Knowing God's Will
By Greg Christman

Do you KNOW the will of God? For you, and for your life? Are you confident that what you are doing today is of benefit to you and to your salvation in Christ?

I recently heard this: “God created each one of us, to KNOW Him, to Love Him, and to Serve Him in this world, so that we may live with Him for eternity in the next.” God’s will for us, in a nutshell- thank you Fr. Larry Richards. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Let’s explore a little deeper.

Knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. So how do we really know God? Simple, PRAY! Not just once or just on Sundays at church, but in fact we are called to “pray unceasingly” and to “pray about all things.” That means spend time with God. Read the Word of God. And PRAY. Open your heart to God. Communicate with Him, and most importantly, LISTEN! Prayer is a time to listen to God. Don’t waste all your time with God asking for what you want, listen to what He wants for you.

How much time do you spend with God each day? Do you have quiet time every day that you repent from sin, ask forgiveness, and sit with Jesus? Do you open the Word of God to hear God’s truth every day? If you don’t, then stop telling people you are Christian. The fact is, if you are not IN relationship with God, and you are not living as Christ commanded, then you are a hypocrite like the Pharisees and Sadducees were. Even they knew the word of God; but they did not have God in their hearts. They did not live in relationship with God.

Let me ask you a question: Did you eat yesterday? I am pretty sure none of you said “I tried to, but I was too busy.” Did you find time to watch TV, check your stock quotes, or talk to your friends? We all find time for these “important” things. Let’s try another question: “Did you pray, and spend personal time with God yesterday?” If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, but answered no to spending time with God, that makes you a pagan: you placed something else above God, thus making God less important to you, and thus breaking the greatest commandment: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.” Don’t get mad at me, it’s in the Bible -read it.

We are called to show our love for God by being Christ in this world. (See Matt 7:21, 7:21, 7:24, and John 14:12, 14:15, 14:21, 14:23, 15:14, 15:10). All of these passages talk about how we are to DO what Jesus has told us. We are to live as though Christ was with us, and he was watching our every move, after all, he IS. We are to take action. We are called to be a loving reflection of God in this world. We are to serve him, by loving and serving others. (See also Matt 5:3-12). We are called to serve God in this world as his son did (Phil 2:5-11), and we are to act and live with the Spirit of God present in our lives.

The things we make time for each and every day, determines who we are, and who we will become. Make time to spend with God each day, and get to know Him. Know His voice, and love Him with all your heart and soul. Be Jesus. Be His hands and feet in this world, and learn to serve God, by serving others. Learn to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, so that you will spend eternity with Him in the next. This is our journey, and God’s will, for all of us: to be holy people, and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. I pray I will see you there.

PLEASE NOTE, this may be my last time writing for WCN. I had committed for one year, and my financial support to do so runs out this month. So, unless God sends supporters my way, I pray you all continue IN the Lord, and I pray our paths cross again. May God be with you and the Spirit in you always. Your comments are welcome, please email me at greg@promarkllc.com . To view resources and links concerning this article and previous articles, please visit http://dhw.promarkllc.com.