Man's Will

[George]

Do any of you other than myself use Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest?" I do not use it as often as I ought to but this morning was quite an eye-opener for me. Let me give you just a bit of it that really caught my eye:

"The profound thing in man is his will, not sin. Will is the essential element in God's creation of man: sin is a perverse disposition Which entered into man."

To me the use of the word profound here is highly appropriate. I find this to be very profound. It is connected with the doctrinal argument of whether or not man has free will. I believe we do.

As I meditated on this statement I have quoted above it dawned on me that if I spend my time trying to end sin in my life I am basically wasting my time. What I need to do is work on making my will God's will. If I do so then sin will not be a problem.

Now of course we know that no man can go through life free of sin. However we can work toward making our will His will. I used to pray that God help me to make my thoughts His thoughts. The human soul or heart is composed of the mind, will and emotions. The mind is the area of thoughts. Thoughts become desires, desires become actions and actions become habits.

However I have found this morning that if I pray to make my will His will the thoughts will come in line to where they ought to be. I believe that in Galatians 5 where the apostle Paul writes of the works of the flesh he is speaking of our will. Perhaps it is not that simple and includes the mind, will and emotions but look at what one of the definitions of flesh is as used in Galatians:

Quote:human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions)

God gives us such simple tasks to do and yet we fail Him constantly.

Php 2:13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

There we see the aspect of God's will in us. Then witness the following:

(Rom 7:18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Rom 7:19) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Rom 7:20) Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Rom 7:21) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (Rom 7:22) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Rom 7:23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The apostle Paul makes a very good case here about will. He even goes so far as to that the will has created a law in his members. That is a very strong turning away from the will of God.

(2Co 8:11) Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. (2Co 8:12) For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

Here I believe we have a strong statement about the relationship between our minds and our wills. First of all Paul tells us that there was a readiness to will and so we need to perform the doing of it. Then he goes on to say there is first a willing mind. I see this as directly related to what Chambers had to say in this morning's devotional. First we have to make God's will our will, then we need to have the readiness to will and that should be followed by action.

It is quite amazing that God does not ask or require us to do anything really difficult. In fact His way is quite a bit easier than my way. However we rebel against it constantly. We question the prompting of the Holy Spirit and often choose to go ahead and do things our way anyway. (That is when I get in a lot of trouble.) Yet I find the key to be in Chambers' statement about our will.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and He gave us what is known as the Lord's prayer it is the best example of how to pray and what to pray for. If you recall His instructions for prayer began by saying: "Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done, thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." There we have that will again. Jesus tells us at the very beginning of prayer we are to praise God. Then the very next thing has to do with our will. How I have lost sight of that I do not know but Chambers certainly reminded me of it this morning.

In Christ,
George

[Jerry80871852]

I've got Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest," in one of my Bible programs, I read it from time to time, he did some good writing.

One thing I believe we all struggle with, that's surrendering our will to God's will.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Matt 6:10 (KJV)

Struggling while many of us are praying for God's will to be done in our lives and our churches.

May the Lord Bless,

Jerry

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:13

[candlelight]

This is an excellent thread.

I have never heard of Oswald Chambers. Yes, surrendering to God's will is something that we all struggle with. I have to remind myself to do this. You know... when the "old flesh" gets in the way? Lol. And, it has a bad habit of doing just that.

The "Model Prayer" in Matthew 6:10 is so beautiful. It is so profound!

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. A-men'

To think that Jesus would give us an example on how to pray? How sweet is that? It is a battle between the flesh and the spirit--- constantly. Praise God, first; however, we are to be cautioned on our will. What an awsome reminder!

We ALL struggle with this Brother George. Amen? Excellent post, Pastor Jerry. You don't live to be 62 and not have all that wisdom. Growing up in the church and life has taught you that one. Oh, I am certain. Amen. God bless.