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Studying God’s word, to see its wonders, will find grace taking you step by step towards where God wants you to be in life, as you are steadily more and more transformed within you, to abide in peace and security, knowing that He has a great and marvelous plan for your life. It is His promise that is expressed in the words of the apostle Peter; one which comes with fresh relevance this day to you, to speak into your circumstance, for the word of God is timeless and true.
Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11] The peace that He wants you to pursue is wholeness in Christ, having everything that He wants you to have in your life. And, it is not about running after it, in order to attain it, but by shifting your attention, your focus, to be upon the God of peace who is continually with you. [Romans 15:33] It also lies in knowing and learning how He operates to bring peace in a person, or in the body Of Christ, and even in the world that is His creation.
The first chapter of Genesis epitomizes with clarity a divine order, one that led to it all being very good in His eyes. It was a fullness in which there was no lack, but only abundance and glory ! He displayed even then, in the very beginning, His nature that still remains the same in bringing peace in your life and mine. For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. [1 Corinthians 15:33] The chaotic traffic that perennially exists in an Indian road gives a very apt and vivid picture of disorder ! No more words are needed, for a picture speaks a thousand words, they say ! And, more often than not you will observe that what stands in the way of a peaceful movement of traffic is simply a lack of discipline.
And, a dimension of how God restores and establishes peace, one that guards your heart and mind, is by bringing discipline and a right order within you, in your being, which then flows into your doing, and in your circumstances. It also involves responsibilities that you need to be aware of, and also address, for divine order and discipline cannot be sustained through a short prayer prayed over you by a man of God. The process may begin that way, but it then needs you to continue in it, by understanding and applying God’s word, and His counsel that comes to you, line upon line, precept upon precept through it.
It is that which will bring clarity within you that drives away all confusion that stands in the way of peace. For, in the lives of many people it is an absence of self control that leads to a lack of discipline and a lack of peace. But, the revelation truth of self control being the fruit of the Spirit, who is in you as the child of God, is the key that unlocks to show you that it is all the work of grace in your heart, by the God of all control residing in you. And, He is not the author of confusion, but of divine order and peace; an order, and discipline, that involves giving God first place in your life.
God first – it is the divine order :
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. [Mathew 6:33] Here again it is the word ‘first’, that needs to be noted and applied. It is not about seeking Him when you find the time, or as an afterthought, when you have exhausted all other options. The Kingdom, which is the King’s domain, where His will is carried out, needs to be given the highest priority. And, when it is His will, nothing will be done in a disorderly fashion, with an absence of discipline that results in a lack of peace.
He also never does anything as an afterthought. It is a truth that is attested in the creation of man. Adam had everything that he needed for life and sustenance from the time that he was made by God, and placed in the garden of Eden, blessed by God to be fruitful, multiply and to fill the earth. In your life too, all that you will ever need in your life here on earth has already been thought of and provided for by God, even before you were formed in your mother’s womb ! It comes to you all by His abundant grace, and it is by your faith that you receive it all, as you seek His Kingdom first, to walk in it.
Human planning has its place in a person’s life, but it can only take you thus far, and invariably there will be something amiss at some point or the other. But it is not so with God, who has plans that are for your peace and welfare, every step of the way, until the very end. It is what the Lord points out, as He prohibits worry in you. For, worry will then ultimately become a stronghold of fear to paralyze you in your walk towards your godly destiny.
Preoccupied and not preparing :
You will end up being preoccupied with getting things in life, by self effort, instead of preparing to receive from God your Father. It would be the net result of not seeking God first in your life, and it is also what the Gentiles do, the Lord points out , For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all those things. [Mathew 6:32] Gentiles in the above verse, are the people who do not have a personal relationship with God, in knowing that He is their Father, whose knowledge of a person’s needs in life includes His abundant provision for it. He is the God who will never send away empty handed anyone who comes to Him, seeking Him first in his life. And, when you are such a person, you will be preparing to receive all that God has made available to you. It is not about getting but receiving, when it comes to the kingdom of God. And, why is it so ? God never bypasses your will and intellect. There is a reason for it all, a simple but an all encompassing one.
In the beginning, God..:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [Genesis 1:1] In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God; the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. [John 1:1,2] It does not imply though, that there was a point in time and space when God was not present. He is the Eternal, Everlasting God who inhabits eternity. He is the Great ‘I AM WHO I AM’ or the ‘I will be what I will be’. He is always there and has always been there. He has always existed, and He has loved you, and still loves you with a love that is everlasting. He will always love you !
He loved you first ! :
We love because He first loved us. [1 John 4:19] In your love for God, it is He who comes first. And, His love for you has no beginning or end. In fact, but for His love being poured into your heart through the Holy Spirit, it would be impossible for you to know what true love is ! For, worldly love can very often be manipulative and conditional, but God’s love for you is always unconditional. If only He had added the clause, terms and conditions apply to it, you and I, and all the people of the world would be starved of love ! And, what can you give to such a God who always and forever loves you, but the pre eminent and first place in your life ?! In seeking Him too, in order to keep Him first in your life, it was He who made the first move.
He chose you first ! :
You did not choose Me, but I chose You and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He may give it to you. [John 15:16] He chose you First. And, it remains the unshakeable truth with all people, however great or popular they may be in the eyes of the world. By choosing God, they are not doing Him a favor. The very opposite of it is the truth, for it is God who has bestowed His unmerited favor upon them in order to choose them, that they may be saved to enter into eternal life. It is the truth in your life and mine too. For, what can you and I do, in order to be made worthy enough, to be chosen by Him ? Absolutely nothing ! And yet, it is what the people of the world try to, and also fail miserably, for salvation comes to you not by works but by grace. It is a gift that you receive, and there is nothing that you can do to earn it.
Now and here, and, then and there :
The Kingdom of God, where His will is carried out even as you seek it in your life prioritizing it above everything else, has two aspects to it that are both equally relevant and equally true. It is in the time frame of it that there lies a difference. For today, the Kingdom of God is in the ‘here and now’; and it is largely internal and personal. It is within your heart, even as the Lord teaches you to pray, that His Kingdom may come, and is enthroned and established, so that His will may be carried out in your life. It all happens as you seek God, to prioritize the operating of His Kingdom in you.
In the world outside though, it is the various political kingdoms that are in operation. But one day, all the kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdom of the Lord, for Him to reign and rule over all the earth. It is the nature of the Kingdom to be, the ‘then and there’. It is a day that you and I await to see in the glorious future. And it will surely come ! But, if seeking His Kingdom is all about God’s will , His wish and plan being carried out in your life, it can then lead to a reasonably valid question arising in you.
‘Do my desires and plans not count at all ?’ :
This may be the thought that goes through your mind, even as you are in obedience to God’s word led to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, to surrender your own desires, and self made plans, which may not necessarily be inherently wrong or evil. But as it remains true always, the commandments of God are prescribed only for your good. And, in this context, He has said so, because His thoughts and plans for you are, to give you a future and a hope. ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope’. [Jeremiah 29:11] It is in resting in the knowledge of the truth, in knowing and understanding that God has this wonderful plan for your future, for your career, for your education, for your family, whatever it may be, that you can surrender your own limited plans, at the feet of the unlimited God ! He has already planned it all, and has no afterthoughts. You have peace and you have hope, and His plans for you are greater.
The plans – limited and unlimited !:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, Let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. [Isaiah 55:7-9] The reason cannot be made any clearer. Your plans, however much you try to visualize it, would be restricted when compared to God’s plan for you. It would be restricted by what you can visually see and grasp in the physical and material realm, by the finances available to you, your knowledge of things that are happening around you, and are going to happen in the future, and by the limitedness of your physical capability. However wise and intelligent you may be, as a human being, the strength and reach of your faculties and resources have a limit, beyond which they cannot increase or achieve.
But, it is not so with God, who has it all, who knows it all, and who can do it all. Nothing can ever stand against the sovereignty of God ! He has a much higher plan for you, one that is as high as the heavens are above the earth. In other words they are immeasurably better and greater in their scope and quality. It is why, surrendering your plans and receiving His will and plan for your life, is a very wise decision that you can make and is never a foolish one. It is also why He alone deserves first place in your life ! And, walking in His plan will make life’s journey, whatever the challenges that come in your path, a rewarding and fruitful pilgrimage. It is the nature of His plan.
Perfection, pleasure and provision:
1. His plan for you is good, and is one of welfare and peace.
2. His plan for you is higher and greater than yours.
3. His plan and His will for your life is perfect in goodness, pleasurable and has divine provision.
It is why submitting to His will need not be difficult at all, when your mind is renewed with the truth of God’s word, as you exchange your thoughts to receive His thoughts for you that are greater. He is a good God who takes pleasure in doing what is good to you. And, He also you fills you with pleasure and gives you the provision, as you do what is good, according to His will. Therefore it is easy indeed to let go of your will, to choose His. And then, all other things will be added unto you. God is not a sadist, who wants to make doing His will a burdensome task. He delights in doing what is good to you ! It was Abraham’s faith that was tested, when he was asked by God to offer up his son as a sacrifice; and ultimately, a ram, the provision came from God miraculously. For the entire episode was a prophetic picture, a foreshadowing of the Cross, where on Mount Calvary, the Father was going to offer up His own Beloved Son, as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and the redemption of mankind. Yes, sometimes in life, it may be a struggle within you, to let go of certain things that are drawing you away from the will of God. But, it will become possible when you realize the truth that you are letting of something in order to gain what is incredibly better, and of more value. It is always a very good and favorable exchange.
Even in day to day experiences in life, you will observe that what you considered to be essential, and impossible to be without some years ago, now do not matter at all. It has gone to such an extent in a world of technology and social media that defines this present generation, that what is considered to be the most necessary thing in life these days is the internet ! And, oxygen comes third ! But, even in a world of shifting values, when it comes to your salvation and your relationship with God, nothing or no one ought to take its place. The unchanging and everlasting truth of life is that, ‘He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose’ ! For, if a man has everything, but loses his soul, he is doomed forever. But, if he loses his life for the sake of Christ, he gains it forever. It is why the apostle Paul is able to confidently declare, ‘I know in whom I have believed’, and also says, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’.
Seeking first His Kingdom – the process :
There are three components to it :
1. Prioritizing:
So he trembling and astonished said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do ?’ [Acts 9:6] Who are you, Lord ?, and ‘What do you want me to do, Lord ?, were the only two questions that Paul had; for the more you know Him, the more you will know His will for your life. Paul knew in his knowledge of Christ, that he had been set apart, to preach the gospel, even before he was born. Your prayer and mine therefore, ought to be what was Samuel’s, saying, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening’. For it is in knowing the will of God, and proceeding to do it, that peace can become your experience. In the book of Judges, you can see the Israelites going through a cyclic problem of being delivered from their bondage to the enemy, only to return to it once again. And it is all summarized in the very last verse of the book which says that in those days, Israel had no king, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [Judges 21:25]
The King needs to be the King within you, in your heart, which is then the King’s domain. And, it is then that His will can be carried out in your life; and it is that which will bring peace and rest in your life, as you do what is right in God’s eyes, and not yours. The secular philosophy of the world dictates otherwise, saying, ‘If it feels good, it must be good; so go ahead and do it’. But God exhorts even the ungodly, who walk in their own ways, to repent and come back so that He may pardon them, and they may experience His peace once again, as goodness and mercy follows them. Even today, God can and He will bring you out of any problem that you find yourself in, when you turn to Him. But, it is His will and desire that you do not return to it once again, only to lose your peace once more. It is the godly discipline that keeps you in His peace and rest, as you give Him first place in all aspects of your life.
2. Perceiving :
Look carefully how you walk, not as the unwise but as the wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [Ephesians 5:16,17] Seeking His Kingdom, comes with a right understanding of what the will of God is, and not being vague, careless and thoughtless about it, for the days are evil even now, and will only get more worse in the coming end times. You and I cannot afford to lose time by being vague about God’s specific plan and will for our lives, but as the writer to the Hebrews points out, there is the need to hearken to the voice of God when He speaks to give counsel and understanding.
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. [2 Timothy 2:7] Paul’s counsel to Timothy, is equally valid even today, for in the process God will surely make plain His will for you, by giving you insight, inside information to guide and counsel you. When you do not know what to do, it is better not to do anything, is common wisdom. But, God never asks you to do anything that He has not done for you already. He has prepared a marvelous plan for your life; and then He says to you, ‘Go my child, walk in it !’ Whatever he does prospers, says the psalmist. [Psalms 1] And, how can this happen ? It is because he does only that which prospers; and that becomes possible only in the one who meditates upon the word of God day and night. It is then that he will know His unlimited plan for his life, to take the next step and pursue it, to find prosperity and peace.
3. Pursuing :
God reveals to you His plan, and gives you His provision so that you may move forward in your life, in His will for you. Even naturally speaking, your feet are designed to move forward easily, and not backward. ‘I strain forward, forgetting what lies behind, in order to claim the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus’. says Paul. [Philippians 3:12] Is it possible to forget, you may wonder; and it is then that the life of Joseph, and his empowering words, can come to you as the sweet counsel of God. ‘God has made me forget’ are his words. [Genesis 41:51] And more than literally forgetting, he was able to see all the wrong things that he had endured in a godly perspective, to know that God can turn evil into good, and that his blessings finally outnumbered all the losses that he had earlier experienced. It is the path laid out before you, in your life’s pilgrimage, the race that is set before you.
And you run, to win ! :
Paul compares it all very aptly to running in a race with discipline and power, as one who is going to be the winner. [1 Corinthians 9:24,25] In the world’s system, only one person wins the race; but with God it is a system of love and faith, in which we all win, to receive a crown that will never wither away, the crown of righteousness. Peace will be yours therefore, as you go the Lord in prayer, to surrender your plans that are limited, and make a great exchange, and receive His unlimited plans for your life, that are incredibly greater and better. Seek Him and His Kingdom therefore, that all other things may be added unto you, and His Name may be glorified in and through your life, as peace becomes your very personal experience.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
