GOD'S WILL

Dear Friends, we will be away for the next two weeks on a trip to Washington, DC with a senior citizen’s group. Your prayers for our travels and health will be appreciated. We have had two very busy months and look forward to the time away. Go to Church if able; pray for the Pastor and teachers. May we all be found doing the will of God if the trumpet sounds and we rise to meet the Lord? Long for it, pray for it and be busy ushering it in for it is the will of God for us. We wish for you a glorious Resurrection Sunday. To God be the glory. david

GOD’S WILL

Jesus didn't call us and save us only to follow Him; He called us to be Him. He called us to continue and to ultimately complete His ministry work here on the earth. In order for us to be successful in accomplishing this, He gave us His Spirit and His authority to do what needed to be done. Jesus wants us to experience the same baptism and empowering He received from His Heavenly Father. He wants us to willingly accept this enlightening and empowering because he wants us to have the same relationship to the Holy Spirit He had while He was on the earth. For us to do this, we must be willing to embrace and submit our will to the will of God.

When the people heard Jesus teach and witnessed His miraculous acts they knew He was different. He came to do the Will of God rather than cater to the will of man. Whenever we do the will of God it will be obvious to others and to ourselves; evidence of the transforming power going on within us. (John 7:17; Romans 12:2; Mark 3:35)

One of the greatest witnesses we can have in the world today is to do the good works purposed for us by God. This type of behavior is in stark contrast to the behavior of the world. Godliness is the behavior of godly people and it has the power to silence the ignorant talk of foolish men and women who live as the enemies of God. (1 Peter 2:15)

When we are asked why we live the way we live, we can respond honestly that it is a work of grace; a work of sanctification that enables us to relinquish our will to God in order to live a life that is honorable to Him. (1Thess 4:3-5).

God has a purpose and plan for each and every one of us. By submitting our will to Him we allow the Holy Spirit in us to fulfill that purpose and plan.  Remember the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray? Within it is a line that reveals the ultimate objective our goal God has for his creation. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:9-13)

I share the following hymn with you along with my prayer that each of us will willingly embrace the Will of God and His Will, will become our will.

I Surrender All

1.All to Jesus I surrender;                                                                                                                                all to him I freely give;                                                                                                                                         I will ever love and trust him,                                                                                                                               in his presence daily live.

(Refrain)

I surrender all, I surrender all,

all to thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

3. All to Jesus I surrender;

make me, Savior, wholly thine;

fill me with thy love and power;

truly know that thou art mine.

(Refrain) 

PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS

Priesthood of Believers

Hebrews 13:15  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Dear friends, when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, we become a child of God.  We should willingly serve God because we are part of the priesthood of believers and one of the chief functions of a priest is to offer sacrifices to God. While the type of sacrifices the Old Testament priest would have done is different from the sacrifices performed by a New Testament priest, they are still important to be done.

The first and most important sacrifice to be done by a believer is the sacrifice of self. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) We are to willingly die to self and live for Jesus Christ, serving Him and doing what He would have us do. This is obviously the most difficult sacrifice for any follower of Jesus Christ to make, but once we make the sacrifice of self, the other sacrifices are much easier for us to do.

The second way in which we as believers can offer a sacrifice to God as a part of our priestly duties is in our finances. It is in being generous toward God where we discover the joy of giving. It is the believer’s responsibility to underwrite the cost of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ at home and abroad. Once the financial need is made known the Holy Spirit will place within the spirit of the believer a compelling desire to help meet the need. A good example of this is found in   2 Corinthians 8:2-5 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. Years ago I heard the following statement and it stuck with me: “If God doesn't have your wallet, he doesn't have you.” Throughout my years of ministry I have found this to be true.

The third sacrifice we can make as believers is to “continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb 13:15)   This sacrifice of praise would be to use our lips to confess the name of Jesus, our voices to sing His praise and taking time in our prayers to offer praise to Him for His great love, mercy and grace. Sacrifices of praise can be done in worship services, Bible studies, our personal quiet time with the Lord or at times when we have an opportunity to share our faith with others. We use our lips to offer a sacrifice of praise whenever we bless rather than curse; when we speak the truth rather than a lie; when our walk matches our talk.

The fourth sacrifice we can make as believers is “to do good and share with others.” (Heb 13:16) You may not have been aware of it, but when you visited that person in the hospital or when you paid a visit to that person who was lonely, the one who is easily forgotten, you were performing a priestly duty. You are doing something that pleases God.  J. Vernon McGee, a powerful preacher of the Word said, “If Christianity does not walk in shoe leather it is no good at all.” We are the hands, heart, feet and voice of Jesus here on earth. As His priest He wants us to perform the same priestly sacrifices He performed while He was on the earth. And after all, He is still here. He is found in you and in His church.  You, as priest of His Church, write the check, write the note, bake the cookies, make the phone call, knock on the door, invite, spend time with, and more importantly pray for those whom God has placed around you and need His tender priestly care; “for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  From one priest to another, may God richly bless you, david