Titus 2 Men And Women

Sometime back the question was raised about "What is meant by God’s will or walking with the Lord?" The second question was "How can we know God’s will for our life?"

The first question is very easy to answer. God wants each of us to be saved. John 3:16, and II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Then after salvation God wants us to obey and mature until we become like Christ. Romans 8:28-29 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..."

God did not predestine some people to be saved and others to be lost. God created in man a freewill, and just as God could look down eternity and see that I would need a Savior, he could also see whether or not I would accept that Savior. Seeing that I would accept the Savior, then God predestined me to be conformed to the image of Christ. He does not use a rubber mold to force my conformity. He leads, He uses circumstances, and He speaks to me through His word. He shows me that there is peace in conforming to what He wants me to be.

What about knowing God’s will in the day to day areas of life? In some areas of life God has made himself very clear. These are areas that you never need to pray about what is right. Let’s look at some examples:

II Corinthians 6:14-16 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

We never need to pray about dating or marrying an unsaved person. We need to teach this to our children and grandchildren. God is emphatic about this. So many of our young people have lives of heartbreak because of ignoring this command of God. So many people think, I’ll date him/her and get them to come to church and then they will get saved. Book chapter and verse, please. Invite them to church, be a friend, but no dating! If the individual comes to know the Lord and you are able to see real signs of spiritual growth, then God may change the friendship into a romance.

A Christian has no need to pray about living together to see if they are compatible before marriage. God forbids fornication. I Corinthians 6:13b. "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." As we have studied previously, God created our sexuallity to be used and enjoyed within the bounds of marriage. Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."

Likewise, we have no reason to pray about become business partners with an unsaved person, God has already said, NO.

There is never a reason to pray about whether a person should be baptized or become a church member. God has specifically commanded us to do both.

Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" and Acts 2:47 "Praising God, and having favour with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

I could go on for hours about the areas that need no prayer to know the will of God. Read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.

That brings us to the areas that aren’t so specific. This part of walking with the Lord, knowing God’s will, may be very confusing. Unfortunately, there are many Christian leaders and educators who use pat phrases and self-perpetuating philosophies to attempt to direct the lives of others.

There can be pressure in the Christian community that the "ministry" is the best place of service. That the kids that are committed to God should, and will, go to Bible College. There may be a general attitude that pursuit of anything other than "Christian ministry" was ungodly (which would equal "running from God") and that getting right with God meant getting into full time "ministry". I can't count how many times I’ve heard that preached. Everything else was less acceptable and only for those poor souls who didn't know any better or who had messed up their lives and God couldn’t use them in any other way. And by spiritualizing things, it's easy to justify that "ministry" is godlier.

I’m sure the young person that feels God calling him into the ministry, that refuses to accept the call, is no more miserable than the young person that enters the ministry because someone has said, "If you really love the Lord, you go into full time Christian service."

God holds each person individually responsible for his or her own relationship and service to Him. None of us has been appointed by God to direct and judge the life of any other. If we learn to walk in relationship with God personally, all the rest will take care of itself. We need to read the Bible; it is the source of knowledge. We need to pray. God is waiting to hear each of us speak his name. We need to desire to please God first and man second. We need to in faith let God be God of our lives.

As a general pattern of how God works, He doesn't cause evil -- He allows Satan free reign to do his thing and then He uses it for His purposes (e.g. Job). Whether what you're doing is "God's will" for your life only you can know. Any one who dares to judge you is the one in sin. Where blatant sin is involved a person's choices are obviously wrong to anyone. But even then it isn't our place to judge the person -- Jesus said He didn't come to judge the world.

I received an email some time back that discussed knowing God’s will let me read part of it to you.

"How many times have you been in or around a group of pastors or other Christians and something is mentioned about so-and-so, who "left the ministry"? Times beyond counting, I know. Yes, sometimes it's an abandonment of God and godliness into a life of blatant sin. But the attitude is that anyone who "leaves the ministry" has turned from God... That attitude is a vicious lie. The truth is that no one who is a believer and whose heart is following God can ever "leave the ministry" any more than they can "go into the ministry" because whatever we do, whatever direction God has led us, IS full-time ministry. There can only be so many pastors. Pastoring or filling any other christian-company position isn't any "greater" service than working 9-5 at the grocery store or pumping gas.

Saul stood with the crowd at the stoning of Stephen. He held the coats of those who threw the stones. Could he have repented then? If he had, would it be possible that he may not have needed to suffer blindness?

Saul was devoutly pursuing what he believed was the truth. As far as we know, the first time he was confronted with the truth, other than just what he thought were the fuzzy rantings of heretics, was his experience with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Paul turned IMMEDIATELY to the Lord when the Lord specifically called him and he knew that was the truth -- he never argued or asked for more information; didn't ask to think about or say "but". I don't see any indication that Paul knew any better until his road to Damascus experience, though there had been some proddings of his conscience previously. He couldn't possibly have repented until he was convicted by the Holy Spirit AND shown the truth by God. I think that was on the road to Damascus and God's "kicking against the goads" remark referenced the beginnings of the work that He had begun to do to prepare Saul for that moment.

Every single Bible great was messed-up in some way, with the possible exception of Enoch. Did God condemn them for their failures? Or does He still applaud their faith and obedience?" Read Hebrews 11

There have been many times in my life when I really believed I was doing God's will, yet when I look back I realize that my decision was based upon a faulty belief structure. Even though I believed 100% that my decision was in the center of God's will at that time, the fault was my understanding of Him. The decision I had made was not the best one.

There's no judgment inherent in that; scripture says that faith is what pleases God - not my perfect service record. IICorinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight" I believe that He is less concerned about choices than He is about my heart. If my heart is right before Him and in genuine faith I make a decision, He is pleased. He uses the various decisions I make to teach me more about Him and this way my faith grows. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

God can and does use the rough places, the bumps in our road to bring us to a
place where we don't blindly trust what we’ve always thought to be right, but to pray and search the scripture as seek answers and unity. It is important that we read the Bible and study on our own to avoid poor interpretations, a twisting of Scripture to mean what some person wants it to mean.

As Christians we have two choices -- am I the god of my life or is God the God of my life. When God is God of my life, everything I do is sacred, even dishes and laundry. "Ministry" is life, not a job or title.

God's perfect will isn't one particular series of life choices and any misstep means you're off track for life (because most choices preclude the making of others and none of us will walk in perfection, no matter how hard we try). A heart of faith is what's important -- THAT in combination with a true relationship with God IS God's perfect will.

Share us with your friends: