Trembling at His Word

What is it that makes you tremble? Is it a fear of flying, or encountering serious engine trouble on an airplane during flight? Is it being in a major auto accident or encountering a life threatening emergency of a loved one? There are many things that can cause people to tremble, such as being threatened at gunpoint or knife point by a violent person. All of those things threaten the life of the person who experiences them, but there is something else that makes those who follow Christ tremble, and that's His Word.

The psalmist prayed, "Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your Word." (Ps 119:161, NIV). This verse in the NET Bible reads: "Rulers pursue me for no reason, yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions." The literal Hebrew translation of the second half of this verse in the NET Bible notes says, “'And because of your instructions my heart trembles.' The psalmist’s healthy 'fear' of the consequences of violating God’s instructions motivates him to obey them."

It seems the psalmist was more afraid of God's Word than he was of the powerful rulers who persecuted him without cause. This is just as the Lord Jesus taught us when He said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Mt 10:28, NIV).

This psalmist practiced this when he said to God earlier in Psalm 119, "My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws." (Ps 119:120, NIV)

You know, there's another verse that speaks about trembling at His Word, and that's in the last book of the prophet Isaiah. He prophesied, "These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at My Word." (Is 66:2, NIV).

The Hebrew word for tremble in Isaiah 66:2 is wə•ḥā•rêḏ, which is derived from the word chârêd meaning "fearful; afraid, trembling." The Greek word in Isaiah 66:2 for tremble in the Septuagint is tremonta, which is a form of the word tremo, meaning "tremble (with dread), i.e. shake and quiver from fear." (J. Thayer). This is not just a general reverence for the Scriptures, but an actual trembling in fear of it in a healthy, loving way. In verse 2, the Lord says that He esteems the one who is humble and contrite, and who trembles at His Word.

Applying it to Our Lives
Do I tremble at His Word? That's a good question for each of us to ask ourselves. If you want to be esteemed by the Lord, then according to Isaiah 66:2, you definitely should tremble at His Word.

Perhaps another good reason we should do so is that we will be judged according to what is written in His Word. Our Lord Jesus said, “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day." (Jn 12:47-48, NIV). If anyone rejects Jesus and does not accept His Words, then the very Word of God will condemn that person on the last day. But someone may say, "I don't reject Jesus. I have accepted Him and I accept His Word." Well enough then, but do you actually keep His Word? I'm not talking about owning a Bible or carrying one, but reading it and being a doer of the Word, because the Lord said if anyone hears His words but does not keep them, the very words He has spoken that are written in the Bible will condemn that person in the end. He said what He meant, and He meant what He said. Since that is true, we have good reason to tremble at His Word with a humble and contrite heart, since our very souls depend on it.

I didn't say that, Jesus did. He is the one who said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mt 7:21, NIV). That narrows it down to very few who will enter the kingdom, since only those who do the will of the Father in heaven will enter that place. That eliminates those who merely call Him Lord, but do not do what He says. He said, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Lk 6:46, NIV). So what becomes of those who do not do what He says in His Word? This is what will happen to them. Jesus said, "I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Mt 7:23, NIV). This is the gospel according to Jesus. Therefore, as James said, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (Jam 1:22, NIV). Our eternal destination depends on this, so let's not forget that. It's my hope that this has given us all a deeper appreciation for the Word of God, and that we would always tremble at His Word.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible New International Version (NIV), copyright Zondervan, used by permission.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, I invite you to read my other articles called Should you fear the Lord?, Salvation with Fear and Trembling, The Obedience of Faith, Is Obedience Optional?, Obedient to the Heavenly Vision, Following in His Steps, Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven, Doing What is Right, Faith Works!, If -- A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, Aim for Perfection, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Called to Be Blameless, Election and Predestination, and my daughter's poem, Overflowing Blessings. There are more articles on the Home page of this blog, too. You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

David, A Man After God's Own Heart

We read in the book of Acts that the apostle Paul said, "After removing Saul, [God] made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’" (Ac 13:22, NIV; c.f., 1 Sam 13:14). Have you ever wondered why God considered David a man after His own heart, despite his failures? In this article, I'd like to explore the reasons why God so esteemed him, and in doing so to show the character traits we should earnestly desire to have, if we would aspire to be men and women after God's own heart as he was.

Devoted to His Will

The first reason why David was esteemed by God that way was that he would do everything the Lord wanted him to do. That was the explicit reason God Himself cited (1 Sam 13:14). As a man who was fully devoted to the Lord His God (1 Ki 15:3), he was surrendered to the will of God, or you could say he had given himself over to it, which was in stark contrast to Saul, who at best only partially obeyed the Lord.

King David Playing the Harp
by Gerard van Honthorst

David did not fail to keep the Lord's commands. "For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life -- except in the case of Uriah the Hittite." (1 Ki 15:5 cf., 1Ki 11:34, 38; 14:8, NIV). Any understanding of being a man or woman after God's own heart is truly incomplete that does not take into account the need to do what is right in His eyes and obey His commands.

The Psalms provide us with a very good picture of David's attitude in this respect. David wrote, "Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, 'Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.'" (Psa 40:6-8). Aside from the fact that this is a Messianic prayer that prophetically describes Christ's attitude toward the Father, it was David's attitude as well. His desire was to do God's will. It was like the slave that says to his master, "Your wish is my command." In other words, if the master even wishes for something, I will act upon it as if it were a command.

We see an actual example of such an instance when David once wished for water from the well in his hometown, and his three mighty men jumped at the opportunity to satisfy his desire, even risking their lives to do so. Scripture states: "David had a craving and said, 'Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!' So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; and he said, 'Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?' Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did." (2 Sa 23:15-17). While David did not expect them to do that, they loved him so much they were willing to risk their own lives to fulfill his desire. That's the attitude that David had toward God.

Referring to Christ, the apostle quoted Psalm 40 in Hebrews when he wrote, "Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have taken no pleasure.' Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.' After saying above, 'Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will.' He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb 10:5-10)

The reason for the difference of wording from Psalm 40 is that the apostle in Hebrews quoted from the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. In quoting this, the apostle shows that this was the attitude of Christ toward the Father: "Behold, I have come to do your will." In saying so, He declared His purpose in life, which should also be my purpose and yours if we desire to be men and women after God's own heart.

That's exactly what the apostle Peter taught, saying that we should live the rest of our lives on earth for the will of God. He wrote: "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God." (1Pe 4:1-2).

Likewise, the apostle Paul admonished the Ephesian church to "find out what pleases the Lord." (Eph 5:10, NIV). He told them, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Eph 5:17). We, too, should find out what pleases the Lord and understand what His will is.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, "He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2Co 5:15). In saying this, he taught that everyone who is alive on earth should live for Christ and not for himself.

Moreover, the apostle John taught the same thing when he wrote, "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (1Jn 2:17). This shows that doing the will of God is necessary for eternal life. Some people would baulk at that, but isn't that what the Lord taught? He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 7:21, NIV).

For more on the topics covered in this section, please see Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Pleasing the Lord, The Way, Will, and Word of God, Obedient to the Heavenly Vision, Is Obedience Optional?, The Obedience of Faith, Doing What is Right and Righteous Deeds and White Robes.

Following the Lord with All His Heart
Another reason why David was considered a man after God's own heart is that he followed the Lord with all his heart, doing what was right in God's eyes. God said:

"I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes." (1Ki 14:8).

Anyone who desires to be a man after God's own heart must follow the Lord with all his heart. The Lord Jesus says to us "Come, follow Me," and He has set an example for us, that we should follow in His steps (Mt 4:19; 1 Pe 2:21).

For more on that topic, please see Following in His Steps.

Knowing the Lord
Another reason why David was considered a man after God's own heart was that he knew the Lord. I don't mean a mere head knowledge, but an intimately personal knowledge. He knew the Lord as his shepherd (Ps 23:1), his sustainer (Ps 54:4), his fountain (Ps 68:26), his rock (Ps 28:1; 31:3), his strength (Ps 18:1; 59:17), his shield (Ps 3:3), his fortress (Ps 31:3), his stronghold (Ps 59:17), his deliverer (Ps 40:13,17; 41:1; 68:20; 70:5), his comforter (Ps 86:17), his Lord (Ps 38:22; 51:15), and his Savior (Ps 38:22; 55:16; 68:19). When you know the Lord this way, it's more than just information about Him that you know, but rather you have a personal relationship with Him.

The Scripture says that Adam knew Eve, and she conceived and bore him a son (Gen 4:1). The Hebrew word for "knew" in this passage is "yada" meaning "to know", which indicates that Adam had intimate relations with his wife. God desires to have a very close and personal relationship with each one of us as well, which is how we will come to know Him and take His heart for our very own.

The apostle teaches us that this is the way it is for each of us who enter into the New Covenant with the Lord. "No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." (Heb 8:11, NIV).

In His high priestly prayer on the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (Joh 17:3). This means that the very essence of eternal life is to know the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ. What could be more essential to seeking after God's own heart?

John affirmed the need to know God and His Son in order to have eternal life. He wrote: "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (1Jn 5:20)

When we know the Lord, God sheds His love abroad in our hearts, and we receive in our hearts the same love that He has for Jesus. For Jesus prayed, "And I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (Joh 17:26)

Conversely, those who do not know the Lord do not have eternal life, but are destroyed. Paul said, "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." (2 Thes 1:8-10, NIV).

For more on this, please see Knowing the Lord, From Religion to Relationship, and Having the Love of God in Your Heart.

Being Made Holy
A third reason why David was called a man after God's own heart was that he desired to be holy, which is something we should all desire and strive for.

Going back to the Hebrews passage I cited earlier, it states, "Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.'...And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb 10:9-10). This teaches us that by the very will of God, which Jesus came to do, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of His body, if we have put our faith in Him to save us. This places the process of being made holy in the past tense ("we have been made holy"), which means it is a completed work of sanctification.

However, the apostle goes on to say, "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Heb 10:14, NIV). This means that by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, He has already made us perfect forever (past tense), provided that we are being made holy (present tense). Here we see that while we already have been made holy and made perfect, we are also being made holy. So it is both a past, completed event and an ongoing present process of sanctification. The past event was our positional sanctification in the sight of God through faith in Christ, but the ongoing sanctification is the practical kind that is worked out and evidenced in our everyday attitudes and behaviors.

This practical sanctification is essential, if we ever hope to see God. The apostle stated, "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Heb 12:14, NIV). So while we are already made holy in the positional sense, through our faith in Christ, we must make every effort to be holy, which refers to the practical holiness without which no man shall see the Lord's face.

Paul prayed for the Thessalonians, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." (1 Thes 5:23-24, NIV).

While we understand that even the best are only sanctified in part, we also realize that we need to pray for God to sanctify us wholly in every part of our being -- body, soul, and spirit. He will do it, so that we will be kept blameless at the coming of Christ. To this end the Lord prayed for us saying, "Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth." (Jn 17:17, NIV).

Another passage that teaches us about the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is found in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians. He stated: "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." (2Th 2:13)

Certainly Scripture teaches us that sanctification is a work of God by His Spirit inside of the believer, but that does not eliminate our involvement in the process. Paul said, "Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Cor 7:1, NIV). He clearly taught that we each have an active role in purifying ourselves and perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This demonstrates that we are in fact a man or woman after God's own heart.

For more on this, please see Holy Living in a Perverted World, Aim for Perfection, Called to be Blameless, The Knowledge of the Holy, and Walking in Truth, Righteousness, and Holiness.

Shepherding with Integrity
A fourth reason why David was called a man after God's own heart was that he was a man of integrity. The Scripture says, "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." (Ps 78:72, NIV). What's needed today are cross-bearing people, who will shepherd God's people with integrity of heart and lead them with skillful hands. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, or moral uprightness. It's easy to find those who claim to be leaders that have plenty of head knowledge, including the knowledge of Scripture, and those with charismatic personalities who are great public speakers. But it's much more rare to find men and women of integrity who lead with skillful hands, whether they be those who have authority in the church, or those who are business leaders, or even those in the political arena. It's been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we have plenty of examples of that in both the church and the secular world. Yet David did not let himself become corrupted when God granted him power and authority as king.

Moreover, he actually shepherded the people, which is not just teaching them or telling them what to do. It's not lording it over others. To shepherd people is to care for them, pray for them, guide them, feed them, nurture them, serve them, facilitate their growth, prepare them for service, and lead them by godly example, so that they will one day enter the kingdom of heaven. This too, is something that is more difficult to find today in churches. It's more common to find pastors who act like CEOs of big businesses in corporate America. How we need true shepherds once again to shepherd the people of God and equip them for works of service, which is God's own heart!

Receiving His Mercy
Although David was a man of integrity, shepherding the people, leading them with skillful hands, devoted to doing God's will, knowing the Lord, and becoming holy, he still fell short of God's glory like the rest of us, and needed God's mercy. He would have been a much better example for us if he had not fallen into adultery with Bathsheba, and his own life would have been better for it, too. But then we might assume that the reason he was a man after God's own heart was that he was so perfect and without sin in his life. So the Lord used even his great sin to teach us something. We learn from it that in our pursuit of doing God's will, knowing Him, and becoming holy, that if we sin, we, too, will need to receive God's mercy.

David prayed, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." (Ps 51:1-2, NIV). While he could not undo the sin he had committed, he knew he must repent and seek forgiveness from God. He sought hard after God for mercy to wipe out his transgressions, wash away all his iniquity, and cleanse him from his sin. That's the example we need to follow, too, if we would be a man or woman after God's own heart.

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16). We should always know that if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One (1 Jn 2:1), so we can approach the throne with confidence, because it's a throne of grace. There we can find mercy to help us.

"Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts  I will remember no more.' And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary." (Heb 10:17-18). When you have been forgiven of sins and lawless acts, the Lord remembers them no more. At that point, it's no longer necessary to offer any sacrifice for sin. The price has been paid at the cross for us by Jesus Christ. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1). Don't let the devil beat you up and heap condemnation on you. Instead, repent and go to the throne of grace, asking for mercy and grace. Then receive it from the Lord. Jesus said, "But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mt 9:13, NIV).

For more on this, please see and God Forgives and Forgets.

Finding His Grace
Just as David cried out for God's mercy, he also relied on God's grace as well. This, too, was part of being a man after God's own heart. Here are some of the prayers he prayed regarding God's grace:

"As for me, I said, 'O LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.'" (Psa 41:4)

"But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, That I may repay them." (Psa 41:10).

"Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I cry all day long." (Psa 86:3)

"But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Oh grant Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your handmaid." (Psa 86:15-16)

This unwavering trust that David had in God's grace is an important part of how he sought after the heart of God. Likewise, we too, must boldly approach the throne of grace to find grace to help us in our time of need (He 4:16).

The apostle said, "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin." (Heb 10:18). While receiving forgiveness is a result of God's mercy, it is His grace that frees us from ever having to make any sacrifice for our sins. Once a person is forgiven, he no longer needs to offer a sacrifice for his sins. For to do so would be to question God's grace and seek to earn His forgiveness.

Paul taught that "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us." (Eph 1:7-8a). It's always according to the riches of His grace, which He gave to us in such large measure.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9). The meaning of this Scripture is self-evident, that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Even the best reach heaven by the grace of God, because even they are not good enough to earn their way in by their own merits. Someone said, "You can't earn God's love. You can only accept it."

In David's case, as I have said, it would have been better for him if he had not committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband Uriah, but once he realized his sin and repented, the grace of God was sufficient for his need. Although his sin increased, the grace of God increased even more. As Paul said, "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (Rom 5:20).

If you have never experienced the grace of God like that, then let me tell you that there is no time like the present to do so. "As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor 6:1-2). You may not have tomorrow, but you have today, and now is the time to seek God's favor and receive His grace in your life.

For more on this please see By Grace Alone and Amazing Grace.

Putting it All Together
In our look at the life of David, we've discovered that there were several reasons why God considered him a man after His own heart. He was full devoted to the Lord his God and to doing His will, he was obedient to the Lord, he followed the Lord with all his heart, doing what was right in God's eyes, he shepherded God's people with integrity of heart, he led them with skillful hands, he knew the Lord personally, he desired to become a holy and godly man, yet he also knew how to receive mercy and find grace to help him in his time of need. May the Lord help each one of us to have these same outstanding characteristics in our own lives, so that we too may be men, women, and children after God's own heart.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright the Lockman Foundation. Other Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan. The painting of King David Playing the Harp by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622.

Author's note:  Also see Aim for Perfection, Knowing the Lord, The Knowledge of the Holy, Is Obedience Optional?, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Pleasing the Lord, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Called to be Blameless, A Tale of Two Kings, Sin and Consequence, God Forgives and Forgets, By Grace Alone, Amazing Grace,and From Religion to Relationship. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven

Life would be much different for each of us if God's will were done here on earth as it is in heaven. I'd like to share with you just how different it would be and why.

Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven
The Lord taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Mt 6:10). I stated previously in my article, The Disciples' Prayer:

In heaven, God’s will goes unchallenged and is always done. There’s nobody there resisting God’s will. On earth there are many enemies of God and hindrances to block his will. Yet His will is best. “Father knows best.”  The Father is looking out for your best interest. Trust God. Go with what He says.

When you pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then it will guide you to pray in His will.  And even if you make a mistake and pray outside His will, He will know that you asked for His will to be done, so He will answer it according to His will, rather than how you wanted it.

When you do God's will, that is one way this prayer of yours will be answered.  He said, "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35).  He also said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luk 11:27-28).

Jesus prayed for the Father’s will, when it was contrary to His own (Mt 26:39-42).  This is what we must do also, following our Lord's example. His will is what we live for, not our own. This is critical, because of the power of the will. Your will has the ability to make you miss heaven. God will not force you to obey Him. He will not force Himself on you. If you allow your will to take priority, it can take you to hell. If you aren’t willing, then you can block God’s will from being done, so live your life for the will of God. Surrender to His will, and live according to it. (1 Pe 4:1-6).  The one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:17). His will is holy, righteous, perfect, and true.

Citizens of Heaven

Even while we are living on earth, if we know the Lord Jesus Christ personally and are born again, then we are citizens of heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Php 3:20, NIV). This means that heaven is our home and our names are already written in the register there as citizens of that glorious place. Our names are written in the Book of Life, which is an actual book in heaven with the names of every person who belongs to the Lord (Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 20:15; 21:27).

Jesus taught those of us who are truly His disciples to rejoice that our "names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20). It's very important that your name be written there, because it means you have eternal life and will spend eternity there with the Lord. However, anyone whose name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:5). Hell is real! You don't want to go to that terrible place. That's why you need to make certain that your name is in the Book of Life.

Being a citizen of heaven comes with both privileges and responsibilities. The privileges are rather obvious. As I said, you get to live there forever in the presence of God and walk with Jesus on the streets of gold. You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, which is reserved for the overcomers. You can bathe in the River of Life and drink from it. You can eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life. You will worship with the saints at the throne of God and behold His power and His glory in the sanctuary. You will enjoy fellowship so sweet with the saints and angels up there. It's a wonderful kingdom of light, life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. There's no more sorrow there, no more dying there, no more sickness, and no more pain. It's only perfect peace and rest.

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Everyone there delightfully does the work the Lord has given them to do, which is very fulfilling and satisfying. It's not toilsome at all like work here on earth. And they live in holiness unto the Lord there, so there is nothing impure or evil allowed in that place. There is no devil, no demons, no property of satan, nothing false or artificial. There is no smoking, no drug use, and no alcohol abuse. They don't bow down to idols there. Everyone dresses modestly and godly. Everything is perfectly pure, holy, and righteous in heaven. "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." (Rev 21:27, NIV).

If you would like to know more about what heaven is like, you can read about it in the book of Revelation. You can also read many testimonies that I have posted on Eternal Destinations from people who have visited heaven and come back to tell about it. Heaven is real!

On Earth as it is in Heaven
Now let's relate that back to life here on earth. Since we who know Christ personally as our Lord and Savior are citizens of heaven, and we pray for our Heavenly Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, that means He is expecting us to live our lives here and now just as they do in heaven. That also comes with privileges and responsibilities as well.

You get to begin enjoying your eternal life right now and experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10). You also experience the presence of God and walk with Jesus in your everyday activities (Jn 15:4). You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, but you need to wash your robe and keep it from becoming stained with sin (Rev 3:4,18). You can drink daily from the living waters that Jesus promised (Jn 7:37-39). You worship with the saints at the throne of God. You enjoy sweet fellowship with the saints here. You are seated in heavenly realms with Christ (Eph 2:6), and you are hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3). The Lord sets His angels about you to protect you at all times (Psalm 91:11-12; Heb 1:14). It's a wonderful kingdom of light (Col 1:13), life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. You may have hardships, trials, sorrows and griefs to bear (Ac 14:22), but the Lord comforts you, gives you grace, and enables you to experience peace that passes all understanding in the midst of it (Phl 4:7), as well as joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pe 1:8).

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Lk 10:27). Your life should bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). You must do the will of God (Mt 7:21), and complete the work the Lord has given you to do (Col 4:17). Whatever you do you must do it with love as unto the Lord for the glory of God. And you should aim for perfection (2 Cor 13:11), walking in holiness, righteousness, and truth (Eph 4:24), allowing nothing impure, unholy, worldly, sinful, or evil in your life (2 Cor 7:1). That means you must not entertain demons. You must not own or wear any property of satan on your body. You must not be deceitful, false, or artificial (Ps 101:7). You must not bow down to any idols or lift up your soul to them (Ps 15; 24:3-4). Everything in your life must be perfectly pure, holy, and righteous like it is in heaven (Heb 12:14). That includes the way you dress and adorn yourself, which must be with decency and propriety in all modesty (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Pe 3:3-4), so that you honor the Lord with your body (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Since they don't smoke, do drugs, or get drunk with alcohol in heaven, then that means you shouldn't do those things here on earth either, if you are a citizen of heaven. Since they don't get tattoos in heaven, you shouldn't get them here either (Lev 19:28). Since they don't wear makeup in the Holy City, you shouldn't wear it here. Since they are not going around dressed half naked in heaven, you should cover your body. Since they are not listening to secular music in the courts above, you shouldn't listen to it here either. It's easy for you to know how the Lord expects you to live, because anything they do in heaven, you should do here, and anything they don't do there, you should not do here. This is what the Bible teaches us. It's sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

Do you think that the saints here on earth are allowed to carry on living like the world (1 Joh 2:15-17) -- drinking, smoking, watching secular movies, listening to secular music, hating, lying, cheating, deceiving, not caring for one another, not praying, not worshiping the Lord, wearing the property of satan, being artificial, and dressing immodestly or indecently -- and then die and go to heaven? Do you think that just because they said a sinner's prayer and attend church they can live their life however they wish, and then as soon as they die they will walk through the pearly gates into heaven and begin to act differently and become holy people? If you do, you're wrong (Rom 6:1-2). If you don't hate sin now, you won't hate it there. If you don't like to worship and pray now, you won't like it there either. If you don't love the Lord with all your being now, you won't do so there either. If you don't love your neighbor as yourself now, what makes you think you will become a loving person after you die?

Let's pray that our Father's kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on earth in our lives as it is in heaven, so that we would live our lives on earth as they do in heaven. With the Lord's help, and by His grace, let's live on earth as they do in heaven.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB copyright the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures where noted as NIV, taken from the Holy Bible New International Version, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Citizens of Heaven image copyright Word of Grace Bible Church - Battle Ground, WA, used according to Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.
 
Author's note: You are invited to read Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Aim for Perfection, Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?, Tattoos and Body Piercing, Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Three Divine Revelations, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Called to be Blameless, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Separation from the World, The Straight and Narrow Path, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Your Identity in Christ, and Fruit in Every Season. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

Many people think that ignorance is bliss. In other words, they think that what they don't know won't hurt them. They believe they will be happier if they are kept in ignorance about certain things, especially those things that are unpleasant or that scare them. They believe it is better not to know things sometimes. Yet the Lord warned us that ignorance is not bliss.

Jesus said, "That slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few." (Luk 12:47-48a)

He taught that the one who does not know his Master's will and does things deserving punishment will still be beaten. He does not get a free pass because of his ignorance. Granted he will be beaten with few blows, but he will still be beaten. Certainly his punishment will be less severe than that of the one who knew his Master's will and did not act in accord with it, but he will still be punished. Moreover, the Lord did not say the punishment would be temporary, but that it would be less severe, which teaches us that there are varying degrees of punishment in hell for different people. Everyone condemned to hell remains there forever, but they are punished at a level appropriate for their deeds.

This is one of The Apostasy Parables, as I explained in my article by that name. It depicts a servant of the Lord, who believes in his heart that the Lord will not come back for a long time, and who begins to beat the other slaves he was supposed to care of, and begins to eat and drink, and get drunk. Here is the full context, including Peter's question about the previous parable, in which he asked the Lord whether the parable about the servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet was addressed to the disciples only or to everyone else.

Peter said, "Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?" And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. "But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. (Luk 12:41-48).

In this parable, as I have already said, the Lord taught that He will punish His servant, who is not faithful and sensible, and who falls away from Him. He will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. So we learn from this parable that ignorance of God's will is no excuse. The Lord will not spare the servant who does not act in accordance with the Lord's will, and who claims he did not know, but will still punish him.

This should put the fear of God into us, and make us want to read the Scriptures prayerfully to know the Lord's will, so that we are not ignorant. We should find out what pleases the Lord and do it. We should seek wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge of God. We should seek to put His Word into practice.

Imagine a person who has at one time come to know the Lord and been saved. He owns a Bible, but does not read it, or at least not very often. He has plenty of time to watch TV, listen to music, surf the internet, spend time on Facebook, spend time hanging out with his friends, and exercise. But he doesn't make time to read the Word of God. Therefore, he misses out on the warnings that God wanted to give him, and he lives in a way that is not in accord with God's will. In the end, he will perish, and it will be his own fault, because he made a choice to do other things rather than read the Scriptures, and by his own actions he demonstrated in his lifetime what was priority for him. God will take that into account at the final judgment, and based on what Jesus taught, we have no reason to believe that such a person will escape hell.

If you don't read your Bible much, let me encourage you to begin doing so now, and to put it into practice. I hope you will take this message seriously and read the Scriptures daily. And for those who already do read the Scriptures, the warning is even more serious, because if you fail to do the will of God that you know you should do, then you will be punished more severely. That would apply especially to people like pastors, teachers, and preachers, who are supposed to be feeding God's people the Word of God. We will be judged more strictly (Jas 3:1), so let's fear God and take heed to this warning.

 

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. 

Author's note:  Also see Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, An Open Mind that Loves the Truth, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, The Apostasy Parables, Drifting Away, Should you fear the Lord?, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?, Is Obedience Optional?, Wisdom for Wealthy Preachers and Prosperity Teachers , The False Gospel of Eternal Security, The Conditional Security of the Believer, Overcomers in This Life, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Five Divine Revelations, Garments of Godliness, Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, The Judgment Seat of Christ, Faith Works!, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, Keeping Sundays Holy, Pleasing the Lord, and Is Tithing Required?

You can access the Seeking the Lord Main Directory or my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Way, Will, and Word of God

Dear God-seekers,

In my previous article, The Ways of Life, I coined an expression, "the www of God's kingdom." I explained how there are the ways of God, the will of God, and the Word of God. These three w's are emphasized throughout Scripture. But today I want to show you how the Lord Himself emphasized them in His famous Sermon on the Mount, teaching on all three of these topics at the closing of that sermon in Matthew chapter seven.

The Narrow Way

"Walking on the Narrow Way"

First of all, as I have explained in The Straight and Narrow Path, Jesus taught that we must enter through the narrow gate and follow the narrow way.

He said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Mat 7:13-14)

We have choices. On the one hand, there is the wide gate with it's broad way. On the other hand, there is the small gate with its narrow way. Many people enter through this wide gate, which leads to destruction. In fact probably the majority do so. But few people find the narrow way, which leads to life. They are the minority.

Like I explained in Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, in Luke's gospel, the Lord is recorded as saying, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Luk 13:24). That word strive means "to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), to endeavor to accomplish something), fight, labor fervently, strive, to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers antagonistic to the gospel."

Beware of False Prophets
One of the reasons you have to strive to enter the narrow gate is because the devil does not want you to, and he tries to prevent you from doing so. You have a very real adversary, who hates you and wants to destroy you. That is the reason you must strive to enter the narrow gate, not because the Lord does not want you to.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." (Mat 7:15-20)

The Lord warned us of the devil's emissaries, who come preaching the message everyone wants to hear. they will convince you that you don't need to strive and that the narrow road to life is much wider than you think it is. They come wearing sheep's clothing on the outside, but they are actually ravenous wolves inside. You must be careful not to be deceived by them.

Since you cannot determine by their outward appearance that they are wolves, you must test their fruit. The Lord said you would know them by their fruits, which refers to what they produce and what they do. This is the way that everyone is known in the spirit realm, not by their outward appearance. For example, angels and demons can appear in different forms, but they are known by their character. That too, is how we know these false prophets.

The Lord said that a good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. This is how it is with people. So any preacher who bears bad fruit is not a good tree. And any preacher bearing good fruit cannot be a bad tree. I covered this in my previous article, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets.

What does the good fruit look like? It's the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23)

On the other hand, the bad fruit is the deeds of the flesh. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)

Consider what each of these sins listed here is referring to. Immorality means fornication or sexual relations outside of marriage (e.g., adultery, incest, rape, molestation). Impurity means any uncleanness, any dirty things in your life and heart (e.g. sexually impure thoughts, impure actions, even those that are not of a sexual nature like smoking cigarettes, watching secular TV, videos, and movies, listening to secular music). Sensuality means being sexually immodest or promiscuous, filthiness, or debauchery.

Idolatry means image worship, making anything into a god, putting anything above God, loving anything or anyone more than Him, praying with an image or diagram before you (e.g., statues of Mary or other saints, images of Jesus, Buddha, phallic symbols, figurines, satanic symbols, etc.), loving or being controlled by material things (e.g., cars, boats, toys, games, money, etc). Sorcery means magic or witchcraft, which includes occult activities like incantations, casting spells, white or black magic, voodoo, drugs, séances, contacting the dead, mediums, Ouija boards, burning incense, crystals, astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, palm reading, fortune telling, psychic healing, channeling, telepathy, role playing games, Dungeons and Dragons, yoga, transcendental meditation, astral projection, levitation, mind control, satanism, etc.(Also see Demon Busters list).

Enmities means hatred, opposition, conflicts, or being adversarial. Strife means quarrel, disputing angrily, contention, debate, variance, or discord that produces a dispute. Jealousy means envy, fervent mind, zealousness for something other than the Lord or the true things of God (e.g., it was out of jealousy they crucified Christ). Outbursts of anger means passion (as if breathing hard, loud sighing), fierceness, indignation, wrath, fits of rage, temper tantrums, losing your temper. Disputes means selfish ambition, plots, complicated schemes, secret plans, conspiracies, (e.g., they plotted to kill the Lord). Dissensions means disunion, division, sedition (rising commotion in which people come together against authority).

Factions means a party (e.g., political or religious) or disunion, clique, sect, cult, splinter groups that follow heresy (error in fundamental religious beliefs). It also includes secret societies and brotherhoods that require oaths or initiation of some sort for membership (e.g., Freemasons, Knights of Columbus, Shriners, Elks, mafia, fraternities, and sororities).

Envying means ill will, envy, jealousy. Drunkenness means using alcohol to change your state of mind, using it as a drug. Matthew Henry said, “Drunkenness is excess in drinking of wine or strong drink, whereby the stomach is overcharged, the mind is intoxicated, and the body enfeebled and unable to perform its office.” Carousing means reveling. Matthew Henry said, “Reveling is excess in feed, nocturnal riotings in eating, drinking, dancing, singing, chambering and wantonness. The Syriac version renders it, ‘lascivious singing’; and the Arabic version, ‘songs’ which are a part of the nightly revels: and such like which are of the same nature and kind.” To put it in modern terms, reveling is jamming to worldly music, nighttime dancing, partying, “kicking,” singing lascivious songs, “rocking,” letting loose, etc.   It means to make a racket, make whoopie, make merry, whoop it up, jollify, “kick” it up, or participate in orgies.

A Christian medical doctor I know in Africa said that in the Spirit, God showed him something. He discovered that the church he used to attend in the village was dominated by witchcraft and surprisingly some of those he thought were Christian were in fact using Christianity as a cover while they continued to work for Satan.

I have already explained in my article, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, that this is not a comprehensive list of all sins. In that article, I showed numerous lists found in the Scriptures of sins that will keep you from heaven. But at the end of this list in Galatians, Paul finished by saying, “And things like these”. That is a very broad expression that covers a vast array of sins. So not all bad fruit that a false prophet could produce are necessarily listed in Galatians 5:19-21, but any fruit they produce that are like the ones Paul listed are also bad. He said, “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”. So you should avoid any preacher who is practicing such things. As the Lord said, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Mat 7:19). Therefore, those who follow them will also end up in the fire. 

The Will of God

As I have covered in Walking in the Perfect Will of God, those who enter the kingdom of heaven are the ones who do the will of God.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Mat 7:21-23)

Not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter. He who does the will of God will enter. The will of God is His desire or pleasure. It is what He has determined should happen.

Elsewhere Jesus also said, "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35). He also taught us to pray, “Heavenly Father, Your will be done.” We are constantly seeking the will of God. It's not always easy to follow His will, as Jesus Himself experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. You may recall that He prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done." (Mat 26:42b).  But even though it may be difficult, and it may require self-denial, it is the only way to inherit eternal life. The apostle John said, "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (1Jn 2:17)

The Lord said on “that day” (judgment day) many people who call Him "Lord" will point to their gifts and how He used them (prophesying, casting out demons, performing many miracles). They will seek to show that since they did all these things in His name, that it is evidence of their allegiance to Him and qualification to enter the kingdom of God.

But He doesn’t know such people. He said He will command them to depart from Him. He will call them those “who practice lawlessness” (i.e., workers of iniquity, wicked people, evil people). In the expression, "you who practice lawlessness", the word “practice” refers to what they do (i.e., their works). And the word “lawlessness” refers to wickedness (i.e., unrighteousness, iniquity, violation of law, that which is illegal). Yes, even in the New Covenant of grace, we must still obey The Law of Christ. It’s not enough to call Jesus "Lord". Don’t think that because the Lord uses you a lot in supernatural gifts that you’ll enter the kingdom. You must obey His commands, or else you will not see His face.

The Word of God
Finally, the Lord said we must hear the Word and act on it.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall." (Mat 7:24-27)

The man who hears the Word of God and acts on it (puts into practice) is the one who built his house on the solid rock. His house represents his life. On the other hand, the man who hears the Word of God and does NOT act on it is like the one who built his house on shifting sand. Both houses encountered a storm. Both men will stand before the Lord in judgment, which is like a great storm. Each of us is either like one of these men or the other. The house is your life. We are either building our lives on the solid rock or on shifting sand.

The house that was built on the rock will not fall, and neither will the person who hears the Word of God and obeys it. The house that was built on the sand fell with a great fall. This is how the person's life will end, who merely heard the Word of God, but did not put it into practice. Wise men build on the rock. Foolish men build on sand.

As I explained in my article, You Must Be Born Again, Jesus said, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (Joh 3:36)

He also said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments...He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me..." (Joh 14:15,21a)

This is why it says in Scripture, "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." (Heb 5:9)

Putting it All Together
The Lord concluded His Sermon on the Mount by emphasizing the need to follow the way of God, which is the narrow way, as well as do the will of God, and put into practice the Word of God.

In this passage, entering through the narrow gate involves bearing good fruit, doing the will of the Father in heaven, and obeying the Lord’s commands, as well as hearing the Word and putting it into practice. Those who do so are wise. They will not fall, they will find life, they will enter the kingdom of heaven.

On the other hand, taking the broad way and the wide gate is to produce bad fruit -- the deeds of the flesh, to practice lawlessness, to work iniquity, to lead a wicked life, and to merely hear the Word without putting it into practice. Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God, even though they may call Jesus Lord and operate in the supernatural spiritual gifts in the name of Jesus Christ. They will either be deceived by false prophets or become one. They will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Those who take this broad road are foolish. They will end in destruction. They will fall with a crash. They will be told to depart from the Lord, since He doesn’t know them.

We must strive to enter through the narrow gate. We must beware of the false prophets. We must test their fruit. We must obey the Lord’s commands and do the will of God to enter the kingdom of heaven. We must hear the Word and act on it. All who are wise will do so.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Thy Will Be Done" painting and the "Wise and Foolish Builders" painting © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. The "Walking on the Narrow Way" illustration is by my seventeen-year old daughter C.V. Lacroix. You can find more of her artwork at A Brush with Life.

Author's note:  I invite you to visit these related articles of mine: The Ways of Life, The Straight and Narrow Path, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, You Must Be Born Again, The Law of Christ, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Is Obedience Optional?, Obedience by the Spirit, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, Faith Works!, and Doing What is Right, and Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth? You can access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.  I also recommend the booklet by brother Sadiq Ibraham, called Walking in God's Perfect Will.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Walking in the Perfect Will of God

I want to address the matter of God’s will, since there are so many misconceptions and misunderstandings about it.  Both non-believers and believers alike have some negative connotations surrounding the expression “God’s will.” 

Some people think the will of God for their lives must be dreary, boring, or too difficult.  I used to think like that before I knew the Lord. Others think that if they do God’s will, then it will require them to do something they don’t want to do.  Some question God’s will, saying things like, “If God were a God of love, why would He allow this to happen.”  Still many don’t even know what the expression “God’s will” even means!

So let’s look at the truth about God’s will, so that we can properly understand it and know it.

The Nature and Meaning of God’s Will
First of all, let’s consider the very nature of God’s will and what it means when we refer to the will of God.

God’s will is that Jesus would lose none of those whom He has given to Jesus. "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.  (Joh 6:39)

It’s God’s will to give eternal life to those who believe in Jesus. "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."  (Joh 6:40)

God is a Mighty Savior, and it’s His will or desire for all men to be saved. “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  (1Ti 2:3-4)

It’s not God’s will that anyone perish in hell.  "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.  (Mat 18:14)

His will is for everyone to come to repentance. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  (2Pe 3:9)

Since God cannot repent for you or force you to repent, sometimes it is God’s will for us to be made sorrowful for a season, in order to bring us to repentance. “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.” (2Co 7:9)

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2Co 7:10)

Will (Greek, thelema)
When speaking of the will of God, the word for “will” is thelema, which means “A determination (properly the thing), that is, (actively) choice (specifically purpose, decree; abstractly volition) or (passively) inclination: - desire, pleasure, will.” – Strong. The will of God is what He has determined should happen.  It’s His desire or pleasure.

Another word that is used much less often for God’s will is boulomai, which is a verb that means “1) to will deliberately, have a purpose, be minded; 2) of willing as an affection, to desire.” – Thayers.  Some examples in the New Testament, where this is used for God’s will are 2 Peter 3:9 (where it is used in the negative sense about what God does not desire), Matthew 11:27, 1 Corinthians 12:11 and James 1:18.

It was God’s will to beget us and give us new life by the Word of Truth. “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” (Jas 1:18)

If you have given your life to Jesus, then you were born again by the will of God. “Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”  (Joh 1:13)

Certainly it’s God’s will for you to give yourself to the Lord and to the brethren. “and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.” (2Co 8:5)

It’s God’s will for you to be made pure and holy.  “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;” (1Th 4:3)

It’s God’s will for you to give thanks in everything.  “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Th 5:18)

It’s God’s will for you to silence the ignorance of foolish men by doing what is right.  “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1Pe 2:15)

Doing what is right usually involves some kind of suffering by the will of God, which requires you to trust God. “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” (1Pe 4:19)

It’s God’s will for elders to shepherd His flock voluntarily, not because they have to, or because they are being forced to, or for the money. “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; (1Pe 5:2)

Now that we have established the true meaning of God’s will and its benevolent nature, let’s see why it’s so important.

The Importance of God’s Will
The reason Jesus came was to do God’s will.  "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'" (Heb 10:7)

The only person Jesus considers part of His family is the one who does the will of God. "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35)

The apostle Paul lived according to God’s will. “But taking leave of them and saying, ‘I will return to you again if God wills,’ he set sail from Ephesus.” (Act 18:21)

Paul prayed that he would visit the Christians in Rome by the will of God. “Always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.” (Rom 1:10)  As we know from Luke’s account in the book of Acts, when Paul was on trial for his faith, he appealed to Caesar.  This required that he be sent to Rome for the emperor’s decision.  Therefore, he did go to Rome, but it was as a prisoner.  There he lived in his own rented house, where he welcomed all who came to see him, and preached the kingdom of God to them.

The Spirit intercedes according to the will of God.  “And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:27)

That’s why the Spirit’s intercession is so vital, because the only prayer God hears is the prayer according to God’s will.  “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”  (1Jn 5:14)

We must know and confirm the will of God. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

You need to be fully assured as to what God’s will is, and this comes through prayer.  “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)

The prayer and declaration that Jesus taught us to pray is “Heavenly Father, Your will be done.” When His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, he said to pray to the Father in heaven: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”  (Mat 6:10). There is no resistance to God’s will being done in heaven, but there is resistance to it on earth.  That’s why we need to be praying that it will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  And when the saints around the world are praying that way continually, then the will of God will be accomplished.

That’s the way He Himself prayed in the midst of His suffering.  “He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.’"  (Mat 26:42)

Now that we see so many reasons why the will of God is so important, let’s move on to how that applies to our lives from a practical perspective.

The Necessity of Doing God’s Will
Not only is God’s will benevolent and very important to us, it is absolutely necessary for us to do the will of God.

We must live our lives only for the will of God.  “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”  (1Pe 4:1-2).

You only receive what was promised when you have done the will of God. “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Heb 10:36)

We must do the will of God from the heart. Paul taught slaves to obey their earthly masters “not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” (Eph 6:6)

To avoid passing away and perishing with the world, you must to the will of God.  “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”  (1Jn 2:17)

Only the one who does the will of God will make heaven. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  (Mat 7:21)

Doing God’s will is not the same as saying you will do it or having sincere intentions. It must be evidenced by action.  "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They *said, "The first." Jesus *said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.  (Mat 21:31)

Anyone who knows God’s will, and does not act according to it, will be punished severely in hell. "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,  (Luk 12:47). So there is a great responsibility to live in the perfect will of God once you know it. 

And those who don’t act upon it, because they don’t know it will be punished, too, although less severely. (Lk 12:48)

For Jesus it was as nourishing as eating food to do God’s will.  “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.’”  (Joh 4:34)

Jesus only sought to do God’s will.  "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  (Joh 5:30)

Jesus only came to do God’s will.  "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  (Joh 6:38)

You come to know the will of God experientially by doing it. It’s not just an intellectual head knowledge that you need.  "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.  (Joh 7:17). 

God knew that King David would do all His will, and He called him a man after His heart.  "After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'  (Act 13:22).  We need to be men and women and children after God’s heart, who will do all his will.

“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  (Eph 5:17).  We need to understand what the Lord’s will is, in order to avoid being foolish.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”  (Col 1:9).  Paul prayed that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  That’s the kind of wisdom we need.

Once you know God’s will, He will give you all you need to do it.  “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb 13:20-21)

Putting it All Together
As we’ve discovered in God’s Word today, the will of God is not something to be dreaded. It’s nothing to run away from or resist.  His will is always good, perfect and pleasing. 

Before I gave my life to Jesus, I was considering the claims of the gospel that a friend had shared with me.  I was considering giving my life to Jesus, and I thought that if I gave my life to the Lord, I would no longer have those hilariously fun times I had enjoyed in the world.  But after I gave my life to Jesus, I realized how wrong I was.  I have experienced greater highs of joy and excitement and fun in the kingdom of God while serving the Lord Jesus that I ever experienced from any of the many worldly pleasures I indulged in while I was in the world. He knows what is best, and wants the best for us.

He desires all men to be saved. It’s not His will that any perish, but that all come to repentance.  Yet you must repent and give your life to Jesus, or else you will perish. But since He cannot make you repent, He sometimes allows godly sorrow into your life to bring you to repentance, which leads to salvation.

The will of God is for you to be sanctified, holy, righteous, and living according to the truth, doing what is right, and giving thanks to Him in everything.   God’s will is very important to us.  It affects every aspect of your life -- including where you live, work, go to school, what you do for work and recreation, who you marry, how you dress, how you treat your parents, spouse, children, and neighbor, and how you spend your money.

The only ones who are punished are the ones who don’t do the will of God, either because they don't know His will or because they know His will and make a choice not to do it.  Yet the ones who know His will and don’t do it will be punished more severely.  It’s important to know and understand what His will is!

However, we don’t seek to know the will of God for informational purposes only.  We seek to know it, so that we can do it.  It’s not enough to simply call Jesus your Lord.  It’s absolutely necessary for you to do the will of God, in order to become part of Jesus’ family, to enter heaven and live forever.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Thy Will Be Done" painting © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's note:  I invite you to visit these related articles of mine: "Is Obedience Optional?", "Obedience by the Spirit,"  "Righteous Deeds and White Robes,"  "Faith Works!," and "Doing What is Right," and Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth? You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  I also recommend the booklet by brother Sadiq Ibraham, called Walking in God's Perfect Will.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.