Church of The Living God
Jesus said, (Matthew 12:50) For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother. This is God’s definition for a true believer. They made up the church, the true Church Of The Living God, which has nothing to do any man-made building or membership. However, the earthly churches or visible church will always have both true believers and fake ones, as Jesus made it very clear, (Matthew 7:21-23 NASB) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Therefore, the most important thing for every believer is to know the will of God and to carry it out.
Some fake brothers may not be that nice, God’s people need to be on your guard always, for it is written: (Acts 20:29-31 NSAB) I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Lots of sheep has been led astray already, one of the reason is, they can’t find God’s will from the scriptures.
My Father’s Will
Jesus said: (John 6:40) For this is my Father’s will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day.” The first key condition is “who sees the Son”. (Can’t believe I am so blind only after typing this verse I suddenly see this is critical.) Now I understand why Paul had to pray for the eyes of the heart, (Ephesians 1:16-18) I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father most glorious, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation through knowing Christ fully. Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the hope of his calling, the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints. Without this prayer they simply can’t see Christ clearly, then each person will have their own blurry and distorted version of Jesus.
We are all blind without guidance from the Holy Spirit. Everyone who imitate Paul to pray for the eyes of the heart and practice Colossians 3:17 with Psalm 13 “lighten my eyes”, then he can see the Son and believes in him. Psalm 13:3 emphasized the eye, “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death“. The Holy Spirit is teaching us, without praying for our eyes to be opened, we may sleep the sleep of death. Unfortunately many of us have missed this and some are being misled into various false gospels.
On the other hand, we know the scripture says; (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. But without opening the eyes of the heart, it is very difficult to follow. Many may have tried multiple times without success, gradually it has been forgotten or gave up altogether. Just like no one wants to talk about how to love God with all our heart and soul. Others have no intention to imitate Christ “do nothing of my own”, they will not be able to find enough things to pray. Only those who truly desire to imitate Christ, to be Christ like, they would have to pray without ceasing, otherwise it’s impossible to see what our Father’s doing.
We need to understand pray without ceasing does not mean to present our request to God non-stop. The Holy Spirit instructed us how to pray, (Psalms 25:4-5) Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. The primary purpose of prayer is wait on the Lord for instruction on what to do and how to carry out his plan and his will. So many of us have forgotten we are his servant. If we always tell him first what to do, but never listen, not even wait for 5 minutes, what kind of servant is this?
Believe in Him
Everybody has their own idea of what it means “to believe in Jesus”, but we have to listen to His word first; (John 14:12) Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. What does it really mean by “the works that I do” ? Let’s look at how Jesus do things. (John 5:19) …… “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. Do we see here, Jesus pick up his cross daily, deny himself by do nothing of himself.
Again in another verse, (John 8:28) So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. We can see quite clearly Jesus does not speak or do anything beyond the Father’s will. Thus, according to John 14:12, whoever believes in him will do the same. That means to imitate him, picking up their own cross and doing the Father’s will only. Jesus’ words are so clear and well defined, it’s not easy to misunderstand them for something else.
We can put John 6:40 and 14:12 with Ephesians 1:16-18 in a simple sentence; Our Father’s will is everyone whose eye of the heart has been opened by the Holy Spirit, sees the real Jesus fully and then believes in him, trusting him and imitating him to do the Father’s will should have eternal life, and Jesus will raise him to life on the last day.
Jesus’ Food
Jesus do nothing on his own unless “he sees the Father doing”. But how does he sees the Father doing? (John 4:34) Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. This statement reveals Jesus saw the Father through prayer for spiritual food, the “daily bread” from the Lord’s prayer. Jesus seeks the Father for everything in prayer (without ceasing) so that he can do as he sees the Father doing. Jesus has absolute respect for the Father’s will and plans, and he wanted to carry them out, so he can say, “I do nothing on My own initiative”.
Now I can see why Jesus was always praying, some day he pray overnight, during the day he pray in private. (Luke 9:18) One day while Jesus was praying privately and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” Here we see by praying privately Jesus received the Father’s will, including this question to his disciples. The reason we don’t have so much to pray is we don’t care about God’s will nor His plan, our focus is always on physical needs like health, safety and finance or relationships, but very little on spiritual things. Many people don’t even have time for the scriptures.
The spiritual food is missing in our life today. Very few are praying for “daily bread” in order to do God’s will. Either because most people mistaken the “daily bread” as food for stomach or others just don’t care about spiritual things at all. With such weak spiritual condition, many of God’s children may not survive the soon coming calamity, for the time is running out quickly. it is getting worse everyday. We better wake up and get ready before it’s too late.
Plans of the Most High
God has many good plans for us as it is written: (Jeremiah 29:11-13) For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. The problem is we don’t seek God with all our heart. We are too busy, no time to wait on the Lord.
These plans are God’s will with details of everyday life for each believer. For example, when Jesus speak to the Samaritan woman, he did it according to the Father’s plan, not his own idea. Even when he ask the woman to call her husband, that is also the Father’s plan. When we forsake God’s plan and go out pursuing our own plans, then we can easily find calamity that brings stress, illness, suffering and many unpleasant things. Psalm 107 explained this.
(Psalms 107:10-12 NIV) Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
The Holy Spirit explained to us how many are these plans through Psalm 40;5 (NIV)
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done.
The things you planned for us no one can recount to You;
were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
It is very foolish even to doubt God may not have unique plan for each of his children. Consider this, if we can have plans for our children, how much more our heavenly Father have already made the best plans for his children. O, how sad is this situation, God’s people have so little knowledge and interest of their Father’s excellent plan for everyone, but instead, they knows so much about all kinds of worldly things.
Here is another, (Psalms 139:14-18 ASV)
I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Wonderful are thy works;
And that my soul knoweth right well.
My frame was not hidden from thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance;
And in thy book they were all written,
Even the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
When I awake, I am still with thee.
Can we see what was missed here, before we were born “even the days that were ordained for me”, “thy thoughts unto me, O God”, “they are more in number than the sand”. What have we done! Did we not repeat the same sin (as Psalm 107:11) “despised the plans of the Most High”? Have mercy upon us, O God. I have to say as Job, (42:5-6) I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Our Father’s plan was also described in (Jeremiah 29:11-13); For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Everybody loves to hear the plan of prosperity and welfare, but very few would search with all their heart. Most people like to shop for a “salvation” with low cost or limited repentance. So they choose the “sinner’s prayer”, after that each insist on walk out his own plan, and the result often end up with limited transformation with much suffering and calamity. Because it is written; (Psalms 107:11 NIV) because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
Now Let’s repent and practice what is written: (Colossians 3:16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,
For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Not only I have no fear of you, I treated your words so casually, as if they were from man.
Have mercy upon us, O God, we have shown little or no interest on the days that were ordained for each of us and went our own ways.
Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight, that You might be justified when You speak and be in the right when You judge.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and let Your free spirit uphold me.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall turn back to You.
Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood, O God, O God of my salvation, then my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O LORD, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise,
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shall You be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls upon Your altar.
Amen.