A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 3
EXERCISING OUR KNOWLEDGE

“Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto them, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the FIRST and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mathew 22:36-40)

Some people will read this passage and say that it is a nice scripture and most would agree that it is true and very important, but how many have actually received it into their heart as a personal revelation? We know about the masses of people around the world who “practice” religion and seem very sincere about church attendance and will even give money toward a good cause, but they have a difficult time with the concept of total abandonment of their will. I should know because I am one of those people. How do you think I can write so much about the struggle between the flesh and spirit if I was not experiencing it for myself? I have come to the point in my spiritual development that I am not concerned with the devil near as much as I am with my carnality. I also realize that I have not been called to fight against the system of the beast except through prayer because God has already seen the future and made His plans accordingly. What I and all of His children have been called to do is to fill our mind with His Word and fill our conscience with His presence! If we can do that – we can walk in His Spirit and follow His voice. Loving Him with all of our existence and Being obedient to his specific instructions (or perfect will) for our destiny, is what life is really all about. Everything else we do outside of His perfect will are things that we cherish and we have chosen to satisfy our natural desires. I am not saying that all that we own is bad, but only provoking us to think about just how much these things mean to us. It does seem that we could find a happy medium but with God, He does not see anything or do anything half-way. The lukewarm analogy is a perfect example of how He thinks and what He expects from those who represent His Kingdom. The sixth chapter of Mathew is a very important message to those who proclaim to be Christians. Let us read starting in verse 24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You CANNOT serve God and mammon.” We have heard a lot about the prosperity movement and how God wants us all to be rich, but our faith would be better used if we could pray with our spiritual eyes instead of our carnal desires. The rest of chapter 24 goes on to describe how a true disciple of Christ should not worry about having houses and storage buildings filled with goods because they ruin and are susceptible to being stolen. He is explaining that a true Christian would actually give his possessions away and not even worry about what to eat or wear. I realize this sounds ridiculous especially in our culture and modern society because the “normal” way of living that we all have been accustomed to is to work and make money, and use our finances to provide security for ourselves and our family. Our idea of success is the more we make the higher lifestyle we can provide. It seems that we have subconsciously designed a correct and logical way to live without really paying much attention to these old verses of scripture. Why is that? Because we think this pertained to the world when people walked around in robes and sandals and really had nothing much to do. We think it was a lot easier to just wander around and tell people about God because they did not have the responsibilities or opportunities to “get a life”. Personally, I believe the religious world has missed the point and sadly may be missing Jesus altogether. “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. For this people’s heart is waxed gross, (calloused) and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be CONVERTED, and I should heal them.” (Mathew 13: 14-15)

I want to be more honest than I have ever been about my personal life as I realize that Jesus must become more than just words. For many years I have been blessed with talents and gifts to play an instrument, write songs, record them and minister them. I am a licensed minister that has officiated weddings and funerals, I have taught classes, counseled, and given sermons, led worship, ministered in revivals and prisons, and all these opportunities are a privilege and honor to do. I have also had the blessing of graduating from Seminary along with being the chaplain for our local fire department and a counselor for the State crisis response team. However, these works and good deeds do not really tell the whole story or reveal the big picture of reality. Some of you may be able to relate to what I am about to say and that is, the attitude of the heart is the deciding factor as to how effective we are and how we will be rewarded. I confess that many times I have not really wanted to do what is commonly called a “labor of love” because I was being selfish and wanted to do something else. At other times I have volunteered to do things with the hidden motive that maybe I would meet someone or a door might be opened for me to receive a job opportunity or a financial blessing. It is embarrassing to admit but within my nature, I have discovered that I like to be respected and I expect many times to be compensated for my labor. For those of you who love to go and do everything they can without ever thinking that people are taking advantage of you or just using you, I am impressed and want to be more like you. In order for me to “overcome” these feelings of paranoia and self-centered pride, I realize that I must “incorporate” what God is giving to me to write – into my heart! I have learned what I need to do already – now I must exercise my knowledge! This is the great mysterious revelation that I am seeking! I am trying to understand how we go from understanding the problem – to allowing God to heal us and empower us to change. This is where I believe we must take our will “by the horns” so to speak, and become determined to pray, think and confess our way to victory! I realize He is not going to snap His fingers and instantly “fix” us, but He is willing to walk with us and “help” teach us in this refining process of transformation. The question remains the same – do we really want to do it and why can’t we live and think as Paul did? “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8)

I want to tell you a true story about a man I admire and have looked up to as a mentor in the faith. Years ago, I was asked by a minister acquaintance of mine to accompany him in his prison ministry, to sing songs and share whatever was on my heart and I agreed to go. I would begin the service and he would teach a sermon and give an invitation for anyone who wanted to receive Christ as their Lord. He was truly a humble man that was not what you would call a powerful, charismatic personality. In fact, when you listened to him talk and especially when he would teach, you could not help but wonder how or why this man thought he was called to speak publically. I am not being critical but rather trying to make a point about how God sees and does things much differently than we do in our flesh. Our ideas of an anointed and professional minister would be someone that has graduated seminary, a sharp thinker and who has a powerful, clear speaking voice. This is not the case with brother Edwards. He is soft spoken with a gentle persona and had much trouble trying to connect his words and often could not even remember his thoughts. I have seen him become so frustrated with becoming tongue-tied that he would just stop and breathe for a second and try to start again. As I watched and listened, I finally began to see how God could use someone like this and many times I had tears welling up in my eyes because I could feel God’s presence so heavy in the room. It became apparent that God was using the weakness of a human and the meekness of a dedicated heart to reveal His glory. God uses this man as he offers himself and He can use anyone else that is willing to share the gospel with a broken and contrite heart. You see, brother Edwards loves souls. He is passionate about evangelism and would walk across a burning desert to tell somebody about Jesus. He does not care when, where or how much it cost, he is ready to go and share his heart, believing that the power of salvation is in the gospel. He lives a very simple life. He loves God with all of his heart and he loves people as himself – just like the scripture in Mathew 22 say’s. This is a perfect example of a modern day disciple that has abandoned his will for God’s agenda. He called me the other day and wanted to know if I would like to start going with him again just like we did years ago. I said it would be an honor – he is now 82 years old. “And He said unto them, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.” (Mathew 4:19-20)

You see, it is very difficult for us to remember that when Jesus purchased us with His blood, our life is not ours anymore. To abandon and surrender our will means that we are now an instrument for HIS use. It does not matter how much our labor cost us or how much time it takes out of our life, the only objective is to keep our eyes on Him and obey His voice. The strife that we feel within our soul is when we begin to “argue” about how we do not have the money or time to give for His work. However, we must settle this issue once and for all by realizing that serving Him freely and sincerely is the true reason and purpose we live. Loving and obeying Him is the meaning of life, while our carnal selfishness, rebellion, and arrogance continues to sing that famous old song – I did it my way. Selah.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 2
DO WE REALLY WANT TO CHANGE?

Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ know all about Christian terminology. We can communicate using the most appropriate words and catchy phrases to the point to where it seems we lose their meaning. One popular word we throw around without much personal thought is transformation. We talk, preach, read, write and sing about how people need to change and in itself, this is true. Nevertheless, we seem to be very lenient and compromising with our own heart when it comes to altering who we are. All our lives we have heard sermons about being renovated into the image of Christ when one devotes their heart to God. And we have been taught how the Bible is a mirror that exposes our conscience and reveals how needy we are for an Almighty God that can re-design our character and renew our attitudes. But allow me to ask a simple question; has it happened to you? If you did not profess to be a Christian how would you live your life in contrast to the way you live now? Wow! Stop and think about that for a moment. Imagine that you were not a Christian; would you still neatly mow your yard, take out the trash and wash your car? Would you still dress the same, go to the same places, listen to the same things, and watch the same television shows? Would you still laugh at the jokes at work, be as critical of others and have those secret thoughts? Would your world views and politics be the same? Would you believe in equality and justice and still be sensitive to morality issues? So, how are you different from what you were? If all these things are the same as they would be if you were not a Christian, then what in particular identifies you as a genuine representative of God’s Kingdom and causes you to be “special” from everyone else that thinks and lives like you?

The absolute truth of God declares that all who have Christ within them are changed into a noticeable and recognizable person that is distinct in their thoughts and actions. We may look and act (to a certain extent) like the lost but we are supposed to be peculiar in our words and deeds. Our identification is on the inside and must be the cause of our external demonstration. In other words, if our spirit has been changed on the inside it will be impossible to not manifest our new self. Being born-again means that God performed a wonderful miracle within our spirit as we received Him by faith into our heart. This experience produces disciples that follow Christ and obey His commands because they now have an intimate spiritual “relationship” with the one who not only created them but loved them so much that He died for them. God’s Word then becomes the key to unlocking the mysteries of heaven for them and will never compromise with carnality. This in itself is enough to make us the oddball and “strange one” in the crowd. Those who declare to be transformed but do not demonstrate this obedience to God’s Word (and voice) are either, undeveloped, deceived or rebellious. You would think that a person who is truly saved would be saturated in the idea of “change” as a continual evolution of the conscience and an opportunity to become closer to God – but that is not always the case. Can the mind stop this process? That is a very good question and in many cases I believe it can. Exactly to what extent the details of this resistance, only God knows but He has given many examples of how rebellion can result in agony and even death. There are as many excuses for individuals who “fail” to change as there are stars in the sky, however, we can find one that stands far above all the rest. Are you ready for this revelation? The reason why individuals do not change for God is because they do not want to. Selah. Ahhh…bold face disobedience at its finest! We didn’t think we had it in us! Imagine that – us leading our own mutiny!

If we ever thought that we were always generally a good person – we were wrong! All of us have a DNA that is filled with rebellion and we got it “naturally”. Now there’s no need to be sad or discouraged as it is not a negative confession but rather a very important fact to remember in our spiritual development. You see, if we become convinced that we are good on our own, we will not realize how important it is to change. We talk about passion, zeal and being on fire for God but I am NOT sure we understand what we are saying. It is true, we may want to “do” things for Him but just how enthused are we to allow Him to change us? It is worthy to consider that if we are not “on fire” and just as excited about being transformed into His image, then maybe we are putting the cart before the horse. How easily we forget that our will hates to submit to God’s will because it is completely opposite to the way Jesus died for us to live. In our quest to become the perfect mediator, we have subconsciously come up with a “genius” idea to blend God’s will with our will and establish a peace treaty between us so that we can enjoy the best of both worlds. What a perfect plan where we can receive all of God’s covenant promises and the riches of His blessings while also living and doing whatever we want! Do we really think that God is impressed with our intelligence and ability to problem solve? Well, I realize this is what our flesh wants and sadly this is how most Christians live, but it is NOT God’s idea of being a representative of His Name. This is what is called a religious “illusion” and those who choose to live in this fairy tale have found that it is more comfortable to live a lie than to be a living sacrifice for the truth! Selah. We may be able to go through the motions of playing games with God and believing that He does not know the difference between what is real and phony, but I can assure you that He knows the intentions of every heart. It is an example of absolute truth that no one will ever deceive Him or get away with thinking, doing or saying anything! He knows His children who are the remnant of the faith but He is also clearly aware who are the goats, tares and hypocrites. “Nevertheless the foundation OF God is steady and sure, having this seal; The Lord KNOWS them that are His. And, let everyone that proclaims the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (II Timothy 2:19)

Our previous master (the carnal will) enjoyed (past tense) being completely independent and had every intention to control us indefinitely without interruption. But when we responded to the invitation of Jesus and allowed Christ to “take over” our life, our new Lord established a new set of commandments that included NOT surrendering to the temptation to make our own decisions. Of course, it is perfectly normal to have an ungovernable nature when we are lost, but it is unacceptable to follow that old nature AFTER we have been redeemed. Yes, we do struggle for a while, and we may stumble every now and then but as in every refining process, we learn, grow, adapt and overcome! After we become mature and accountable in the faith and seasoned in strength and knowledge, we should not continue to make excuses for our weaknesses. If we find ourselves living just like we did before Jesus rescued us, we must face the truth that we are still allowing our carnal mind to be in control. It is a sad testimony when our failures can be traced to laziness, selfishness, pride or any of the carnal attributes that result in disobedience. In second Timothy the third chapter and verse five we read, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” And in verse seven, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God’s Word pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and is the only power that can expose the hidden sins that attempt to hide in the darkness of denial.

It is not a secret; the enemy desires for you to throw in the towel with God and just live for yourself. Satan is very subtle and downright sneaky when it comes to getting into our head. The little foxes that spoil the vines can be the subtle whispers from the devil that can distract and lure us away from God’s focus. Allow me to share with you what I recently experienced at work and how something seemingly innocent became a weapon of deception against me. I work in small department of 5 people including a manager. Our manager was replaced with another one and when he moved into our office, he brought a small radio in and set it on our filing cabinet as he enjoys listening to seventies and eighties rock while sitting at his computer. (Back before I discovered how “dangerous” it was to drink in the music of the world, these songs had a strong grip on my mind and attitude toward sin.) As I am in and out of the office throughout the day with checking on shipments and doing paperwork, I slowly began to notice how the songs would get into my head and would stay sometimes for days. I would find myself humming these familiar melodies even when I was at home. Unfortunately, the songs were connected to other thoughts and events in my past that were subconsciously producing a “heaviness” in my spirit. As I was praying one day the Lord “opened my eyes” about what was happening and I began to seek about how to confront and deal with this in His wisdom. Amazingly, within a couple of weeks the manager was transferred out of our department (thank you Jesus) and took the radio with him. Some may say, now Billy, you’re being a fanatic; well, maybe that is exactly what we need to be! Selah. May I say with all seriousness – we cannot spiritually afford to absorb the world with our ears and eyes! We who are God’s frontline warriors cannot play around with sin any more than we can play in the fire without smelling like smoke! God does not want us to compromise AT ALL because it will decrease our sensitivity, anointing and effectiveness in our Christian walk. But many will say, “Just how strict do we need to be?” My reply is, “Just how much victory do you want?” Allow me to go further, “just how much of Jesus do you want?” You see, the amount of “change” we would like to see in our life is directly related to how much Jesus we will have! The less of me there is – the more of Christ that can fill me. The more of me that is in control of what I do, the less room there is for Jesus to be my Lord. He is asking today; do you love Me enough to change?

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 1
LET US KEEP ASCENDING TOGETHER
“Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”. (Mark 9:23)
This is part one a brand new series about the most personal aspect of our being – our spiritual evolution. Some may think immediately that it is arrogant to believe that humans can discover God’s will and would be impossible to accomplish however, what most people never stop to consider is how could the creator ask His creation to accomplish something without knowing who He is or what He expects from them. The divine reality of absolute truth includes the revelation that God desires to share His mysteries and to work alongside His children to help them perform HIS will. Will this be easy? Of course not! Many begin the race with the hopes of success but only a few can endure the grueling yet rewarding finish to victory. The front-line lifestyle of the overcomer is not a religious demonstration but rather an isolated spiritual intimacy with God Himself known only to a few. I want to clarify right from the beginning that unless we become “sold-out” to press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, our labor with reading these pages will be counted as nothing more than digesting another self-improvement plan and our motives will be revealed as simply wanting more respect.

Those who call themselves Christians are NOT Deist. Deism is a theological view concerning the relationship between “the Creator” and the natural world that believes God does NOT intervene in the affairs of men. It is no secret that deists find it a waste of time to pray and ask God to help with anything or anyone. It can be noted that deists look to themselves as the only power to accomplish and of course when they do succeed, we know who is worthy to accept all the glory. For Deists, human beings can only know God via reason and the observation of nature, but not by revelation or supernatural manifestations, (such as miracles) a phenomenon which Deists regard with caution if not skepticism. Deistic viewpoints emerged during the scientific revolution of 17th-century Europe and came to exert a powerful influence during the eighteenth century enlightenment. Deism stood between the narrow dogmatism of the period and skepticism. Though deists rejected atheism, they often were called “atheists” by more traditional theists. What a waste and a pity that masses of people have allowed their heart to be deceived with the vain philosophies of humanism. It truly would be a lonely and miserable existence to be convinced that humans were unable to fellowship in personal intimacy with the God who created them and loves them more than anything. Selah. Thank God we do not have to rely on our own “power” to change ourselves, or that it is all up to us as to how hard we can work or how much we can do. We must realize that good deeds that have been manifested to the glory of God were spiritually “empowered” by the one who inspired them to be done!

So, how can we begin this personal change process the right way? We must have our priorities correct, our vision in line with His will and the realization that we must follow His ideas and timing. Do you want to be ALL that He has called you to be? Of course, we can be energetic in our own strength and have a sense of vision and accomplishment, but this is not the same as following the blueprints of HIS PERFECT destiny. You see, I believe that God has a “general will” and a “perfect will” for each of His children. His general will is our obedience to the absolute truth of His Word. His perfect will is the unique, specific, “individual” path that He has chosen for all of us to travel in the journey of life. Each calling, each plan has been drawn and authored by the one who knew us before we were born. Only when we fall at His feet and completely surrender our will to Him – can we begin to actually become His holy “lantern” which not only lights our own path but can illuminate the world for His glory. What is waiting for us at the end of this wonderful journey? We pray and look forward to hearing Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Mathew 25:21) What happens to the unprofitable servant? Unfortunately I cannot find anything good or positive about it and I do not want to find out about it firsthand.

I realize the high percentage of those reading this are experienced Christians seeking more encouragement as they continue trying to improve and grow in the Lord. Yes, we all have made many mistakes and please do not feel depressed if you think that somehow you have failed. Humans are weak and very vulnerable to temptation. We can start out on Monday morning declaring that we are going to start fresh toward becoming a “brand new” person spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically, and end up before the day is finished watching an erotic movie while finishing off a bag of jelly donuts. Why? Because our level of determination has not risen to the conscious state of “total” dedication. “We will only succeed when our desire to change becomes greater than our desire to remain the same”. Allow me to continue repeating these words of wisdom until they become written upon our conscience. Until we develop an attitude that cannot be defeated or discouraged, we are a “sitting duck” to defeat. Change does not happen with a “whim” or a passing thought or suggestion. Of course it is a wonderful and noble thought but so is visiting Jupiter. It will take more than money, happy thoughts, or confident conversation – it will take a complete transformation of our mind. “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” (Charles Kettering)

Have you ever watched people at a bookstore picking up books and reading small amounts before they put it down and select another? Most people before they begin a reading journey want to know what the travel is going to be like and where they are going. Well, I am going to give you an insight for what is ahead by asking you some questions and I am sure you will decide if this is a direction you dare to go in. My first question is; do you love yourself? I would say that most people would answer yes and that is good. You would need to believe that you are worthy to learn and grow before you could have enough confidence to consider changing. This leads us to the next question; are you satisfied with who you are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? Now this is a little more complicated because it would seem that anyone who is completely honest would admit they could improve on who they already are. You may have guessed what the next question is going to be; are you ready to abandon your old life and commit to becoming the possible you? This is the point where you, (like the people in the bookstore) decide to either take the book home to finish it or lay it down. Most of us humans do not like drastic change because it is too “expensive” (to the flesh) but in reality we can’t afford not to! “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” (Louis D. Brandeis)

In the satisfied state of mind, the cost is just more than we are ever going to pay. I am not trying to be rude, but please allow me to be honest; if you are satisfied with staying the same, then it is time we said goodbye and I hope that someday the desire to change within the seat of your soul will burn with more passion than it is today. I am sure you will be more comfortable reading about how God wants to continue to bless you – “just like you are.” Praise God! You have finally reached your highest potential and will not need the Potter’s wheel anymore. No more purging or refining fire for you, just more prosperity, luxury and indulging in the pleasures of life. “Now that’s what I’m talking about” said the flesh!

There have been many examples where adventurers boarded ships and sailed away in search for a new world, while leaving the fearful and the satisfied standing on the shore waving goodbye. It is time to board this vessel of possibilities or continue in the same way we have always been. For the rest of us that are weak and concerned but still willing to continue, I have another question. Just how determined are you willing to become in order for this miracle to happen? These types of questions separate the spectators from the participators. We know there is so much more to become, so much more to accomplish for God and that He is waiting for us to “ignite” us with His faith and enthusiasm to come aboard. It is not too late, nor impossible to demonstrate our faith BY our works and allow Him to change us from glory to glory! “We all are faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” (Charles Swindoll)

These writings are not just about dreaming but rather turning HIS visions into REALITY. We must go beyond our fantasies and imaginations! Remember when we first discovered that “change” was an important part of the Christian life? As we stood at the base of the mountain and looked up, it seemed impossible but we started climbing one step at a time and eventually saw progress. The problem with many of us now, is that we have learned about the many base camps along the way and how easy it is to stop climbing and become satisfied with living “halfway” or in the middle of our journey. This is NOT finishing the call! Let us pack our gear and continue to ascend – together. I thought that Jesus was our Lord and that HE gave the orders about where to stop and for how long. If you truly believe that you have been called to fulfill His will; just when do you plan to get serious? Maybe the reason Jesus is being delayed in His coming is because the Father is extending His invitation of salvation to the lost and WAITING for His people to progress in their spiritual development. God’s children are waiting for Him to rescue them from the “elements” while He is waiting for them to “overcome”! Will you agree to start today to work hand in hand with God to manifest THE POSSIBLE YOU?