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Awakened morning by morning, to hear God’s voice of tender mercy and kindness, grace will take you to where He wants you to be. For, it is pleasurable for God to bless you. And it goes without saying that, what is pleasurable to God is bound to prosper, to make serving God a pleasurable experience to you. Therefore, the prayer of the psalmist is this-Teach me to do your will, for You are my God; May your good Spirit lead me on level ground. [Psalm 143:10] The help of God is vital, when it comes to doing God’s will in your life, for there are challenges that can come right from the very start. One can choose to live one’s life according to wrong philosophies, that lead a person away from the purposes of God. For primarily, the world in general, perceives life in very selfish terms.
1. Living a life – pleasing your own self:
‘I – me – myself’, can define it in simple terms, in what is otherwise very aptly called the ‘unholy trinity’. And wherever there is selfishness, sin and satan, go together with it. For, sin is basically nothing but selfishness, enthroning the self and it’s fleshly desires, in the place of God, only to be in bondage to satan, under the illusion of being in charge of oneself. And, being compelled by circumstances to be in a close relationship with a selfish person, either at home or in the work place, can make life miserable, and a living hell for you! But, coming up in life, at the cost of another, is very often what you see happening in the world around you.
It is what Paul points out in his letter to the church at Corinth, were they had begun to partake of the Lord’s Table in a selfish manner, without waiting to share in fellowship with the entire church. It was important, for in the early church, it was a full fledged meal that they partook of, to give thanks, remembering the work of Christ on the Cross that had set them free. But, if only Christ had been selfish, He need not have gone to the Cross. It was your sins and mine, and the sins of the whole world, that He paid for, as an atoning sacrifice on Calvary. But selfishness, is the innate nature of the fallen man. And when you live your life for selfish purposes, to an extent it may seem as if you are getting what you wanted in life. But, you will always end up hurting others, that directly or indirectly ends up hurting your own self.
J – O -Y – the godly path to joy!:
But it is, as some one has rightly said, when you keep Jesus first, others second, and yourself last, in your life, that joy will be the fruit of it! The tendency to be selfish, though, is something that can crop up in you and I very easily, and it makes the need for praying as the psalmist has done, very invaluable and necessary. Selfishness may be the creed that rules the world system, but it is not God’s will for you.
2. Living a life – pleasing people:
And, neither is making pleasing people your sole goal in life, His good and pleasurable will for you. For, trying to please all the people, all the time, will find frustration and not fulfillment becoming your portion in life. And it is because, however much you try sincerely and genuinely, there will always be a couple of people who will find your word or action not to their liking. Learning to take criticism in the right manner is absolutely necessary in your Christian walk. And it also does not imply, that you have to go around displeasing one and all ! Having a right balance is very important in your relationship and interactions with people, and it come s through your relationship with Christ, as He continually guides and teaches you, to walk in His will for you. For, one can go overboard in trying to please the whims and fancies of the people around you, that can be very fickle and end up doing something that is not pleasing in the sight of God. Pontius Pilate, knew that Christ had done nothing wrong. It was to please the crowd that he bowed to an immeasurable injustice, in sending the Messiah who stood before him, to the Cross.
It is something that can be seen even today, in the political realm, where people in authority have the responsibility of seeing to it, that in trying to please a section of people, the voiceless and the weak are not exploited. And in ways that are big and small, similar choices are what you are faced with in your life, on many occasions, and a right balance can come to you, only as you seek primarily to please God in a continual and intimate relationship with Him. For, it will in the process, teach and empower you, to please people in righteousness, love and justice. And then, there is another manner in which a person can either knowingly or unknowingly choose to live, since there is an enemy, who is prowling around, like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. They can end up pleasing the devil! Sad indeed, but true.
3. Living a life – pleasing the devil:
It happens because the devil is a deceiver, and can deceive you into thinking that you are in control, while all the time you are a pawn in his hand, working out his plan, that would naturally be against the plan of God for your life. And self deception is the worst of it all, most pathetic, for the one who is being deceived is not aware that he is being deceived. Judas, the disciple of Christ, is a classic example of it. For the gospels narrate how at one point the devil entered into him, to lead him into a path of perdition and ultimately destruction. It is what pleasing the devil can end up doing in a person’s life.
And it can all happen very deceptively, even when you have become a child of God. It is seen in the life of the disciple Peter, who fell prey to it soon after receiving a revelation from the Father in heaven, through the Spirit, that the Lord Jesus was Christ, the Son of God. For, on knowing that the destiny of Christ, was to go to the Cross, he immediately began counselling Him against it. And when you look at it, outwardly and superficially, it may have appeared that what he was doing was actually good for the Lord. It is what the devil’s deception can do in a person. But, the Lord, in the very same incident, established the truth very bluntly, to rebuke Peter saying, ‘Get behind me satan; you have in your mind, not the things of God, but of the things of men’. [Matthew 16:23]
Passion & rational thinking- the balance:
Peter being passionate in his nature, was invariably carried away by it, to yield to the wiles of the devil, whose one aim, is to always bring to nothing the purposes of God. And at the other extreme, one can see a person veering towards the side of reason and being rational, to end up being devoid of all passion in life. But, it is certainly not how God wants you to live. The will of God is always connected to His purposes, that is made known to you, as a revelation from Him through the Holy Spirit. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life, Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthian church. Without revelation, frustration will set in within you, as you depend only on the law, without the empowering of the Holy Spirit. And revelation, that leads to a right balance can come in you, only as you walk in a living relationship with God the Father, continually, day after day, in grace that is new every morning. The prayer of David thus, that acknowledges the need for God to teach him His will, cannot be overstated.
4. Living a life – pleasing to God:
This becomes so very important, because it is in doing it that you will glorify God, be a blessing to others, and also find fulfillment in your own life. And what is fulfillment? It is being full, and being filled, even as David has described his life as a cup that runs over, overflowing with the blessing of God, as a channel of blessing to others. It is what will lead to true satisfaction in you, whatever may be the season in life that you find yourself in, and situation that is seemingly favorable or unfavorable outwardly.
Hearing God’s voice of grace:
And for this to happen in you, hearing God’s voice of grace every morning becomes so very important. It is what David prays in the very same psalm Cause me to hear Your voice of loving kindness in the morning, For in You do I put my trust. Cause me to know the way that I should walk, For I lift my soul to You. [vs 8] It is where your responsibility lies. There is the need to hear the tender mercies, His voice of grace in a continual relationship with God. Christian life is a walk of faith, and faith comes by hearing from God continually.
Abraham is called the father of faith. And his life describes the process of faith very well. He heard from God, to by faith embark on a journey to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice, because the Lord had asked him to. But, on the mountain top, as he raised his hand to offer Isaac as a sacrificial offering, he heard the voice of grace of God that bid him to stop. And then Abraham heard with faith, God’s promise of grace, that He would offer up His Beloved Son as a sacrifice instead, so that he and generations after him may be blessed.
It establishes the need, to hear from God, every step of the way, all through your life. One cannot afford to think that hearing the word of promise at the beginning of the year, would suffice in order to see it come to pass, and be sustained, all through the year. For, you need to hear from God, receive revelation truth from Him, day after day. And it is my prayer, that you should awaken to the sweet sound of His grace every morning, instead of the jangling alarm or the loud chaos at home and around, refreshed in your spirit in order to hear from Him.
Beginning the day:
And, it is as you begin a day, that you need to hear from Him, to know the path that you should take, and continue to walk in fellowship with Him through out the day, sustained and guided by the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, the ever present Helper, who now abides in you. Waking up to the world’s philosophies, and voices that bombard you needlessly, through your smart phone, would not be the smart thing to do, and will leave you confused and jaded, and unable to face the challenges of the day. The negative comments of your peers, and the watching world, could have risen out of envy. And it is the wisdom of God’s word that will illuminate and give understanding of the hurt and broken world in which you live, that you may bring healing, and not be damaged within you, by it. Your heart is something that you need to guard, for it can be a treasure chest or a trash can depending on what goes inside it.
And, it is God’s word that brings a wondrous transformation in you, as beholding it with an unveiled face, in Christ, you begin to reflect His image, with ever increasing glory. In the beginning was the Word; and turning to the Living God, the Living Word, at the beginning of your day, is a discipline that needs to be birthed and sustained in you. And it may not be easy; but God will empower and help you. You only need to ask of Him, and also listen!
Take heed, how you hear:
The Lord Himself has very clearly spoken about the need to hear rightly, ‘Therefore, take heed how you hear; for to the one who has, to him will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he seems to have, will be taken from him. [Luke 8:18] What you hear, and how you hear, in the course of your daily walk, is something that is very important. For, faith comes by hearing; but, fear also comes by hearing! They operate on the same principle, but their origin and content are totally different. Faith comes by hearing from God, while fear comes by paying heed to the voice of the devil.
Saul, in the old testament, chosen by God to be the king of Israel, started well, and with maturity, as he began a very difficult task. And, it was by ignoring, or appearing not to hear, the negative words that were spoken about him, in his hearing! [1 Samuel 10: 27] It is the wise man who overlooks an insult, affirms the word of God very clearly. [Proverbs 12:16] And sometimes when you need to hear from God, and not conflicting opinions from wrong voices that threaten to drown the voice of God, you may need to quieten all other voices, or move yourself to a quiet place, where you can hear from God more clearly. For, it is hearing from Him that can bring transformation, and nothing else.
Mary – a posture of humility:
An attitude of humility, is what will see you hearing from God, what He is specifically saying to you. Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, to hear what He was saying, exemplifies it, even as the word of God makes a specific mention of her posture and position, of being at His feet. [Luke 10:39] May your prayer, even this day, as you open the word of God, to hear from Him, be that He would open the eyes of your heart to enlighten you, and give you the explanation and understanding as to how it relates specifically to you, and that His power may be brilliantly displayed by it, in order to transform your situation, according to the purposes of God.
For, it can be very plainly and wondrously seen, right from the very first chapter of the Bible, that whenever God spoke, something good and wonderful happened. And today, when you hear His voice, as He speaks to you through His word, you can rest assured that something wonderful will certainly happen, flooding your heart with joy, at the fulfillment of what you have been awaiting and desiring to happen in your life.
The boy, Samuel – a learning posture:
He grew up in the house of God, as a small boy, and under Eli, the priest, who had been serving God faithfully for many years. And, no doubt, he would have been a spiritual father to the boy, Samuel. Therefore, when the time came, and the Lord called him by name, Eli was able to discern the voice of God in the life of Samuel, and guide him rightly. ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears’. [1 Samuel 3:9] And, the learning posture, that Eli taught Samuel on that day, stands evergreen and true even this day, for you and I are entrusted with the stewardship of our children by God the Father, to raise them up for His glory. And, however old they are, or whatever they may be going through, they need to be ingrained and sustained by the truth, that they need to turn to God first, and then go the parent. For, demanding it harshly of the parents, as if they owed it to them, is not the operating procedure that is from God. But, rather, All your children shall be taught by the Lord; And great shall be peace of your children. [Isaiah 54:13]
To teach them therefore, in order to discern the voice of God in their own lives, in a relationship with the Living God, remains the responsibility of the parent. It is divinely ordained and can never be outsourced. It is very practical and true. For, no one can pray for your own child like you do! Preaching the word, is also, in a manner of speaking, parenting, for it facilitates you to hear from God, in His house, hearts turned to Him in worship and adoration. And, God’s voice of grace, comes to you, to enable and empower you, to hear from Him, listen, and apply it all in your life.
The VOICE of GRACE:
HE awakens me morning by morning; To hear as one being taught. [Isaiah 50:4] The Sovereign Lord Himself, will awaken you in the morning to hear from Him, to speak to you, and make you understand the purpose for which He has called you, and taken hold of you. It is the awesome grace of God, and also my prayer. With many such parables, He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. [Mark 4:33] And when He wakes you up, the Lord will help you. He will speak to you, according to your maturity and experience in your walk with Him. He is a wonderful Teacher, and will lead you into a deeper relationship with Him, that finds you waking up before the appointed time, as the psalmist describes his experience to be.
And you will not be put to shame !:
It is the glorious crescendo, of what you would become, even as you progress higher and higher in hearing from God, with understanding, and applying it in your life. The prophetic promise that refers to Christ, can come true in your life, for you to be able to say, For the Lord God will help me; Therefore I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. [Isaiah 50:7] You can indeed be fixed and determined within you, to pray the prayer of the psalmist, asking the Lord to teach you to do His will, for it is what will bring glory to God, be a blessing to others, and bring fulfillment within you. And may the prayer of the Lord, be yours, to say, ‘Not my will, Father, but let yours be done in my life’, as you celebrate and partake of the Lord’s Table, for, beyond the Cross, there is the crown!
And therefore:
May you awaken and arise, and with hands lifted unto the Father, ask Him to help you in doing His will in your life, so that it may bring prosperity in every area of your life. Give thanks unto the Lord Most High, for the word that He has spoken into your heart this day, for it will never return void, but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. And, may you be blessed, even as you proclaim out of the depths of your innermost being – ‘Not my will, but may Yours be done’!
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
