Praise be to the most precious and the only exalted Name of our heavenly Father, Saviour and soon coming King of kings, Lord Jesus Christ. Unto Him be all the glory, honour, power and dominion, now and forever more.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. – Jer 29:11
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. – Col 4:12
By the abundant grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have entered into yet another calendar year 2019. The God that we serve is not confined to time because He is eternal. But He uses time to deal with us, His people as we live our lives in this world that is confined to time. That’s why He admonishes us in Eph 5:16 to redeem the time.
So, as we have stepped into another year, we need to be aware of what the text scripture declares in Col 4:12. Apostle Paul by the divine inspiration was writing his letter to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ that were in the city of Colosse. In that he mentions about Epaphras who was a faithful servant of Christ that laboured in prayers for the saints to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. We can understand two things from this. Number one is, the servants of Christ in the early Church prayed for the saints of God to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Number two is, if that was so, it is a trait that the Lord is expecting out of His people in these last days as He is restoring His Church to its original form as it was in the beginning, before He returns.
Standing perfect and complete in all the will of God is not an option but a mandatory trait of every true believer. It doesn’t happen in the push of a button. We are living in a very contemporary world that is used to instant happenings. Whether we need money or want to have a beverage, we expect all of that to happen in just the push of a button. But we cannot expect things to happen in the Kingdom of God like that all the time. Let’s look at some of the things regarding believers standing perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Standing perfect and complete in all the will of God is possible, only when we are aware of God’s absolute purpose for our lives. God’s will for our life is directly connected with God’s purpose for our lives. Our own desires and will are incomplete and imperfect. That’s why in the text Scripture in Jer 29:11, God almighty declares, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”. We as God’s children need to be aware of His thoughts about us. In those thoughts about us, He has His will, plan and purpose for our lives.
In Col 1:9 apostle Paul writes, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”. Paul, the apostle, here in the scripture very clearly writes by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that he prays for the saints to be filled with the knowledge of His will. It is impossible to stand perfect and be complete in all the will of God without first having the knowledge of God’s will for our lives.
To know God’s will we need to understand that we are the creation of God. No creation will know its own purpose. Only the creator knows the perfect purpose of its creation. For example, an automobile doesn’t know its own purpose. But the maker of it knows it perfectly. Because it is the maker that conceived the thought and idea of an automobile. He knows every bit of it. He knows the purpose of each part in it and how it should function.
In the same way, our creator and maker is God. Our parents are only a means to bring our natural body. But the life in it, the spirit man which is the real man, came from God almighty because He alone is the source of life. He Himself fashioned us. That’s why the thoughts He has about us are precious. Psa 139:13-17 declares, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”.
Also, before our natural man was conceived in the womb of our mother, the real spirit man was already conceived in the mind of God. Eph 1:4 declares, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”. That is the reason He is the only one that knows the perfect plan and purpose of our lives. We are redeemed from this world so that we will live every part our lives according to His perfect will and plan.
Just because we are beings that have the ability to reason, we cannot suppress God’s purpose and plan for our lives. We the believers are not just born in flesh but are born again in spirit so that our lives can perfectly align with God’s purpose and plans.
That’s why the text scripture in Jeremiah says what it says in Jeremiah 29:11. God almighty not only conceived us in His mind from before the foundations of the world but also had thoughts and plans about our life. The nature of those thoughts about us is that they are good, peaceful and to give us an expected end. Eph 2:10 declares, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”. God almighty created us in Christ Jesus for doing good works. Those good works are according to His plan and purpose that God has for our life. Not only we are chosen in Him from before the foundations of the world but even the life that we live was fore ordained by God.
It is very important that there must be a perfect alignment of our thoughts and the thoughts of God. Then only we can stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. When there is a mismatch in the thoughts, then it becomes difficult to live our lives according to God’s purpose.
In Isa 55:8-11 the scripture declares, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”. We find here in the scripture the Lord speaking to us about the mismatch of our thoughts and His thoughts. Then He says something about the rain and the snow that comes from heaven to this earth, fulfilling the purpose and not returning to heaven. In the same way the scripture goes on to say, that the Word that comes out of His mouth will never get back to Him void because God has His chosen people on this earth that will receive the Word and have its purpose is fulfilled in their lives.
God uses His Word to reveal His thoughts into our lives because His Word is nothing but the expression of His thoughts. The Word which the Spirit speaks, align our thoughts with His thoughts. Even when the Lord spoke to His Church, He declares in Rev 3:22, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”. Only in what the Spirit speaks, the purpose and plan of God is revealed. And when the Spirit speaks, He uses the written Word as the source. Every Rhema, the spoken word originates out of Logos, the written Word or God Himself (John 1:1). The Rhema word, the Spirit of God speaks will never contradict the Logos Word. That is why it is very important for us to understand that the will and plan of God for our lives is revealed by the Spirit, through the Word of God.
Living our life according to God’s will is not an option. Scriptures clearly say that only the ones that does the will of the heavenly Father have their entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. In Matt 7:21 our Lord Jesus declares “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”. Then in verse 22 and 23 He warned us as He declares, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”. A very stern warning for everyone here. Those that successfully did wonderful works in the name of Christ were rebuked and rejected. Why? It is because they did not stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
We might say, if the above were not in the will of God, how did the gifts work for them. In Rom 11:29 scriptures declare, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”. Just because God has given us His gifts and talents, we cannot use it in any way we like it.
Our Lord Jesus who had all power once came to the pool of Bethesda (Matt 28:18). There were lot of sick people afflicted with various sickness and diseases. A man with all power could have healed everyone there. But He did not. He went and spoke healing to only one man that had an infirmity for thirty-eight years (John 5:1-10). Why? Because our Lord Jesus, as the Son of God said and did only what the heavenly Father asked Him to say and do (John 5:19-21). And we the sons and daughters of God must be mindful to follow Him, our perfect example so that God’s purpose and plan alone is fulfilled.
All the gifts and talents that God almighty bestows upon our lives, must be put into use in the right way according to His will and to fulfil only His purpose. There is one important lesson we learn here. That is, just because something works and goes successful, it should not be deemed as the will of God. If any do so it’s dangerous where even their eternity will be in stake. That will be a great disappointment for many in the end.
Then how can we perceive and know the will of God. Well our Lord Jesus continues to speak in Matt 7:24-27 and answers us saying, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”. Those that hear what the Spirit says and live their lives according to it, will build their lives upon the rock. And when the time of the test comes in the end, that life will securely stand. So again, here in this passage of scriptures we find our Lord Jesus saying that His will is in the Word that He speaks. We just do just what He says. That’s what happens when we genuinely follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
But for those that have known what God says and don’t live up to it, their end is so obvious and pathetic as we read in the above passage of scriptures. So again, its not a good thing to attribute everything that works and successful to be the will of God. We must live our life according to His will that is revealed by His Spirit through His Word. Then only His purpose and plan will be fulfilled.
There could be times, when we do just what God says, things might look like a failure. Noah, the man of God preached for many years but could see only eight being saved (2 Pet 2:5; 1 Pet 3:20). He is not a failure in the sight of God. He was the most successful person who was in the centre of God’s perfect and complete will at the time he lived. That is why he was saved from destruction. Also, Daniel the man of God, even after knowing the writing was signed, went into his house and prayed like he did before (Dan 6:10). The result was that he was saved from the lion’s den (Dan 6:22). When we see these things we need to understand, just because something is accepted and welcomed, we should not deem it to be the will of God. At the same time when something is opposed and rejected, we should not deem it not to be in the will of God. It is very important that we remain in a good and strong relationship and fellowship with Him, be sensitive to what He says, believe what He says and just do it irrespective of the results in our perspective. Sometimes we may not understand the big picture of what God is saying. But when all is said and done, we’ll know that we were blessed to play a part in God’s grand scheme of things.
God almighty has chosen us as His instruments to fulfil His thoughts and plans about us. We need to realise that it is a blessing and an honour to carry out God’s purpose and plans in our life. In Joh 15:5 our Lord Jesus declares, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”. Here Christ Jesus calls Himself to be the vine and we His people as the branches. A fruit is not borne by the vine but by the branches. In fact, we are chosen by God almighty to bear His fruits in this world. His fruits are His purpose, His plans carried out through our lives in this world. Is that not a great privilege and honour? Only thing is that the vine and the branches must remain intact because it is very important for every branch to draw its strength from the vine. A branch cannot find strength on its own. That is why without Him we can do nothing.
Lot of times we think that living by God’s plan and purpose lack joy and happiness. People think they need independence even from God. It is difficult for such to fit into God’s grand scheme of things. There are some that think that if they pursue only after God’s plan and purpose for their lives, who will take care of their natural needs and that of their families. For such our Lord declares in Matt 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”. When we seek to fulfil His will and plan, He will take care of us and ours.
Another important thing is, we should not limit the will of God to only certain areas of our lives. God’s will and plan covers each and area of our lives. It is not that the will of God covers only spiritual things. It begins from the thoughts, covers the life that we live every day in every aspect, covers the job that we do, the places where we go, the place where we live, the lifestyle patters that we follow, our plans, behaviour, attitude, character etcetera. That’s why the scripture says, we need to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
For example, we might think, does God really care about where I work and what I earn? Yes of course. For us, His people, God is the source. Work is not our source. It might be a way of God channelling His blessing from His source. Also, we must understand work is not a curse. Way before man fell into sin God almighty told Adam in Gen 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”. After sin, work became hard. But let us be mindful of the fact that Christ Jesus came to reverse that curse (Gal 3:13).
By this we understand God is into every meticulous detail of our lives. We need to understand that the almighty God that we serve is a God of details. His details are deeper than the details we have about ourselves. It is because we are His own. He declares in 2 Cor 6:16, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”. It is not an accident that we are in this world knowing Him. We are here because God had us in His thoughts from the eons of time. He not only let us be born but be born again. We are not just His creation but His sons and daughters too. He is not just our creator but our heavenly Father. Let’s abandon every definition we have about ourselves. Shun every definition that others have about us. Let’s aspire to live our lives by God’s definition. Remember He is our Creator, Redeemer and our Heavenly Father.
Even when we read Luke 12:7 we can understand the magnitude of the details with which God deals with our lives as it says, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”. Have we ever numbered our hair? Impossible. But He has. Not just counted it but has numbered it, which means He has sequenced it so that He has a number for each hair. When we comb, sure we might lose few hairs at times. We might have brushed it away, but He knows the number of those hairs that fell. This goes to show us that God is really into our lives because we are His. If that is so, can we ever worry for what we shall eat or drink or put on? Matt 6:25-33 has a detailed teaching from our Lord Jesus for those that are anxious about their natural life.
This also doesn’t mean we have to be lazy as some quote the above scripture reference to justify their laziness. It means that we need to be fully focussed on fulfilling the plan and purpose of God for our lives. We don’t work for food, but we work to fulfil God’s will for our lives. It is very important for us to be sure whether every aspect of our life is governed and regulated by the perfect will of God.
If there is any meal that we must crave for and focus on in this life, it is to do the will of God and complete it. Our Lord Jesus who lived His life on this earth as an example for us says in John 4:34, “….. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”. When the Son of God lived His earthly life, His meal or meat was to do the will of the heavenly Father and finish it. If we need to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, we need to make, doing the will of God and finishing it to be our bread and butter. When we focus on that, all other natural supplies for our lives will be supplied in abundance, more than we could ask or think.
Again, it’s essential that we have a good relationship and fellowship with our Creator, Redeemer and heavenly Father, so that we perceive His plan and purpose and pursue after the same. In 1 Cor 2:16 the scriptures declare, “… But we have the mind of Christ.” It is very important that His head must be fixed on our shoulders so that His thoughts, plans and purposes govern our life. Never allow the enemy or self to intrude in fulfilling God’s complete will.
When we are committed to do and fulfil His will, things may not look perfect right away. But our focus is very important as our Lord Jesus said, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and finish His work. Let us submit ourselves to Him so that every area of our life will be brought in perfect alignment with His will. If that is so, even when things get rough, we will be unharmed, and everything will be alright. When we come to the point of total surrender to Him, God’s will, plan and purpose will be fulfilled smoothly, perfectly and completely.
Col 4:12, declares true believers stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Again, let me remind you that it is not enough for His will to be done in any one or two areas of our life but completely in all areas of our lives. In the pattern of prayer that our Lord taught us, He says in Mat 6:10, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”. It’s an ongoing everyday process in all areas of our lives.
He not only taught us to pray but was careful to do the will of God and finish it in His earthly life. That’s why before He relinquished His earthen vessel, He said in Joh 17:4 “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”. He was confident of finishing the work that was given to Him. Even Paul the Apostle said before his transfer to heaven, that he finished his course and kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7).
As we have stepped into this new year, we as believers must be aware of the times. As the return of the Lord is drawing near, we have a great responsibility to know and fulfil the will of God with all the might He bestows upon us. He is faithful to grant His grace to those who are committed to do His perfect will. All that we do is surrender to His will and let Him take the Lordship in all areas of our lives. We must boldly come out of our comfort zones to make changes, in order to align our lives with His will and plan. Remember He is not just our saviour, but our Lord too. He is perfect and only He can make us stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Jud 1:24-25 declares, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”.
I along with my Brother Johny B. Davis and the rest of the Davis family, would like to express our gratitude for all your love, prayers and support all through the year 2018. No mere words could tell the things that God has done in us and through the work He has entrusted into our hands. We immensely value your love, prayers and support. We thank God almighty for His loving kindness and tender mercies. Have a blessed 2019 and may His grace continue to abide with us, lead us and guide us, until He returns in the portals of glory.
With love and prayers,
In Him,
Bro. Jamey F. Davis
Contact details :
Immanuel Prayer House,
93-A, Sadras Road,
Tirukalikundram – 603109. TN, India
E Mail : davisiph@hotmail.com
Web : http://www.davisiph.net
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