Understanding

My devotion this morning came from Ephesians 5:1,2 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." As you read on in this chapter it explains how to be an imitator of God, verse 17 says to "Understand what the will of the Lord is". How do we do this? Prayer and fasting! How do we communicate and cultivate the will of God in our lives? Prayer and fasting!

I Thessalonians 4:3 says "It is God's will that you should be sanctified". A little bit about sanctification for a moment...We were at mom and dad's for Christmas Sunday afternoon and the subject of smoking came up and my mom told us how she stopped smoking ... she said, "You know when I stopped smoking? When I got sanctified!" You see sanctification will allow us to live a holy life before the Lord because it causes us to not want to do the things that we used to do and that are sinful! Verse 4 goes on to say "that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God...". Verse 7 says "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." If we are to understand the will of God in our lives we have to be sanctified, we have to live pure, holy lives before Him. How do we do this ... through prayer and fasting!

Why should I fast? So that "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ... give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might" Ephesians 1:17-19. In other words, "to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust Him - endless energy, boundless strength!" (message)

In my prayer this morning I asked the Lord to sanctify me! All of me! Yes I did this a long time ago too, but I believe that you can't out ask God! Do you need to "understand the will of God in your life"? Talk to Him!