james 4.13 17 i-will 9th june 2011
TRANSCRIPT
James 4:13-17
I intend to talk about the big topic of how we can discern God’s will for our
lives. I am going to talk about the KEYS to listening to God in our
relationship with Him
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business
and make money.”
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your
life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15
Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or
that.”
16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone,
then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
In Micah 6:14-15, we can also see a very interesting picture of what it is
like to be living a life of walking away from the path of God’s will.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You
will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword. 15 You will plant but not
harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, you will
crush grapes but not drink the wine.
The Micah “You will, I will” monologue
God declares that “You (we) will do this or that in order to get a desired result but I (God) will cause a result
that is very different from our desired result.”
The human “will”– plan or blueprint - a mental faculty of making decisions
God’s will
His plan / blueprint – eg: He has a plan for our lives and for the world
His desires – eg: His will (desire) is for us to be saved
His working – eg: What he has willed he will work it out to fulfillment
But how do we walk in God’s will? How do we even know what is God’s
will?
Despite us being Christians, and being a child of God, it is so easy
to pursue after our OWN desires
and plans for our OWN lives.
1) Adopting an “i-Will” attitude
i-Will
2) Conform to God not to the world
2 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. (Rom 12:2)
Therefore in order to know God’s will, is to move closer to God in our
relationship with Him, to conform more to God
3) Obeying His Word - God’s general will
We learn and obey God’s general will through the Word, through knowing what God desires for the world, what God desires of His children, what is God’s divine plan for salvation etc.
What about God’s specific will
We sometimes need to seek God for his specific will concerning things which may not be that obvious. What if both decisions are good and according to his general will?
The more we live our lives in obedience to his general will which is
plain for us to see according to His word, the easier it will be for him to
guide us according to his specific will. And the more time we spend with him
doing this practice of obeying, seeking and listening, the more easily we will understand God when he speaks and
directs.
Conclusion
- Adopt an “i-WILL” attitude
- Conform to God not to the world
- Deepen our relationship with God
- Begin the process of discerning His will by obeying his plain and obvious general will (bible)