Greetings friends the world over! Is God overbearing and arrogant when He desires we pray that His will be done in our lives? It may surprise you that God’s will is more about your overall well being and welfare, than it is about His own self-glorification. In this post, I want to show you that’s indeed the case when Jesus taught us to pray “Thy Will be Done.” (Matt.6:10; Vs. 5-13)
Two Perspective to Life – “Solitary” and “Triune”
There are two ways to look at this prayer: we can look at it from a “solitary” perspective and conclude God is a solitary Being who is self-obsessed, insensitive, self-loving, and concerned only about Himself in His egocentric world. On the other hand, we can view it through the prism of His Trinitarian nature of Love, through the “Triune” perspective and ask, why is it that He desires His will to be influential in all we do? Two different perspectives, with two different conclusions – obviously! “God is Love,” (1John 4:8) so it’s impossible for God to be self-serving and self-loving, because Love is outgoing, self-giving, and wants the best for others. He is Love because He is “Triune” and not “solitary” in His existence as God. From eternity the Father, Son, and Spirit have treasured their relationship in self-giving, self-sacrificing Love for each other that they are considered One in substance of Love, not three. Stephen Seamonds says this in his book, Ministry in the Image of God, “The Trinity find their unique identities by focusing not on themselves, but on one another.” That, in a nutshell, is a peek into God’s will for each of us.
God Reveals His Love for Mankind by Sacrificing the Son He Loved from Eternity – Bom Jesus do Monte, Portugal, (Wiki Commons)
“Thy will be done” is quoted from the prayer Jesus taught His disciples known as the “Lord’s Prayer.” If there’s anything impossible for humans, it would be adopting and living by these four powerful words. Why, because of the energy of the human will. Since his fall from Adam, man has been a “solitary” being, and his energy is always self-centered. God is a “Triune” Being, and His energy is motivated by self-giving Love. So naturally, man’s will and God’s will will always be at odds with each other. Man was not made to exist in “solitary” existence, but God exist as a “Triune” Being. (Gen.1:26-27) Adam had sold man to this way of life that has brought all the heartaches, suffering and deprivation.
With God All Things Are Possible
Nevertheless, Jesus utters these encouraging words, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt.19:26) The context in which these words were spoken refers to Jesus’ encounter with a rich man and the supposed impossibility of the rich entering God’s Kingdom. However, the principle applies in every facet of living and life itself, including God’s will, not just idolized materialism. Those who find the secret of living by these words, “Thy Will be done,” will find rest, peace, joy, purpose, and success in this life and the life of eternity to come. For by having the Father’s divine will accomplished is really the lavishing of His Love upon us. His will will always be His Love. Paul revealed the secret: “And I have been crucified with The Messiah, and from then on I myself have not been living, but The Messiah is living in me, and this that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of The Son of God, he who has loved us and has given himself for us.” (Gal. 2:20, Aramaic Bible) What has been crucified is our “solitary life” and given up for dead for a life of faith. The human body is now the “temple” for the Spirit in which to exercise the Love and faith of Jesus in the “Triune Life.” (1Cor.3:16; 6:19) There is nothing wrong with the ‘human body’ of itself, it is the engine which runs it, be it the “solitary life” or the “Triune Life,” which determines how the body lives and functions. Jesus glorified our humanity, or human body, making it immortal, in His resurrection. (1 Cor.15:42-44) And if it is Jesus who lives in us, then the life we live is most assuredly the “Triune Life” of God, for Jesus is no less Triune God as the Father and the Spirit. Jesus, the second Adam, is the One who makes all things possible for and in man.
The secret of Paul tells us how God’s “Triune” collaborative Loving way works: He gives us His Son who came as the prophesied Immanuel, lived, died as our Savior, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, so that we can live vicariously in His now perfect glorious life (both God and deified human) for our salvation in this life, and the one to come in His spiritual realm. God accepts this substitutionary reality in His Son which makes it possible for man to do His will. There is no other way! This is the “Triune Life!”
License to Sin?
Does this mean we can do no wrong? Does this give us the license to live in careless abandon? No, our human body still exists in its fallen state from Adam and will trespass, but we don’t have a rebellious but a compliant heart. (Rom. 7:18-25). In Christ we exist in the “saved condition” in the Spirit’s power, not the “sin condition.” Now we are living the “Triune Life” in Christ, not the “solitary life” in ourselves, for the old self is crucified and “dead” remember. Man’s propensity to sin is no excuse to live licentiously, but to enlighten man of his need for a permanent Mediator in Christ. Jesus cleanses our hearts in the washing of the water of His Word that flows in us. (John 7:38-39) That’s why in the same Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness daily – “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matt.6:12, NASB) It is a process that will take a lifetime.
God’s Will is that We Should Return To Eden. St Josaphat Catholic Church (Detrit, MI), Adam & Eve Expelled from Eden. (Wiki Commons)
“For I Know The Plans I Have For You…”
Our “solitary” perspective of Him is unfounded. When He commands us to do His will for our lives, He has more than our best interest in mind. To prove it, He did not spare His Son to make His Loving will for us possible. And our best life comes because His Love motivates all our thoughts and deeds. The prophet Jeremiah quotes God’s attitude toward us in this fashion, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer.29:11) Again, I realize these words were spoken in the context of Israel’s captivity, but that’s how God’s Love always is to anyone who desires to do His will, not just for Israel!
Life of Needs
When we think about what “His plans are to prosper us,” we often don’t regard this as “His will” being done in our lives. We think in a “solitary” mode that He is trying to withhold something from us, perhaps our freedom of expression. If we fail to see life through the prism of the “Triune” nature of God’s Tri-Personal Love, we will be imprisoned in our “solitary” ways that’s driven by “fear” and “need” – not Love and abundance. Our choices in life will always depend upon how we define freedom for ourselves, isn’t it? All our life-choices is about being free from the problems and trials of life, that’s why we “need” this and that stuff. And we don’t want God’s will impinging upon us. So we are always thinking about what we “need,” or our perceived “need,” that will give us freedom and peace of mind. But the very act of resisting God’s will which will produce the true freedom we seek, we have defied at our own expense. Our “needs” can be material things, money, or whatever it may be. Money is a big dynamic in attaining economic and social freedoms. However, material stuff and money will not free us completely because they don’t give us true authentic freedom. Only God’s Love expressed in the “Triune” life can deliver true freedom. Man’s fear expressed in his “solitary” ways enslaves him.
Destiny and Gifts
With the “Triune Life” comes gifts and blessings. God has endowed each and every one of us with a calling to live out our destiny in His Love. To achieve that, He has given us gifts to realize and reach our destinies. But we must be careful not to convert our God-given “life gift” into a “life of needs” for our own selfish objectives. Never turn your gift into an ATM machine for your own “needs,” but rather to the service of God. When it comes to gifts, many people forget God is the sovereign Giver of gifts. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” (Rom.12:6a; see also Luk.11:13; Jam.1:17) We have taken life and our inborn abilities for granted, our faith is entirely humanistic and earth-bound. The believer must resign himself to this fact about the origin of our talents and abilities. When we surrender our gifts to Jesus, as Abraham did with Isaac, He will hand our gifts back to us consecrated, so we will prosper fittingly in His Love – as “Triune” persons, not “solitary” individuals.
Our gifts, like God’s Love, is for the purpose of enriching others, not ourselves through our “needs.” Have you ever seen a tree feeding on its own fruits, cannibalizing itself? No, fruits are for others to come and enjoy and glorify the Gardener who planted it. So it is with our providential gifts and destinies. The Bible says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” (Prov.11.25, ESV) Jesus said, “I am the Vine (tree) and you are the branches, and My Father is the Gardener.” (John 15:5,1) The Spirit is the sap which flows through the tree to the branches which produce “good” fruits. This story of the vine and the branches Jesus told his disciples before His crucifixion is the depiction of the “Triune” life we have in Him.
Jesus further said this about human “needs,” “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?… So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (the “Triune” life)), and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt.6:25-34, emphasis added) Jesus is differentiating the “Triune Life” from the “solitary life.”
The “life-gift” we have comes through the flow of the Holy Spirit who has been given as the primary gift to be with us “forever.” (John 14:15-18). He is the deposit of God’s Love in the believer. (Rom. 5:5) He is the “creative life” (gift and calling) of Jesus in us empowering us to live the “Triune” life. Man’s only connection to Jesus is through his God-given “life-gift” (creative life) which is based on love, not on needs which are fear-based.
Life of “Needs” or Life of “Gifts”
The “life-gift” we have in and through the flow of the Spirit will always be the “creative life” (miraculous life) in Jesus from the Father. One (“Triune” life) is empowering while the other (“solitary” life) is disempowering. One is superabundance while the other is lack and deprivation. No matter how “good” our intentions, how noble our acts, it is our will which determines its foregone conclusion – whether it’s abundance or want. Many times it’s just a vicious cycle formed out of repetition which becomes habit. Each time you face a need and let fear instead of Love dominate the situation, fear becomes the dominant force in your life. Fear finds strength in the self-will of the “solitary” life. God’s will always summon Love into the life of the believer to look to Him for answers. (Psa.37:5) And the answers will always be out of His abundance, not your need. Love is another word for abundance. Fear is another word for need and deprivation.
We All Have Been Given Gifts to Live Meaningful Lives, Shaping Pottery (Wiki Commons)
Our “Thought-Life”
Just as we compensate for gravity to live on this earth, so must we compensate for God’s Love in our thought-life, to live in His Love-based will, and not our fear-based human will. (read my post “It’s The Thought That Counts” posted 03/18/2014) It has been scientifically proven that our thinking transmit thought waves which radiates energy, both good and bad, depending upon one’s thoughts. Before science discovered this, Paul made reference to it calling the devil the “prince of the power in the air.” (Eph.2:2) He uses the ‘airwaves’ to broadcast his attitudes (thoughts) to unsuspecting humans. But the Spirit lives in us to control our thoughts and the impulses from the world around us.
There are only two forms of energy we can radiate out from us: Love and fear. When it is Love, we attract God in our petitions. When it is Fear, we repel Him and the enemy steps into our lives. CS Lewis said, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
Fear will respond to a need and say: “I must have it.” “I can’t live without it.” “I’m addicted to it.”
On the other hand, Love will respond to Love and say, “I can live without it.” “I never feel, ‘I must have it.’” “I’m not addicted to it.”
Love has no needs! Love is abundance!
Love (God) responds to Love, not need. Abundance responds to Love, not fear. Fear is lack and is founded upon man’s self-will. Love is another word for superabundance. Fear is another word for utter deprivation. Of course, we are talking of a holistic abundance which embraces both the physical and spiritual realms. So, do you see now why Jesus wants the Father’s His will to be done in our lives?
God tells us this through wise King Solomon, “Commit to the Lord (Love) whatever you do (your will for His), and He will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end- even the wicked (fearful) for a day of disaster.” (Prov.16:3-4, emphasis added)
Blessing
Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic creative Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.
Kiang (Your Servant in Christ)
* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.
** The Bulu man-river is metaphor for a non-believer. Bulu is Fijian word which means “burial” or “death.” This river produces want and death in the person. Bulu man-river is the union of man with his fallen, unsaved self who lives under the deception and sway of the devil.
All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.
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