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WEEK
10: KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S WILL
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Peter 1:5 tells us that to virtue we are to add knowledge.
This week we will look at the fact that we can have the knowledge of
God’s will for our lives.
“Doing the Father’s will is the one gigantic, central theme which
should dominate the lives of all God’s children” (Keller,
1970, p. 189) How can we, as God’s children, know God’s will?
First of all, God has provided us with His Word, which plainly tells us
His will concerning much that we face. Secondly,
He has given us His Spirit, which He promises will teach us all things and guide
us into all truth (1 John 2:27).
God Makes His Will Known By His Word
Read the following passages
and write what each passage says about the will of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:15-22_________________________________________________
1 Peter 4: 13-19__________________________________________________________
1 Peter 2: 15-21__________________________________________________________
2 Peter 3: 9______________________________________________________________
Read I Thessalonians 4: 3.
What is God’s will for us?______________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sanctification means holiness. “Like the whole of salvation,
sanctification (or the life of holiness) is the result of man’s co-operating
with God. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 goes
on to say, ‘God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.’” (Murray,
1982. p.113-114)
God
Makes His Will Known By His Spirit
Read 1 John 2:27.
What will the anointing of the Holy Spirit do?
What does John 16: 13 tell us the Spirit will do?_______________________
________________________________________________________________________
Read Luke 12:12. What else will the Holy Ghost teach us?_____________
________________________________________________________________________
According to 1
Corinthians 2: 12, why have we received the Spirit of
God?________________________________________________________________________
Read Acts 20:22.
Will the Holy Spirit give direction and show us where to
go?_____________________________________________________________________
To Know God’s Will, We Must Ask
In Acts 9:6, what was Paul’s response when He saw Jesus?_____________
________________________________________________________________________
In
John 5: 30 and John 6: 38, whose will did Jesus seek?_____________
________________________________________________________________________
What does Matthew 6: 10
teach us to pray for?_________________________
________________________________________________________________________
According to each of the
following verses, what do we need to ask God to do?
Psalm 143: 8-10______________________________________________________
Psalm 25:5____________________________________________________________
Psalm 86: 11__________________________________________________________
Psalm 119:66_________________________________________________________
Read James 1: 2-5.
When we lack wisdom during trials and temptations, what should we
do?_________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
This means that when we have a problem, we should go prayerfully to the
Word of God, not go to Wal-Mart! So
many times we try “doing something” to distract ourselves from what is
troubling us, “buying something” to make us feel better, or “watching
TV” to empty our minds from any thought at all!
What we should be doing is asking God for His instructions how to handle
the problem!
According to James 1: 5,
what is God’s response when we ask for wisdom?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Read
James 1: 6-7. What should we
not do when we ask God for wisdom?
_______________________________________________________________________
James
tells us that we should not doubt that God will give us wisdom as we face the
trials and tribulations of life. When
we need understanding and direction about the troubles we are going through, we
can ask and God will give all these things.
Doubting,
wavering means to "be in strife with oneself, i.e., to doubt, hesitate,
waver" (Zodiates Complete Word Study Dictionary
NT,1992, p.432).
This word “wavering or doubting” designates a battle of the mind, a
battle with your own self. You want
the wisdom of God, but at the same time you prefer to do what seems right to
you. It is a battle between your reason, your logic, and that divine guidance.
Will you take your own wisdom or the wisdom of God as you face the problems of
life?
We
can come to God asking for wisdom, but it is possible in our minds to want to
use our own wisdom and judgment. We
may pray about wisdom for a certain situation, but then immediately do what we
wanted to do anyway!
To
Know God’s Will, We Must Be Willing To Give Up Our Own
James
1: 7 tells us: “People
like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” If you
pray for God’s guidance, wisdom, and you have really already made up your mind
what you will do, you won’t receive guidance!
You must not waver or doubt, but say, “Lord, You give me the
wisdom and guidance, and I will do as you say!”
In Isaiah 58:8-14 the
Lord tells us not to live to please ourselves, but to do the things He says to
do. And then He promises “If you
do these things…The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when
you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You
will be like a well-watered garden, like an everflowing spring…Don’t pursue
your own interests…Honor the Lord in everything you do, and don’t follow
your own desires or talk idly. If
you do this, the Lord will be your delight…”
Read Romans 12: 1-2. Can we be certain of God’s will?_________________
This verse tells us in practical terms what must we do to be certain of His will. Write two things we must do.______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
First, we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice. Normally if we
were to sacrifice our lives, we would only be able to die once. Our life would
be spent and of no more use. To be
a living sacrifice is to constantly, repeatedly give up your life to Another, to
be used as He sees fit. “The only acceptable sacrifice is to live in the
acceptable will of God. To live in
the will of God is the only thing that can make us well-pleasing to Him” (Murray,
1982, p. 78).
What kind of what kind of
living sacrifice are we to be?__________________
Holy.
This means devoted to the service of God, sharing in God’s
purity and abstaining from earth’s defilement. It
particularly means perfect, without blemish.
Acceptable and well-pleasing unto God. (Zodiates
Complete Word Study Dictionary NT, 1992, p.40) This is your reasonable
service. It’s only reasonable,
only logical--since He died in your place, you should be willing to live your
life for Him!
And according to Romans
12:2, what are we not to do?___________________
_________________________________________________________________________
“In the spiritual life, being conformed to the world is the first great
danger we face. Unless we reject the world, it’s pleasures, and it’s
pursuits with our whole heart, we will gradually lose the spiritual capacity for
delighting in and performing God’s will.
Unless we come out from the world—where self-will and self-will
pleasing rule, we can never learn to live the life that seeks only to be a
sacrifice well-pleasing to God. The great cause of failure in doing the will of God is
simply a worldly spirit.” (Murray,
1982, p.84). We are told not
to copy or be conformed to the behavior and customs of the world. Don’t let the world mold you;
reject the world’s ways, pleasures and pursuits.
Let God’s Word mold and shape you.
This will change (transform!) the way you think.
When God changes the way you think, it will give you the ability to know,
to love, and to obey God’s will.
Read Galatians 1:4. Jesus gave Himself, according to the will of the Father, to deliver us from what?__________________________________________________
“If we want to know the will of God correctly, and live according to
it, we must be entirely separate from this present, evil, world!”
(Murray, 1982, p. 84)
God
Will Equip and Enable Us To Do His Will
Read Philippians 2: 13.
Who is it that works in us to enable us to please God and do His will
?_________________________________________________________________
“It is the Spirit of God, at work in our wills, minds and emotions
who
produces both an increasing desire to obey and an enlarged power to obey” (Keller,
1970, p. 210).
Read Hebrews 13:20-21.
Who equips we to do God’s will and be pleasing in His
sight?_______________________________________________________________________
Read
Hebrews 10:36. What two things must we do to receive the fulfillment of
God’s promises? _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
It is not enough just to get in and study God’s word. It is not enough just to know what the will of God is.
Psalm 40:8 says, “I delight to do thy will, O my God.”
To love Him is to obey Him. To
obey Him is to do His will (Keller, 1970, p. 195, 209).
Psalm 16:11 says, “Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
To do His will is to have a bit of heaven on earth!
Write
Ephesians 5: 17 from memory.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
HOME
*All
emphasis mine.
Copyright
©2005 by Mae Shurow
Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution
provided proper citation of
authorship is included.
_______________________
Keller,
P. (1970).The Inspirational Writings: A Layman Looks at the Lord's
Prayer. New York, NY: Inspirational Press, p.189
Murray,
A. (1982).
God’s Will. Whitaker House, US.,
pp.78, 113-114.
Zodhiates, S. 2000, c1992, c1993. The complete word
study dictionary : New Testament.. AMG Publishers:
Chattanooga, TN
pp. 70, 432.