Not My Will but Thine

“Not my will but Thy Will Be Done”
“ Whose Life Is It Anyway?”

All scripture taken from New King James Version
unless otherwise noted.

© dks inspirations 2004


Greetings in The Name of the Lord!

The heartfelt desire for this little glimmer of understanding
about our existence in Him is put forth in the hopes that it
will inspire you, fellow Brethren & Saints, to live in Christ,
through Christ and for Christ.

What a comfort, in times of trials, it can be to understand
the BIGGER picture, to see our trials and allow them to
be used for HIS glory.

May the Lord bless you in all wisdom and understanding
as you grow in “Him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all you ask or think.” (Eph 3:20)

Place your hope in Him and you shall be eternally inspired.

ks

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:11-13)

We are to rejoice and count it all joy EVEN when we go through trials and suffering. (James1:2)

To truly understand how we can be content in all things we must take a look at the reason (the purpose) for our creation and ALLOW IT to impact us so deeply that nothing could ever shake us from that truth.

Why were we created?

Ps 150:6 says:

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”

Did you know you were created to Praise Him?!!
Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth!

And He is worthy to be praised! He is worthy to be praised for who He is and not just for what He has done.

To acknowledge God for what he has done is to offer unto Him thanksgiving.

When we praise Him for who He is …

then we can praise Him through all things because our praise is not dependant upon what He has done for us.

Let’s read Ps. 148:1-5:

“Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for He commanded and they were created.”

Ps. 148 commands all creation to praise Him!

How does all creation praise the Lord?

All creation praises the Lord by being and doing what they were created to be and to do;
by their mere existence they praise the Lord.

Does your mere existence praise the Lord?

Are you being and doing what you were created to be and to do?

We must remember that our lives are not our own.

When we asked Christ into our hearts we laid down our lives for Him so that He would live through us.

That means that this life is not our own, nor is it about us.

When we can understand that our lives are not our own and not about us, then the hardships, the heartaches, the trials…those things which try to wear us down and discourage take on new meaning.
When we begin to understand that they are ultimately about God, allowed by God and about His Divine Plan for the salvation of the world, to bring Glory to Him and not about us then our mere existence will begin to praise Him!

Jesus knew that, for in John 6:38 He said,

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Through His mere existence Jesus praised the Father because He knew it was not about Himself.....
And because He knew that, when it came time to go to the cross He could say,

“Not My will but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Abraham also knew his life was not about him! God said to Abraham,

“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…..
(Gen 22:2 KJV)

and Abraham, at the command of God, with a humble and obedient heart, took his son by his side and proceeded to offer him as a sacrifice for God. He knew, didn’t he? It was not about him,

“Not my will, but Thy will be done!

Perhaps we struggle with understanding this because we cannot see the bigger picture!

Consider this:
When Jesus died and was enclosed in the tomb, the sisters wept outside the tomb.

What they could not see and what they did not realize was that Christ’s death was not the end but the beginning;

Not only for Christ to reign with higher power, but for our redemption, that we would live and live a life eternal with Him!
(John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, tho he may die, he shall live. And he who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

So, let me ask you this….What injustice do we do our Father when we moan and groan and whine and complain over that which He has planned because we cannot see the bigger picture?

James said we are to persevere while John said we are to be overcomers.

The big question is:
How do we overcome and not simply persevere?


Let’s look at Job who in the midst of trials could say:

“The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD."
(Job 1:21)

And again in the midst of trials Job declared:

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
(Job 13:15)

Remember also Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and what they declared at the hand of the king who had just ordered them into the fire?...they declared:

“our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not,”
(Dan 3:17-18)

Imagine! About to be thrown in a fiery furnace and they could say…God will deliver us, BUT IF NOT, IF HE CHOOSES NOT TO,....and they were willing. Why?

What did they understand that we do not?

They understood what we so often forget— that it is not about us!

“Not my will but Thy will be done!”

They were being and doing what they were created to be and do.

They were praising the Lord by their existence.

And through their trials they were glorifying God - that He would be known among all men.

Oh! that we would NOT see our trials from earth looking up but from Heaven looking down!
How different might they appear! Would we then understand that it is not about us?

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)

Before the foundations of the earth God had a purpose for us to fulfill. This purpose is far greater than our own worldly pleasures and desires.

While we were created to praise Him and to bring Him all honor and glory, we were also created to do His will- to spread the Gospel, bringing sinners to the saving knowledge of Christ that they, too, may share in the eternal promise which we ourselves await..

We must always remember ….God did not create us for our pleasure…but for His, to bring Glory to Him.

Are you pleasing to God?

Are you about His business or your own?

Does your existence glorify God?

The following accounts are of a couple of faithful Christians who persevered and overcame life’s trials and heartaches, knowing they were created for a higher calling and purpose, knowing that their lives were not their own.

Horatio Gates Spafford

was a wealthy business man who had invested heavily in Chicago real estate.

He had already lost his only son when, in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire struck. When it was over 300 people were dead, 100,000 were homeless.

Although his own losses were devastating Horatio Gates Spafford worked to help the homeless and grief-stricken people ruined by the fire.

After 2 years he decided to take a vacation to England with his wife and four daughters. At the last minute, Horatio was delayed but he sent his family ahead, planning to catch up with them in England.

Just off the coast of Newfoundland, their ship collided with another ship and sank.

His wife, Anna, was able to cling to a piece of floating wreckage (one of only 47 survivors) but his four daughters were drowned.

Upon hearing the news, Horatio boarded a ship to join his wife, and when it neared the sight where his daughters had died, Spafford went to his cabin, where he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the words to this song:

“It Is Well With My Soul” It speaks of the eternal hope all believers have, no matter what pain and grief come upon them on this earth.

The first verse goes like this:

“When peace, like a river, attendeth
my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me
to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.”

As the years went by, the Spaffords had two more children. One was lost to scarlet fever.

Yet despite the trials and sorrows of their lives, they went on to give God the glory by pursuing His will for their lives.

Moving to Jerusalem, they established a school, an orphanage, a hospital, and other outreaches in order to personally minister to those who lived there.

How could Horatio Spafford look upon the tragic events of his life and say “It is well with my soul!”?

It is because he knew it was not about him….

“Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

Julio Ruibald

This is the story of Julio, who was an intercessor called to the city of Callie in the Columbian Amazon where the drug cartel was the largest, richest and best organized in the world.

Understanding it was God’s will, Julio went to the city of Callie to intercede for it. Bringing together thousands of intercessors, & pastors, holding all night prayer vigils, and claiming the city for Jesus Christ brought about miraculous changes.

As a result of Julio’s obedience, the drug cartel was shattered and the city was transformed.

Julio had prophesied revival in Callie and indeed revival began to fall upon Callie with thousands upon thousands coming to the Lord.

Julio had once said and believed, “I am immortal until I have done what God has for me to do.” (“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
John 17:4)

One afternoon, Julio’s family dropped him off on a corner near the church where he was headed to attend a meeting. As he began walking towards the church, 2 hit men who were waiting for him, ambushed him, shot him and killed him.

His wife, upon being called and told of Julio’s death rushed to the scene. When she arrived on the street, she saw Julio lying on his side like a baby, a pool of blood around his body. As she looked down upon his body, she heard, by the Spirit of God, the verse

“precious in the sight of the Lord is the death
of His saints” (Ps.116:15)

Later, she said, “she knew that God had entrusted her with the greatest thing that anybody could ever do. And that is to give their very closest as a martyr for Jesus Christ.”

But on that day, as she stepped out and sat next to his body, she knew she was on Holy ground and she said to God, “I know you know everything in our hearts, but this I have to say,

“It is well with my soul. This is what you wanted and it is well within my soul.”

How could she say that?

Looking down upon husband whom she loved, who was her life … she’d born his children… followed him around the world as he did the work God created him to do and she loved him.

YET she could look down upon him and declare, “it is well within my soul, O God”

She knew, didn’t she?

As she gazed upon her husband, lying dead on the side of the street, gunned down while doing what he was created to do….she knew,

“Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

And it was well within her soul.

Life, though wonderful and full of many blessings can also be full of great trials, hardships, sorrows and pain.

“shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10)

If we can walk through both sides of that spectrum in this life which the Good Lord has given to us remembering that it is not about us but that it is about God and His sovereign plan then it is easier to look at our trials and say

“Not my will, but Thy will be done”

and when we can do that, only then will it be

“Well, well within our souls”

and then our mere existence will praise the Lord, Bless Him and bring Him all honor & glory.

Amen!

Jesus said, “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
(John 18:11)

Article Source: http://christian-topics.info

www.dksinspirations.com still under construction dksinspirations@gmail.com box 112 antelope, or 97001

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