. . . work out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you . . . —Philippians 2:12-13
Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.
The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “. . . for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
You have shown us wonderful things about your love and grace. And how connection with you is the key. You’ve amplified Jn 5:19 for us … you only did what you saw and heard from Father, and encouraged us to live the same way. You’ve shown us to live expectantly and curious to see what you’re doing next. We understand in our minds that all these are parts of kingdom living, a better way to live,…… But we’ve been frustrated that we sometimes fail to implement all these good ideas. And we pray every day to improve the transfer of the things we understand to the ways that we walk them out in our daily lives.
The message of today, Work out our salvation by what you’ve worked into us, and blow up the resistance with the dynamite of Obedience speaks clearly to me. This is normally a “day off” for me. But as I awoke the thought was in my mind, “What are you going to do first? Check your email or spend time with me?” I sensed that although checking email is not a sin, for me, it would set the tone for my day. Set it toward the cares of the world. For me, it would be an indicator of what comes first in my life. So here I am. The Action Point is summed up in the title of the song. I Choose Now.
I was going to close with a prayer to still help me implement the concepts you’ve taught us. You’re showing me that there is a time when prayer is not the most important thing. Choosing is the most important thing. Choosing, Deciding and Obeying. When I’ve gone past a point of choosing to obey without actually implementing the obedience, i.e. when I’m in disobedience, it is fruitless and frustrating to pray. It’s like I’ve skipped first base. Rather I need to always tag all the bases. The building block you’re showing today is to Choose Now and blow up the resistance by Obedience to your Holy Spirit.
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