Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. You are made by the hand of God. God and God made you for a purpose. He didn't just wind you up and say you're on your own. He has a plan for your life today and every day and in eternity.
On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how to embrace all God's called you to be and do.
Now here's Dr. Graham with his message: how to know God's will for your life. Take your Bibles, turn to Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. To know and do the will of God, and you can't separate the two. To know the will of God is to do the will of God.
But you must discover your message and your mission in life. Discover your mission in life, your purpose, if you will. And to be all in. All that you have. All that you are, all that you ever hope to be.
That's what Romans 12, verses 1 and 2 is about. For it says, I beg you, brothers, I beseech you by the mercies of God that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual worship. And don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove or discern. The will of God, good, perfect, and acceptable. The will of God is the key to happiness and fulfillment in our lives.
The purpose of life is to find, follow, and fulfill that purpose, God's will. And if you are An octogenarian or a child. If you are a student or you are a senior adult, God's will is for all of us. Maybe you have the tendency to kind of turn a message off like this regarding the will of God, thinking, well, that's for a younger generation. That's for someone considering marriage or considering a career or just getting started in life.
No, the will of God is for a lifetime, and we don't want to waste our lives, not a day of it. All of us from beginning to end. We want to be all in. And Romans 12, 1 and 2 really gives us a kind of formula. I don't like the idea of formulas and knowing the will of God.
But there is kind of an equation here, if you will, from Romans 12, 1 and 2 as to how we know, will, find, follow the will of God for our lives. And it is dedication plus transformation equals illumination. Let me say that again. Dedication as we present our bodies, our lives before the Lord. Plus, transformation, that metamorphosis that takes place in our minds when our minds are transformed, change your thoughts and change your life by the power of Christ, and that equals illumination, or if you will, revelation in your life.
And I can tell you, if you will go all in as Like this. That's the big decision that will define all the decisions of your life, the rest of your life. Everyone submits to something. Everyone submits to something or someone. The question is.
Are you submitted to Christ? to the authority of Jesus as Lord. in your life. That's being all in. And when that happens, when that presentation is made.
Then comes the metamorphosis. Then comes that transformation. You're no longer a creepy, crawly creature like a caterpillar in the dust on the ground. But when you're wrapped up in this cocoon like a casket, when you die to self, then ultimately the metamorphosis, the beautiful transformation takes place, and no longer are we groveling. No longer are we in the dust, in the dirt, but now we're soaring in the power of God.
Are you trusting the Lord with all your heart? Are you loving God with all your heart? When you do that, Then comes this desire to do the will of God. And that's what I'm really talking about at the outset of this message. They're going to be three simple things.
It's talking about pursuing the will of God and proving the will of God. And practicing the will of God for your life.
So pursue the will of God above all else because God's will for you, according to Romans 12, is what? Good. Perfect and acceptable. Not only to God is it good, perfect, and acceptable, but to us God's will. One and the same.
Good, perfect, acceptable. The will of God done on earth as it is done in heaven. God is working his plan, his will. in our lives. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10 tells us that.
This is on the heels of the great grace passage of salvation, not saved by works, but by grace through faith. And then, verse 10, Ephesians 2 says. That we are his workmanship, created in Jesus Christ unto good works. The crowning achievement of creation. was Mankind.
You are God's workmanship. You are God's creation. And he is working. In your life from start to finish. Even before you were born.
The word In the Greek in Ephesians 2:10 is poema, which literally means a poem. or it can be translated masterpiece. You, we, as the children of God, are his masterpiece. You are not some highly evolved animal. You are made by the hand of God.
Of God. His signature is upon your life. And God made you for a purpose. He didn't just wind you up and say you're on your own. He has a plan for your life today and every day and in eternity.
Your life is not a series of incidents and accidents. But providence Divine plan. David wrote about this. Uh in the Psalms. And uh In Psalm chapter 139 And this is from the New Living.
You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.
Every day, every day of my life. Was recorded in your book, and every moment was laid out before a single day has passed. You are a masterpiece. In the mind and heart of God.
Now, maybe you're looking at your own life right now and you're thinking, well, I don't think things are all that good, all that acceptable, all that perfect. When I look at myself, I don't see perfect. I don't see a masterpiece, I see a mess. No, God sees you not as you see yourself, but as a masterpiece. And you may see the flaws.
And the failures in your life, the mistakes and the missteps. But God sees you not for what you are right now, but for what you are becoming and will become in Him. Like Simon Peter. When Jesus said in the presence of all those early disciples, he called Simon Peter the rock. They must have laughed.
He was anything but a rock. He was chaotic. He was caustic. He was constantly saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He had a temper, he was hot-tempered, and yet.
Jesus saw him not for what he was, but for what he could become. And he saw in him the powerful preacher of Pentecost, the man who would go all in for him ultimately as he followed Christ. That's the way Jesus sees you. Not for the mistakes, you know, Peter denied the Lord. It was one of the most terrible sins of all kind.
When Jesus needed him, Peter was warming his hands by the fires of the enemies of Christ and denied him three times. And yet Jesus recovered him and restored him. And he became the powerful. man that he became. For the Lord Jesus.
The steps of a man, according to the psalmists. Ordered by the Lord. And though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his right hand. Maybe you're thinking. It's too late for me.
I failed. I've fallen. My life's a mess. I'm not a masterpiece. It's over.
I've missed God's perfect plan, God's perfect will. Can I tell you?
Someone said, where God doesn't rule, He overrules. And Romans 8:28 tells us that God is working all things together for the good to those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to his purpose. It doesn't say some things or such things or select things. But it says all things, good things, bad things, everything. belongs to the providence of God and the plan of God.
And he is working in your life constructively, creatively, making you the person that he has made you to be. And listen to me, it's never, ever too late to become the person God made you to be. You can. Get in the will of God and to begin fulfill. These things are working together for good to those who love the Lord.
and are called according to his purpose.
So begin pursuing the will of God for your life. I think some people have the idea that if I don't hit dead center perfectly in the will of God, if I'm off center somewhere, that it's never going to happen for me. It's never going to be great for me. It's never going to be truly fulfilling for me. I'm a mistake.
No, you're a masterpiece, and within the God's game plan for your life, even the stumbles and the failures and the penalties and all the rest, God is making sure that you win. And the game is fixed. because we're pressing on the upward way. It changes everything when you believe Romans 8.28, that you are his workmanship, and in this workmanship, he is working all things together for good. Listen to me.
This is not a pious platitude. This is not some Christian cliché. This is the divine promise of omnipotent God. And his hand that made you is making you. The poem, the creation.
Is taking place. The new creation. There we go. We are all broken and marred by sin, but God has chosen us. He has called us.
He has redeemed us. He is restoring us. He loves you. And it's never too late. to get started.
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Now, let's get back to today's message: How to Know God's Will for Your Life. pursuing the will of God. And then As you pursue the will of God. You prove the will of God. He said that you may prove, and that's a word which means to discern.
Or to discover that you may prove what is that good, perfect, acceptable will. of God.
Now all I can tell you as a Christian and as your pastor. That the pursuit of the will of God, the proving of the will of God in our lives. Has been my experience all the days of my life as I have sought. Since I was a boy, to align my will with the will of God. That's the first thing you need to do if you want to truly prove the will of God.
Align your will with the will of God. Jesus did this. Even as a twelve-year-old boy in the temple. He said, Do you not know? that I must be about.
My father's business.
So, as a young boy, our Lord committed. To the will of the Father, to the way of the Father in His life, and then throughout His days, fulfilling that purpose, that divine plan for His life, and then in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He is sweating blood, drops of blood, and pouring out and presenting His life as an offering, even there, He said, Lord, not my will, but Your will be done. This is aligning your will to the will. of God.
Jesus taught us to pray this way. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And when we pray like this, it's not to change God's mind, it's to find God's mind. Lord.
Let my life, let your rule, let your reign be in me. Your kingdom come, your will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. And when we align our will to His will, We began to experience the good and perfect. acceptable will of God in our lives.
Another thing I would say in Proving the will of God, it is by doing the will of God today, right now. Thomas Carlyle said: Our main business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what clearly lies at hand. The will of God is not so much what I'm going to do five years from now, ten years from now. 20 years from now. But what am I going to do today?
Will you trust God's will today and trust Him forever tomorrow? You say, I can't see clearly. I don't know exactly which turn. Wait on God, listen to God. And let him lead you because the sweet will of God is for every one of his children.
God really does care about the decisions we make because our decisions determine, as I said. and define the rest of our days and ultimately our destiny. From small daily decisions to big life-altering choices.
Now, of course, we can make the wrong decisions and go the wrong way and suffer the consequences. And so that is why one of the most important skills as a Christian you can develop is discerning. Proving The will of God in your life. Paul said in Romans or Ephesians 5:17, Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is. Yes.
And that understanding so often takes place in that metamorphosis of your mind. As you now have the mind of Christ, you don't think the way you used to think. You don't make decisions based upon Human reference or your own personal feelings or desires.
Now you're making decisions not from the world, but from God's wisdom and God's word. As a pastor, I can tell you over the years the most often asked question. That I get, and most pastors will tell you the same: is the question of how can I know the will of God? How can I make the right decision?
Now we know that God has a general will, a universal will. for everyone. For example, the Bible says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come. To repentance and receive the mercy of God. It is God's will that you be saved.
It is God's will that you trust Him as your Lord and Savior. It's God's will for you to commit your life to follow Jesus. It's also God's will that we live according to his commandments. The commandments of God are universal. The moral will of God is for everyone, and you will either obey the commandments or you will be broken by the commandments.
You don't really break the commandments, you're broken on the commandments. And so they're clear commandments. God gave us 10 of them. You shall not lie, you shall not steal, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you should not covet what your neighbor has. God's will is revealed clearly in His Commandments.
and in his word. This is why we must, as believers, know. And obey the word of God. Because if you breathe the Word of God, if the Word of God is in your bones, it's in your body, it's in your brain, it's in you, as you saturate your mind with the will of God, the wisdom of God, in the Word of God. God's Word is inspired, breathed out by God, is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, and instruction in righteousness.
Why would we run to ask somebody else what we should do when God's already given us instruction? And if you know the precepts, the promises, The principles of God's Word. Many of our decisions that we make are already made in advance.
Somebody said 99% of the will of God is above the neck. Change your thoughts and change your life. His commands are very clear. First Corinthians 6:18 says, flee sexual immorality. That's clear.
So, God will never lead you to do something contrary to His word. Never, ever. Ever, never, never, ever. In contrast to God's word. Billy Graham once said, if you are ignorant of the Bible, you will always be ignorant of the will of God.
So know your Bible. Search the scriptures. God gives us such guidance in His Word. I memorized as a young boy, Psalm 119:105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Make God's Word a part of your daily life, and so many decisions that you make will be made for you in the Word of God. Then I would say be willing. to obey him whatever the cost. It's not always easy. It's always best, it's always good, perfect, acceptable, but it's not always easy to do the will of God.
We face adversaries and adversities at times. But we are to obey God. God will not take us one step further than the measure of our obedience to Him.
So, if there are already areas in your life in which you are living in disobedience to God, why would God show you more of his will so that you can continue to disobey him?
So obey the will of God that is before you in the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to 1 John 3, 22. We receive from him anything we ask because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. Spend time in God's presence. The only way I know to hear from God is to spend time in His presence.
God rarely shouts at us or writes it in the stars. God most often speaks in the still, small voice. You say, What is the still small voice of God? It's the whisper of God. And I can tell you that I know that voice.
I've heard that Whisper many times. In my life. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God. And yes, God speaks by His Word and through His Spirit. And he speaks down deep within if we get close enough to listen.
If someone is whispering, you have to get close. To hear it. Listen for the still small voice. As many as are led. Call it a prompting.
Calling an inspiration. I call it the will of God, a holy instinct. A holy hunch. God shows us things and tells us things. That we may know and accomplish his purpose for our lives.
One final word, a couple of minutes. And that is practice. the will of God, knowing and doing as I said at the outset. I wanted to sing. Knowing and doing the will of God.
Not that you can't say no to the will of God, because we know we can, we can go our own way. But if you want to know the will of God, be willing to do the will of God. And when you say to him, I'm completely yours unreservedly. committed to you. If you will say, I'm all in in my obedience to you, I will trust you and follow you and obey you.
I'll move forward in my life. The psalmist said, I being in the way, the Lord led me. You know what that means? I being in the way the Lord led me. It means I'm moving forward.
And as the songwriter said, God leaves his dear children alone. You know, it's easier to steer a car when it's in motion than when it's sitting still.
So do the will of God today. And give him your every tomorrow. Make sure that you are all in, and when you are, he will be all in with you. and his will in heaven will be done on earth in your life. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: How to Know God's Will for Your Life.
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God has good news for you. He wants you to know his will more than you want to know it. God's not playing some cosmic game of hide and seek with you. You're not here by accident or fate or fortune or luck. Things don't just happen.
The Lord is in control and He's making things happen in your life. Even this very moment, while I'm speaking to you, yes, God in His sovereignty has brought us together.
So listen carefully.
Now maybe up to this point in your life you've never asked the question. Why am I here? Maybe you've been going through the motions of living, punching in and punching out of life day by day. But that's not good enough for God, and it shouldn't be good enough for you either. This is your life.
You don't want to miss what God has for you. yet how easy it is sometimes to confuse the real purpose of life with the details of life. For instance, some people obsess over things such as what career to pursue, and where to live, and who to marry, and so on. And these are important questions, and God cares about them. But there's a bigger question than these.
How am I going to live my life? Am I going to love God and live in a way that honors Him? You see, God's will isn't so much about location or even vocation as it is about dedication and proclamation of God's Word. Certainly God cares about what you care about. But even more so, he wants you to be passionate about him and changing the world for him.
This is God's master plan for your life. You can start living according to God's will right now. whoever you are and whatever your age or stage in life. Please don't wait until all else fails to try God's will. Here's a good first step.
Psalm 40 verse 8 says, I delight to do your will, O my God. Make these words your daily prayer and your life prayer. Then follow obediently and you will live in the will of God. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr.
Graham's 365-day devotional, I am. Just text Jan to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about the power of loving others more than yourself. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham.
PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
