Love’s Plan
Posted by jerrywhite on Aug 27, 2009
“We all know what it is to plan a pleasure for a child and then watch to see its pleasure. Some of us know what it is to plan the best our love can think of, which yet may be, naturally speaking, a disappointment to that child; and we know how we watch for its response. Love is planning for us. Love has planned the best that Love could plan. Perhaps we cannot help one another more than by praying that we may never disappoint our Father’s faith in us, but always follow our blessed Lord in this as in everything, and answer His trust with the words ‘O yes, Father.’ ‘Are you pleased with My will, My child?’ ‘O yes, my Father.’ ”
Amy Carmichael
Edges Of His Ways, 132
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Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Matthew 11:26 (ESV)
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“Heavenly Father,
If I should suffer need, and go unclothed,
and be in poverty,
make my heart prize thy love,
know it, be constrained by it,
though I be denied all blessings.
It is thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants,
for by these trials I see my sins,
and desire severance from them.
Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
If I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony
of thy love.” The Valley of Vision, 294
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The Father’s Plan and Power
Posted by jerrywhite on Aug 20, 2009
“Jesus Christ was always looking at the Father’s will, the Father’s plan, and then seeking by faith the Father’s power. That was His yoke.
It came into evidence so often. For instance, when He healed on the Sabbath day, and they accused Him, He said, ‘I could not help it. My Father worketh hitherto, and I could do no other than work out what My Father wrought in.’ He went across the lake to give His disciples a vacation. Five thousand hungry men broke in, and in their advent He saw the intrusion of His Father’s plan, and adopted it. He started for the home of Jairus. A woman with a touch arrested Him, and in her slight touch He saw again His Father’s will and plan, and waited to heal her. Then He moved leisurely forward, knowing that at the house of Jairus He would have sufficient power to raise his daughter. And in the garden it was His Father’s will beneath which He bowed His meek soul, saying, ‘Not My will, but Thine!’”
F. B. Meyer
The Christ-Life for the Self-Life, 119
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If we are wholly submitted to our Lord Jesus then we can believe He is guiding our steps in His will and therefore be at rest. If we are not completely yielded then whatever comes along that does not fit our plans and desires disappoints and frustrates us and results in a complaining spirit. Grumbling is one of the few sins listed in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 for which the Lord judged Israel on their exodus from Egypt. The Lord Jesus learned to live sensitive to His Father’s will accepting intrusions as from His Father and listening attentively in His quiet times to what the Father may say for Him to do. The very sustenance of His life was to do the will of His Father (John 4:34). Not only that but He knew that He must have the Father’s power to accomplish His will, and so He lived in utter desperate dependence on the power of the Spirit. This is His way for us as well.
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Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
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Doing God’s Will
Posted by jerrywhite on Aug 6, 2009
“No man can do more with his life than the will of God — that though we may never be famous or powerful, or called to heroic suffering or acts of self-denial which will vibrate through history: that though we are neither intended to be apostles nor missionaries nor martyrs, but to be common people living in common houses, spending the day in common offices or common kitchens, yet doing the will of God there, we shall do as much as apostle or missionary or martyr — seeing that they can do nor more than do God’s will where they are, even as we can do as much where we are—and answer the end of our life as truly, faithfully, and triumphantly, as they.”
Henry Drummond, quoted by Gary Thomas
The Beautiful Fight, 136
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Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
John 4:35 (ESV)
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Faithfulness is what our Lord wants from us — not greatness, or success, or human recognition and applause. You can do no more than what He has purposed for you, and you should do no less than what He has planned for you. He has called you and equipped you for all He wants to do through you regardless of how insignificant it may appear in the eyes of man. His resurrection life in you is far more ability than you need in order to do His will. The world has made success before men an idol. The Lord honors humble and faithful servants. Our final accounting will not be to men but the Lord Himself. “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 4:2, ESV) What ever your place in life at this moment, do God’s will faithfully to please Him and He will reward you.
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Your Life’s Purpose
Posted by jerrywhite on Aug 3, 2009
“That is the object of your life and mine—to do God’s will. It is not to be happy or to be successful, or famous, or to do the best we can, and get on honestly in the world. It is something far higher than this—to do God’s will…. [By this I don’t] mean, are we doing God’s work? — preaching or teaching or collecting money—but God’s will. A man may think he is doing God’s work when he is not even doing God’s will. And a man may be doing God’s will quite as much by hewing stones or sweeping streets as by preaching or praying. So the question just means this—Are we working out our common everyday life on the great lines of God’s will?”
Henry Drummond, quoted by Gary Thomas
The Beautiful Fight, 126
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For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
John 6:38 (ESV)
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The Lord Jesus’ determined purpose was to do the will of His Heavenly Father. For thirty years He lived an obscure ordinary life in Nazareth and no one but His mom knew who He truly was. In His adult years He was the local carpenter. Joseph had probably died during Jesus’ boyhood years. As the eldest son He stayed home to work with His hands and take care of His mother, His four brothers and at least three sisters. At age thirty He went to be baptized by His cousin John. There He learned it was time to begin His public ministry. Until this time He had only worked as a carpenter and cared for His family. Yet, at His baptism His Father spoke from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” How could this be when Jesus had done no public ministry? He had faithfully done the will of God. This is always the issue — for Him, for you and for me.
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Doing The Next Thing
Posted by jerrywhite on Jul 27, 2009
“When your heart is absolutely surrendered, and you are depending on the Lord to guide you, then you can trust Him to put His thoughts into your thinking and infuse His desires into your desires or change them. Philippians 2:13 (ESV) promises, ‘For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.’ Another translation says it well, ‘For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him’ (NLT). Believers should not wait passively for the Lord to tell them what they should do. He has given us a mind that He expects us to use. He has promised to direct our steps if we trust Him rather than ourselves, and seek Him in all we do (Proverbs 3:5-6). He declares quite clearly that He ordains our steps (Proverbs 20:24). In Acts 16:6-7 Paul had a plan but the Spirit directed his steps a different way than he had planned. In Romans 1:13 Paul said, ‘Often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far).’ As Christians we should plan for what we are responsible to do and faithfully do it with all our heart as to the Lord (Colossians 3:23). Ecclesiastes 9:10 instructs, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’ When God wants to redirect your steps in the midst of walking out your plan, He will. When we are wholly His and trust Him, we can rest with assurance that He is guiding us as we fulfill our responsibilities, doing the next thing we know to do.”
Author
The Spirit And Presence of Christ, 122
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The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
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Do you want with all your heart to do the will of God? If so, then you can rest in peace that His indwelling Spirit will guide you through your natural thinking process and desires because He wants His will for you with limitless steadfast love.
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