+DEV+ Pt 6. Soul Care: Choosing To Will His Will

Date: December 23, 2014 12:42 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Pt 6. Soul Care:  Choosing To Will His Will

Pt 6 Soul Care:

CHOOSING TO WILL HIS WILL

. . . An individual's capacity to choose is his or her most God-like characteristic.   When God designed us, he gave us the ability and the right to make decisions.  He will not force us to do anything.

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had a choice.  Everything was theirs to use except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Regarding this tree, God had said, "No!"  Then he stated the result of disobedience:  "You shall surely die if you eat."  But because he wanted them to have a choice, God did not build a fence around the tree.

Why did God present an opportunity for evil?  The answer is simple.  Love always involves a choice.  Although God loves us and wants our love in return, he will not force love, because then it would not be love.  Without an opportunity to choose, the capacity to choose is meaningless.  We can decide to demonstrate a positive response to his love by loving, trusting, and obeying him.

When individuals choose to become Christians, they accept Jesus as Lord.  But they must still decide whether to obey him in each situation and thus demonstrate the totality of their love.  That is why Fenelon said, "Pure religion resides in the will alone."

So many of us live mainly in our feelings rather than in our will.  Our feelings come from our reasoning or our emotions, or some mixture of both.  Both our reasoning and our emotions are a result of our experiences, encounters, and learning.  But to live in the will means that I choose God's way, rather than relying on what I think or want.

Usually our problem is not ignorance of God's will, but refusing to do God's will.  God never asks us to do something we cannot do, so the choice is ours - we must decide. . .

~~~

From the book: 

'Soul Care'

By Peter Lord

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

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