A much loved spiritual mentor pointed out to me the difference between the Apostle Paul's past will (a life without Christ) and His new will that evolved after the Lord called Him. He then challenged me to define what my own new will would say.
I knew the story of Paul's life, but as I recounted it again, it confirmed an issue that our Lord had been speaking to my heart for some time. Saul, living out a life deceived, sought to persecute Christs' followers by any means that he could find. But when he became Paul, as He was called by God, the scales were removed not only from the eyes of his flesh, but also from his spiritual eyes and he gained a new perspective - Gods' perspective. Seeing only with eyes born of this world, Saul's vantage point left him seeing only what the world was able to see. He had a limited and fatally flawed perspective that determined what he believed to be true and he reacted according to that perspective. But by the revelation of God's perspective, He was given a view point that was complete and that revealed the truth. He was changed forever by this holy perspective and reacted to it by devoting his life to serving God's heart and purpose for creating him. What was the difference between Saul and Paul? A God given perspective through which he was blessed to see the truth.
If we are driven only by the senses of our flesh, our reactions to the things we come across in this life are determined by what we are able to see, touch, hear etc.. and all of these senses are as limited and flawed as our flesh. Therefore we are easily deceived. Our enemy, the enemy of our God, knows this and uses this terrible weakness to bring about our destruction if we allow it by motivating us to live for this moment. But if we are joined with the great spirit of our God, we are given the ability as He allows, to rise above our flesh and gain the view point, the perspective, of our God on high. We can see then, that there is a truth beyond our previously limited view point.
Our perspective without Gods' view point, is like standing on one side of a very high fence that we can't see through. We can only see what's in front of us and can only make assumptions about what's on the other side. Those assumptions are very likely going to be as flawed as our ability to see through the fence. It really doesn't matter which side of the fence we are standing on, we are only able to see what's in front of us and are unable to see what's on the other side. We cannot have a view of the whole picture because of our limited perspective. But, as we know, Gods' vantage point is much higher than our own, and only He can see both sides of the fence at the same time from on high. Only our Lord has the holy perspective, the point from which to view, to see, and know the truth.
So, all of this being said, perhaps you can begin to sense what my new will might be - I'm burdened with the desire that all men would gain the perspective of God. A recurrent teaching, a repeated theme of His inspiration to my heart says that so much of what we live in this life is determined by our perspective. Our point of view. The way we see things determines our response to them and our enemy is well aware of this fact. So he's created as much distortion, distraction and deception as he can to pervert our perspective. Most of these things appeal to our flesh because he knows that our flesh is the weakest and most selfish part of our being. For example, if we are governed by a worldly perspective, we cling to this life with great intensity as though this is our only chance to live and we are inclined to respond according to this view. We live to appease our flesh. If we suffer from this view point, we are not recognizing that God has spoken the fact that we are eternal beings. I'm given to view this life as though we are a child attending school. We're in a moment of time that affords us the opportunity to learn about our God and ourselves. A time of development and preparation for life ahead with Him. The end of this life is clearly not the end of our existence by Gods' word. But the death we will encounter in this life will spell the end of our flesh. So if our perspective is limited to that of our flesh, then we will react by believing that our lives are over at that point and our flesh is grieved at it's coming. We will be driven to live to satisfy our flesh to the greatest extent possible, to get what we can out of this life before it's over.
By deception, a failed perspective fostered by our enemy, many are consumed with a desire to live this life as though it were the only life we are to experience and are consequently failing to recognize the truth. I think that even some Christians struggle with true clarity regarding this issue. We know the truth, but the weakness we carry in the flesh we live with keeps us in a constant battle for control. If we hold this "one life to live" view point, our flesh struggles to gain priority over Gods' truth and becomes obsessed with it's own selfish existence. If we hold this worldly perspective, we fail to recognize that our flesh is merely a temporal part of our eternal being and is only in essence, the clothes we wear to school. Our physical death in this life represents a graduation. A point to which we either aspire, to work successfully to fulfill Gods' desire and purpose, or one in which we fail both Him and ourselves eternally. If we graduate the school of this life, our flesh, the mere clothes we wore to school, are exchanged by our Lord and God for the graduation robes of honor which He alone can provide. It will be at this point that we truly come to live the lives He intended all along. The life in this world is only act 1 of an eternal life that we are preparing for.
Paul was given clarity and perspective by God's mercy. He was blessed to rise in God's spirit to a perspective, a point from which to see, the whole (holy) truth. Because of this, he didn't count the cost in this life, the denial and suffering of his flesh, in service to Christ as something to be mourned. His perspective, took into account the whole picture which extends far beyond this life. He recognized that in God's whole picture, this life accounts for only the tiniest fraction of our Lord's eternal plan for us. So his reaction was to focus beyond this life to the prize that will not perish and be wasted with this temporal moment in time. Everything changed with his new perspective. He was willing to suffer momentary discomfort to gain eternal reward in the life that will last beyond the fleeting seconds that this life will occupy in the length of eternity.
I would not dare to suggest that our Lord desires that our lives be nothing but sacrifice, pain and suffering. Or that He doesn't desire to bless us in this life. I've learned enough about the desires of His heart to know that it's always His desire to be able to bless us. (I've also come to understand that we tie His hands more often than we realize). But I deeply desire that all men would recognize the truth: that this life pales by far in comparison to the life that He's promised yet to come. And that our reaction to that perspective would be to earnestly place our focus beyond the world our flesh is driven to experience outside of the truth in order to satisfy its doomed self. To suffer momentary discomfort if called to do so, in order to fulfill the far greater purpose for which we were created.
Our Lord's perspective is far different from the view point we are given standing on the world's platform. Consider His statement in Isaiah 55:8-9: "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."
Given this statement of truth, I pray continually "Lord, teach me your ways and help me to walk in the center of them, straying neither to the left or the right. Help me to think like you do. Help me to see what you see and to hear what you hear. Make me sensitive to your own heart and help me to feel what you feel. Help me to become a blessing to your heart and a sweet fragrance to your nostrils." In essence, I'm continually praying for a higher perspective. One that sees the whole and holy picture so that my reactions are led by His perspective and become reflective of the heart of my greatest love. I know that I have a long way yet to go. But the greatest desire of my heart is to gain the perspective of my beloved Lord so that my reaction to the perspective I hold are based on eternal truth and fulfilling the desires of His precious heart.
From what elevation, what vantage point or perspective do you see this life? What perspective really determines the way you are living and the decisions you make on a daily basis? What perspective determines what you value and the way that you spend your time and energy in the numbered moments of this short time? The truth is in the result. How do you spend your time and how do you decide the issues in your life? My new will in Christ is one that brings a drive to call all of the people my Father created, all of my brothers and sisters to seek to have His perspective... to live.
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