DEVOTIONS WITH PASTOR BOB 6 Practices in the Christian Life #6 “Walk in God’s Ways” (lesson #2)

DEVOTIONS WITH PASTOR BOB

6 Practices in the Christian Life

#6 “Walk in God’s Ways” (lesson #2)

"I Will Submit to God's Orchestrations in All Things"

https://youtu.be/IGTE-w4-Ncw

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9 (NLT)

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 

⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.

Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.

Then the God of peace will be with you.

PAUL MENTIONS FOUR COMPONENTS TO OUR FAITH (PHILIPPIANS 4:9)

(1) The intellect: “What you have learned”;

(2) The will: “What you received”;

(3) The behavioral: “What you have heard and seen, which you must practice”;

(4) The emotions: “The God of peace shall be with you.”

Yesterday we dealt with the “intellect” and its relationship to faith, today we shall consider the will and its relationship to faith.

2. THE POWER OF CHOOSING, THE DETERMINING COMPONENT OF THE WILL

The content of the Christian faith must also be responded to with our will.

Our text mentions, “the things which you have learned and received from me”. (Verse 9)

Paul wants them to take what they had learned from him unto themselves, especially the traditions, as delivered, and handed down from Christ to the Apostles.

THE ETHICAL AND PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

To receive the teaching concerning Christ; We must receive the Gospel, which includes the moral and ethical demands, which go along with Christ teaching.

This means that we are to submit our will to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every aspect of our lives, beginning with our thought life (Philippians 4:8).

In other words, the Gospel of Jesus always demands not just an intellectual response,

but it also demands a moral response, where we personally receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

I have found that those who claim to have intellectual problems with the Gospel that keep them from responding to its message, in reality have moral problems that are the real reason for them not responding.

Every person, from the Ph.D. at the university, to the illiterate subsistence farmer in Mexico, has the same need, namely, that their sin has separated them from the Holy God.

WHAT THEY ALL NEED, IS CHRIST JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR.

Human being seems to all have the same stubborn self-will that refuses to submit to Jesus as Lord.

Face it we all want to run our own lives without bowing before Jesus.

HELPING SOMEONE SEE WHAT THE REALL PROBLEM IS

So, if a person tells me that they can’t believe in Christ because of intellectual problems, I will say to them, “Specifically, which problems?”

They may name something, such as evolution, or that they do not believe the Bible is God’s Word.

I respond to them by asking;

“If I can provide you with reasonable answers to this problem, will you then believe in Christ?”

I haven’t seen anyone say yes to Christ who have this mindset.

Instead, they will say, “Well, there are other issues, too.”

I respond to them by asking, “Name them”.

Give me the list, and if I can provide reasonable answers to each problem on your list, then will you become a follower of Christ?”

What I am I’m trying to do is to help the person see that the real issue isn’t an intellectual problem at all, but a moral problem.

They are willfully choosing their own ways over Christ.

The truth is they don’t want to give up their sin.

The content of the Christian faith must be received, by submitting our will to Christ. Amen!

PRAYER

Dear Father we acknowledge that we have a struggle with our will even as Christians. Yet we know that the best thing we can do is to submit our will to You and let You take the lead in our lives. Thank you for abundant grace that is helping us day by day to submit our wills to You, loving and wise God. In Jesus name we pray, amen.