God’s Good, Pleasing and Perfect Will .
Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 Corinthians 2:12

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

One of the first prayers many young children learn is the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done. On Earth as it is in Heaven.” The Bible tells us this is the prayer Jesus taught the disciples when they asked him how they should pray. This model follows the instructions of these two verses. I guess I should say, once this prayer was introduced, the disciples preached based upon the prayer.

Thy Kingdom Come: God’s Kingdom – Heaven – Not this world. Thy Will Be Done: God’s will – not man’s, not what we think or want – what God wants for us. That’s how we are to live: in accordance with God’s will for us. In order to live in accordance with God’s will, though we need to know what it is! That can be tricky, because so often in our lives we are required to take the lead, to be in charge, to make a snap decision. Life is so fast-paced in our world today that we could be run over and left behind if we’re not on top of our game.

But God has a better way. He has amazing, unimaginable plans for abundance and blessings in store for us. He desperately wants to pour them out into our lives. We risk missing out on God’s will for our lives when we charge ahead, thinking with our heads rather than our hearts and our souls. If we never allow time for God to reveal his plans for us, we will trample right over them. God wants to renew our minds to His way of thinking and living. He’s not going to force it though; he waits for us to be open to His will.

That’s a lot of responsibility. That places the burden on us. Perhaps that’s why so often we just don’t “go there.” We feel so burdened and weighed down by the cares of this world that we just can’t or won’t take responsibility for one more thing. No matter how wonderful the end result could be, we just don’t have the energy to do one more thing in our lives.

What I repeatedly re-discover is that if I just stop for a few minutes and clear my mind of all the cares of this world I can begin to see the vision God has of me in my mind’s eye. When I go for a walk, or sit quietly reflecting on God’s word or reading scripture, my mind begins to be renewed. God reveals himself to us when we are fully open to Him and fully engaged in discovering His will.

When we set ourselves apart we have taken the first step in the transformation process. Getting in that habit will increase the likelihood that our decisions will be based on God’s will for our lives, not man’s.

My prayer today is that you have the opportunity to renew your mind so you can test and approve God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for your life. And that you make it a habit to spend time with God each day.

Mary

Labels: bible, future, God's will, heaven, Jesus, plans, scripture

  ¶ 6:22 AM