A Christ Follower: The Journey

H o l i n e s s 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8  (3) It is God's will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality;(4)that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, (5) not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; (6) and that in this matter no one should wrong, or take advantage of, a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. (7) For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (8) Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you His Holy Spirit. Up Front God Tells Us What HIS Will Is: Many people, who are trying to seek how to live according to the will of God, really struggle to figure it out.  As I see it, they are making it harder than it needs to be. For time and time again, as we are discovering, and as we will discover, God simply lays it right out t...

  Therefore, brothers and sisters,  I urge you, in view of God's mercy,  that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God -- This is your spiritual act of worship. Don't conform to the world's pattern of living, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve of God's Will -- HIS good pleasing and perfect will. The Merciful God As we continue our journey of discovering how to live according to God's will, we come to a spiritual practice that God -- because HE is merciful -- gives us to practice each day. Paul talks about God's mercy because, in Chapter 11, he closed with a beautiful, and very powerful benediction, describing Almighty God: Then he tells us mere humans to listen to such a mighty God who is truly  merciful. Why? Because it is only because the Greatest ONE is merciful that HE gives us this opportunity  to become the miracle of becoming transformed! And because we are transfo...

  Our Father Who Art In Heaven Matthew 6:9 (King James Version) Jesus Amazing Teaching One of the most amazing things regarding God's will is HE wants to be our loving Heavenly Father.  Prior to the New Testament, and prior to Jesus becoming God on this Earth, God was only called "Father" 15 times throughout the entire Old Testamen t; however, in the four Gospels Jesus makes something abundantly clear! It's like headline news! It's really special what He teaches regarding what God wants for us. He is making God's will crystal clear! You see, in the 4 Gospels, He clearly describes God as "Father" 165 times! Can you see how the Almighty is making a point about how important to Him being in a relationship of intimacy with you really is? With me? And He doesn't care what color you are. He doesn't care what part of the world you are from.  As John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only biological Son that whoever believ...

  R ejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks: For this is God's will in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 God Says So: As we continue our journey together to grasp how to live according to God's will, we come to this passage where God reveals, through His own Holy Spirit, that this teaching absolutely IS God's will.  "For this is God's Will in Christ Jesus."  (v.18)  What is God's will? The spiritual practice shared in verses 16-17 IS God's will. This being the case, we sure want to be able to understand what is being said in order for us to abide in this ancient wisdom. And in so doing we can, as Jesus says, "have life to the full." Let's look at these three parts to one spiritual practice. Rejoice Evermore: Rejoice is not a word many people in modern times verbalize, and to an insensitive ear, this word might not provide us with a lot of understanding.  Some synonyms for this word might resonate more ...

Doing What You Can   When many think about living according to God's will, people dream of doing wonder filled, stupendous and amazing things that would appear to be nothing short of super natural; however, such grandiose thinking may hinder our God's gifts from being fully realized in accomplishing God's will; for example, in the 3rd year AD, the Chief Priest, and the Teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus. But the cowards were definitively not wanting to do so during these feast days. Needless to say, they held up taking actions because they were afraid the people would riot.  Jesus Sharing A Meal While God's Will Took Place Jesus, during this time of treachery, was enjoying a meal with people at "Simon the Lepers House."  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. When, all of the sudden a woman came in, and she got down on the floor next to where Jesus was reclining. And she took some very expensive oil and anointed his feet.  (Check ou...

  God's Will: Getting Dressed Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light: C lothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans 13: 11b & 14. A Brief Review As we continue our journey regarding living according to God's will, we remember it is God's will we are to get up, give up our lives to the Lord first thing: We are to do this intentionally, and on purpose, everyday. We are to not even allowed to give any thought to the temptations that potentially lead to sin. We are to bring every thought captive in obedience to Christ. This sets the stage for us to be empowered to do what we cannot do own our own. And that is behave decently.  Key to all this is getting dressed, as we see in Romans 13: 11b -14. This putting on our heavenly clothes is called "clothing ourselves in Christ." How do we do this? We do this by Putting on the Armor of God. That's right. When you put ...