God's Will Archives - Things Above Ministries

Spiritual Thinking, The Government

On December 4, 2017 / Character, Faith, God's Will

Things Above Thought
TAT 121 The Government – What were you thinking?!
(Area #2 of testing our spiritual thinking test.)

When Christ walked the face of this earth, the head of the government was considered to be God. If you placed any other god higher than him, by law, you could be killed. One might think that Christ would have something to say about that government, and He did:

Speaking to Pilate, Christ said: “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above . . .” (John 19:11)

Speaking to the believers in Roman He said: “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

Earlier, Nebuchadnezzar was told: The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.” (Daniel 4:17)

When we think human rulers are going to destroy our world and thwart the good that we are trying to do then we need to think again: “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2:21) And: “. . . the rulers of this age, who are passing away;” (1 Corinthians 2:6)

Satan has blinded the minds of many to the important issue of the day: “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see (understand) the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). While living under the rule of a horrible government, Christ himself made no political changes, nor did He ask any of His followers to make political changes. Christ did not even pray for political change! At your last election “What were you thinking?”

The Bottom Line: Christ lived His life with a spiritual mind-set and spiritual goals, according to God’s spiritual plan. And to this day He is still working on that spiritual plan—God’s eternal rulership of all creation (Colossians 1:19–20)! Is that how you think? If so, is your thinking revealed in the daily activities of your life, for all the heavenly host to see?

God’s Plan & my plans

On October 30, 2015 / Christian Basics, Faith, God's Will, God's Will for Me, Suffering, Trials

Things Above Thought
TAT #56
God’s Plan and my plans

God wants me to be happy, prosperous, and satisfied so — is that how I should make my plans?
Well maybe, but first consider these:

“Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.” (Job 3:1)
“He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.” (Matthew 14:10)
“And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,” (Hebrews 11:39).
“But first He (Christ) must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” (Luke 17:25)
“Although He was a Son, (Christ) He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews. 5:8)

“for I will show him (Paul) how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16)
“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews12:2)
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, (Philippians 3:8)

Just make sure that what you consider to be happy and prosperous, and also satisfies you, are the same “things” which Christ considers to be joyous and prosperous and satisfies Him.

Fact # 33: “I am here to serve God and carry out His plan, not to have God serve me and carry out my plans.” (Job 38; Isaiah 43:7).

God’s Specific Plan For You

On October 30, 2015 / Christian Basics, God's Will, God's Will for Me

Things Above Thought
TAT #54
God’s Specific Plan For You

God has called you to be His and you feel very special—you should. Now you are wondering what is God’s will (plan) for your life? After reading the last TAT you feel very comfortable that you are trying to live God’s universal will for your life but you still wonder: “Does God have a specific will for me and how do I find it?

God had a specific will for Adam, Noah, Abram, Jonah, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Paul and many others. But, they did nothing special to find it! In fact Jonah, John the Baptist, and Paul were not even living according to God’s universal will when He revealed His specific will for their lives!

As one of God’s chosen all you have to do is to be concerned with living His universal will—learn the Bible and live by its rules. If God has a specific will for your life He will reveal it to you when He is ready. It is His will for your life, it is not your will for your life. Therefore it is His responsibility to reveal it to you when He is ready. All you have to do is to focus on living His universal will–learn the Bible and live by its rules.

And remember, God does not have a specific will for everyone! God’s universal will is more than enough for any of us and all of us. Don’t be so desirous for Him to reveal His specific will that you ignore His universal will—learn the Bible and live by its rules.

Fact # 33 I am here to serve God and carry out His plan, not to have God serve me and carry out my plans (Job 38; Isaiah 43:7).

God’s Universal Plan

On October 30, 2015 / Christian Basics, Faith, God's Will, Victory

Things Above Thought
TAT #53
God’s Universal Plan

God has a plan for all who want to follow Him, a universal plan. This plan applied to Adam and Eve and to every person who wanted or now wants to follow Him. God’s plan is this – don’t make up your own rules for your good life, learn God’s rules and follow them.

Eve tried to make up her own rules for her good life, it didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now (Genesis 3:5–6; John 3:36). When we do not obey the LORD’s rules we set ourselves up as a god and make up our own rules (Genesis 3:5; Isaiah 14:13–14; Joshua 24:15).

So just where do we find the rules of God’s universal plan for our life? The Bible! See 2 Timothy 3:16–17 with special attention given to verse 17. But be aware that a simple single reading will not completely reveal God’s entire universal plan all at once. He did not design it to work that way and there’s too much information to grasp in one reading! Relax and keep reading it over and over and take time to enjoy each little bit of new information you find and understand.

God’s universal plan for our lives should be universal in our lives.

Fact # 33: “I am here to serve God and carry out His plan, not to have God serve me and carry out my plans.” (Job 38; Isaiah 43:7).

God’s Plan

On October 30, 2015 / Christian Basics, God, God's Will

Things Above Thought
TAT #52
God’s Plan — TWO!

Fact # 33: “I am here to serve God and carry out His plan, not to have God serve me and carry out my plans.” (Job 38; Isaiah 43:7).

Some say His plan for their life is to serve the poor. Some say His plan for them is to carry out the “Great Commission.” Some say His plan is for them to lead a quiet life, work with their own hands, and eat their own bread. But for some those “plans” end in failure because they were not actually God’s plan for their life. So how does one find God’s plan for their life?

First we must realize that God can have two plans for one person. The first plan is universal, it includes all of God’s chosen. God has a single plan which is for all His chosen, no matter who they are, where they live, or when they lived. This plan applied to all the saints of old, the apostles, and now applies to us. It is universal for all time. But sometimes God has a specific plan for certain individuals. This means that some of God’s chosen can actually have two plans for their lives! To understand that God can have two plans is a huge step. Therefore the next few TATs will examine these tow plans.

Two plans, who would have thunk it.

Everything?

On October 30, 2015 / Christian Basics, Christian Values, Endurance, God's Will, Victory

Things Above Thought
TAT #45
Everything?

Because of the trial that Satan brought upon Job, Job lost his children, his money, his friends, and his status but he did not lose his wife, (Job 1:13–37:24). But many of Job’s day to day workers did lose everything, they lost their lives.
Am I willing to live righteously and lose everything or just lose what Job lost?

God’s Plan

On October 30, 2015 / Bible, Christian Basics, Faith, God's Will, God's Will for Me, Heavenly Witness, Satan, Victory, Witnessing

Things Above Thoughts
TAT #43
Understanding God’s Plan

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:6–8)

If you think you’ re only one, unimportant, person and that what you do makes little impact, then you have a problem. You have a problem of a lack of understanding. When you think you are small and unimportant you do not understand all the facts. When you understand God’s designed witness to the angels you realize you are important:

Through God’s spiritual family the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 3:10 NET, clarification added)

They are watching our daily lives to understand God’s wisdom and by this we glorify God!

Heavenly Placement

On October 29, 2015 / Christian Basics, Christian Values, Eternal, God's Will, Reigning

Things Above Thought
TAT # 27
Heavenly Placement

While our salvation was secured by Christ and His intercessory death, God has made available different heavenly positions and benefits for us:

And He said to her, “What do you wish?” she said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” . . . to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” (Matthew 20:20–23)

Notice that Christ did not say those positions do not exist but that His Father would fill those positions “for whom it has been prepared.” In so doing Christ acknowledged that special places do exist and they will be filled by certain people. That leaves us with the questions:

Do we exercise Biblical Faith for His eternal will or for our present benefit (Hebrews 11:1)?

Our Country

On November 6, 2014 / Bible, Christian Basics, Christian Values, Darkness & Light, Eternal, Faith, God, God's Will, God's Will for Me, Kingdom, Satan

Things Above Thoughts (TAT)
Heavenly Citizen

I’m glad we have a day to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we might live free in this country.

We should be proud of our country and be good citizens and hopefully our parents are proud of us for this:

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

Let us remember the – One – who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we might be free from Satan’s rule. And may our desire for our – heavenly country – make the Father proud of us.

Impact Heaven?!

On October 30, 2014 / Bible, Christian Basics, Christian Values, Endurance, Eternal, Faith, God's Will, God's Will for Me, Heavenly Witness, Victory

I use to think I had no impact on heaven but then I read:

I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:10)

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . (Matthew 6:20)

I’m glad I repented of the thought that I have no impact on heaven.
I wonder what else can I do this week to impact heaven?

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