sister and mother. His will is something we do, not something God will do for us. We proclaim it in our prayers: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). God desires His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven! He tells us to proclaim that. It is our role/assignment to execute His will (His testament) here on earth. The instruction is therefore general, but the responsibility is personal. 

It takes a change of mind to execute His will, instead of waiting for it to happen. Romans 12:2 says, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

So, what is God's will for you and me, for us all? Scripture teaches us a few basics:

• Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).Well, that would give us enough work for the rest of our lives, right?
• It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality... (1 Thessalonians 4:3). No theology needed to explain that one, right?
• For my Father's will is that everyone who look to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life...(John 6:40). Here we see God's will through Jesus, transferred to us.

Is everything that happens on earth God's will? NO! Even in a few scriptures as mentioned above, we see what God's will is on earth, but often we see the opposite happening. This is however not a reason for despair, but a call to action. There is work to do for the believers.

Let's stop asking for His will, but start doing His will!