THE WILL OF GOD.

DAILY DEVOTION.

DAY TWENTY FOUR.

EPHESIANS 1:1.   Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
This is Paul's opening remarks to the church at Ephesus, he acknowledges that he is an apostle of Christ, but that it is only by the will of God that he has that title. In 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 Paul says there that he is the least of the apostles because of how he had persecuted the church, he even went as far as to say that he was not even worthy to be called an apostle, but in verse 10 he says; "But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." It is so important that we see what Paul is saying here, he was totally aware of his past, that he was in no way worthy within himself to be called as an apostle, but God in His grace and because of His will had called Paul to this. I love what he says in verse 10, "But I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." Paul recognized the call that was on his life and the responsibility that he had in that, and so he laboured hard to fulfill that call and even in that he realized that it was the grace of God that was with him that gave him the ability to fulfill the will of God for his life. It so important for us that we know what the will of God is for our lives, we all have a unique and specific call on our lives. Ephesians 2:10 says That we are in workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in the. Paul said earlier in Ephesians 1:15-19 That after he had heard about their faith he continued to pray for them, giving thanks for them, praying that God would give them wisdom and the revelation of the knowledge of God, that they would truly know who Christ was in them, that their spiritual eyes would be truly opened to know what God had called them to, that they would have that inner hope or assurance of the call of God on their lives and what was the amazing power that was working in them through the Holy Spirit. This is still the will of God for us, that we too should come to this. That we too would know who Christ is in us, that we would have the revelation of the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us, that we can know with all assurance what our part in the kingdom of God is. Regardless of your history, regardless of your past God has an amazing future for you and for me. Jeremiah 29:11; For I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. You might say to me; "But how can I know what God's will is for me?" The key to knowing God's will is by spending time with Him, in His word and through prayer, this is true in any relationship, so why would be any different with God. He is the God of relationship, we are created for that very purpose, created in His image and after His likeness. We see so many examples of this in the life and ministry of Jesus. His whole ministry was founded on prayer and spending time with His Father. We see straight after His baptism He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to fast and pray, He was only able to overcome the temptations of Satan because He was walking in the power of the Spirit and He knew God's word. We see after spending these forty days fasting and praying it says in Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and the news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. There are many recorded occasions where Jesus with draw and went and prayed by Himself. There were times when He prayed all night, One such occasion is in Luke 6:12-16, it was after He had prayed all night that He chose His disciples. It is so important that we walk in the will of God for our lives, in Matthew 7:21 Jesus went as far as to say that the only one who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those ones who do the will of the Father. If we are not walking in the will of God for our lives our lives will lack purpose, we will feel spiritually frustrated and open to the temptation of the enemy, we will have no spiritual power in our lives and there will be no real joy or sense of the presence of God in our lives. This is not what God wants for us, He wants us to have purpose and a sense of fulfillment in our lives. He wants us to know that we are pleasing to Him and that we are doing the things that He has called us to do. Jesus said Himself that if we walk in obedience to His will that He would fill us with His joy, and we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that in His presence there is fullness of Joy. It is the enemy who comes to rob, kill and destroy but Jesus comes to give us life and life in all its abundance. Walk in His will and we will know that abundant life. So in conclusion, let me encourage you to seek Jesus with all your heart and seek to know and walk in His will for your life.