What Is Your Will In Christ?

 If only we truly understood God's heart, felt His joy, understood the depth of His love and the reasons for His plans... The Apostle Paul:  "I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.  God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence." Ephesians 3:9-12 (NLT)  Paul wrote of one glorious plan that Father God kept secret until the time was right for it to be revealed, but this was only one of His plans, one among countless others - plans intended to give us a bright hope for the eternal future. "O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have n

 For those looking for a foundation on which to build a fruitful life, especially for men - because of my own experience, but applicable to any life, I have some simple advice.  As a young man I became enamored of a certain book of the bible that quickly became the anchor that I've relied on for much of daily life since. It's served so often as a guide to properly respond to the things that life's confronted me with - to keep my feet from walking some of the paths that would have only led to causing my heart later regret.  Admittedly, at times I've allowed myself to drift on the slack of my chain to it and felt myself suddenly jarred by hitting against my inattention to its immovable wisdom, but this book's wisdom has never failed to provide safety when I've hauled in the slack and stayed tightly tethered to it. The jarring of my unfaithfulness to keep the line of my life taught to the book of Proverbs has honestly only ever caused me unnecessary pain. Sometimes

 "Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and give you success as you follow his directions in building the Temple of the LORD your God. And may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the Law of the LORD your God as you rule over Israel. For you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart!" 1 Chronicles 22:11-13 (NLT) ... It was a father's advice given to his son. In fact it was King David, the King of Israel speaking to his son Solomon. "Follow His directions", "obey the Law of the LORD", "be strong and courageous" ... those words could be very wise counsel given to any of us as we consider how we submit our lives and ourselves to allow the Lord to build His temple in us. Like that great temple that Solomon would build as a place to be inhabited by the Lord's presence, we too have influence i