The Ultimate Yoke

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light"   (Matt. 11:28, ESV). 
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you"  (Isaiah 43:2, ESV, italics added).

Jesus invited all to pick up His yoke, which would not become overbearing and burdensome, like the yoke of the Pharisees had been (adding hundreds of laws to the Law of Moses and even making a fetish out of the Sabbath).  Jesus did indeed announce His yoke would be easy and His burden light in Matt. 11:30.  No one could bear the yoke of the Law, which was not meant as a way of salvation in the first place, but only to prove us sinners and make us realize our need for grace, (cf. Ex. 24:7: "...All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." ) though Israel had promised to obey it despite this.  The rule-obsessed Pharisees had become legalistic and lost track of the concept of grace (for the Law came through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus, per John 1:17).  People who make up rules always decide on ones they think they can keep!

We don't need a Law to obey but grace and mercy because we cannot keep any law!   God gave us the Law to show us we cannot keep it!  When we have a law we are always wondering if we measure up and we end up comparing ourselves to others, as to how they keep the Law.  We can be too hard on ourselves and not be merciful to others by the same token.  The whole purpose of salvation is that we need a whole new heart, and this was no new concept to Israel (cf. Ezek. 36:26), not a code to keep or credo to believe.  We need the heart to know and love the Lord, not to bind us and keep us from enjoying our freedom in Christ.  Paul warned the Galatians that they were trying to finish with the Law what Christ had begun by grace, and they had insulted the Spirit of grace in the process.

So what is our yoke?  Do we have any law to abide by ourselves, or are we antinomians (i.e., against the Law)?  No, we are not under the Law, and it has no power to condemn us nor to enslave us, yet we are free to be under the yoke of God's will as believers, which is a far easier task and can only be accomplished because we have the resident Spirit to testify His will to us.  We have a heart to delight in God's will as David did in Psalm 40:8, ESV, which says, "I desire [delight] to do your will, O my God..." In fact, if you don't have an inner supernatural yearning to do God's will, you have reason to doubt the reality of your profession, as to whether it's genuine or bogus.

God's "commands are not burdensome" (cf. 1 John 5:3) and our love for God is measured in obedience, not ecstasy, for some people can get overly emotional and sentimental, or even maudlin and all over the spectrum going overboard. We can be sure that when we go "through the fire" God will be with us (cf. Isaiah 43:2) and that He accompanies us along the way, even lifting and carrying us through the difficult trials, and we are never alone in our fight for His will in our lives:  God's best plan is not overwhelming but can be accomplished when God is with us, as He promised.

The yoke of His will is perfectly custom designed, adjusted, and fitted to our needs and abilities and God will certainly use us to His glory as instruments of grace.  In sum, it isn't some code of honor, creed, or ethic to learn, but a relationship to gain in Christ as we matriculate in the school of Christ and become learners, or students, that is, of Christ via the Word of God--His disciples at heart.  Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Complex Desires

God is a complicated Being that we cannot fully apprehend or put in a box, as if He were one-dimensional.  There's always more to God than we can apprehend!  Try not to think of Him as just a mean Judge, for example.  Muslims view God as being capricious, arbitrary, and whimsical; therefore they live their lives in fear of not doing enough good deeds to balance out or outweigh their bad ones.

God's desires and wants are not like man's, who goes primarily by emotion, instinct, passion, lust, or even hormones; God's will is at play too, and to Him, that is the paramount deciding factor in what happens.  God's Plan A is taking place without anyone able to thwart it or force God into Plan B.  It is written:  "... As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isaiah 14:24, ESV); and again, "For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?  His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?"  (Isaiah 14:27).  God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and this was all in His plan too, but that doesn't mean He desired it--it was necessitated.  

John Wycliffe's tenet is that "all things come to pass of necessity."  Also, Ephesians 1:11 says that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. Yes, He sovereignly directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions, and things (from The Westminster Confession, 1646) as the causa prima or sole primary cause of the universe (got the ball rolling as unmoved mover).  NB:  God's name I AM can be translated, "I cause to be."

God is using us for His purposes.  Today's common secular worldviews deny that anything has a purpose, which is a dirty or forbidden concept to them who deny this concept known as teleology. All nature teaches that God has a purpose for everything if you examine it with an open mind.  I refer to the Anthropic Principle that says everything was designed for human habitation.  We are called according to His purposes (cf. Romans 8:28). When David "had fulfilled God's purpose" the Lord took him.

However, God doesn't cause evil (He uses evil ones to do it), but uses and allows evil to His glory (Psalm 76:10 says, "Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise..." in the NIV, and in the ESV it says, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise you....").  "The LORD works out everything to its proper end--even the wicked for a day of disaster"  (Proverbs 16:4, NIV). Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "there is a time and purpose for every event under the sun." God makes everything beautiful in His time. Eccl. 3:11

Evil wouldn't exist if it didn't glorify Him in the end.  God was not defeated by Satan and had to come up with some salvation plan to rescue man. Man usually does according to the natural inclination of his evil desires, but God has the power to restrain Himself, so as not to sacrifice His glory.  "... But He does according to His will in the host of heaven....  And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Daniel 4:35, NASB). "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (Psalm 115:3, NASB).

His justice is just as important to demonstrate as His grace and mercy; both will be brought forth. A good judge doesn't "desire" to send people to the death chambers when he metes out justice but is committed to doing the right thing.  A judge can't be "soft," but he still desires to render justice as well as mercy.  Thus, God gives everyone a chance to be saved, though He is not obligated to woo everyone (cf. John 6:44, 65), not necessarily the same amount of wooing to anyone, but no one has an excuse at Judgment Day (cf. Rom. 1:20).   "Yet he did not leave himself without witness..." (Acts 14:17,  ESV).    Caveat:  "Note then the kindness and severity of God..." (Romans 11:22, ESV).

1 Timothy 2:4 says that God desires all to be saved and in some versions, it says "wants all." 2 Peter 3:9 says God wants everyone to come to repentance yet in 2 Tim. 2:25 it says "if perchance God will grant them repentance" (repentance is by the grace of God, just like its flip side faith is).  Acts 11:18 says that God has even granted to the Gentiles the repentance unto life (it's a gift, God is under no obligation or it would be by justice).   It is God's preceptive will (what God's Word reveals to us as right and wrong) that no one perishes because He commands all to repent, yet His decreed will is that some receive His mercy and some His justice for the sake of His ultimate glory.  

Ezekiel 33:11 assures us that God takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked."  They have only themselves to blame for their rejection of His love (sin is basically "the refusal of the love of God," according to Dr. Karl Menninger).  They made the condemning choice themselves and are culpable for it. They rejected God, but we all rejected God and chose self over Him in Adam, and none of us would have sought Christ had we not been wooed and sought out by the Holy Spirit (cf. John 6:44, 65).

God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will (cf. Romans 9:18).  We didn't choose Him as Jesus said in John 15:16, but He chose us ("Many are called but few are chosen" per Matt. 22:14).  In view of election, no one can say that they were just on the wrong list because God doesn't make anyone deny Him or reject Him against their free will.  (What this means is that God doesn't make anyone do anything he doesn't want to do, and in that sense we are free to act on our desires--but God made our nature the way it is (e.g., melancholy, choleric, sanguine, impetuous, etc., and we act according to our God-given nature!)


God decreed that His sheep would be saved, and He does everything to make sure it happens, while He lets the lost go their own way, of their free will, and reject Him.  Whenever God doesn't intervene a person is lost. Jesus said in John 15:5 that apart from Him we can do nothing, and this includes coming to Him.  This doctrine is called preterition and means God simply passes over the non-elect and doesn't choose to save them. The elect receive grace and mercy, the non-elect receive justice.  

Salvation is not a right and no one deserves to be saved or it would be justice and not mercy.  God can save anyone He wills and condemn anyone He wills and, as the Potter, can make either vessels of honor or vessels of dishonor as He wills.  God's glory is at stake. We don't know why God chose us, but it was "according to the good pleasure of His will." (Eph. 1:5). 

What is the logical conclusion and application of the subject at hand?  We should not wish people should go to hell or curse them to go there. Even some atheists sometimes wish there was a hell to send their enemies. We don't know who the elect are and must give everyone equal opportunity as far as we are concerned without bias or unfairness. We are to copy, emulate, or mimic this attitude of loving people into the kingdom, not arguing them in--you can win the argument and lose the seeker. 

God is uniquely able to separate His desires from His will and act in the best interest of His glory, which is His overall objective.  He takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked " (cf. Ezek. 33:11, NIV) and desires [wants] all to be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4), but it is not His will.  "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him [the good pleasure of His will]" (Psalm 115:3, NIV).  We are limited and must learn to trust God for the outcome that He knows best, and our work is not in vain in the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).    Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Will Of God?

Many look at the appalling circumstances in the world and wonder if God cares or is doing anything--where is God? We may not know where God is, but we can conjecture the whereabouts of the devil who is acting within the permissive will of God, getting His divine approval on everything as God's servant (and vessel of dishonor). John Wesley used to read the daily paper to find out what God was doing in the world. One must distinguish the different aspects of the will of God. The decreed or secret will of God is unknown until it happens and is none of our business. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God..." (Deut 29:29). The so-called preceptive will of God is what we seek according to God's Word and we can know it. The first English Bible translator John Wycliffe had a tenet: "All things come to pass of necessity." The Westminster divines in 1646 said that everything that happens is decreed to take place: "God ... doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence..." All is going according to divine plan; there is no plan B.

God is in absolute full control of His universe (there is not one stray, maverick molecule even) and is not limited by our so-called free wills. The will of God is different from the blind kismet of Muslims who just resign themselves to their fate and say: "It is the will of Allah." God has a reason for everything that happens and He "makes everything beautiful in His time." (Cf. Eccl. 3:11)   "No one can stay His hand or say to Him: 'What have You done?'" (Dan 4:35). There is the permissive will of God that Satan got to do to Job and God allowed him to do his will with divine permission and under God's superintendence and oversight.

We are to seek the good, perfect and pleasing will of God (per Rom. 12:2) as believers and not presume on God or test Him. Some say like Doris Day sang: "Que Sera, Sera" (what will be, will be). Some say they will do what they want and "Let the chips fall where they may." It is a fact of Scripture that God works through the most diabolical actions like the crucifixion (Acts 2:23 says, "Jesus,[was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." Acts 4:28 says, "[this was] to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place [the crucifixion]").

It is personified or called Providence because God orchestrates history (which is His story). We have the power but not the right to thwart God's preceptive will but God sovereignly controls the outcome as He wills for His glory in His decreed or secret will.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Marching To The Beat Of A Different Drum

Years ago my coworkers couldn't understand my ways and said I marched to the beat of a different drummer--it was when I had rededicated my life to Christ. I seemed to them like a mystic that listened to the "inner voice" like a Quaker does. I believe this is okay as long as the "User's Guide" is the Scriptures. God has no general M.O. to reveal His will for our lives. It is a walk, step by step, day by day--we only know the next step when we are obedient to the previous one. "Job One" is knowing God's will but and we will not be given an itinerary or master plan, but shown an open door and maybe some closed doors. We "walk by faith and not by sight" and "the righteous shall live by faith" and progress "from faith to faith" growing in glory into the image of Christ himself.

Sometimes we may have to go against the grain and take chances, just like Abraham went out not knowing where he was going, he took a leap of faith. The Christian life is a journey, not a destination, and no one can say they have "arrived." If we do make mistakes, God turns them into blessings according to Rom. 8:28, which says all things will work together for our good.

David was a "man after God's own heart" and the reason he was is that he was willing to do all the will of God. There is no "1-2-3" method of finding God's will because we are all unique individuals in God's eyes. However, He does have a master plan according to Jer. 29:11 which says, "I know the plans I have for you...." Yes, "let the chips fall where they may," because God cannot be thwarted and He has a custom-made plan for each of His children. 

There are many "no-brainers" in the Bible that declare God's will like 1 Thess. 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." We are commanded to know God's will and not be ignorant of it: "Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." We have the privilege of being given the will of God: "...[God] has chosen you to know His will" (Acts 22:14). We are not to sing with Doris Day: "Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be." We are not subject to impersonal fate. Nor can we be like the blind kismet of the  Muslims who proudly say in a catastrophe: "It is the will of Allah."  

 As a matter of definition, there is the preceptive will of God laid out in Scripture, and His secret, sovereign, decreed will that is secret and none of our business. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, and those that He has revealed belong to us and to our children..." (Deut. 29:29). When we discover the will of God, like an epiphany or "Aha!" moment in the Scriptures, we will have peace (cf. Col. 3:15).    We are to claim promises like Psalm 32:8 saying: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you shall go, I will counsel you with my eye upon you." We can get in sync with God's will by knowing the Word: "I desire to do your will O my God, your law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:8). "Send forth your light and your truth, let them lead me" (Ps. 43:3). "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way" (Ps. 37:23).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking the Will of God

All genuine believers want to be in the will of God--this is Job One!   Sometimes the only time they think of it is when they have to make an important decision like marriage or a job; this is unfortunate. God can put a hedge around us if we are in the will of God and the devil cannot touch us; we can live in victory over our enemy. The safest place to be is in the will of God. Does God still speak to us about His intentions today? God is not bound by any certain MO or 1-2-3 formula like circumstances (which Gideon used with a fleece; (c.f. Judges 6); but most commonly speaks through His Word, as He was wont to do in biblical times. Greg Laurie calls the Bible God's "User's Manual." We can get an existential experience ("Aha!") or epiphany in the Word if we take every situation to the Bible with an expectation of God's illumination.

 If we do find God's will we will have peace of understanding as it says in Col. 3:15 (there is always peace of mind in God's will). [To define terms, God's will is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God, as Romans 12:1-2 describe. I am not referring to God's secret or decreed will that is none of our business, such things as necromancy, tarot cards, or crystal balls (Deut. 29:29).] Before you seek God's will, decide if you really want to know it; you may be fooling yourself into thinking you're willing to do it.

The Christian journey is by faith ("For we walk by faith and not by sight"), so we just need to "just walk" as Laurie says. Knowing God's will is a state of mind and not a rolled-out "itinerary" There is no easy MO, but it is revealed one step at a time, one decision at a time.   As we are obedient to the things God does reveal to us He gives us more guidance. God does have a master plan for our life and "the just shall live by faith" (Jeremiah 29:11: "I know the plans that I have for you...")   God has promised to make His ways plain in Isa. 35:8, and Isa. 30:21: "Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, you shall hear a voice behind you saying: 'This is the way, walk ye in it.'" Psalm 25:4 says God will reveal His way to us ("The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him").

But one caveat: Laurie says the condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart. Some people want to know God's will so they can decide if they want to follow it or not. We must surrender to God's will first, then He will reveal it to us.   Eph. 5:17 says: "Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." Acts 22:14 says that it has been granted unto us to know His will. When we get in sync with the Bible we can echo Hebrews 10:7 which says, "Behold, it is written of Me in the volume of the Book: to do Thy will." God's will is not just common sense, but sometimes we are to go against the grain and march to the beat of a different drummer. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says not to lean unto our own understanding--"there is a way that seems right to a man."  I'm not saying we should be mystical or "spooky," but the more we grow in grace, the clearer God's will becomes to us. If we make a mistake God can "turn curses into blessings."   You will have peace of mind as you walk by faith, so "start walking." This  begins with our relinquishment or surrender to God's sovereignty over our lives. 

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way" cf. Psa. 37:23).  The Lord is our shepherd and "for His name's sake" "He leads us in the paths of righteousness" (Psalm. 23). We are to pray "Thy will be done" in our prayers. King David was anointed because he was willing to do all of God's will.  The Word of God is the "litmus test;" [cf. Isa. 8:20] so if it doesn't line up squarely with the Word, it is wrong for you.  To sum up, I don't know the future, but I know who holds the future.   Soli Deo Gloria!