How will we know the will of God?

Writing daily devotions throughout the years I’ve often been asked the question, “How do I find the will of God?” There are probably many good scriptural approaches to answering this question; but I want to offer something very basic as you think about understanding the will of God. That is, simply, that you’ll know His will when you come to know the heart of God.

When you begin to understand, appreciate, and share the heart of God, then you really begin to search for and to desire the things that God desires; to be passionate about the things He is passionate for; even to be broken over the things that break God’s heart.

 Our Lord wants to share His heart with you; He wants you to know and care about what really moves Him. He longs for the kind of personal relationship in which He can share with you His longings, His passions and His desires. If you want to know His will, ask Him to share His heart with you. Ask Him to move you over the things that move Him. Ask God to reveal His passions to you because you really want to share them and to care for them in every possible way.  He will answer you, and when you discover the heart of God — you will most certainly know His will!

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

15 Things God won’t ask you

1. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but will ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.

2. God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3. God won’t ask about the fancy clothes you had in your closet, but will ask how many of those clothes helped the needy.

4. God won’t ask about your social status, but will ask what kind of class you displayed.

5. God won’t ask how many material possessions you had, but will ask if they dictated your life.

6. God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but will ask if you compromised your character to obtain that salary.

7. God won’t ask how much overtime you worked, but will ask if you worked overtime for your family and loved ones.

8. God won’t ask how many promotions you received, but will ask how you promoted others.

9. God won’t ask what your job title was, but will ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

10. God won’t ask what you did to help yourself, but will ask what you did to help others.

11. God won’t ask how many friends you had, but will ask how many people to whom you were a true friend.

12. God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights, but will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

13. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but will ask how you treated your neighbors.

14. God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but will ask about the content of your character.

15. God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but will ask how many times they didn’t.

God in a box

We love gadgets. We love seeing that delivery truck pull up in front of the house, and eagerly hop down the stairs to answer the door. When inside, the box is immediately ripped open and whatever was contained inside is put to quick use. Many times, when we begin using the new product, if it’s a good one that is, we discover many features we never knew it had! Sometimes, things turn out to be even better than we had anticipated.

The same is definitely true with God, he is infinitely better than we anticipate. But, we still try to keep God in a “God Box” and think of him in terms of the nifty features he comes with. In reality he wants us to let him come bursting out of the box and show us how much more he is. God did this with the shepherds. He told them they would find a baby, who would save the world, wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a feed trough. That is thinking outside the box. More than likely, they had a “God Box” with the savior being a military dictator. But, God burst that paradigm and displayed his mercy and compassion. When he got out of their box, he showed them that he is a God who reaches out to those who nobody else wants to. Shepherds weren’t considered the most moral. In fact, they didn’t often go to church because sheep needed to be constantly tended, and they couldn’t even testify in court. Yet, they were the first to hear the good news of the Savior’s birth.

As you read your Bible, don’t let your preconceived notions of who God is interpret what you read. Instead, let scripture and the Holy Spirit guide you in the characteristics of God. Let God break out of his box in your life today and show you who he really is. Remember, his thoughts and ways are not ours (Isaiah 55:8).

Bragging about God.

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.—Psalm 66:16

One of the thing that always amazes me is that we will brag about losing weight, our kids, our family, or education, etc. But when it comes to God, it’s rare to hear people out there just bragging about Him like they do other things. I’m not sure if it’s because we just assume that eveyone knows, or some people might even be a little bit embarrased about talking to others about Him. It may even be the fact that we fail to give God the credit for the good things that happen in our lives. Either way, it’s extremely important that we become a living testimony to what God ha done in our lives. We need to be bragging about Hi daily just lie the events happened an hour ago.

The writer of Psalm 66 also wants to tell his story when he says, “Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.” The psalmist does not want to talk about his accomplishments or achievements. He wants to talk about what God has done for him throughout his life. His life had not been easy. He had been tested and refined like silver. He had experienced many burdens. But through it all God had been with him and had led him to “a place of abundance.”

Each of us has a story to tell. All of us can testify to hardships in our lives—but also to the fact that God has always been there.

Make sure you tell your story. Make sure you tell about God’s presence in your life and about his amazing grace in the midst of trials. Tell it to your children and grandchildren.

Someone once said to me, “If something were to happen to my dad, I would not know anything about his relationship to God.” Don’t let that happen to you. Start writing or telling your story today!