Hello world! What is it that you profess, in what or how do you believe? Is it your self, family, your church, maybe it is your denomination or how about one of the many systems of man. Such as politics, religion, government, economics, a sports athlete, to name but a few. This one could be big, how about what you believe is GOD? You know your view of Him that is unseen. Okay that said, now I wont to turn your attention over to Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching on Grace. With the LORD's help, then I will look at our living a life of submission to Divine Will. Making use of the ESV translation.
"Moses Pointing to the Lord for Battle"
"Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies; do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." (Deuteronomy 20:3-4)
"Moses is another example of those who lived by Grace in the Old Testament. He knew the necessity of relying upon the sufficiency of GOD, instead of upon the inadequate resources of man. One illustration of this is seen when he pointed Israel to the LORD of battle. The LORD of Hosts.
When the children of Israel would enter into the Promised Land, innumerable battles would lie before them. These battles were inevitable, since godless nations had entrenched themselves in the lands: "because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you" (Deuteronomy 9:5). Thus, the history of Israel documents one battle after another. These people were to be totally exterminated, was GOD's order to Israel. Among many such passages one stands out that being in Deuteronomy 20:19.
Moses announced the truth that the people of the LORD need to hear as the battle draws near. "Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies; do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them." This holds true for today as it did back then. So often, when the warfare appears, the foe seems invincible. "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you" (Deuteronomy 20:1). The natural temptation is to "faint . . . be afraid . . . tremble or be terrified." Another temptation is to try to match the enemy horse for horse and chariot for chariot. The scriptures warn of the futility of turning to worldly resources. "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 31:1).
Moses knew that GOD's people need a reminder that the LORD wants to be our hope. When we must go into the battles of life, the LORD accompanies us. "For the LORD your GOD is He Who goes with you." He is with us not only to comfort us, but also to battle on our behalf: "to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." The LORD fights for His people in an unlimited variety of ways. He can change the hearts of those who oppose us. He can bring their plans to naught. He can trap them in their own evil plans. He can cause our enemies to turn and devour one another. He can effectively save us in any manner that He chooses."
Submission to Divine Will:
The Result of Inward law,
Psalm 40:6-8 "In sacrifice and offering You have no delighted, but You have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your Will, O my GOD; Your law (Will, Word, plan and purposes) is within my heart."
Prayer is Essential,
Psalm 143:10-12 and Matthew 6:9-15 "Teach me to do Your Will, for you are my GOD! Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground! For Your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In Your Righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! In Your steadfast love You will cut off my enemies, and You will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant."
Matthew 6:9-15 (Jesus is speaking) "Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father Will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
Establishes a Divine Relationship,
Matthew 12:46-50 "While Jesus was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. To this He replied to the man who told Him, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?" Then stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the Will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."
Christ the Perfect Example,
Matthew 26:42-46 and John 5:30 "For the second time, Jesus went away to pray, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your Will be done." Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand."
John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will but the Will of Him Who sent Me."
Tends to Spiritual Knowledge,
John 7:14-18 and Acts 21:7-14, Romans 12:1-2 "About the middle of the Feast of Booths, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If anyone's will is to do GOD's Will, he will know whether the teaching is from GOD or whether I am speaking on My own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him Who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood."
Acts 21:7-14 "When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" When we heard this, we and the people there urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. To this Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, "Let the will of the LORD be done."
Romans 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of GOD, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to GOD, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the Will of GOD, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (John 4:23-24)
Wholeheartedness Required,
Ephesians 6:5-8 and Hebrews 13:20-21 "Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the Will of GOD from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the LORD and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the LORD, whether he is a bondservant or is free."
Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the GOD of Peace Who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His Will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Rule of Every-day Life,
James 4:13-17 and 1John 2 "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the LORD wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
1John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the Will of GOD abides forever."
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