Determine which things please the Lord.
Ephesians 5:10 GW
What does the Lord want? Well, if He’s the Lord, I imagine He wants our devotion, our obedience to His will.
So how do we determine God’s will? It’s actually pretty simple. You must understand that God is alive and He communicates to us primarily through the Holy Spirit to our spirits.
We walk with the Lord. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us. God does not lie. He is incapable of uttering falsehood. God wants us to imitate Him. Speak the truth in love. That pleases the Lord.
The Bible, the written Word of God, is said to have been written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So we could say that the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, using men as transcribers.
We interpret Scripture by asking the Holy Spirit what it means. When we read truth it resonates as truth in our spirits. For people who do not have the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures are veiled. They cannot understand them. Only God can open our eyes to truth. He chooses who that is and when it happens.
God has a general and a specific will for your life. If you focus on doing God’s general will, what He wants for all believers, you will discover His specific will during the process of sanctification.
I’m not going to do your homework for you, but you can read through the New Testament and write down every commandment of God to see what His general will is. Over time, these instructions will be written on your heart. They will become second nature to you if you walk daily with the Lord.
I like to keep things simple. Instead of memorizing all the rules, I simply keep the main rule: love everybody equally at all times. That’s my interpretation of God’s instructions for humanity. Don’t play favorites. Don’t be unloving. Be a good example.
If you love and respect other people, leading with that intention, your actions will be pleasing to God, your friends and your enemies.
Our intentions, the hidden motivations of our hearts, are revealed in our words and our deeds. If you want to know what’s in a person’s heart, listen to their words and watch what they do. This is not to judge them, but to know how to pray and minister to them.
What pleases the Lord? Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith says God exists and He is my Lord. If you don’t recognize the Lord, how can you please Him? How can you go to Him for counsel?
Keep the faith. Walk by faith. Spread the faith.
Lord, increase our faith. Amen.
So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord wants.
Ephesians 5:17 GW