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                        Embracing the Will of God!

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By David Wilkerson
November 30, 1992
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          Every true follower of Jesus Christ says he wants to do
          the will of God. Yet most Christians think of Gods
          will as something that is imposed on them - something
          distasteful and difficult, which they are forced to do.

          I believe the perfect will of God is a matter of great
          importance to all who say they love the Lord. And there
          is a vast difference between submitting to Gods will
          and embracing His will.

          To submit means to "subject oneself to," or to "give in
          to imposed conditions." Often, submitting is thought of
          in terms of punishment or discipline. For example, the
          government of Iraq was forced to submit to conditions
          of punishment set by the United Nations. The Iraqis did
          not embrace this imposed discipline - rather they
          submitted to it.

          Sadly, many Christians see the will of God in this way.
          They picture God as demanding that they give in to a
          hard set of rules and conditions: "Do it My way, or
          youre on your own!"

          How very wrong they are! How very different from our
          lovely Savior is such thinking. The truth is, when a
          believer knows the glory of doing the Lords perfect
          will, he embraces it with joy and hope! To embrace
          means "to clasp, as in your arms" - to press to your
          bosom as an expression of love and affection. Yet the
          sad fact is, very few Christians embrace Gods perfect
          will.

          Perhaps youre thinking, "Gods perfect will has passed
          me by. My life is haphazard - it has no form or order
          to it." No! You can rest assured that God has an
          absolute, perfect plan and will for everyone of His
          children. He leaves no single life to chance. In fact,
          He wants to order every step of your days here on
          earth. And He desires that you enter into His plan and
          will for you today!

          Gods beautiful will is not just for ministers or
          deeply spiritual saints, but for all His children. The
          New Testament exhorts us: "That (we) no longer should
          live the rest of (our) time in the flesh to the lusts
          of men, but to the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). "Make
          you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
          in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight"
          (Hebrews 13:21).

          The early apostles had one desire for all the churches
          - that every member know Gods perfect will for their
          lives and embrace it. Paul wrote of a brother named
          Epaphras, "who is one of you, a servant of Christ ...
          always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye
          may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God"
          (Colossians 4:12). Epaphras knew God had a perfect will
          for everyone in the congregation. And he knew that if
          they would enter into the Lords will, they would find
          joy, ecstasy and their every need met.

          It is very easy for any one of us to say, "Yes, I want
          Gods perfect will in my life!" But the truth is, no
          believer enters His will without a great struggle.
          Gods perfect will is embraced only in Gethsemane - and
          Jesus set the example for us.

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                      You Simply Cannot Embrace Gods
                   Will Until You Die to All Self-Will!

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          It was prophesied of Jesus from the very beginning that
          He would come to earth for one eternal purpose: to
          fulfill the will of the Father. "Then said I, Lo, I
          come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to
          do thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:7).

          Christ told His disciples: "I seek not mine own will,
          but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (John
          5:30). "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
          and to finish his work" (4:34). "For I came down from
          heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him
          that sent me" (6:38).

          There was never a moment in Jesus life when He wasnt
          aware that His purpose on earth was to do the will of
          the Father. This ought to be true of us as well - that
          in every waking hour of the day we seek to do His will.
          The fact is, we no longer belong to ourselves; we have
          been bought with a price. And like Jesus, we were
          created to do the Fathers perfect will!

          Yet, no matter how spiritual you are or how long you
          have walked with Jesus, a time will come when youll
          have to decide once and for all whose will is going to
          prevail in your life: yours - or the Fathers. Jesus
          had to face such an hour. He knew He had a divine,
          eternal call. But He was also human - and He was
          greatly tested!

          When that hour came for Christ, He saw before Him the
          painful cost of embracing His Fathers perfect will. It
          meant walking straight into the jaws of death - into
          pain that was indescribable and unknown - and he became
          "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" (Matthew 26:38).
          "Being in an agony ... his sweat was as it were great
          drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke
          22:44). Jesus very flesh began to quake!

          Beloved, our Lords bloody battle at Gethsemane was all
          about embracing Gods will: "O my Father, if it be
          possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not
          as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus
          own human will had to die. He had a life-or-death
          struggle over it!

          Yet, when He arose from that struggle, His soul was
          flooded with ecstasy. There was something in Him of
          eternal glory - because something had been settled: His
          own will lay forever dead!

          Our Lord went to the Cross with complete joy - because
          He was already dead. He had died to everything that was
          of His humanity. And He was able to say, "Father, I did
          not come here to live an easy life. I came to spend
          Myself for you. Now I face the cost - and I embrace
          it!"

          Jesus clung to the Fathers will with an affection that
          lifted Him beyond all the sufferings that lay ahead. No
          man or demon could touch Him. And now He eagerly
          anticipated the glory that would be His Father's!

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                        If We Are to Be Like Christ,
                      We Too Will Have Our Gethsemane
                           When Faced With Moving
                         Into Gods Perfect Will.

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          You may have testified for years: "Im here on earth to
          do Gods will alone. I will obey!" But then one day you
          are brought face to face with a life-or-death crisis
          beyond anything you have ever known. It is a place
          where choosing Gods will can be the most painful,
          difficult decision you have ever faced.

          In the end, you have three options:

            1. You can run.
            2. You can do nothing, going the way of self-will.
            3. Or you can do it Gods way, the hard way - the way
               of death.

          The Lords way almost always looks painful, hopeless.
          And embracing it can mean dying to all you had hoped
          for in the flesh. Let me give you two true-life
          illustrations:

             * A vivacious young English girl was called to be a
               missionary. She had given her heart totally to the
               Lord - and she was full of ambition for Jesus! She
               led a small prayer group and worked with street
               people. And like most girls her age, she hoped to
               find a spiritual young man to marry - someone who
               would share her burden for the lost. She testified
               to friends and to Christ that she was ready to "do
               Gods perfect will, no matter the cost!"

               The day came when that desire was tested. She was
               just a very young girl - and the Holy Spirit told
               her to get on a boat and go to the Orient!

               Down on her knees she went: "What about a husband
               Lord - a spiritual covering for my ministry? What
               about all the heathen in England who need You?
               What about all my friends and our wonderful prayer
               meetings? Am I supposed to just take a suitcase
               and go - not knowing anybody, not even the
               language?"

               She was facing the will of God - the unknowable.
               Yet she knew the Spirit had spoken, and His will
               was clearly revealed: "Go - and Ill go with you!"

               She had a Gethsemane experience! And before she
               got up from prayer she died - to all ambition, to
               church and to friends, to all comfort and
               self-will. Joy filled her heart!

               She got on the boat and kissed her friends
               good-bye. She had crossed the line: Gods will at
               any cost! When the boat came to Hong Kong, God
               told her to get off - and she did, not knowing a
               soul.

               That was over fifteen years ago. Today, Jackie
               Pullinger is a spiritual mother to literally
               hundreds of junkies and troubled people in the
               slums of Hong Kong. She is married to Jesus and is
               a true daughter of Zion. She knows the ecstasy of
               being in the perfect will of the Father - an
               ecstasy that never left her once she got on the
               boat!

             * A woman named Amanda Smith lived over a century
               ago - a woman whose heart was set on God. She was
               a humble black servant and a prayer warrior.
               People felt the presence of Jesus around her.

               God sent this young woman a wonderful, loving
               husband who ministered with her. Amanda was a
               missionary at heart - she liked to travel, and she
               won people to the Lord wherever they went. But
               then the Civil War broke out, and Amandas husband
               was killed.

               Amanda grieved. But she continued giving herself
               completely to prayer and to the service of others.
               Eventually, though, she began to feel lonely. She
               began to pray, "Lord, send me a godly husband -
               one who will share my burden to travel and
               minister.

               One day she met a man who appeared to be all of
               those things. He was a Methodist lay pastor who
               said he was going to become ordained as a circuit
               rider. Amanda prayed, "Oh Lord, thank You - this
               is the man!"

               But Amanda did not take the matter to Gethsemane!
               She didnt seek the Lord for His perfect will.
               Deep down, she was afraid God might say no - and
               she wanted to marry him. Amanda never died to her
               will - and her will took over. They married - and
               within three weeks Amanda realized she had missed
               Gods will. Her husband was not a man of prayer -
               he had been acting, just to win her heart. Then he
               confessed he wasnt going to be ordained. He said
               he knew she wouldnt have married him if hed told
               her the truth!

               Eventually, he left Amanda and backslid. She spent
               the rest of her life alone. But everything she did
               from that point on, she took to God, dying to her
               own will - and was greatly blessed! The Lord led
               her perfectly all her days. She was used mightily
               as a preacher of holiness. Amanda Smith had found
               ecstasy in Gods perfect will!

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                     If the Will of God Is Not Embraced
                          Joyfully and Obediently,
                       Something Frightful Happens!

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          Hardness sets in - life loses its flavor, and all
          becomes dead. This is what Jesus meant when He said,
          "Remember Lots wife" (Luke 17:32)

          Now, it was Gods perfect will to chasten and destroy
          Sodom and Gomorrah. And it was His gracious will to
          take Lot and his family to safety. If the angels hadnt
          taken them all by the hand and dragged them out, they
          would have been lost! Yet, Lots wife did not turn into
          a pillar of salt simply because she turned back to
          look. Im sure Lot and his daughters couldnt help
          looking back also upon such a holocaust.

          No - what Jesus was saying about Lots wife goes much
          deeper. You see, she was angry at God! In her heart,
          she was married to her house, her family, her circle of
          friends - and God was taking it all away. She had no
          desire for Gods perfect will if it meant losing all
          those things!

          I can hear her crying: "God, its not fair! Everything
          was going so well. My beautiful kitchen, my lovely
          china - none of that was sinful. I was a good mother.
          Our Sunday dinners were so wonderful. Why are You
          taking everything from me?"

          At that moment, in her brooding anger, her heart turned
          to stone. Bitterness consumed her. And Jesus was saying
          of her, "When youre married to things and wont get
          out of Sodom, a hardness will set in you. Youll be
          like a lifeless statue, dead inside - because things
          have attached themselves to your heart!"

          Not only did Lots wife miss Gods will - including a
          new beginning, with peace and purpose - but she also
          lost all her earthly dreams and longings! It all went
          up in smoke!

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                 Doing the Will of God Can Require Walking
                  Right Into The Face of a Fiery Furnace!

                    ------------------------------------

          Consider the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach
          and Abednego. They were young men in the prime of life:
          leaders of provinces, having authority, experts in
          linguistics. Their goal was to bring the Hebrew laws of
          morality to their heathen society. There is no telling
          what dreams they shared for Gods glory!

          But they were commanded by decree to worship an idol
          with the rest of the people. They were warned: "You
          have twenty-four hours. If you dont bow down at the
          sound of the trumpet, youll be thrown into a furnace
          thats heated seven times over!"

          Gods will was very clear to them: they could not
          possibly bow down! Yet there they were, three brilliant
          young men - facing the death of all they knew.

          Or, course, they had options. They could have said, "We
          will bow only in our flesh - but not in our hearts!"

          Or, they could have escaped. They had armed guards at
          their command, the best Arabian horses at their
          disposal. They had all the money they needed at their
          fingertips, in the national treasury. And there were
          safe havens in nearby countries

          But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did none of those
          things. Instead, I believe they had an all-night prayer
          meeting! There wasnt a single voice of compromise that
          night - because they all did what Jesus did: they had a
          Gethsemane!

          They died to their will - to all their abilities, to
          their future in government, to all their godly plans.
          And the moment they died that night, their hearts were
          filled with ecstasy! They hugged Gods will, loving it
          - they would never let it go. They said, "Oh God, well
          face anything! You are able to deliver us from this -
          but even if You dont, well gladly go through it!"

          They didnt resist when the soldiers came the next
          morning and bound them hand and foot. Rather, I believe
          that as those young men were led away to the furnace,
          they sang praises to God - because they had come into
          the ecstasy of His perfect will!

          Beloved, stop and look into the white-hot flames of
          that seven-times-heated furnace: That is exactly what
          it looks like to stare into the perfect will of God! It
          is scary, frightful, painful to the flesh, with no
          promise of reprieve. There is only an invitation: "Go
          in!"

          Yet when those three Hebrew men were cast into the
          furnace, they were already dead! Dead to all ambition,
          dead to the joys of hearing the prophetic messages
          Daniel had shared, dead to any thought of wives and
          children, dead to all hopes and dreams. Only one thing
          mattered to them: obeying the perfect will of God!

          When you gladly embrace Gods will - when you have
          truly died to self - something is released in your
          heart that nobody can explain or give to you. It places
          you beyond the reach of men and devils. But it is not
          released until you go into the furnace!

                    ------------------------------------

                     A Marvelous Glory Awaits the Soul
                       Who Embraces the Will of God!

                    ------------------------------------

          The furnace door represents a crossing over into Gods
          perfect will. On this side of the door is an army of
          mocking enemies, visions of pain and suffering. Demons
          scream at you: "God doesnt expect this of you! He
          loves you. Didnt He say Hed give you the desires of
          your heart? Youve become a fanatic!"

          But once you cross the line and embrace the will of
          God, something incredible happens: Jesus manifests
          Himself to you!

          When the Hebrew children were inside the furnace, Jesus
          was there waiting. He did not reveal Himself right away
          - because first they had to decide to embrace His will.
          Yet when they did embrace it and had died to all
          self-will, Jesus manifested Himself to them. And what
          they thought were painful coals were instead turned
          into green pastures and gentle breezes - because Jesus
          had gone before them!

          The very moment you walk into the furnace - when you
          cross to the other side and embrace Gods will - youll
          turn around and see Jesus. He will be there in a
          manifestation that you cannot have in any other way.
          And He will do three things for you:

            1. First, He will become everything in your life. He
               will be your joy, your expectation. He will touch
               that place in your heart that no person on earth
               can touch.

               I love my wife and my children. The love,
               compassion and friendship I receive from them are
               all a joy to me. But there is only one ecstasy in
               my life - only one Person who can meet the deepest
               need in me - and thats my Lord. And I too have
               met Him in the furnace!

            2. The next thing Jesus will do is to cause all your
               bondages to fall off.

               When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went into the
               furnace, they stepped into a release: every bond
               was broken, every hurt was healed, every fear
               vanished - because Jesus moved in quickly!

               "And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
               Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the
               burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the
               king was astonished, and rose up in haste ... and
               said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the
               midst of the fire, and they have no hurt: and the
               form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel
               3:23-25).

               The king saw four men - walking, talking and
               embracing. The three young men were being embraced
               - hugged - by Jesus!

               Are you hurting? Do you know how to get your hurt
               healed? It wont happen simply because God sends
               someone who understands you - because nobody
               understands you the way Jesus does. No, the only
               One who can meet you completely is Jesus Himself!
               Whether you have emptiness, sorrow or anything
               else - when you walk into the furnace of His will,
               all your bonds will fall off!

            3. Finally, you will receive a call to preach Christ
               to the nations. When the three Hebrew young men
               entered the furnace, a call came to them which
               could not have come in any other way:

               "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the
               burning fiery furnace ... and said ... ye servants
               of the most high God, come forth, and come hither
               ... Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed
               be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who
               hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants
               that trusted in him, and have changed the kings
               word, and yielded their bodies, that they might
               not serve nor worship any god, except their own
               God.

               "Therefore I make a decree, That every people,
               nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss
               against (their) God . . . shall be cut in pieces,
               and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because
               there is no other God that can deliver after this
               sort" (Daniel 3:26-30).

               Talk about a Macedonian call! Look how quickly God
               changed the whole atmosphere, in such a short time
               - from mockery, to wonder, to a call to make the
               gospel heard!

          Beloved, this is what is going to happen in the last
          days! People wont turn to big-name preachers. Instead,
          theyll look to simple, lowly saints who have yielded
          themselves wholly to the perfect will of God! These are
          ones who have known the heart of Jesus. They have come
          out of the furnace having been with Christ - and people
          will gather around them, saying, "Please, talk to me. I
          see you giving your body and your soul to Jesus - and I
          want to know more about it!"

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                   Finally, Doing the Perfect Will of God
                       Sometimes Requires Going Back
                          Into a Family Situation
                      That Youve Been Running From.

                    ------------------------------------

          You may be in a family situation that seems hopeless.
          Youve cried out, "Lord, I cant handle it - I know You
          dont expect this of me!" You think you cant go on
          much longer - and if you havent run yet, you probably
          feel like it. Yet it is never Gods plan to run!

          Jacob had a terrible family situation. It was more than
          he could handle - in fact, it threatened his very life.
          He had robbed his brother Esau of his birthright and
          angered him to the point of murder.

          How did Jacob handle this problem? He ran from it all!
          He didnt have a Gethsemane - he didnt die to
          self-will and ask God what to do. Instead, Jacob
          listened to the voice of his flesh - that is, to his
          mother, Rebekah, who said, "My son, obey my voice; and
          arise, flee" (Genesis 27:43).

          Jacob ran for twenty years - and those were twenty
          years of heartache and trouble. Finally, God told him
          it was time to face it all: "Now arise, get thee out
          from this land, and return unto the land of thy
          kindred" (31:13). God was saying, "Jacob, youre never
          going to know fullness in Me until you turn and face
          this problem head on. Go - walk into the furnace!"

          Jacob journeyed back with his family to make things
          right - and what do you think he saw first? It was
          Esau, coming out of the desert to meet him - with four
          hundred angry soldiers, ready for revenge!

          Jacob cried, "Oh Lord, I need a miracle! Youve got to
          change my brothers heart. Take away his hatred for
          me!" Jacob had fear and anger in his heart toward God -
          because he had only submitted to Gods will! He was
          saying, "Lord, Ive set my heart to obey You - but
          things are not going right!"

          Perhaps things are not right in your family. Do you
          have an alcoholic husband, a wife who doesnt
          understand you, financial problems? Beloved, those are
          the very things Esau and his army represent - every
          pain, every argument of the flesh, every reason your
          mind can conjure why you cant face your hopeless
          situation. The devil tells you: "Youve obeyed God,
          youve done right - but nothing has changed! Your loved
          ones heart is still hard - in fact, its worse. If you
          dont run now, youll spend the rest of your life in a
          living hell!"

          The truth is, you cant go on - if youre just going to
          submit. But you can go on if you do as Jacob did: he
          had a Gethsemane - a night of dying! I know what Jacob
          prayed that night - because Ive prayed it:

          "Oh, God this situation is too much for me. Ive
          manipulated and tried to make things happen. But Im
          tired of doing things my way! I cant run anymore, Lord
          - I want my life to be right with You. Esau may kill me
          and my family - he may take everything I have. But Id
          rather be with You in glory than go another day living
          this way!"

          That night, Jacob died. God crippled him so he could
          never run again. He could only hobble into the future,
          wholly dependent on the Lord. Yet something else
          happened as well: ecstasy filled his soul. And I
          believe when Jacob walked across the brook to meet Esau
          early the next morning, he was absolutely fearless!

          You too may be facing an Esau. You may think, "Does
          this mean my husband will never change - that nothing
          in my life is ever going to be better?"

          No - God changed Esau! He took the heart of stone out
          of him. And by the time Esau met Jacob, he fell on his
          brother, kissing and embracing him. There was total
          peace!

          Dear saint, dont be afraid to step into the furnace.
          As long as you have the peace of Jesus and the perfect
          will of God, you can stand anything, anywhere, at any
          time. Your circumstances may not change - but you will!
          Jesus will fill your soul with joy and heal all your
          hurt and pain. Your life will be full, blessed -
          because He will be everything to you!

          You dont have to run. You need only look to Him - to
          embrace His perfect will for you. And He will give you
          His exceeding great joy in the very midst of your
          present fiery trial. Hallelujah!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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