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Teach me to do your will :
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground. (Psalm 143:10) It is the theme of our meditation, the subject of our teaching, for no one can deny the need for it, walking as we are, bombarded on all sides by various voices that advocate paths that can lead you astray, drifting away from God’s will for you. For, He restores your soul, even as He leads you in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3) He leads you, as He instructs you, even as the prophet says, the Spirit of the Lord instructs him and teaches him the right way. (Isaiah 28:26) It is the Holy Spirit who needs to instruct and lead you.
Teaching and training :
They are the two components of the manner in which He leads you. Teaching happens even as He speaks to you through His Spirit and His word. It is a classroom setting. And training is the practical application of it as you apply and walk in it in your life’s path, even in the daunting challenges that can arise to trouble you. To do His will in the midst of it all is by the leadership of the Spirit in your life. It is why therefore it is the prayer of the psalmist, and needs to be yours and mine too. And it is wonderfully exemplified in the life of Moses, a towering personality, and example of leadership in the old testament, leading more than two million people out of slavery who also were recalcitrant and non co operative in many ways, even to the extent of wanting to return to the bondage of Egypt. And his life yields great insights and revelation truth concerning the very nature of God, which when received and applied in your life will lead you on level ground where you will not stumble and fall or move away from the very best that God has for you.
For to begin with, Moses began in a very different fashion, plagued with doubts considering his own personal deficiencies, inability and lack. It is so very much the same in your life and mine when we consider the call of God upon our lives. And it is also then, that God’s word concerning the great prophet Elijah, that he was a man with like passions brings to light the truth that can liberate you. ‘Who am I, Lord?’ It is how Moses began, as seen in the third and fourth chapters of Exodus. In conversation with the God Almighty, all he could focus on was his own weakness. And even this day when it happens within you, what will bring balance would be the truth that it is all about His grace working in you. And to Moses’s self absorption God responded very differently. He did not give up on him. And He never gives up on you.
Instead His answer to Moses was the assurance of His presence, always. And later on in his life Moses having tasted it in his life is able to say confidently that he and the people of Israel were special because God was with them. And it is true even in your life and mine this day, as children of the Most High God. Who do I say you are, Lord? This became the question of Moses, a little later, after finally accepting the call of God, to go to the people of Israel, beginning the process of deliverance.
He acknowledged his ignorance regarding the wondrous nature and name of the Almighty God. And this again is so very vital when it comes to doing the will of God for your life. For the more you begin to know Him, the more you will know that what you know of the infinite God is so very miniscule. But it ought never to deter you from embarking on the journey of knowing Him. It involves taking the first step, making a beginning, even as Moses did. Knowing Him happens through the scriptures, and with practice and time spent in the presence of God, the word of God will become more and more familiar to you, through it all revealing to you more and more of His glorious nature, His majesty and might, His unending love and mercy towards you.
Knowing God :
Being seated in the house of God, being familiar with the things of God from a young age is all good. But it also needs to grow day by day, to move from strength to strength, and glory to glory in your Christian walk, as you know Him, hear His voice in order to do His will. Samuel the prophet, was in the house of God from a very tender age, and yet a very interesting fact recorded about him as a young boy was that he did not yet know the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:17) It was why he did not recognize the voice of God calling him, and ran instead to Eli the priest. But it was not the end; rather it was how it all began. For, knowing God more and more, the Bible also records that at the end of his life what described him was that, God did not let any of his words fall to the ground, but honoured it all, by bringing it to pass. There needs to be a consistency and growth in knowing God more and more is what it illustrates.
‘Who are you, Lord?’
Samuel grew up in the house of God. And it alone was not sufficient. And Paul is another interesting example. For, he had all the right spiritual credentials as a Pharisee with a legalistic knowledge of the scriptures. He knew it all like the back of his hand, so to say. And yet he was going in the wrong direction, until the God of the scriptures, encountered him. And it is also extremely interesting to then to see that the Lord introduced Himself to him in a first name basis, ‘I am Jesus’. (Acts 9:5) Paul thought that he as a Pharisee knew all about God, but when on the ground that day, blinded by a glorious light, he knew that it was not so. And he humbly asked two important questions: 1. Who are you, Lord? 2. What do you want me to do, Lord? They are the two things that you and I need to ask too, for it is what will shape your God given destiny. One needs to make a start in getting to know God. Paul’s life was radically transformed that day, as he then went on to write almost half of the new testament.
The God of your father :
To Abraham He made Himself known as the Possessor of heaven and earth. And to Isaac He declared Himself to be the God of his father Abraham. It emphasizes the importance of fatherhood, in displaying the nature of God, in the way you deal with life’s circumstances. Your children will be blessed beyond compare, when the Sovereign Lord through your relationship with him is able to introduce Himself in a similar fashion to them. For your family and everything that God has blessed you with is never to be ignored or taken lightly. Rather it is for a purpose, that results in Him being glorified. And it all begins with you making a start in knowing Him even as Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is, that their eyes of understanding may be enlightened to know Him more and more.
‘I AM has sent you’ :
Paul seems to have had a better deal. For this is how God described Himself to Moses. It seems simple and yet so complex in what it entails. And a version of it puts it across as ‘I am who I am &; I will be what I will be’. It is the glorious truth of who God is. And it can be grasped in two important ways. God is always present and always unchanging. And one simple word describes its essence – ALWAYS.
Always present :
It is the self sufficient, self existence of God. He was and is always there. In the beginning was the Word; and it does not presuppose a time when He was not there.
And, He is always unchanging :
A person can be there and yet not be what he used to be earlier. A husband or wife may not be as loving towards their spouse as they were in their early years of marriage. The world and everything in it changes. But in a changing world you have an unchanging God.
How can you know such a God ?
It is where grace steps in, even as Paul declares in Galatians 1:15, it is by grace that God chooses to reveal Himself to you and I. The very fact that you are seated in the house of God attests to it.
In a relationship :
And He does it all through a relationship; one by which you can call the God of heaven and earth, Abba Father, by the spirit of adoption that comes to abide in you, as you receive Christ as your Saviour. Knowing God does not happen merely by reading the scriptures, though of course it is a good beginning. But something deeper needs to happen within you, as you begin to know God as your Father, who loves you, and knows all that you are in need of, even before you open your mouth to utter a word. It can radically transform your prayer life, to see it becoming a close and intimate conversation with God in a two way process, speaking and then hearing from Him. It will see time fly, as you begin to enjoy the presence of God , instead of watching the clock to see whether you have completed the mandatory daily quota. Knowing God is more than knowing about God. And today you and I, by His grace and mercy have the glorious privilege of entering into His presence, calling Him, Father. He is your Father God! And He is always with you, and always remains the same.
He always lives to intercede :
It is how the truth becomes applicable in the life of a person even on this day, and will remain so forever. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25) It comes to pass in many different ways; for instance, there need never be an ‘if only He was there, things would be so much better’, thought running through your mind, concerning the happenings of your life, as it so often happens in most people’s lives, as they lose a loved one. And subsequently there is always an empty space that can never be totally replaced. But it is also where a Christian has an eternal hope. For we have a God who is always there. And there is also the promise, that one day we will be reunited with our loved ones to be with the Lord, and with them always and forever.
He completely saves :
It is also what God accomplishes, because He is always there. Anything that comes to you from Him, will never be left incomplete. What He has begun in your life, and in your loved ones, He will surely carry on to completion. And you can rest upon this truth for He is the God who is always there.
He will lead you in triumph always :
It is the promise that comes to you through His word, one that can never fail. (2 Corinthians 2:14) In Christ you will be always led in triumph, diffusing everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of His presence.
Sufficiency of His grace, always :
It will be your blessed experience, as Paul has written, And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8) His grace is sufficient for you always, new every morning, for He is the God who is always there. And He is always loving, always merciful, always gracious, and above all He is always faithful, even when you and I are faithless, for He cannot deny Himself. It is the glory of His unchanging nature. And it births in Paul a wondrous proclamation, one that can be yours too, as a child of the God who is ‘I am who I am, and I will be what I will be’.
As always, and now also Christ glorified in you :
And therefore you will never be disgraced, never be put to shame, in life or in death. It is the consolation we enjoy, even concerning the loss of our loved ones; for as the song declares, ‘when we all get to heaven, what great joy is going to be ours, as we together see Him face to face, always and forever’!. Therefore, even in his prison cell, awaiting judgement that could go either way, Paul declares, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’. (Philippians 1:20,21) When we are alive, He is with us and in us always, and when we die we are with Him always rejoicing, in His glorious presence. This is the God whom we are privileged to worship, whom we have the glorious liberty in and through Christ to call Abba Father, who spoke unto Moses declaring His Name to be, I am who I am and I will be what I will be, Blessed be the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come.
Blessed be the Lord God Almighty, who reigns for ever more. May the truth of who our great and loving God is, who is always present, and always unchanging, become your personal experience in life, as you partake of the riches of the Lord’s Table; and through His word may you be led on level ground, in the path of doing His will, by the Holy Spirit who instructs you, even as your eyes are fixed on the Lord, who always desires to do good to you, according to His good pleasure.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
