Tag Archives: Will of God

Renewing Our Minds

Living in the Spirit

August 21, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Differentiating what is of the world from what is of God is the challenge in not conforming to the world. The wheat and the weeds do grow in the same field*. As a child going to the garden with my mother, I am sure I was carefully taught what was a weed to pull and what was a plant to nurture and allow to develop. I do not recall those lessons; I also do not remember being unable to differentiate between weeds and plants. Such experiences become a part of our being. What happens when what we learned was wrong or changed over time?

Constant work in the renewing of our minds is necessary to discern the will of God. That is complicated by our discerning what of the world is neutral to God and what is fundamentally different from God’s will. I do not believe God cares whether we dye our hair blue or wear sneakers to church or celebrate the Fourth of July. I do think God cares if any of our actions from the world grow into idol worship. And God cares if our actions denigrate any of God’s other children.

All of us, since birth, are subtly influenced by culturally differing statuses of the worth of other people. Such attitudes are so ingrained in our culture, we may not recognize them as separate from the will of God. Others learned direct discrimination. God calls us to love one another—all others and to appreciate them for their gifts just as they are–our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must dig deep into our beings and do the introspection necessary to cull out those weeds of bigotry that impact the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom becoming a reality in our world now.

Prayer: Lord, changing the way we have always perceived the world is hard work. Give us the courage and commitment to work this work in your name. Amen.

*See Matthew 13.

All scriptures .are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Wisdom

Kingdom Building

June 11, 2019

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,
   and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
   at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
   at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
‘To you, O people, I call,
   and my cry is to all that live. –Proverbs 8:1-4

The Hebrew word chokmah*, translated in the scripture above as wisdom, is used in the ethical and religious sense as the divine wisdom personified. Are we called to personify divine wisdom?

Merriam-Webster picks up on this idea in its first definition of the word wisdom** and list some additional meanings that provide clarity.

  • the effectual mediating principle or personification of God’s will in the creation of the world
  • the intelligent application of learning: ability to discern inner qualities and essential relationships
  • good sense:  judgment, prudence

We have a lot of information in our world today and a lot of well-trained, smart people. These are good things. Problems arise when we do not practice wisdom regarding what we know.  A sad state of affairs exists in our world when we use our intelligence for all the wrong reasons. Rather than pooling our skills and talents for the betterment of all, we use it to divide and compete for wealth and power admiring ourselves for our accomplishments. Lists of the richest people in the world are routinely shared in media. I Googled, top ten wisest people in the world,today and got zero results. The response included lists of the smartest people in the world. I even searched for the wisest people in history and got no response but the smartest people.

Perhaps we have problems recognizing the qualities of God we are called to personify. How do we know what the will of God is for all God’s creation without extensive study in recognizing God’s work in our world and building a relationship with God?

Prayer: Creator of all, bless us with your wisdom has we strive to do your will in striving for the betterment of all?

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2451.htm
**http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/wisdom

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Discerning God’s Way

Desires of your heartLiving in the Spirit
July 13, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? –2 Samuel 7:1-5 

We bandy about discussions on the will of God and following the will of God as if it were a tangible reality, if we could just figure it out we would be like God or, I fear, we might feel we are God. In many instances today dedicated Christians end up disagreeing, mightily sometimes, on exactly what the will of God is.

The phrase is not used specifically in the Hebrew Bible, appears only twice in the gospels, and 15 more times in the remainder of the New Testament. The word “will” is derived from the Greek thélēma (from 2309 /thélō, “to desire, wish”) – properly, a desire (wish), often referring to God’s “preferred-will,” i.e. His “best-offer” to people which can be accepted or rejected.*

Rather than being a fixed reality as if carved in stone never to be changed, the relationship Nathan displays in our scripture today is more one of pondered dialogue with God, dynamic in nature, and understanding of the need for humans to seek and act on God’s good counsel to shape and target our own wills into productive outcomes.

I have been described as a strong willed persons and believe me that can be considered both a good thing and a bad thing. David was a strong willed persons. His tenacity led the Israelites into many years of prosperity and peace; his lust led him into adultery and murder.

As followers of Christ we are not only called to discern the way of God for ourselves but working together to be the Body of Christ in the world today discerning God’s desire for all God’s children and working diligently to make it a reality. We must find ways to bridge the gaps among us and work toward productive outcomes.

Prayer: God we thank you for sharing your desires with us. Help us to learn you love enabling us to live in your ways. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/2307.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.