Do You Know the Will of God When You See It, Smell It and Taste It?

²⁰Do You Know the Will of God When You See It, Smell It and Taste It?

Good Morning Friends,

Ever notice that you leave your normal sense of taste behind at the airport departure gate when you get on board a plane and cruise to a level of 30,000 thousand feet. The flavor of everything is manipulated in a whole host of ways. Taste buds and our sense of smell are the first things to go and our perception of saltiness and sweetness drop when inside a pressurized cabin. So too on the ground, when faced with a different kind of pressure, our sense of the Spirit of God can be minimized and our ability to feel love and to love others as well. Here is the connection to today’s question. When we fear…when we deny our heart’s compassion, when we are hardhearted under the pressures of life we become co-conspirators in silencing God and denying His love and desire to set us free. Our sense of the Spirit is altered. As with the Pharaoh who opposed Moses…As with the Pharisees who opposed Jesus we will be plagued with a devilish culture of consequences. The harsh reality is this, the unforgiving are un-forgiven.
²⁰Do You Know the Will of God When You See It, Smell It and Taste It?

Scripture: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12 (NRSV)

Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NRSV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (NRSV)

²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28’Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— ³⁰for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

Mark 3:24-30 (NRSV)

Message: At first reading of today’s scripture from Mark it appears that insults against individual members of the Trinity are not all equal. But there is more to it. You see, in building our lives as Christians, sometimes God places an unquenchable fire within us…righteous anger.  There is an explosive agony of revealing the thoughts of our God when it boils over in us.  We cannot contain it. Creation itself forces the response. Stones shout. Trees sing. Sometimes, however, we have an anger that is self-righteous. Both can be passionate. Both can end in pain. But make no mistake about it; only one can end in joy that is celebrated by creation itself. Distinguishing the difference is pretty important and the key to that is whether there is forgiveness…love in our hearts. Forgiveness is absolutely essential if we are to build up anything. Without it our senses are altered and impaired. The key to understanding what is happening in us when we are angry is to confront our unwillingness to conform to His will. This unwillingness is what puts us in such a terrible inner trauma. The truth is hard to swallow. Being human is no excuse. God made us this way so that we might ready ourselves to forgive ourselves, to forgive others…to be forgiven. Payment is required that we might break the cycle of hate and begin rebuilding our lives, our families, and our fellowship of believers, our community and country. So admit, believe, confess….forgive…rebuild. Know that Christ has paid the price so that we might live by seeking and finding the will of God and to do it. But having no will but that of God is not easy to attain for His ways are not our ways. We like to claim the path as our own. We desire the freedom to choose our own path. Our own willfulness and narcissism tends to oppose God’s will as we seek our own dreams rather than those of God. We often do not know God’s will at all. Then even if we get it right, sometimes things seem to get worse when we follow the will of God. So how do we unravel the mystery? How can we know God’s good, pleasing and perfect will? How do we get on and stay on the right path? How do we submit to God? The answer… we might just discover is this… when we abide in the Holy Spirit we abide in the will of Christ and when we are in His will we therefore are in the will of God. Friends do not be afraid or hard hearted when you encounter Jesus.  Allow the Spirit to help you in your weakness. Allow God to search your heart and intercede according to the mind of the Spirit. Know that the process that prompted the denial of the Messiah by Israel is still at play in our lives and cultures today. But also know you have not and cannot commit the unforgivable and eternal sin. For us today that price has been paid. Can you feel the love?

Pray we realize that denying the Holy Spirit will get one in a mess.
Pray that we petition God to have our sins forgiven. Pray that we rejoice in the promise that we will be forgiven. Pray that we respond to the proviso that the promise is not fulfilled until we forgive others.  Pray that we speak boldly the truth with love. Pray that we break out of bondage and forgive as we have been forgiven. Pray that we are convinced that God wants us to know His will and that God will make His will know to each of us.
Pray we realize that God is not looking for hard headed hard hearted people to lead.
Pray without ceasing that we are completely yielded and obedient to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Pray we face our fears until we discover that they are good and acceptable. Pray that our Lord’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Pray that the Holy Spirit speak to our innermost being giving us direction and timing. Pray we seek the counsel of those who walk close to God. Pray we reason together in the peace of Christ. Pray we not shun our responsibility to act. Pray we know when to seize an opportunity but also know when to forego an advantage. Pray we pass the test. Pray we love the Lord with all our hearts, minds and souls. Pray we realize that God’s will is more than we can imagine. Pray that as children of God we experience a vision of the will of God…a vision of the love of God.

Blessings,

John Lawson