OUIR WILL

If you have ever had any second thoughts if God loves us just watch an animal show on TV. Karen and I like to watch (no we are not tree huggers) National Geographic Wild or Animal Planet (there seldom is anything worth watching on TV to include what we call "Christian" TV a real oxymoron) We are amazed at how God patterned the animal kingdom after its own kind and imprinted in their lives the desire for self-preservation (if you do not believe me just go fishing and draw a fish from the water it will do everything it can to escape to save its life) and a desire to produce seed after it own kind. We are amazed at how God put in place indwelling drives and desires to eat certain foods; some animal (no matter the size, age or sex) are meat eaters while others eat plants trees, and leaves. What a perfect balance to life and death God has built into the animal kingdom. Now some people would say this all happened by accident or at best it all was random selection starting from an one celled animals -- to this I say, "camel cookies!" Back in the Book of Genesis (which is not a book on creation) God spoke the animal kingdom into existence (which means the chicken came first and not the egg) and then He made man. "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was good. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:24-25) Then God made man. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28) The Book of Genesis is not about creation if it is then God sure left out a whole lot of details, oh no my friend the Book of Genesis is about what God says and does. In the first Chapter alone God said ("And God said") and did something 18 times. This my friend is a continual theme all throughout the Bible that we must allow to grip our soul -- if God says something then it will come to pass if we allow it to happen in our lives. Remember God speaking is always His intention for us and whether it comes to pass is not up to God nor His power, but up to us by being willing to walk in the condition God has measured out for us to meet so that we will be able to move in the revelation of His speaking to us. Funny how God's will has little to do with God, but everything to do with us. God can only do and say what He wills (His desire for our lives) He does not try to trick us or set us up for failure He only speaks His will to us in ways (both written and spoken word as well as by the Holy Spirit to our inner spirit man) we know that we know for sure God is speaking to us. Here is verse 24 God said some things and they came to pass. Then in verse 28 God said more things and they too came to pass and notice "God blessed" (God's first blessing) man and woman. Man was made much different than animals, fish, birds, etc. Man was given a will of His own to make choices that animals (nor Angels for that matter) were not given. Animal have no choice (they have been imprinted from birth) what they will eat, where they will live, when they will procreate, and to a certain degree when they will die. All it takes for a huge giraffe to die is get separated from his mates and for him to meet a pride of lions. Funny though how man seems to think more of animals than they do of people. Today (maybe only in America) an animal's life seems to be more sacred than a human life. The will of man to keep life alive in the womb has been lost since 1973 and man keeps passing laws to fulfill his selfish desires (to fulfill man's will) against what God says to be true and lawful. Just because the Supreme Court of America passes a law to sanction the death of a baby does not make it okay with God. America is answering for this today. Yet in all of this man is different he was made in God's image. God loves man very much in spite of man's open rebellion. God gave man a soul and blessed him (and woman) with an ability to do the things animals cannot do. And one of those things God gave man was a free will. There are 1,000s and 1,000s of churches in American (many types of denominations) to remind us of this. We all have a free will. If we have been born into the earth we all have a free will and at times we can choose not to do what God would will for our lives. Jesus told the disciples and people who followed him, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Mark 8:34) Now we cannot not take up Jesus' cross we all have our own personal cross to take up and I believe it has something to do with our will. It is our will which is a part of the cross we must take up and bear -- our will laid across God's will for our life and in the construct of the two wills is our response of obedience (or of no obedience) God is looking for. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane had a will that was not what the Father wanted for His life, but Jesus knew His purpose and reason for living and that was to die. In Matthew we read of Jesus, "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matthew 26:39,42) If you want to go with God you must always go "a little further" and fall down on our face, but here Jesus clearly has a will that was contrary to the Father's. Jesus here demonstrated not once, but twice what God is looking for when our wills clash, "not as I will, but as thou wilt." God is always looking for our obedience to His will the first time He speaks. If God has to keep speaking to us again and again, twisting our arms then our obedience is not genuine from our heart, but has been coerced. This is not what God is after in our lives. God is after obedience the first time thoughtfully and willfully. We all have a will and at the heart of our will is the way we conduct ourselves. I know some of the greatest losses I have experienced is the loss of relationships by a willful act. I have written in the past about a friend (yes I still consider him a friend 30 years is a long time to throw under the bus) and who I love very much (and am hoping he changes his mind), but he has made a willful decision to break off relationship with me because I spoke the truth (even though he does not believe that from his perspective) to him. Measure your words when you tell someone the truth about themselves. And now he has made another willful decision to gather people (people we both know) against me. I sent an email to a pastor friend in Kenya (who I have known since 1995) who replied back thinking he was sending an email to my friend asking him if he can talk to me. Well I emailed my pastor friend back and asked him why he has to ask my friend's permission to talk with me and got back a flowery email saying how much he loves and appreciates me, but we both know this was a lie. Words cannot cover the real spirit of a man if one has a spiritual discernment. Our will is powerful it can come with great deception to the truth if we refuse to honestly examine our heart (I have done this before) and then lead people astray thinking they are in the right and justified in their actions. Yet I too have a will and have chosen to look past and to be honest my heart is heavy from the loss of relationship. We must take heed to how our will is employed especially when it comes to people we esteem and value. I see a growing trend and danger in the church globally where leaders are looking to men instead of the Holy Spirit. The practice of mentorship (a business term) and accountability before men is ever growing in acceptance, well this all is nothing more than old fashion manipulation and control to bend ones' will after another's will or to get them to do and think a certain way. In the church it is the appearance of the perceived spiritual prowess of the mentor is where the deception is found. We must take heed in this area. The writer to the Hebrews says, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith," not looking at man and his abilities to lead or inspire. Mentorship is not a spiritual principle in the Bible and we must not get caught up in such a worldly practice. Lastly as I read the Bible I see verses that talk about a perfect will and a good will and even have heard people talk about God's permissive (word not in the KJV) will and yes I use to believe God allowed these different wills into our lives, but now I do not believe this is so. God's will is not by degree or doled out, but is like His salvation either we are saved or we are not there is no middle ground. Either we are in God 's will or we are not and only God's will comes to us out from our of obedience to Him. Funny how we really know if we are in God's will. Oh we may try to fool people into believing we are doing what God wants us to be doing, but in our heart we know the only person we have fooled is our self. Recently my big brother, Karen, and I were talking and he made this statement, "ministry is a good place for people to hide. We can do all of this stuff and not allow God to deal in our heart." Looking back over my many years of ministry I can see this to be true in my life at times and in the lives of others. It is our will right or wrong that keeps us going and if not careful it will be our will that will take us far out of God. Written by David Stahl