SEEKING GOD

PART 2 of 8
SEEKING GOD’S WILL: Hearing God

When I first sat down to write Seeking God’s Will, before I had even committed one word to paper, God gave me a vision. I was on this side of a large gully and a man was standing on the other side. I could faintly hear his mumbling echo, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

I thought, Lord, what is this? What does this mean? I heard in my spirit, “If you want to hear what he is saying, you need to get closer to hear him. I had an a-ha moment. Since all truth is parallel [1], it’s the same in the spirit world. If I wanted to hear what God was saying, I needed to get closer to Him as well.

When we develop a close relationship with God, we will close that gap between us. I have heard many believers ask, “What is God’s will for my life?” If we will just seek God and endeavor to get close to Him through an intimate relationship, we will hear what He is saying and will understand what His will is for our lives. This is the intent of this series.

GOD'S SOVEREIGN WILL
“What is God’s will for my life?” This question seems to be straight forward and simple enough when we first ask, but it goes just a little deeper than that. First, we must distinguish the different aspects of God’s will, which most agree that there are three: sovereign [2], revealed [3], and perfect [4] will.

The sovereign will of God says that nothing happens outside of God’s purview. In other words, God’s sovereign will is the ultimate will of God and He ordains everything that has and will come to pass [5].

God has decided to hide much of His sovereign will from us until that thing comes to pass. Therefore, we need not speculate on God’s hidden and sovereign will [6] for it is a futile quest and journey. God does call us, however, to seek and obey the revealed will of God as it pertains to the Scriptures.

GOD'S REVEALED WILL
Scriptures abound that tell us what we should and shouldn’t do to live righteous lives and to be holy because God is holy. In fact, you can define the revealed will of God as just that, what we should and shouldn’t do.

God’s Word says not to lie [7], steal [8], or covet [9]. It also says to repent of our sins, to love our enemies, and to be holy because He is holy. God says that we should live in His grace [10], be obedient [11], to give graciously [12], pray unceasingly [13], make continual progress [14], and much, much more [15].

The Bible is replete with God’s revealed will for our lives. God gave us the Law in Exodus 20:3-17 and should be the backbone of our behavior. In Deuteronomy 30:19 He says, “. . .I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” The Bible says to trust in Him [16], acknowledge Him [17], seek Him [18], believe in Him [19], and many more assurances of His revealed will for our lives.

We could spend a lifetime learning and applying God’s Word as it pertains to His revealed will for our lives. That works for me and I am sure that it works for God. (However, please forgive me Lord, because I fail daily in this endeavor.)

GOD'S PERFECT WILL
Romans 12:2, the ideal explanation of what is the perfect will of God.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Everything that pleases God is His perfect will. God’s Word teaches us how to live righteous lives according to His will and to be holy because He is holy [20] but what it doesn’t teach (directly) is what the will of God is specifically for each one of us.

GOD'S WILL FOR INDIVIDUAL LIVES
It is my contention that you can find your God given purpose through your passions. With God as understood, whatever you are passionate or excited about, above all else, should be the will of God for your life. This is providing that you are living in the perfect will of God.

Psalms 37:4 tells us that God gave us those passions in the first place, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Therefore, answer yourself this question, “I am passionate about insert passion here?” Again, with God as understood, does this passion get you up in the morning just thinking about it? Is this what you are excited about? If you couldn’t do this one thing, would it make you curl up and die inside?

TYPES OF PASSIONS
Does your passion involve any number of talents or skills? Could you use them to help the church, conduct services, or minister to people? Are you a musician, thespian, or have construction knowledge? Are you an author like me or maybe you’re an artist, nanny, driver, accountant, or have some other talent or skill that you could administer and serve the church or body. The church needs many and all services and skills that the body can provide from within.

Does your passion lay within one of the 18 spiritual gifts designations [21]? Or maybe you feel that God has sent you out on a special mission or given you revelatory words and you feel compelled to tell others? Do the souls of men burn inside of you or maybe you have a desire to shepherd or lead other people? When you learn something, is the first thing you want to do is teach or tell somebody else? Well, maybe God has called you to the five-fold ministry as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher.

I would exhort you to take a spiritual gifts class, to see in which area you are gifted. Every six months or so, as a follow up, you could take another class to see how you have grown in the Lord or to see in what area God is now leading you.

EDUCATION
Once you discover your passions, where they lie, and a direction in which you really want to serve God, another question you might want to ask yourself is, “Do I need training or do I need teaching in this area?” I know, for myself, I wanted to go to school to learn how to write right.

Writing is my passion and I write from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night. I needed some teaching to perfect my craft or at least have the capacity to do my best and feel good about myself, that I was doing the best I could for God. Education is something that you might want to check into. Education is never wasted.

STILL SEEKING THE WILL OF GOD
We can seek His will by learning from His Word, how to live righteous lives, and by being a good example for others as we carry our own cross down the Via Dolorosa [22]. This is why it is so important to know the Word of God, to know the difference between pizza and what God is saying to us.

In everything we are to give thanks to the Lord [23]. When doing things for others we should do them like we are doing them for Christ [24]. Our sanctification is the will of God, which is the act of setting ourselves apart as being holy unto God and not prostitute ourselves with other gods/idols, which is anything that we put above God [25]. Much is common sense because God has written the moral Law on the hearts of men [26].

Seeking God’s perfect will for our lives should be our number one quest. Anything we can do to close the gap between us, as in my vision, the better off our walk with Him will be. It is a door to a higher level of knowing Him. Let’s go through that door now by Seeking God’s Hands.

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[1] For every natural truth, there is an equal and corresponding spiritual truth.
[2] Hebrews 1:3; Lamentations 3:37; 1 Samuel 2:6; Amos: 3:6-13; Matthew 5:45; Psalms 115:3
[3] Exodus 20:3-17; Mark 3:35; Romans 8:27, 28, 14:23; Ephesians 5:3, 6:5, 6; 1 Peter 1:15, 16, 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:15, 16
[4] John 6:40; Romans 12:2; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Peter 1:15, 16
[5] Ephesians 1:11, John 1:3
[6] I speak especially as it pertains to eschatology in these end days. We should know the sign of the times but only as God reveals them to us through the Holy Spirit..
[7] Exodus 20:16; Romans 3:4; 1 John 1:6
[8] Exodus 20:15
[9] Exodus 20:17
[10] Ephesians 5:1-20
[11] Ephesians 6:5-8
[12] 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
[13] 1 Thessalonians 5:11-18
[14] 1 Peter 2:15
[15] Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21
[16] Proverbs 3:5
[17] Proverbs 3:6
[18] Matthew 6:33
[19] John 3:16
[20] 1 Peter 1:15, 16
[21] Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of the spirits, tongues, and interpretations of tongues, administration, giving, leadership, mercy, service/helps, hospitality, exhortation, intercession, and missions
[22] We must bear our own Cross, Luke 14:27. The Via Dolorosa is the road in which Christ carried His Cross to Golgotha, or the hill where He they crucified Him.
[23] 1 Thessalonians 5:18
[24] Colossians 3:23
[25] 1 Thessalonians 4:3
[26] Acts 4:27, 28. Also, men is a generic term for mankind, meaning men AND women.

SEEKING GOD

PART 1 of 8
SEEKING GOD: Calling out to God

The footsteps behind him were unrelenting but he was running as fast as he could. His lungs felt like they would explode at any moment, yet the swish of footsteps in the grass that followed him, didn’t lose a beat. In fact, they seemed to be closing the gap. Mere exhaustion would soon force him to stop and face his stalker no matter what the outcome. His heart raced and threatened to give up on him.

How much longer he could keep up this pace he didn’t know. His legs were getting tired and sore and he could feel his shoulders beginning to sag and lean forward. He looked from side to side hoping to see someone to help and to know which way he could run. To his dismay, nobody was around that could help or intervene. Just when he felt that his heart would burst through his chest, his body conceded and he collapsed.

First his lungs, then his heart, and now the tremendous pressure of anxiety filled what was left of his body as he looked up at the man and down the barrel of a 45 cal handgun. A triumphant smirk adorned the attackers face.

With no help, there wasn’t any way he could fend for himself against his attacker in this position or condition especially against a guy with a gun. He watched as the attacker raised the weapon and aimed it at his head as his eyes enlarged and the smirk turned into a full-fledged smile.

As if his arms and hands would stop a bullet, he raised them and cried out, “Oh God, no. . . God. . . help me! Don’t!”


Why do we Seek God

Deep within the soul of every man lies the knowledge that there is a God in heaven, whether they want to admit that fact or not. Many a person has cried out to God in any number of situations, even as our unsaved man did in the above story of desperation and fear. If anything, the desperate act of crying out to God is a condition reflex stemming from a hidden inherent knowledge that all men have embedded in them. God placed that knowledge in man when He first created him in the Garden of Eden.

Because of predestination [1], God calls us first and for one reason, He loves us [2]. However, because of free will [3], we seek god first and for many reasons and it usually takes a while to build our love and trust in Him.

Man seeks God for many reasons, not the least of which is peace, comfort, healing, deliverance, financial help, or any number of benefits derived from knowing Christ. Maybe He even saved us from someone who pointed a loaded gun at us.

More times than not the reason we seek God is because we have watched somebody else and witnessed how their life has changed after accepting Christ. Maybe that person even led us to Christ. In any event, this prompted us to want the same life, no matter what it was about them that we coveted.


Seeking God: The Beginning

When God gave this series to me, I received seven words from Him: seek, will, hands, face, heart, purpose, and prayer. At the time I was reading 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says,

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It has always been important for man to seek and know God, but in this day and age [4], it is imperative because His Word also says that God will not always strive with man [5]. This says that salvation will not always be available. That is a scary thought, or it should be, to those who are unsaved.

With the emanate rapture of the church [6] getting closer, remember that life is but a vapor [7] and eternity is. . .well. . .forever. We get one chance at salvation and then the judgment [8]. After the judgment, man will die in his sin and spend eternity in hell with no possibility of escape. The way world events are shaping up nowadays, the judgment and eternity seem to be looming on the horizon.


God is love

First John 4:8b tells us that, “. . .God is love.” Can you imagine what it would be like to be Love and not have anyone to love - or love you back? We can only speculate as to how God felt before He created the heavens, the earth, and then man. We have to assume that since He created us, He needed somebody on which to lavish that love.

Christ also needed a Bride with which to lavish His love. This, however, presented two problems: Number 1, Jesus was Spirit and therefore needed a spirit for a bride. Since God [9] was the only entity in the universe at the time, He would have to create a spirit. Number 2, He needed the spirit to love Him with its own volition because without choice, you render love meaningless. The new spirit needed choice.

Whether it is a natural or spiritual relationship, love drives us to seek out the other person and to know what they are about. It is a constant quest to learn what we can about them. You call that relationship. . . bonding. . .love.

You might say, “It's impossible to know God, just because of that, ‘He is God.’”


Knowing God?

Since God’s ways and thoughts are far above man’s ways and thoughts [10], some will have a hard time understanding the concept of knowing God. I understand this thinking but we have to remember that God is Spirit and He created us in His image, which makes us spirit beings as well [11].

In the natural it is incomprehensible to understand God, for after all. . .He is God, the creator of the universe. Actually, in the natural, we can never really know God to His fullest because He is infinite. Since God is Spirit though, we must seek Him in spirit and in truth [12]. In addition, the Bible says that the Spirit will lead us to all truth [13]; not to some truth, but to all truth.

However, if one side of a relationship contributes more than the other side, is that a prerequisite to whether we can love and aspire to know that person, or whether both sides couldn’t benefit from the relationship, either in the natural or in the spiritual? I wouldn't think so.

Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God and if we do not seek to know God, to that man [14], it is just religion.

What follows are the six remaining words that God gave to me that day and what I perceived them to have meant. There will be two levels of prayer bringing the total to eight complete levels. This will not be an all-inclusive study on seeking God but prayerfully we can learn together what we can somewhat expect at each level. God bless you all as you read.

Ever wonder what the will of God was for your life? Seeking God's Will may give us an answer.

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[1] Romans 8:29, 30
[2] 1 John 4:19
[3] Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 3:31, Acts 13:48, James 4:17
[4] Emanate rapture
[5] Genesis 6:3
[6] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[7] James 4:14
[8] Hebrews 9:27
[9] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[10] Isaiah 55:8
[11] Since God created us in His image, we are a triune being as well. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we are Spirit, soul, and Body.
[12] John 4:24
[13] John 16:13
[14] Generic term for mankind, meaning man or woman.

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