Gtcotr/ws010814
Luke 22:42 Jesus said, "Father,
if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but
Yours, be done."
There
are two facts of life which we cannot change. These two facts of life often present
us with great challenges and at times even greater hardships. However, since
these two facts cannot be changed, we must find our place of service and learn
to live with the influence God gives us.
What
are the Two
Facts of Life which we cannot change?
1.
God’s sovereign will
2.
Man’s God-given right to choose which master he will serve
These
two facts are forever settled in heaven. It is possible to thwart the hope of
God and to force a person to act contrary to their own desires, however these
things do not change God’s will nor man’s heart. Just because God allows change
does not mean He has changed His will.
I
offer for example the account of Balaam from Numbers
22ff. At heart, Balaam served the god of money and was willing to
compromise his righteousness a little here and there to gain increase.
·
At
first God told Balaam to not go with the messengers
·
Balaam
kept asking God because the situation kept looking better and better for him
financially … Balaam’s god kept enticing him
·
Finally
God said to Balaam, “Go ahead and go …” (Go ahead and do what you want but know
this, ‘My will has not changed’ … verse 22)
·
Balaam
was so happy to begin his new adventure until he met the angel of the Lord
standing in the way planning to kill him.
·
Balaam,
like Jonah, was willing to change his mind but not his heart
·
God
allowed Balaam to go against God’s will, and while technically Balaam kept God’s
will on some levels, he transgressed God’s will on so many other levels and
made himself money and a name but in the end, many years later, it cost Balaam
everything, including his life.
·
Just
because God changes His mind does not automatically mean He has changed His
will. To be right we need embrace His will.
God’s
will is a reflection of His purpose and the unfolding plan He has chosen to
accomplish that purpose. It is said: “God’s Word is His Will and His Will is His Word.” This
is absolutely true in every respect. Peter rightly explains the will of God for
us in:
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.
Recognizing
the fact that God has a will and that every man has a right to choose the god
he will serve – what then is our place in this world?
Our duty on earth is to influence both God and man to fulfill the Will.
Two
great questions arise from this truth:
1.
How can I influence God to fulfill His own will in the earth?
2.
How can I influence others to fulfill God’s will for their life?
Allow
me to set the stage for what we are about to read from Numbers 14. By this time
the Children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt and were camped in a
wilderness at the edge of the Promise Land. They had all heard the Word of God
from Moses but as yet most of them had not committed themselves to the Will of God.
Perhaps this is where many people, maybe even some of your family members are
today. They have heard the Word but are not committed to the Will.
God
clearly wanted the Children of Israel to receive their promised inheritance in
the Land of Canaan. This was God’s will and in order for God’s plan to work the
Children of Israel would have to trust God, move forward and stand up against
their enemies. Some of the leaders who were not fully committed to God’s Will
influenced their families to disregard God’s instructions through Moses.
Instead of following the leaders that brought them out they were influenced to
choose new leaders who could never take them in. It is amazing what a little
influence can do … At any rate, even with all His patience, God was angry and
about to act -
Numbers 14
4 So they said to one another,
"Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell
on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of
Israel.
6 But Joshua the son of Nun
and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out
the land, tore their clothes.
I
have a question: Who were Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb trying to influence?
The answer: God. They were not trying to influence or impress the people. Oh no
… these actions were the actions revealing the heart of someone who cares. Even
though these 4 men had been rejected as leaders and indicted in front of the
whole congregation, they still had a heart for God’s Will and they wanted God
to please fulfill His Word in the lives of the people and not forsake and
remove them from His Will.
When you
have lost influence with others, you may still have influence with God.
Numbers 14
10 And all the congregation
said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the
tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
11 Then the LORD said to
Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not
believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?
12 "I will strike them
with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation
greater and mightier than they."
13 And Moses said to the
LORD: "Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You
brought these people up from among them,
14 "and they will tell it
to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are
among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands
above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar
of fire by night.
15 "Now if You
kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame
will speak, saying,
16 ’Because the LORD was not
able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He
killed them in the wilderness.’
17 "And now, I pray, let
the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying,
18 ’The LORD is longsuffering
and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means
clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
to the third and fourth generation.’
19 "Pardon the iniquity
of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You
have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."
20 Then the LORD said:
"I have pardoned, according to your word.”
If
we were to continue to read the account we would find that even though God
changed His mind He did not change His Will. God was determined to have a
people in the earth who would trust and follow Him so that He could fulfill the
promises He made to Abraham and the purposes to which He first created man.
Nonetheless
Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb influenced God through earnest prayer to fulfill
His Will. We too have influence with God by those same means. When we earnestly
pray, God hears and is moved to work His Will in the earth. Even God likes to
be encouraged.
What
about the people? How can we influence our families, friends and even our
enemies to fulfill the Will of God for their lives? Much the same way as we
influence God … with our earnest, faith-filled words …
The
reason these families of Israel were influenced to rebel was because of their
family leaders and the words they used to discourage them against God and His
Will for their lives. How did the leaders of these 10 tribes exercise such
influence … it was because they truly believed what they were saying.
When
we repeat those things we sincerely believe, we become very convincing. And,
most likely you are already exercising influence in and over the lives of your
family members because you truly do believe the things you are thinking and
saying both publicly and in your own private time. Trouble is – you may not
be believing and repeating the Will of God over your family but rather
believing and repeating what you see and how you feel. If so, this needs to
change!
We
must begin to see, pray and declare the Word and the overriding Will of God
over our families both in private and in public, speaking that which is good to
build our family members up and not tear them down in their own eyes, in the
eyes of others and especially in the eyes of God.
We
cannot and should not try to change the will of God or take away someone’s
God-given right to choose … however, we should attempt to influence both God
and others to fulfill the Word and the Will.
God
has a Will and He has a plan to accomplish that will. God’s plan includes you!
May
His Kingdom come and His Will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven. Amen!
Here
is what we will do to exercise our God-given influence and be a blessing to
both God and to our family:
1.
Pray the Word and the Will of God over our family.
2.
Speak the Word of God over our own mind and opinions.
a. Begin to change our
mind about God’s Will for others
b. See people as God
sees them
c. Remember, nothing is
impossible with God
d. We cannot take away
other’s right to choose but we can influence them to choose God
e. It is the goodness
of God that leads people to change
3.
Declare God’s good will over our family and their future.
a. Despite what we have
experienced in the past
b. Despite what we fear
concerning the future
c. Despite what we
think they deserve
d. Speak that which is
good and Godly over their lives
i. with a calm peace
ii. and an encouraging
tone
Just
like Jesus said: “It’s not about what I want God but rather it’s all about what
you want … not My will but Yours be done.” This must have encouraged God to go
forward with His plan despite the hardship required.
