God's Will in Our Lives

So it seems that the next question then is about how one “will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” How do we come to trust God with the plan for our lives?

The easiest starting point is the Bible sitting on your night stand or gathering dust on the shelf. The best way to renew our minds and to fight against a culture that tells you to live a different life, is reshape our minds by diving into the Word. The more of God’s Word we use to fill our thinking the more likely we are to understand how to make decisions.

So if as Ed Young says, “God is preparing us for what he has prepared for us.”, than we need to take some steps. John Ortberg says it begins with meeting God in Scripture—asking God to speak to you as you read. Ortberg says: “It is uniquely in the Bible that we encounter Jesus.” He goes on to suggest that we:

• Read the Bible in a Repentant Spirit—a spirit of surrender.
• Meditate on a Fairly Brief Passage or Narrative—the goal is to get the Scripture in us.
• Take One Thought or Verse with You Through the Day—mediation is a slow process.
• Allow This Thought to Become Part of Your Memory—hide Scripture in your heart.

If we are to be more than just transformed for our selves, than we need to learn about other world views and we have to learn about our own faith. We can not simply rest on what we hear on Sunday and hope it will carry us through the week. We need to be deliberate about personal change and a desire to live a life in God’s will. This will become our greatest testimony and one that will draw others a desire to change accordingly.

If we want to avoid being sucked into today’s world than we have to understand what we are facing—and appreciate how difficult this is to live above the fray. According to Clifford Orwin, there is one element of common ground between the postmodern liberal society and Christianity—“a yearning for something higher, shared, and meaningful.” Richard Rorty, a postmodern liberal theorist admits that liberalism is a matter of faith, not reason, freeloading atheists who rely on a Judeo-Christian legacy of human concern. He says that postmodernists pillage Biblical tradition for their moral code but maintain an atheistic stance.

The challenge for Christian theists is to take the common ground, the points of dissention and bridge the gap with the humility of someone who is not judgmental but as one who genuinely cares for their spiritual wellbeing. Dr. Jeremiah suggests that we should focus on four things to put spirituality into focus:

• · Discover what Scripture says about spirituality and explore these riches daily.
• · Avoid any manner of spirituality that does not require commitment in the true God.
• · Seek fellowship with other Christians wherever they may do.
• · Look for mature leaders who will guide and nurture you in the Lord.

So the bottom line for me is…don’t think it to death. Read my Bible. Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit into my life so that what I read and meditate on has deep meaning. Have friends who hold me accountable…and then believe that nothing is too big for God to fix. If I go off on my own than he will still use me for his glory---I just have to be willing to be in his will. The FIRST STEP!