God's Will, and A Prayerful Relationship

Good Evening to All!

Last night at church, our Pastor brought up a very Good Subject, the Confusion about the Will of God. I know I have been confused at times about it and I am very sure that I'm not the only one. I have done things which I said a prayer about for guidance. The problem was that I didn't wait very long for God to truly answer my prayer. I would wait a day or two maybe even a week and then plow ahead. A lot of times God doesn't answer our prayers in the time "we" allot Him to do so. After all, His time is not our time. His time is what's best for "us", our time is when we want it whether it's best for us or not. Anyway, needless to say, I "misread" His Will, and just because it didn't work out the way "I" thought it should, I said to myself and to my hubby, I guess it wasn't God's Will after all that we do this or that. Now with that being said, on with my Pastor's teachings.

To Help Eliminate the Confusion of God's Will, think of it in terms like "God is your boss, you are His employee and He will do what is best for you.

Sometimes the Will of God is NOT specific. People make the mistake (Me included until last night) that the Will of God always has to do with a person, place or thing. My Pastor brought some fantastic things to light. The Will of God is also a lifestyle, an attitude if you will.

The reason I say this is because according to God's Word the following constitute the will of God:

The moral life-NIV Abstaining from fornication or sex outside of marriage is the will of God for us. (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
Living a life separate from immoral people is for everyone as the will of God.
1 Peter 4:2 NIV-That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
2 Corinthians 6:17 KJV-Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
Psalm 150:6-KJV-Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Hebrews 10:36 NIV-you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

1 Thessalonians 5:18- The will of God is for us to be thankful. To be thankful is more than just saying thank you. There are several things that we need to be considered thankful.

a. Humility - I realize that I have has some help in my life from God and other people, and acknowledge this.

b. Appreciation - It's like a turtle on a fence post. It HAD to have help getting up there, and no matter what we have accomplished in our life or what we have done, we have had help doing it. Nothing is accomplished on our own.

c. Contentment - This is something that has to be learned. It is not a human trait to be content naturally. We always want more of everything. We must learn to be satisfied that what we have is enough for us and like it. I know this one may not set well with some people, especially if they are poor. What I am saying is not to be greedy. It's one thing to be poor and NEED more, but it is something entirely different to not have to wonder about where the next meal is coming from or clothes on their backs. God will take care of those people whether it's sending them someone with bags of food, or clothes, or Santa's Helpers at Christmas, but the ones I truly speaking to are people who have decent incomes and are not having to wonder about the necessities of life, yet wanting more no matter how much they already have. God provides us with good jobs and sufficient incomes to do His will, which is to help others as well as ourselves. So we must learn to be content and not greedy.

d. We must "Think". A person cannot be thankful unless they are "thinkful". Yes that is a play on words. We must think about things before we can be thankful. Think about blessings which God has given us, think about God and how good He's been to us and what He has done for us. Think about church, family, friends, and even the people we don't know, but those whom we have come in contact with that helped us.

Thinkful = Thankful = Fulfilling God's will.

Appreciation is an expression
Gratitude is an attitude of life.

Instead of spending all or too much of our time wondering about what is the specific Will of God for our lives, we need to focus on what we KNOW is the Will of God which is easily found in the Word of God. All we have to do is spend a little time with God in His Word.

For my love, they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
(Psalm 109:4 KJV)

In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
(Psalm 109:4 NIV)

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There are all types, and lengths of prayers. Prayer can be short, simple and to the point kind of prayer, or it can be a long eloquent type of prayer, with either one getting the same result, although sometimes I personally think that in the long eloquent prayers the main purpose of that prayer sometimes loses track of what the original prayer was suppose to be about because we start concentrating more on "how" we want to say something instead of the "meat" or subject of the prayer. The thing is we still need to get down and really talk to God on a personal level. This is very important in obtaining a personal relationship with God. If it wasn't, why would He make it a point to tell us in His Word that He no longer would call us servant but friend? Another verse says that He sticketh to us closer than a brother.

Even in a human relationship before we call people our "friends" we get to know them a bit. We spend time with them, we talk to them. We find out what they like and dislike. That's what a friendship is, and that's what God wants from us. A true friendship takes nurturing. For example, in developing a true personal relationship with God, we need to pray to Him for understanding His Word, we need to Study His Word to find out His likes and dislikes, to understand what He expects of us, and even how to get to that point. His Word is a guidebook or "How To" book of how to live our lives to stay on the path toward heaven which should be everyone's ultimate goal.

Prayer is a major part of doing this. This is yet another way of being submissive and doing God's Will.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

Catching Anything?

Good Evening to All!

I don't know if y'all can see a pattern growing here, but I have noticed of late that I have been posting quite a bit about doing God's Will above our own to be happy. I don't know why He has directed me in this direction unless this is something that He feels is becoming more and more lacking as His time to come back draws nigh.

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Jesus said to them, Boys (children), You do not have any meat (fish), do you? [Have you caught anything to eat along with your bread?] (John 21:5 Amp. version)

Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
(John 21:5 KJV)
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John 21 tells the story of the disciples who fished all night long, but caught nothing. Have you ever felt like you were doing all you knew to do and still not getting an good result? If so, then you know how they must have felt.

Jesus showed up and called to them from the beach and asked if they had caught anything. They said no. He told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they wold find fish. They cast, and they had so many fish they could not even haul in the net. This story is an example of what happens when we follow God's will, compared to what happens when we follow our own will.

when Jesus questioned them, He was basically saying, "Are you doing any good at what you are trying to do?" that is a question we might ask our selves when we have no fruit to show for all the effort we put into the projects we are working on.

When we "fish" outside the will of God, it's equivalent to fishing on the wrong side of the boat. Sometimes we struggle, strive, work, and strain, trying to make something great happen. We try to change things, people or ourselves. We try to get more money or a higher position at work. We can work and work in all these ways and still have nothing to show for our efforts except being worn out.

Have you caught anything lately? Have you accomplished anything besides being worn out? If not, maybe you've been fishing on the wrong side of the boat.

God's Word For You Tonight: If you ask for God's help and listen for His voice, He will tell you where to throw your net.

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I am a woman that loves to fish. The problem is I am not in control of the boat when we go, my hubby is. I am a novice fisherman (fisherwoman), where my husband has been fishing ALL of his life, so he knows all the tricks to find out where the fish are. I have to rely on him if I want to catch anything. I listen to him when he tells me to cast on this side of the boat, or use a certain jig to catch fish because the water is too shallow for the jig I am using or the water is too muddy so I need a different color. By listening to my experienced guide of a husband, I usually catch quite a number of fish.

Well, in Life, we should let God control our boats. He knows where the "best"places for fishing are, He knows what "lures" to use. He knows everything about us. Not only that I have found that if I use what I have to help others, I get back so much more in return, not only physically in the way of "rewards" but also emotionally, and mentally". If we will just ask God to help us in our every endeavor, and ask for HIS WILL to be done in everything we do, then Our nets will be overflowing. We will be blessed and so will others.

Good Night and May God Bless!