Wednesday, April 19, 2017

"I Will" Part 2

"I Will"             


Part 2        


     "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
 (Philippians 2:12-13)

    
   Do we believe the Apostle Paul's affirmation that our Lord works in His trusting children "to will and to do?"  How we answer this question influences whether or not we consistently experience the power of the Holy Spirit's moving within us to motivate and enable obedience to God.  

   We all feel and sense impulses and desires contrary to our Lord's will.  "The flesh lusteth against the spirit" (Galatians 5:17).  Moreover, we sometimes perceive little desire in our hearts for faith and faithfulness.  However, regardless of whether we feel, sense, or believe that our Lord works in us to will and to do, He faithfully fulfills His Word. "God… cannot lie" (Titus 1:2).  Our calling therefore involves believing the truth regardless of emotional or sensory perceptions.  God's doings for us and in us continue  whether or not we perceive or believe them.  He calls us to a life of willing to do His will.  He assures is that He will work in us accordingly.  We must affirm that the Holy Spirit is present and actively engaged in our hearts to fulfill His role of grace, and enable our role of faith.  

  Paul's declaration regarding God's working in us to will and do constitutes one of the most under believed promises of the Bible.  We tend to base our perception of desire on feelings and experience rather than on Truth.  Our spiritual enemies seek to discourage or keep us ignorant of our Lord's ongoing infusion of motivating power to do His will.  We overcome by faith, believing the Word of God in the face of all that may contradict.  Yes, in this moment and forevermore, the Spirit of God works in us to will and do of our Lord's good pleasure.  Whether we sense such working or not, the dynamic process of grace continues in accordance with God's perfect faithfulness.  Our Heavenly Father beckons us to believe, and thus to experience the fulfillment of His promise and presence in our Spirit-indwelt hearts.

"I delight in the law of God after the inward man...  ... So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God."
(Romans 7:22; 25)

Weekly Memory Verse
   But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(II Corinthians 3:18)
   

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