When I saw this picture I immediately thought about “The Will of God”. Then I did a simple search on these words and what follows is the result. All the Scriptures are taken from the World English Bible. My comments are separated by “---” and are in a different fancy font and are centered on the page.
Many people have thought that they were doing The Will of God when in fact they were doing their own desires. One quick test is: Is what I am doing ( or about to do ) something that God would approve of? In the vernacular: What would Jesus do? Consider the following Scriptures...
The will of God is for us to be The Family of God
Mark 3
31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.
32 A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”
33 He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
34 Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!
35 For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
---
God never intended for us to be apart from HIM. He wants us to be like HIM in thought, word and deed. Those who live in complete accordance with his WORD are FAMILY!
---
The Will of God is that we pray
Romans 1
7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
Romans 15
30 Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,
31 that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints;
32 that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest.
1 Thessalonians 5
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
---
God wants to hear from us, because HE loves us. Let your thoughts and the intent of your heart be known to God. Seek HIM in prayer, for God genuinely desires this!
---
God will is for us to be Sanctified in Christ
1 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
1 Thessalonians 4
1 Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,
4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God;
6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
1 Peter 2
1 Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
2 as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:
4 coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
5 You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.”
7 For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
10 who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
11 Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12 having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.
13 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme;
14 or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well.
15 For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
---
We are to be a special people dedicated to live according to the principles of the Holy Scriptures, which are an Earthly reflection of HIS WILL!
---
God’s will for us is a life in Christ
2 Timothy 1
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 Corinthians 8
1 Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia;
2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.
3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,
4 begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.
5 This was not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.
Ephesians 6
5 Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ;
6 not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men;
8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.
---
Jesus Christ lived a life dedicated to serving God and doing HIS WILL. So should we!
---
Examples of doing the will of God
Ephesians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Corinthians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
Colossians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Colossians 4
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
Hebrews 10
35 Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.
36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
37 “In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.
38 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
---
Doing the will of God is not necessarily an easy thing to do in today’s world, but it can be done! The above passages give examples and encouragement to persevere!
---
1 Peter 4
1 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin;
2 that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1 Peter 4
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
15 For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters.
16 But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter.
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God?
18 “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?”
19 Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.
---
There will be opposition to a life lived in “The will of God”. Christians will suffer at the hands of disbelievers. Trust in God and continue in the faith NO MATTER WHAT MAY COME YOUR WAY!
---