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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:37) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "What is God's Will, and How Do I Make It My Will?" I'm a Christian and I'm making plans to move to a different location and get a new job so I can change the trajectory of my life. I need to do this, but I also know that I'm supposed to do what God wants me to do. So how do I know what He wants? Is my determination to move evidence of His will? Here's Rick, Jonathan, and Julie.

[Rick] (0:39 - 0:50) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years. Julie, a long-time contributor, is also with us. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

[Jonathan] (0:50 - 1:04) Hebrews 13:20-21: "Now the God of peace... equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

[Rick] (1:04 - 1:55) Doing God's will should be a given for any and every Christian. After all, the mere fact that we are called Christians implies that we follow in Jesus' footsteps and that we are, therefore, obliged to do God's will as Jesus did God's will. While this all sounds pretty straightforward, the big question has to do with knowing. How do we know what the will of God is? Answering this question may be harder than we would think. It would be easy to assume that because we love and worship God, He will, in turn, show us His love by giving us the good things that we want. After all, that IS what it says in Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Sounds exciting and almost easy, but as you might have guessed, it is not. How do we know what God's will is for us?

[Julie] (1:56 - 2:10) Everyone listening is making thousands of decisions every single day, whether they be tiny or potentially life-changing. As Christians, we know that if we do things God's way it's the best way, but we don't get a daily email from heaven telling us which way to turn.

[Jonathan] (2:10 - 2:20) In this episode, we'll examine underlying scriptural principles we can all consider when making decisions. This will give us a map--a process--for moving forward.

[Rick] (2:20 - 2:34) Let's get started with that. First of all, let's establish the process that we, as Christians, need to follow to know and do God's will. How do we do that? We go to the scriptures. Let's go to Hebrews 13:20-21:

[Jonathan] (2:34 - 2:56) "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." The word "equip" means "to complete thoroughly."

[Rick] (2:57 - 3:32) Really what that scripture is saying is, God needs to complete you thoroughly in every good thing. For what reason? "To do His will." That's what the scripture says. What we gather from this is doing God's will is not natural, as it requires our being appropriately equipped. You can't go to the hardware store and get the equipment! God does the equipping Himself. Keep that in mind; God does the equipping. This equipping, where does it come from? It comes primarily from God's word. James 1:21-24:

[Jonathan] (3:33 - 4:08) "Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." Therefore, to be equipped is to have God's word working in our lives from the inside out.

[Julie] (4:08 - 4:27) We all recognize we're not given supernatural ability to know what God is thinking. As best we can, we want to put aside our own feelings, our own wishes, and we need to make the Bible's principles our own. Of course, just knowing them in our heads but not implementing them in our hearts won't give us the direction that we're looking for.

[Jonathan] (4:27 - 4:30) This is not a quick or easy process.

[Rick] (4:30 - 4:55) No. As a matter of fact, you're making this very difficult right from the start. I'm just saying! But it's important because the difficulty is where the victory comes. To be equipped is to have God's word working in our lives, like you said, Jonathan, from the inside out. It has to be so ingrained and so implanted in us that it drives our thinking. It drives our decisions. It drives our direction.

[Julie] (4:55 - 5:03) This is all a nice introduction, but what does it really mean? How can we figure out what the will of God is for us? We want to pin you down on this.

[Rick] (5:03 - 5:34) Okay, let's get started with that. Understand we need to recognize the similarities and differences between the Old and New Testaments. Now this is maybe something that we don't normally think about, but this is important. In the Old Testament, doing God's will was directly related to the keeping of the Mosaic Law. When the people strayed from that Law, God gave them consequences, and when they sought him, God abundantly blessed them. Let's look at Psalm 37:3-6:

[Jonathan] (5:35 - 5:54) "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday."

[Rick] (5:54 - 6:20) Boy, that's a big, powerful scripture. We look at that and say, "trust" and "delight...in the Lord." He's going to give you "the desires of your heart." Let's figure out, what does that mean? What's the context? Let's notice the context, which is obviously focused on the nation of Israel, and let's see what it takes to be given the desires of your heart within that context. Some important points here from that scripture:

[Julie] (6:20 - 6:23) Well, it said you have to "trust" and you have to "do good."

[Jonathan] (6:23 - 6:27) "Dwell" where you've been led with growing faith.

[Julie] (6:27 - 6:48) Then you have to "delight" in the Lord and "commit your way" to Him. In ancient Israel, doing God's will meant doing these things. It reminds me of Proverbs 6:20-23, where you're supposed to take the teachings and bind them continually on your heart. You tie them around your neck because they are like light from a lamp showing you the way. You're very closely tied in.

[Rick] (6:48 - 7:57) We have, as the basis for the scripture, the concept of God and Israel and the land and the Law. All of those things are running through this scripture. We want to understand that was a primary directive. This is how you get the desires of your heart if you're in that context. Let's take that principle and let's expand a little bit more with Israel. Israel, we know, had God's favor and it was shown to them in very, very specific ways. It was reflected in their earthly lives. This next scripture is focused on God's favor returning to them after the seventy-year Babylonian captivity. You have a period of punishment, of national punishment. They're essentially sent into captivity for seventy years because of their disobedience. Now as that time is coming to an end, here's what Jeremiah says about what's going to happen. This also does have a prophetic view looking forward as well. Let's look at Jeremiah 29:10-14:

[Jonathan] (7:57 - 8:16) "For thus says the LORD, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

[Rick] (8:17 - 8:34) God is essentially saying, have I got plans for you! Because your time of punishment is up, have I got plans for you! He's speaking to the nation. Then he expands how this is going to unfold. Jonathan, let's go to verses 12-14 <Jeremiah 29:12-14>:

[Jonathan] (8:34 - 9:01) "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place for where I sent you into exile."

[Rick] (9:01 - 9:32) God is saying, I sent you into exile. You as a nation were punished. Your time is up and I will bring you back and you will call upon Me. You will pray to Me and I'll hear it because it's time. There's this wonderful, powerful expression of God's love and care for them. Yes, you'll call. I'll answer. The plans I have for you will be to plant you back in your land so you can prosper as you follow Me.

[Julie] (9:32 - 10:09) Now this is Old Testament, but that text in Jeremiah 29:11 is famous in Christian circles: "For I know the plans that I have for you...to give you a future and a hope." It shows up everywhere on pillowcases and stickers. I literally just pulled this notebook out of my bookshelf and it's on the cover. Jonathan, you and your wife Jewel had given me this a few years ago. To what extent is the Christian authorized to take this and some of these other texts we've read and apply them to us now? Because the Christian isn't promised the same prosperity and bringing you back into the land. They're promised suffering and sacrifice.

[Rick] (10:10 - 11:02) That's a really good question. We're going to expand the answer to that, but let's build a base for that expansion. What the Christian is promised is to have the desires of our heart fulfilled by doing the will of God. Doing the will of God is a little bit different than following the Law. It requires different things that we're going to expand upon. But the same kind of blessing--not a physical blessing--but the same, I should say, "power of blessing" is put upon Christians in terms of granting them God's peace, God's direction, God's wisdom, God's mercy, God's power working in their lives. It's different than the physicality of Israel in the land, but it is a powerful gift from God. We do have an authority to look at those promises, but to expect them to be fulfilled in a little bit--actually a largely--different kind of way.

[Julie] (11:02 - 11:03) We can spiritualize them?

[Rick] (11:04 - 11:12) Absolutely, positively, and we should. That was a really, really important question. What we're looking to do is Find the Keys to Unlock a God-Driven Life:

[Jonathan] (11:13 - 11:34) As Christians, we need to grasp the reality that God does not simply send us personalized messages from His mouth to our ears. On the contrary, we need to personalize His Holy Word to be able to truly see His will. Israel's experience showed us that God's providence was powerfully positive when they obeyed His Laws.

[Rick] (11:34 - 12:01) That's important! When they obeyed His Laws, they had a powerfully positive experience. If we want to have blessing like Israel, you also have the consequences like Israel. We have to be focused on what the will of God is. As with most biblical topics, there's far more to understanding God's will for us than we may have originally thought. Let's continue to unfold the story!

[Jonathan] (12:02 - 12:09) With a basic understanding of Old Testament obedience to God's will, what's the same and what's different in the New Testament?

[Rick] (12:09 - 12:50) In the New Testament, things are very different. Julie, you indicated that before. Because we don't have the written Law and the ritual sacrifices before us, we are drawn to God's will in many different ways. The path of a Christian is comprehending and accomplishing God's will. It's not defined by the physical blessings and security as it was with Israel. See, they had a definition in their physical blessing and security. Ours is defined by adherence to godly principles of sacrifice and loyalty as we walk in Jesus' footsteps. That becomes the main focus of this whole question about determining God's will.

[Jonathan] (12:51 - 13:09) Jesus was the singular, most disciplined example of a human being following God's will that we'll ever see! As we walk through just a few of his examples, let's pay particular attention to the principles behind each and every one as a basis for our seeking and following God's will.

[Rick] (13:09 - 13:32) Let's look at Jesus. We're going to take a walk through the life of Jesus, just drop in very, very briefly on seven different perspectives of Jesus' life. We're going to begin with a prophetic perspective. Jesus had a prophetic basis that described his attitude toward God's will. It was shown in prophecy. Let's look at Psalm 40:6-8:

[Jonathan] (13:33 - 13:51) "Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; my ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."

[Julie] (13:51 - 13:58) Though David said these words, we know it's prophetic of Jesus because we're told that in Hebrews 10:5-10.

[Rick] (13:58 - 14:28) Here's the interesting thing. We talked about that Psalm 37 scripture. It says the Lord "will give you the desires of your heart." Here, look at what Jesus says prophetically. "I delight to do Your will." "Your Law" is written "within my heart." The desire of his heart was to do the will of God. That's our template. That's what we have to build upon. Let's look at and let's go through these seven basic principles that help us understand Jesus and doing God's will. Julie, what's the first one?

[Julie] (14:29 - 14:37) Well, doing God's will was, as we just described, prophetically shown as the offering up of himself. This is what God wanted! It was part of the plan.

[Jonathan] (14:37 - 14:56) As it relates to us (and we'll discuss this more later) we know God is not looking for us to bring Him physical sacrifices; He's looking for us to BE the sacrifice. He's looking for voluntary obedience. We sacrifice our wills and desires and delight to do what He would have us do.

[Rick] (14:56 - 15:23) It's not about what you bring; it's about who you are. That's the template for Jesus. That's the template for us. Now we're going to walk through Jesus's life. We've got the prophetic introduction, if you will. The very first words that are recorded Jesus spoke were when he was age twelve. At age twelve, this attachment to God's will was his primary motivation. Let's look at Luke 2:48-50:

[Jonathan] (15:23 - 15:49) "When they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you. And he said to them, Why is it that you were looking for me? Do you not know that I had to be in my Father's house? But they did not understand the statement which he had made to them." He had a mission and a focus that no other twelve-year-old has ever had!

[Julie] (15:50 - 16:01) These are the first recorded words that we have of Jesus. Our second observation about Jesus is, doing God's will was always first in his mind, even as a young boy!

[Rick] (16:01 - 16:09) Even as a twelve-year-old, what we see, the first recorded words, "Did you not know I had to be...?" Why are you looking for me?

[Julie] (16:10 - 16:11) Of course I'm here!

[Rick] (16:11 - 16:46) Yeah, right, right. What's the mystery? This is where I have to be. That gives us a laser-beam focus as to looking for and following after God's will. You have the prophetic approach. You have Jesus at twelve years old. Now let's get into his ministry. During his ministry, all kinds of things happen that help us understand this, but we're going to focus on just a few. Jesus plainly put God's will above EVERYTHING else. In other words, he didn't let up on that focus. It actually increased and got stronger and stronger. This is shown in John 4:31-34:

[Jonathan] (16:47 - 17:09) "Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, No one brought him anything to eat, did he? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." Again, like you said, Rick, what a focus he had!

[Julie] (17:09 - 17:31) Further, in Matthew 4, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy, saying, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." The third principle we see from Jesus is doing God's will was the highest and best nourishment for his earthly life. His physical circumstances took a back seat. The spiritual ones were more important.

[Rick] (17:32 - 18:03) I'm hungry, so I do God's will, and I'm fed. Now, obviously, he had to take care of his body because he's just a human being. But still, that's the primary nourishment that drove him. It's such an inspiring picture. Let's go further into his ministry. The words that Jesus spoke in his ministry were words and lessons that his Father had provided for him. How do we know that? Because he told us emphatically. John chapter 12:49-50:

[Jonathan] (18:03 - 18:19) "For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me."

[Julie] (18:19 - 18:27) The principle here is that doing God's will meant that all he taught was a direct reflection of his Father's words and lessons.

[Jonathan] (18:28 - 18:41) Jesus mirrored his Father's love, character, goals and vision. He emulated God the best way he could. We want to emulate our Lord Jesus by representing him and being his mouthpiece at this time.

[Rick] (18:41 - 19:07) We do! We do. We can't do it the way Jesus did it. When we look at his example again, you look at it and say, that's amazing, because it's like he's waiting for God's direction on how to approach these individuals and and how to tell the story and how to call out the Pharisees and how to do and when to do the healing and all of that. You see that and it's a connection. That's what doing God's will really is all about.

[Julie] (19:07 - 19:13) He's not doing it robotically. He has free will. He is doing it because this is the delight of his life.

[Rick] (19:14 - 19:56) That's the point! "I delight to do YOUR will." "Your Law is within my heart." We see it in Jesus' words. We saw it in his nourishment. We saw it as a boy. Now let's get into the aspect of prayer. You could spend hours talking about Jesus in prayer, but we're just going to take a couple of small examples. Prayer was ever and always Jesus' constant companion, and he used it to plainly express himself both in exaltation as well as in difficulty. This is more of an exaltation. This is John 17. This is the night before he's crucified when he's praying for his disciples. This is how he starts that prayer; John 17:4-5:

[Jonathan] (19:57 - 20:08) "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

[Julie] (20:08 - 20:18) The fifth principle about Jesus and his will is, doing God's will meant continually seeking reverent, close, and honest communication with his Father!

[Rick] (20:19 - 20:51) If you notice in that prayer example, he said, I've done everything You've given me to do. I have listened and I have made it work. There's this honesty. There's this very clear communication. Now he's going to end up praying for his disciples because he's leaving them. You see the power of that connection. Let's go a little bit further. Jesus put his own human will aside, even when it was most difficult, so he could do what? So he could do his Father's will.

[Jonathan] (20:51 - 21:05) Next, we'll read about Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, saying some of his final prayers before the events leading to his crucifixion. Luke 22:41-42 and this is in the King James Version: "And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done."

[Rick] (21:18 - 21:44) He's praying for "this cup" to be removed from him. Without getting into a lengthy discussion, "this cup," we believe, was the having to be crucified as a blasphemer of God--not having to sacrifice himself, but having to be looked upon as one who stood against the Holy Father. That was, I think, that was just too much for him. You see this earnest prayer and that earnest "nevertheless."

[Jonathan] (21:44 - 21:57) Jesus was willing to accept with gratitude whatever God deemed to be best. This is an excellent way to end all of our prayers-- "nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done."

[Julie] (21:58 - 22:24) What principle do we see here? Doing God's will meant not only learning but applying obedience no matter the cost. It's interesting because we don't have too many of Jesus's prayers recorded, but we assume he was in constant prayerful communication with the Father. But his obedience wasn't for the sake of earthly gain or prosperity like they had in the Old Testament. Jesus sacrificed for something more glorious and everlasting.

[Rick] (22:25 - 22:47) Again, it was not about himself. It was about the will of the Father. Let's sum these up. We'll get to the seventh point in a moment. From Jesus' first recorded words as a twelve-year-old in Scripture to his last words on the cross, he was always connected to his Father and his Father's will. Here are his last words, Luke 23:46:

[Jonathan] (22:48 - 23:02) "And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT. Having said this, he breathed his last." This was God's perfect prophetic timing, and Jesus let go.

[Rick] (23:02 - 23:38) He did. It's interesting because when he was twelve, the first recorded words we have of Jesus were, "I had to be in my Father's house." Of course that's where I would be. What did that mean? I need to be where God's presence is. His last words as a human being were, "into Your hands I commit my spirit." What is that saying? "Into Your hands." Into Your presence. "Into Your hands I commit my spirit." You can see from the first to the last, it was all about the Father and His will and being with the Father and doing the things that the Father would have him to do. It is a powerful example for us to follow.

[Jonathan] (23:38 - 23:43) I's beautiful because he loves his Father that much to want to be with Him.

[Rick] (23:43 - 23:44) Yeah.

[Julie] (23:44 - 24:04) From this, we see that doing God's will meant fully living his life for the sole purpose of completing the mission that God sent him to accomplish. Then Jesus, of course, accomplished God's will in more ways than just the seven that we've described, But we're highlighting these because we're going to review them again, using them as a template for ourselves as Christians.

[Rick] (24:04 - 24:21) What we have up to this point is a look at Israel in the Old Testament and then Jesus in the New Testament as the big picture of fulfilling God's will. This is helping us to Find the Keys to Unlock a God-Driven Life:

[Jonathan] (24:21 - 24:40) We look at Jesus' example of knowing and doing God's will with awe and gratitude. Because he showed us the very highest principles of loyalty in action, he gave us a very clear picture of how privileged we can be by simply attempting to walk in his footsteps.

[Rick] (24:41 - 25:02) Privileged by making the effort. We can't do it perfectly, but we can try. That's the beauty of what Jesus is showing us here. "Breathtaking," "awe-inspiring;" these are all great ways to try and describe Jesus' doing of God's will, but truthfully, they don't even come close!

[Jonathan] (25:02 - 25:12) We are not Jesus, and we don't have the same clear and direct connection to God that he had. How do we rise up to a spiritual level in determining God's will?

[Rick] (25:12 - 25:34) That's an important question. As we began this conversation, we noted that we all need to be equipped by God and that equipping comes from God's holy word. How do we prepare ourselves so that equipping can take root and operate from the inside out? What reminders should we be continually reviewing?

[Julie] (25:34 - 25:39) Before we get into that, Jonathan, you made the point that we don't have that same clear connection that Jesus had.

[Jonathan] (25:39 - 25:39) Right.

[Julie] (25:40 - 26:15) There's an important distinction. Jesus had the holy spirit, it says in John 3:34, "in full measure." This means he had complete access to God's power and influence, which allowed him to think, do, and say what he did in spite of his own free will. As Jesus' followers (us) we're only given a measure or a portion of the holy spirit, it says in Ephesians and in John. We pray for God to grant us more of His holy spirit. We receive it through continued prayer, study, fellowship. James 4:8: "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you."

[Rick] (26:15 - 26:42) There's a lot of difference between us and Jesus. And yet... and yet, he's the model. He's the one we follow. Where his footsteps went, that is where we should go. Let's figure out how to better do that. The Bible specifically tells us many things about the will of God for Christians. Actually, we're given two basic approaches to accomplishing God's will.

[Julie] (26:42 - 27:04) Well, I love lists. This first list is going to be the "What NOT to Do." Here's what the warnings are. We're going to give only three of them, even though there's plenty more, just to carefully review if any of these might be secretly lurking in our hearts. Here's the first "Do Not;" we want to make sure that we keep our body and mind thoroughly protected from immorality and inappropriate desires.

[Jonathan] (27:05 - 27:30) For an example, we can go to 1 Thessalonians 4:2-5: "For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God."

[Rick] (27:30 - 28:14) The first "Do Not" is keep your body and mind protected from immorality. Is it that important? Hey, in the scripture, it says "this is the will of God, your sanctification." Is it that important? Oh, yeah. Is there any wiggle room on this? Oh no, because "this is the will of God, even your sanctification," being set apart. We need to understand our body and our minds need to be protected and put away from those things. Folks, it's so simple. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification," that you abstain from sexual immorality. Mic drop, point made, discussion over. That's the will of God. You want to know the will of God? There is one of the pieces, but there is more.

[Julie] (28:14 - 28:24) Oh, yeah. Here's another warning; be careful. Keep your heart protected from any competitiveness and worldliness within the brotherhood, within your fellowship, your Christian fellowship.

[Jonathan] (28:24 - 28:51) We continue with 1 Thessalonians 4:6-8: "And that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His holy spirit to you."

[Rick] (28:51 - 29:14) That is a powerful rejection, if you reject the sense of not defrauding your brother, letting God take care of things. He hasn't called us for impurity, but in--that word again--sanctification. Our bodies and our minds were in that first scripture. This is our heart. Let's keep our heart pure and clear, especially, especially when it comes to the brotherhood. But there's more.

[Julie] (29:15 - 29:25) Yeah, this one's huge. We want to--warning!--avoid entanglement in the everyday affairs of life. In our little tiny moments, we can get so sticky.

[Jonathan] (29:25 - 29:41) This reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:3-4: "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles themselves in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

[Rick] (29:42 - 30:08) First point on this, "suffer hardship with me as a good soldier." Paul is writing to Timothy. This is his last letter and he's saying suffer the hardship with me, be a soldier with me, because we cannot be entangled in other things, in the details of life. We have to be about our Father's business. Avoid, avoid the rest of the world and all of those things. There's a lot of "Do Nots" here. Let's continue.

[Julie] (30:09 - 30:29) We've got all those "Do Nots." In order to better understand God's will for us, we want to move on to the second category. We want to do God's will by COMPLYING WITH AND DOING certain things. We have what NOT to do and what TO do. Here's what you should do; have a rejoicing and thankful perspective in all things. That's evidence of doing God's will.

[Jonathan] (30:30 - 31:08) 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18: "See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." In music, "staccato" is an adjective to describe the short, clear-cut playing of notes. These are "staccato" scriptures, easy to memorize. Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing! In everything give thanks! Doing these three will keep us on the path to finding God's will for us in our circumstances.

[Julie] (31:08 - 31:24) That's just it. Again I go back to, we're not going to get that daily heavenly email outlining what direction we're going to take. We aren't given these direct answers, but we are given all the tools if we pay attention to what we've been given in our "Official Instruction Book," our Bibles.

[Rick] (31:25 - 32:09) Here's another thing. If you notice in this scripture, you've got those short, very clear admonitions. How does the scripture end? "For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." How do I do God's will? Oh, I know. Look at the scriptures that tell us what God's will is! It's a matter of focus. It's a matter of clarity. God's will was staying away from certain things. Then God's will is moving towards other things. It's clear cut. It's definitive. If we're wondering, am I doing God's will, maybe we should start looking at how do I fit? Where do I stand in relation to the "Do Nots" and the "Dos?" Where am I falling in all of this? That can help us understand where we are in relation to God's will. Let's continue here, Julie. What's next?

[Julie] (32:09 - 32:19) If I want to see evidence of what doing God's will is, it's embracing--this is hard--the trials and testings of life and their importance.

[Jonathan] (32:19 - 33:04) Let's look at 1 Peter 12-14, 19: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you... Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." Peter showed such Christian maturity from where he began in his walk.

[Julie] (33:04 - 33:32) That's for sure! You said "those who also suffer according to the will of God." This isn't the suffering of consequences from our own bad decisions. We also don't unwisely place ourselves in positions of jeopardy, expecting the Lord to miraculously intervene on our behalf. These texts are referring to suffering in Christ because we took a godly stand and darkness hates the light. I think of Matthew 10:16: "Be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves."

[Rick] (33:32 - 34:16) The idea of suffering, not because of what I did. Now that's a consequence and that's helped to bring me to God's will; but if I'm suffering for righteousness sake, I am engaging in God's will. You see, suffering for what I did can bring me towards His will; but when I suffer for Christ's sake, I'm engaging in His will. That's where we want to be. That's where I want to live. Am I saying God, make me suffer every single day? That's part of it. Okay, that's not everything. If that's what the Lord brings, then God's will be done. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done. We've got this rejoicing and thankful perspective. We've got embracing trials and testings. Julie, where do we go from here?

[Julie] (34:17 - 34:23) Well, another evidence of doing God's will is doing good in a wise, godly, and sacrificial way. That's evidence.

[Jonathan] (34:24 - 34:47) Ephesians 5:8, 15-17: "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light... Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

[Julie] (34:47 - 35:08) Some of us might be more familiar with the King James Version. It says "redeeming the time because the days are evil." I'll give a little quick commercial here because, Rick, you gave a wonderful sermon called, "Redeeming the Time," and we're going to put a link to it in this week's CQ Rewind Show Notes because it's very motivating to not waste any of the time that we've been given in doing the Lord's will.

[Rick] (35:08 - 35:39) Again, in this scripture, what's the admonition? Redeem the time. Make sure you're using your time well. Why? So you can understand what the will of the Lord is. Folks, if you're wondering, how do I find God's will? Can you hear how many times it talks about "God's will is..." in the New Testament? It's telling us again and again and again. These are the things you focus on. Make sure you're using your time in a way that honors God Almighty! Period. End of statement. Let's continue.

[Julie] (35:39 - 35:44) What should we do? Well, we do whatever it takes to fulfill the will of God.

[Jonathan] (35:44 - 35:55) Let's look at the Apostle Paul's own experience at 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more."

[Rick] (35:55 - 36:33) Pause right there for a second, because think about this. The Apostle Paul just said, he announced, "I have made myself a slave to all." Remember who he was. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. Pharisees weren't slaves to anybody. Pharisees were the ones who dressed up, who looked elegant, who people got out of their way when they walked down the street. Pharisees didn't condescend. Paul is saying, that's what I WAS-- here is what I AM. For the sake of God through Christ, this is what I am. Now in these next verses, Julie, sum up what he says and how he describes what this means.

[Julie] (36:34 - 37:00) In verses 20-22 <1 Corinthians 9:20-22>, he goes on to explain that he was able to talk to different people by meeting them where they were. He's Jewish. He could speak with their perspective. He was Roman so he could easily speak to the non-Jews. He was educated, but also, once he became Paul, he was a humble servant of Christ, so he could speak to those on any socioeconomic level. This is why he was so effective at bringing people to the gospel from all walks of life-- he was a great communicator.

[Rick] (37:00 - 37:16) He was. As a Pharisee, all he did was communicate within his little group. But now he communicates to the world and brings people to Christ from all lands, all backgrounds. It's an amazing transformation. Jonathan, let's finish these verses.

[Jonathan] (37:17 - 37:33) Continuing with verse 22 <1 Corinthians 9:22>: "... I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it." Paul's focus on his mission in Christ is inspiring.

[Rick] (37:33 - 37:59) It's amazing! He changed. Folks, that's the key. How do I do God's will? Change. Change. Look for godliness. Look for sanctification. Look for wisdom. Look for grace. Look for knowledge. Look for understanding. Look for support. Look for help. Look for giving. Those are the things he changed. He's showing us how to change. He's showing us how to Find the Keys to Unlock a God-Driven Life:

[Jonathan] (37:59 - 38:25) Determining how to do God's will in the large or small decisions of life is built upon a spiritually sound foundation of moral clarity, spiritual mindedness, faith in trials, spiritual maturity, and living a clear life of discipleship. The more we focus on these foundational principles, the easier it'll be to determine God's will in specific circumstances.

[Rick] (38:26 - 38:44) What you said there was a mouthful! That's a list that you put on your refrigerator. That's what you do with that. We can focus in on the most important things. Part of determining God's will means considering what we're presently standing for to help us identify our reasons for making our decisions.

[Jonathan] (38:45 - 38:51) Knowing what we know now, how do we focus our lives towards finding and doing God's will the way Jesus did?

[Rick] (38:52 - 39:36) Here we can take the things that we've already learned and translate them into our limited ability to do what Jesus did. Let's now look again at the seven basic principles of following God's will that Jesus showed us and see how to apply them to our imperfect lives. Our mission is simple. Okay, here it is, here's our mission: Find out what God's will is and then follow what we found! That's our mission. Now we're going to go back to those seven principles that we pulled from Jesus' life and goodness knows there's many more, but we're going to take those seven principles and we're going to apply them to ourselves in learning how to follow through. Let's look at what Jesus did and then we'll go from there.

[Julie] (39:36 - 39:44) The first principle, remember, was: Doing God's will was prophetically described as the offering up of himself. This is what God wanted.

[Jonathan] (39:44 - 40:19) For us, doing God's will by following in Jesus' footsteps was also prophetically revealed. Ephesians 1:3-5: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us (meaning for the whole church, not individually) to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."

[Rick] (40:19 - 40:53) This blows me away because you have the scriptures predicting and showing Jesus what he would be like. This text shows the calling of the true church and it says that He brought them to Jesus for the sake of glorifying God. What was this? How is it defined? It's "the kind intention" of God's will. You have prophecy saying these would be called as well to follow in his footsteps. We've got a prophetic beginning for ourselves as well as for Jesus. Julie, where do we go from here?

[Julie] (40:53 - 41:02) The second principle we talked about was, remember: Doing God's will was always first in Jesus' mind, even as a boy! Remember, he was twelve years old, always about his Father's business.

[Jonathan] (41:02 - 41:25) For us to do God's will, we need that same fundamental response. God IS first in all that I say and do. Romans 12:1: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Again, we ARE the sacrifice.

[Rick] (41:26 - 41:48) That's right. Paul is saying, he's essentially saying, you've seen our Lord. You've seen how I try to fulfill and walk in his footsteps. Now you present your bodies a living sacrifice because that's what Jesus did. He had that right from the beginning. This is giving us a sense of right from the start. That's how you need to see your fulfillment of God's will in your life.

[Julie] (41:48 - 41:59) The third principle, remember, we saw how physical comfort, even food, took kind of a backseat. We saw how: Doing God's will was the highest and best nourishment for Jesus's earthly life!

[Jonathan] (42:00 - 42:32) For us, it is a necessity as a disciple to put God's will first in every one of our earthly decisions. James 4:13-15: "Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

[Rick] (42:32 - 43:13) The example here; Jesus' nourishment was to do the will of God. For us, when we want to make changes in our lives, instead of saying this is what I'm going to do because I really think this is the best thing-- that's nice, that's great, Rick, good job-- but is that seeking God's will? I should rather say, if the Lord wills, if the Lord opens the door, if the Lord's providence is there, we will do this or that so we can walk in Jesus' footsteps and be honoring to God. It's not about what Rick wants. It's about what our heavenly Father through Jesus wants Rick to grow into. That's looking for and accomplishing God's will.

[Julie] (43:13 - 43:22) The fourth principle we talked about with Jesus was that: Doing God's will meant all he taught was a direct reflection of his Father's words and lessons!

[Jonathan] (43:22 - 44:06) For us, relying on God's word to show us His will as the primary and vital requirement for decision-making. 2 Timothy 3, 14-17: "You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them (listen to the next part about the fulfillment of God's will), and that from childhood (Timothy) you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

[Rick] (44:07 - 44:34) Don't ever say to anybody, I don't know how to find how God's will works. That scripture just told us; "all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof," for everything, so that the individuals walking in Christ can "be equipped for every good work." Where does the equipping come from? It comes from the word of God. That's what we focus on here. Julie, what's next?

[Julie] (44:34 - 44:42) The fifth point was, remember, for Jesus: Doing God's will meant continually seeking reverent, close, and honest communication with his Father.

[Jonathan] (44:42 - 45:15) For us, prayerful consideration for the wisdom to understand and manage all parts of our lives. James 1:5-8: "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

[Julie] (45:15 - 45:50) Part of this instability is that some of us can get paralyzed when we try to make decisions, so we choose to do nothing and life just plays out around us. But making decisions is an important part of our Christian walk. If we're staying close to the Lord and His word and doing what we're supposed to do and not doing what we're not supposed to do, we can make choices with our own free will, confident that God can work with either outcome of our choice for our highest spiritual welfare. We can't let fear keep us from making choices. God will be with us in those choices.

[Rick] (45:50 - 46:49) He will. The biggest aspect of this is having the proper foundation to be able to rest upon so you can make the right choice. Sometimes we may not be a mature enough Christian yet to make the choice. What ends up having to happen? A little bit more study, a little bit more prayer, and perhaps some fellowship with those who have spiritual wisdom to say, I'm in this situation. I would love to do this. How can I understand if that's the will of God? To get input, folks, is such an important part of this whole process because we want to make sure that we're walking where Jesus' footsteps went. You know, if you're walking through deep snow and somebody has already walked that path and the snow is a foot and a half or two feet deep, you walk in those footsteps and it's a whole lot easier to get through it. Don't create your own path. Instead, look to the will of God through the word of God so we can understand where to go next. Julie, what's the sixth point?

[Julie] (46:49 - 46:55) Doing God's will meant not only learning, but applying obedience, no matter what the cost!

[Jonathan] (46:55 - 47:35) For us, a rejoicing and obedient mindset in all things is a critical part of following God's will. Philippians 4:4:7: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." When are we supposed to rejoice? Only when things are really going well for us? Nope. Rejoice in the Lord always!

[Julie] (47:36 - 47:52) Rejoicing isn't an emotion or a feeling. It's really a state of mind. It's an approach to life. We CHOOSE to rejoice instead of complaining. We CHOOSE gratitude instead of resentment. We rejoice in the big picture of God's promises and providence in our lives.

[Rick] (47:53 - 48:44) You know, rejoicing, I'm glad you said that it's not an emotion. It is a state of mind. It's a state of being. I can tell you from personal experience, I've had experiences in life where things have gone terribly wrong, trauma in life, and having to learn to rejoice in those experiences. It's not saying, oh, Rick, you're really happy when this happened to your family. No, not a feeling of happiness. It's a sense of spiritual peace, knowing that this bad, horrible experience is in God's hands. When it's there, I know that He will take care of it. It might not be easy and it might be painful, but there's a place to go through that. "Rejoice in the Lord always!" Again--in case you didn't hear it the first time--I say "rejoice!" Julie, let's get to that last point.

[Julie] (48:44 - 48:52) For Jesus: Doing God's will meant fully living his life for the sole purpose of completing the mission God had sent him to accomplish.

[Jonathan] (48:52 - 49:12) For us, doing God's will is always pointing us towards the ultimate transformation of our lives. Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

[Rick] (49:12 - 50:13) Here you go; the idea of Jesus living his life fully for the sole purpose of completing God's mission. For us, the transformation of our lives. How does this scripture describe it? Do you transform 'by the renewing of your mind?" Your mind has to be renewed. It has to be changed. That's the spiritual mind that's growing in us. Why? Why does it have to change? Here's what the scripture says; "so that you may prove what the will of God is." Therefore, to understand the will of God, we need to have our minds transformed. The transformation of our minds to a spiritual mind gives us an open door to be able to see and follow the will of God. It's written all over the scriptures! Here's how you determine God's will. Folks, if we have troubles in our lives with figuring things out, let's look at this and say, go back to the Bible. Go back to the word. Find the principles and see where I stand. That will help us in Finding the Keys to Unlock a God-Driven Life:

[Jonathan] (50:14 - 50:33) Making our will conform to God's will is no easy task, as it requires us to dig into the fundamentals of who we are and how strongly our earthly will is influencing us. Our objective should ever be to honor God in ALL ways, and ultimately, His will leads us to that end.

[Julie] (50:33 - 50:43) When we're looking to make our decisions, let's ask this question: Are we focused on and open to following wherever His will might lead?

[Rick] (50:43 - 51:29) It comes down to the choice--my will or Thy will. It comes down to, am I willing to not be willful? Am I willing to watch and wait and follow as the scriptures open up with those principles so I can do God's will? Because you know what the end result is? My life gets to honor God. Think about that. There is nothing bigger, nothing better in your life than honoring God! Seek to do His will. Think about it.

Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next Episode: "How Generous Should We Be?"

Final Notes: copyright @2024 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.