1 John 3: 23-24
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
These two verses are the summary of God's will on us. Throughout the whole Bible, you will find that God's will is so simple. As Jesus summarized the laws in Mark 12:29, the first is that you shall love the Lord your God with all your hear, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second is that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. One is regarding God, while the other is regard your neighbor.
It is really not that difficult to understand God's commands. We shall always keep these commands regardless what we do and what we say. Can we glorify God with what we do? Can we rectify others with what we do? We should do whatever glorifies God and benefits others. We should think over whatever does the opposite. Why we cannot understand God's will now and then is because of the impurities in our mind, just like Peter. When he was praying on the roof of a building in Joppa, the Spirit came to him and showed him a vision: a large sheet came down with lot of unclean food in it. The Lord gave him a simple order: "Peter, kill and eat." This order was as clear as it could be. But it was still too "difficult" for Peter, to the point that he had to tell the Lord he loved three times: "By no means, Lord." Why? Because it was completely against his past tradition, concepts, experience and habits.
Jonah did the same thing. When God called on him to spread the gospel to the city of Nineveh, God even told him what to say. All he had to do was to keep shouting in the city for forty days: "Forty days more, and the city of Nineveh shall be overthrown." All God ordered him to do was to shout this sentence. Isn't it clear and simple? But it was so difficult for Jonah, to the point that he'd rather stay inside a fish for three days. Since people in the city of Nineveh were the enemies of the Israelites. Not only was he afraid to be called traitor by the Israelites, he didn't want those people to be saved anyway. Our thoughts always contaminate God's will, so that we are kept from following God's will. How are you doing today? Do you think God's command is evasive? Or does your own thought often hinder you?
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu
Lord, we come to you again to let you search us. If we have any impurity in our mind, may the Spirit shine on us, so that each brother and sister can recognize the shortcoming, sin and hindrance in his/her heart. Then each of them can willingly lay them down. May the Spirit strengthen each of them. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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