God's will Archives - Daily Thoughts about God

“…I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me…” John 14:30-31

The first time I read the word “exactly” in this passage I prayed, “Really Lord, exactly?” No room for doing my own thing now and then or obeying you most of the time? I felt His reply in my heart: nope.

Jesus completely obeyed His Father all the time and modeled what a relationship with His Father is to be like. Wherever Jesus went, what He spoke and taught, and even the miracles He did, came from His Father. In John 5:30, Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing…I seek, not to please myself but him who sent me.”

Jesus modeled a posture He wants for all of us — complete obedience to the will of the Father motivated by love. In John 14:1-15, Jesus comforts His disciples and explains that they will continue to have a close relationship with Him after he is gone. Jesus declares that if you love me then you will obey me — not as a legalistic requirement of being His disciple but as an act of love.

Jesus revealed that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:26b, 27). Exact obedience to the Father keeps us closely relying on His power even though we are tempted to wander and demand our own will.

Father God, I love you and with all of my heart want to obey you without compromise or resistance. Draw me close, give me ears to hear your instructions and obey you. I am completely dependent on you for life, power, strength, guidance, and instructions. Above all else, may my desire be to do your will for your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

By Donna Mitchell
Used by Permission

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:3-8, ESV)

How often do we look to our own interest? How often do we look to the best interest of our family, of our church? Is it possible that our interest may not be in the best interest of others, because it may not be in God’s will?

It is easy for us to think that our interests will also be in the best interest of others. We must always keep in mind though, that we will not always see as God sees, or think as God thinks. Paul writes to have a mind which is in Christ Jesus. Jesus only did what the Father wanted Him to do. Did Jesus have any personal interests, and did He follow through on them? Yes, He had them, yet He did not follow through on them unless it was in the will of the Father.

“Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:38-39, ESV)

To have a mind in Christ Jesus is to understand that it is not about us. This is a concept that we understand with head knowledge; yet when it comes to our actions and thoughts in our lives, we naturally struggle. I say naturally, for our sin, our flesh, fights always against the will of God.

The only way to have a mind of Christ Jesus, and to double-check ourselves when it comes to our own personal interests, is to seek God and ask Him in prayer. Is this not what Jesus was doing in the scripture above at Gethsemane? He sought God in prayer, for He always sought to do the will of the Father, and not His own.

Father, Let us seek you today Lord. Let us hold all of our interests and wants before You Lord. Let us surrender them to You and see if they are in your will Father. Let us be willing to let them go if they are not in Your will. Lord we trust You, we have faith in You that You know better than we do what our interests should and should not be. Let us humble ourselves before you, and let you be number one in our lives. Take the wheel Lord, and guide us to where you want us to be, we ask this Lord in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Questions: Is your interest lined up with the will of the Father? How do you know for sure?

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

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His Will – Exactly!

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Our Interests and God’s Will

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