Great question!
And there is an even Greater Answer!
An Answer the online guy who did the teaching completely missed. But, it was whispered to me very quickly By the Holy Spirit even as the teacher went on and on trying to explain.
The whisper brought me exceeding great peace and comfort.
Let me start by saying that the ministry I listened to (which will remain anonymous) is a Grace-ministry, which I strongly recommend and will keep on recommending. So, the fact that the teacher guy missed to get to the truth of being in the will of God, does not necessarily disqualify them off of my list. In fact, the founder of the ministry I consider one of my mentors.
Also, remember that we have dealt with the calling of God here already. But, what is the purpose of the "calling"?
That is where the the Will of God comes in.
Back to the online teaching
The teaching started with a short message and introduction to what is the will of God.
A very crucial scripture that was quoted is 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that says: In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I concur completely. This is the will of God!
But I do not concur with the explanations that followed.
The online message took the format of an interview and a lot of the conversation centered around how that you should get into the objective will of God instead of following your own subjective will (a vision or dream or prophetic word, etc.).
So, it was explained, confirm the subjective with the objective will (Word) of God. Yes, I agree. Whatever you feel in your heart has to resonate with the Word of God. And that is true.
It is also true that the Spirit of God and the Word of God is one and whatever the Spirit of God tells you to do will always be in line with the Word of God (Jesus).
The online teacher further explained that it may be difficult to know the will of God for your life; that one has to be fearful (reverence) to the God; How that God has hidden His will for you in you; how that someone can fall in and out of the will of God; how that you have to stay in the Word of God to stay in the will of God and many of the usual things that are thumb-sucked, some of it even based on scripture.
But, what if you are about to relocate or buy a car or marry someone ... ?
And what if your circumstances were bad and adverse ...? We'll get to this, because these are some of the questions that online listeners posted to the online teacher.
What if God sends you to Macedonia and you stop to cast out a spirit first and end up in jail?
Paul and Silas, getting a word from God to go to Macedonia, was cited as an example. They were temporary distracted (sic) and first cast out a demon from a girl. This caused them to be beaten up and thrown into jail for the reason that they have momentarily fallen out of the will of God according to the online teacher. What has to happen next, is they have to "first get their act (relationship) with God straightened again".
So, they proceed to praise God at midnight and we all know the rest of the story ... (Acts 16). The point that the online teacher makes, is that as soon as they get their act straight with God again, everything falls into place and the doors fly open, the jailer and his family repents and what not ...
But, according to the online teacher, Paul and Silas were persecuted for doing the will of God and then somehow whilst still being in the center of what God wanted, they fell out of what He wanted. So, says he, you have to be careful even when doing what God tells you to do, not to go against His will ... by , for instance, forgetting or getting distracted or any other reason for ceasing to be thankful.
Beware, in other words, not to be ungrateful or start complaining!
The online teacher reasons that anyone can praise God when things are going well, but not everyone can do so in the midst of persecution. And he then asks the question: "How well are you doing on that? (adding that he was not being condemning)..."
Is God really that fickle and rigid?
I don't think so. And I don't think that the Acts 16 miracle has anything to do with Silas and Paul getting their act together again. I DO think (know for sure) that it has everything to do with Jesus and His finished work on the cross and how that when they (Paul and Silas) gave praise to God for this (receiving and appropriating the finished work of Jesus), the supernatural and the natural had no choice but to respond ... they were saying onto the mountain in terms of the finished work of Christ!
The Bible does not specifically tell us about the content of their praise, but surely they didn't praise God for people beating them up and throwing them in jail!
So, what did they praise God about?
There can only be One Thing!
They praised God for His Son, for God-the-Saviour, Who brought them (and us) freedom and salvation and healing and provision and ... every good and perfect Gift that comes from above ... that He finished this glorious work that is now available to everyone!
It does not take a lot of genius thinking to see this obvious conclusion of what possibly the praise could have been about.
And the result?
Salvation, that is already there for the taking, comes even to the household of the jailer.
It is not about you falling in and out of the will of God or forgetting to be thankful. It is not about how well you remember to give praise or what you do or don't do ...
It is all about Jesus and what He did!
Jesus is the will of God!
That is your praise!
But its is omitted ...
The online speaker never mentions the finished work of Christ and how that this is the very essence of giving thanks to God in all things.
He merely says that if you thank God, like Jesus did with the loaves and fishes, that then moves God ...
Really?
No, what are you praising God for?
Let's turn to Jesus!
Jesus told us that in that day .... remember this post?
Wait!
This is so important that I'm going to repeat it here:
In John 16:23 Jesus explains the difference between an old covenant prayer and a New Testament prayer. He says:
And in that day ye shall ask (erōtaō) me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask (aiteō - note that this is an altogether different Greek word than the first for "ask") the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Until now ... and from now on ...
Hitherto have ye asked (aiteō) nothing in my name: ask (aiteō), and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
What?
Jesus says to pray in that day, doesn't He?
What day?
The day of the finished work of Christ, complete and forever!
Jesus was answering his disciples when they asked Him concerning what is this that he saith, A little while we cannot tell what he saith.
Rewind to verse 18 in John 16 and you will see that Jesus was explaining to them what would happen with Him going to the cross.
He explained both his death and resurrection as well as His purpose - that He who was the One born from above, would come and abide in us as soon as we receive Him (Life Himself). And that He would give us His Spirit to empower us and work through us making our joy complete.
... and the asking part?
look at verse 23 quoted above.
In the Greek there exists more than one word for ask (translated into the English as prayer). These words depend on the context and they always portray different ways of asking.
So, let's look closer.
The first ask - When Jesus uses the word ask the first time around in the verse, it is the Greek word erōtaō, which, coming from the root Greek word according to James Strong, means in this context to ask a favour, beg, beseech, desire, intreat, pray; to question, ascertain by inquiry (as a matter of information merely) - the way old covenant people used pray.
So, Jesus says in that day, the day of the finished work we will beg nothing of Him ...
The second ask - The second ask that Jesus uses in this sentence (saying that following that day we shall ask), is a different Greek word altogether. He now uses the word aiteō. The meaning now is: to strictly demand something that is due!
Instead of begging in the old covenant way, after that day we shall now demand something already there for the taking! (much like the Roman Centurion did in whom Jesus marveled)
Jesus talks about restored, New Testament, dominion authority here!
The finished work changes everything, even the way we pray and be thankful and understand the will of God!
It is the only way and reason that we can give thanks to God in every situation.
Why?
Because the enemy is defeated!
Because the victory is won!
Because Salvation has come!
And authority has been restored!
All of what Jesus did gives us reason to be thankful. But we are also thankful because we are now able, with Him living inside of us, to appropriate what He has done.
Online questions
Back to the online teaching ...
Participants were given the opportunity to ask questions (Which is awesome! Are you allowed a question and answer session in the institutional church you attend?)
Some of the questions that came forward from online listeners included:
One: How do I manage to give thanks when being treated badly or being bullied at work, for instance?
Two: Faced with a life-changing decision, how can you tell whether it is just your will or God's will?
Three: What makes giving praise and thanks so powerful? (the answer to this one was shocking!)
Four: How can you be thankful with so much negative things going on around you and in the world?
Some answers and explanations that were given by the online teacher included:
One: You should thank God that you are persecuted because the Bible says you will be. It presents an opportunity. Just kill those persecuting you with kindness and win them over for Jesus (sic and sick!) - What the online teacher is saying is that you must just accept your fate. Let the enemy have his field day with you and try to move on ... in the process you may win someone over for Jesus. How pathetic is this! He says you must act, as if you don't have any power or authority over the devil. This message flies in the face of the victorious work of Jesus!
Two: Get your own selfish desires out of the way first, drill down past your soul, get council and pray when you can't find it directly in the Bible. - Again, nothing about living your life in victory here ... You must do x, y and z and hope for the best. Instead, God wants you to live your life in the victory He has already accomplished for you, but the online teacher somehow, is blissfully unaware of what Jesus did!
Three and Four: What makes our praise and thankfulness so powerful is the fact that Lucifer was the chief praise singer in heaven before he was cast down and now we have taken his place. The Bible tells us that the enemy is silenced by our praises to God. Praise also makes us walk more in faith instead of by sight and provides us with a different perspective. - This one stunned me. The absolute, complete absurdness of this answer not only negates what Jesus did on the cross, but it also places us on the same level as the Devil. What? No, thank you! The Word says I am a co-heir with Jesus and nowhere near in any comparison with the enemy, thank you very much! I also do not replace the Devil to do his unaccomplished job, thank you! Listen here. What makes our praises and worship so powerful is not the praise and worship itself, but the fact that we praise and thank God for the finished work of Jesus and all that He has done.
You don't just praise Jesus to hair-lip the devil as the online preacher said. You Praise Jesus for what He has fully accomplished by going to the cross and then gave over to you to appropriate!
Now, where is this very crucial and only answer in the whole explanation of the online teacher?
What's the bottom line?
Someone once said that God does not have a plan for your life ... YOUR LIFE IS HIS PLAN!
I concur with this.
Stop spending so much time trying to figure out if and what is God's plan for your life is.
Start living it in the glorious, victorious presence of Jesus and be a triumphant co-heir!
Do not stop giving praise and thanks to God in everything! This is His will for you.
Know how!
Praise and give thanks to God because of the finished work of Jesus.
Jesus came for you!
Jesus rose victorious for you!
Jesus said now you can go into all the world!
Jesus said you should say onto the mountain!
Now, praise Him!
Give thanks in everything!
No comments:
Post a Comment