ICS Daily Devotions
Seek the Will of God
Matt. 26:38-39 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Jesus, being 100% man and 100% God, His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow of what He had to go through. The pain was so great to the extent that He shed blood. Yet, Jesus was submissive to God by praying to the Father regarding God’s will. He was following God’s will and it involved paying a price. Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane with two wills but came out with only one will, the will of the Father.
Our soul will be under tremendous stress when we are faced with a stressful situation or the need to make a major decision especially when we are facing the unknown. We might be at a fork road in our lives where we need to choose to either change job, return home, marry someone, choose a university or any major investment. We are stepping into the unknown.
Living for Christ is a consecrated life where we choose to live out the will of God for our life, to walk in holiness and have the attitude of always wanting to submit to the will of God. It is laying down our rights to our own lives and truly desiring God to be Lord over us. We should grab a Bible, Journal, a Christian book or play a Christian music that’s relevant to our intent of being with God. This is really the humble attitude that we should adopt to desire to seek the face of God.
Living a consecrated life is one which is set apart for the Lord in holiness just as the Lord is holy. It covers every aspect of our life; in the area of a life partner, managing our wealth, assets, gifting, and our career. It is a life that we choose to live for God and this lifestyle causes us to always seek the Lord for His will and direction for our lives. Our priorities will be the Lord’s will first, family interest, personal health, position in the company and remuneration.
It can be challenging to our flesh to live out a consecrated life because we need to bring our flesh into submission to the spirit. We will come to a situation where we will not do what we like but what is right in God’s eyes and plan.
Although righteousness is imputed to us, sanctification and consecration is a lifelong process. This is something that all Christians should be doing or living it out. It is not impossible as God has made it possible through the Spirit of God living in us. Yet, there are hindrances to living out a consecrated life. They are our pride, lack of faith in God, such as the fear of the unknown, losing control of our life and unsure of the character or the goodness of God.
Jesus sets an example to show us how we should pray to be in God’s will and have His leading in every major decision we make in life. When Jesus prayed, He did not pray to receive anything from the Father but about becoming the sin sacrifice for the world. This is the only prayer in all of Jesus’ prayers recorded where it mentioned “If it is your will”. Jesus was praying about the will of God for His life when He said, “Nevertheless not my will, but as You will”. A prayer of consecration is a prayer seeking the will of God for our lives.
We can see that in the life of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where His life was merely a culmination of a life of consecration. Jesus lived a consecrated life! Every day and every step of Jesus’ ministry, He was submitting to the will of the Father although it was challenging and agonizing for Him during the moment in Gethsemane. We will have to submit to God when the answer to the prayer of consecration is not what He has in mind for us. It is a form of protection. It is dying to our flesh to not do what we want or like but what is His plan for us. Jesus submitted to the will of the Father when He knew that what He was supposed to do!
Let us follow Jesus as our example and seek God’s will for our lives. Doing this, we will live out a spiritually fruitful life in consecration. Living a consecrated life is a choice. When we learn to walk in His will by surrendering ourselves to Him, we find ourselves living a life with joy, satisfaction of the soul and contentment of the spirit.
Sermon series: A Firm Footing
