God’s Will

We have a tendency to measure people's success by dollar amounts, popularity, and power. However, God's kingdom is not of this world and, thankfully, success has a whole different meaning there. It's important Christians know and follow God's will.

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(This is a computer generated transcript of this podcast.  This is NOT a typed transcript and it has not been edited. Expect grammatical and syntactical errors.)

Welcome to another podcast of God's Family In An Ungodly World. I'm your host B. R. Maul. Author teacher preacher, and most importantly, a child in God's family. Hey, it's great to have you here with me today. 

Today I will not be opening with any headline news. Because in this message there's a lot of passages to quote. I want to leave plenty of time for that because God's word is the most important part. 

So let's get started. 

I want you to think of someone who's successful. It can be someone, you know, personally or someone, you know, of. 

But think about what are they like? What's this successful person you're thinking about. What are they like? 

What do they do for a living? 

What kind of lifestyle? Do they live? 

What stands out about that person when you think of success? 

All right. Do you have that in mind? 

Now. If you're honest. 

You will think success. Is linked. To money. Power and popularity. 

The more you have of one of these. Money power or popularity, the more successful we tend to label somebody. 

Now, this is a safe assumption. Because we are all taught that. The world has and continues to miss guide us and miss lead us. 

'cause that's something that the world has wrong. But unfortunately Christians, those in God's family are easily caught up in what the world is defining. 

 Today I want to help you beloved, if you haven't already done so, to start retraining your thinking in what is success? Because what the world considers successful, somebody famous, actors, actresses. You might not have thought that, but when you see these people in the news, that's the thought that jumps into our minds right away. 

How popular they are, the camera's flashing. The fact that they're on TV. 

And of course. Any kind of money whatsoever, especially when they're talking. About how much these people are making. 

But see God defines success in a different way. 

Now in Ecclesiastes 5:10. King Solomon writes: he who loves silver. We'll not be satisfied with silver. Nor he who loves abundance with increase. 

Why does he say that? Because that's his way of saying. No matter how much we want something. When it comes to money or possessions. That's the abundance part. No matter how much we get. It will never be enough. 

We will constantly be trying to get more and more. And that's one of the traps we can fall into when we are of this world. 

Of course, I want to be clear. Because God. Does not condemn making money. That would be a foolish claim because there are many that he blessed with physical wealth. Abraham being one of many. So wealth, isn't the bad thing. It's what we set our minds and hearts on. Proverbs 23. Verses four and five. 

Reads as following. I do not overwork. To be rich. 

That one word is important. It doesn't say do not work to be rich. Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding cease. All right, stop. In other words, Will you set your eyes on that, which is not for riches, certainly make themselves wings. They fly away like an Eagle toward heaven. 

So we aren't to waste our time trying to make money. 

 You're working. You're successful. The Lord has blessed you with money. That is fantastic. And hopefully. He has also blessed you with the ability to handle that money. 

Because we can also look at what happens when people get so caught up and their whole life is dedicated to money. That in and of itself is where the evil is. When a person worships the God of money or fame or fortune, whatever it might be. Proverbs 1:13 

 These are king Solomon's words of what the wicked are saying. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Stuff. 

Cast in your lock among us. Let us all have one purse. All right. Let's put all of our resources. Let's just become more rich. And let's keep gathering. We'll take from those who are innocent. 

When it comes to success, what the world Has to offer is completely backwards So Christian, What is the purpose of life Of this life Of your life

I believe the best place to go as children of God is to our savior. Look to our savior. What did he do? What did he say? While he was here. Well, John 17:1. 

Jesus speaks. Father. The hour has come. 

 This is when he is praying. And of course he is getting near to the cross and he says father, the hour has come. We often just overlook that. But you realize Christian that what our savior is saying and showing us that there is a purpose. For him being here. And that hour has come to move on to the next step. So I'll direct you to verse three. 

John 17 :3 Jesus continues. And this is eternal life. That they may know you, the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 

I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. So did you catch that. Eternal life he says is that we know God. 

He says the only true God and Jesus Christ. Who our heavenly father sent. So that is life eternal. Okay. That is his prayer. That we have life eternal. So we're born again. 

I have glorified you on the earth. He says, I have finished a work, which you have given me to do. 

The answer is right there. What is this life about? 

Well, this life. That he has given us. Is about glorifying our heavenly father glorifying God. 

To do the will of our father in heaven. 

And what is doing his will it is to do the work he has given us to do. 

 This is not what we want to do. 

Or what we think God wants us to do, but it is actually doing his will. And all too often Christians speak as if whatever it is we feel like doing must be planted from God. But that's not always the case. Remember now and I’ve spoken about this before That the devil is the ruler of this world and he is the deceiver he is a liar. He can't take your salvation, But He can rob us of every blessing on this side of eternity So we can't just go with what we feel like Oh yes that job's going to give me a lot of money Yeah God would want me to take that. Well okay person needs to stop right there because the first thing we ask ourself is, well how important is money to God And we'll go from there. Okay So Why do we need to do What God's will is? Remember beloved It's always important to consult God's word for our answers And we will do that again Right now. I take you to Mark 8:24 or I'm sorry, verse 34. Jesus is speaking whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life, for my sake, and the gospels will save it. 36. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

 There's much to break down in there. Whoever desires to come after me. He says, let him deny himself. Oh, , that certainly changes things, doesn't it? When it comes to what I'm going to do because I think it's fun or it pays a lot of money, which is what drives so many people. But that's not asking, what is your will?

Because denying ourselves , that's going to be a job. Are you Christian doing what the Lord wants you to do?

Because he goes on and says, for whoever desires to save his life, will lose it.

So when we desire to make the best we can of this life, and that is our motivation, he's saying we'll lose it. We will not have eternity because the love of the father will not be in us, but whoever loses his life, for my sake, and the gospels will save it. Now it's interesting. Up to this point, he used the word life.

Okay? That's our, our physical being, right?

Blood is the essence of life. That's for our physical bodies. But mind you, he says, for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? You see that. You catch that? Jesus is saying and making it quite clear that if we are living our life on this side of eternity, because that's what he's referring to as life, our physical bodies breathing right, our minds thinking our desire.

If we're living for that ,then someone who calls himself a Christian really needs to ask, am I a Christian? I'm not saying that because you're working a job you don't have salvation. No, but I am saying that you need to ask . , if that's what gets you up in the mornings, and that's what motivates you, is to work your job and to make more money to put that money in a bank so someday, you can sit and do nothing and just relax. Well, that's not God's will. And I can tell you that because nowhere in the Bible does God say, that's what I want you to do. I want you to store up a bunch of money and then do as little as possible because you earned it.

But when we lose our life, he says, for his sake, for Jesus' sake, and the gospels will save his soul

Cuz he refers to it and that is the soul. So in other words, when we lose our life, , we lose, we let go of our own desires and we go on to do what God wants us to do. That's losing our life. And yes, there's going to be challenges to that, but there are so many blessings. when I was younger basically about middle school and high school especially into college, I really enjoyed acting. I had a desire to be a TV actor. So I studied acting. My life was revolving around that. I did modeling. I did everything to make sure that I was getting ready for someday to be famous, to be an actor that people would be watching in these movies and would just love to watch when Bruce R. Maul is on the big screen.

Right? That's what drove me.

And that is what I lived for. That is what consumed me. That is what I gave my time to. That was back when, sure, I called myself a Christian, but I wasn't following God. I have shared that before. That really to me Jesus was just a, great friend to me.

So, thank you Jesus, for doing what you did and, and now I'm going to enjoy my life. So I was saving my life here for me and looking back, it was horrible. It was, it was absolutely horrible. And it wasn't until later in life when I came to Christ, whether I was born again, if you listen to my first podcast, I share this story or I rededicated my life. To this day, I don't know for sure, but that's irrelevant because either way I'm born again and I'm just very happy with that.

So the question that dawned on me, that I want to ask you is the million dollar question. Would you be willing to take $1 million if you had to give up your life after one year?

Would you do that? You'd have one more year to live, but you'd have a million dollars. Okay, well let's see. Inflation these days, so let's even increase that. How about 10 million dollars? Would you do that?

Or what if you had five more years to live with $10 million? Now, the reason I ask that is because most people in their right mind would say no, I'm not going to give up my time for money because we can make money, but we can't make up more time. Our days are numbered. That's it.

The question that follows then is, why are so many people willing to give up years and years of their life to maybe get a million dollars? There are many people who retire and altogether they don't even have a million dollars completely. Now they have enough to retire, but they don't have a million dollars.

And if they do have a million dollars or even maybe a couple million dollars, they work their whole life for that. Unfortunately, I know far more people who have passed away either right before during the process of retiring or soon after a few years. And that's why I use that example of working, giving up our life for this money.

But that is what's done so often.

 In Matthew 6:19, Jesus says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also, again, very, very blunt.

We can't deny the fact that Jesus is saying, don't put your heart on things of , this life, this earth, because everything here is eventually going to be gone. No matter how successful somebody is, they could build skyscrapers and huge businesses and so forth and so on. But none of it, none of it will be around forever.

The world teaches we are temporary and this world is going to be around forever, and that is a lie. The truth is , we will be around forever. We are eternal beings. Our soul does not perish, but this world, this world, the days are numbered and it will burn.

We'll get to that soon. Where your treasure is, , your heart will be as well. Where is your treasure Christian? Is your treasure with our Lord? do you look forward to your daily time with him and do you look forward to walking with him? What do you look forward to or do you look forward to holidays, vacations,

again, these things in and of themselves, having some fun, isn't bad. Not at all. If we value, it less than our Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus also says in Matthew 6: 24, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. It's impossible! I tried it and I know many people have tried it, in fact, for a while , I thought that was what a Christian was to do because the world was teaching me one way and God was saying another so I thought, well, okay, I'm supposed to serve both. I'm supposed to, serve Jesus on Sundays when I go to church and, try to be as best I can try to behave and from time to time, give some money or do something that would make him proud of me. But at the same time, the world is telling me, my teachers and, my family and, watching TV listening to songs on the radio. So much about it is success, success, success, success.

So you could be like, I was. Confused in that area. And you know what, that's okay, but now that you know better, you can change that. You don't have to be tied down to that. If you are already born again Christian, you can change it and you can do that by starting now.

 Let me take you to 2 Timothy 3:1-3, Paul is telling his protege, Timothy the perilous times and what's going to happen to people, non-believers for sure, because they don't have the love of God in them, but unfortunately we see a lot of Christians that the devil is robbing them of their blessings, and they too are caught up in what the world is saying is successful, what this life means to this world. So people who pursue the God of money or God of fame or power, whatever that might be. So what Paul has to say about that, which we need to abide with is 2 Timothy 3:1 but know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents. , unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without self-control. Brutal despisers of God.

Verse four goes on with more, but I'm going to stop there. Does that not write the picture of our society in America in particular? I would imagine for those of you who do not live in America, you have the same thing. , I can only speak for right here in in my own country. Let's look at that.

Men this is men being, people will be lovers of themselves. Look at our world, how much we just love ourselves, and how much time we spend to look good, and what we hold as important in our society. The pictures on magazines and what we watch and what we listen to. We just love ourselves. The human body.

Lovers of money. That's a no-brainer because kids are taught , as soon as you graduate high school, you go on to college. Doesn't matter what you're studying, just study something because you need to make money. That's horrible. Horrible advice. 

Boasters oh my goodness, there is pride everywhere. I think more people today like to talk about themselves and what they've done than actually listening to other people's days and their problem. Proud. That's an easy one. Blasphemers people will use the Lord's name and vain, will say things that is against God's word over and over and act like that's what God himself was saying. And they just blasphemed the word of God.

Disobedient to parents. That's the reason I got out of teaching years ago. So many administrators are afraid. And the administrators are the ones who are supposed to help discipline kids and keep them in line.

No way. I heard students, how they would talk to teachers treat one another and treat the teachers. And unfortunately it came right from the parents because many of the parents felt, Nope, my kid can't do wrong. Kids are just doing whatever. 

Unthankful. We in America have this mentality of I just deserve it. I went to college, now where's my high paying job? We're unthankful because we just expect things.

Unholy. We are called to be holy because our God is holy. So Christians are to be holy. Not holy in the way the world makes holy look like, because the world makes somebody who's holy look like a, a complete freak and an idiot. And that's not the case at all. Being holy is being separate from .

God is holy because he is separate. He is different than us and he's holy, holy, holy. Which in scripture I've learned anytime something is used three times, it means the most. Here on earth we are expected to be holy. Different, in other words, than the world.

Do people know, Christian, that you are a Christian? Are you holy? Are you separate from the world? Do you stand out?

 Unloving. We get that a lot. I was in a store just the other day and this older gentleman who, well, he wasn't acting like a gentleman, but he was old enough to know how to behave.

Another person who didn't speak English very well needed to get to the credit card scanner and he was standing by it. The gal the till was like, , you need to put your card in there. So he said, excuse me. And then he, nudged this elderly gentleman.

And I tell you that that old man was mad. He was just mad. Started to curse under his breath at the guy and before he left, he kicked the man's cart. It was horrible. There was absolutely no love for another person in that moment. Not at all. 

Unforgiving. Yep. Slanderers. Yep. Without self-control.

That hall, we are out of control. We love to eat when we want. How much we. When it comes to sex, when it comes to what we watch, what we listen to, it's all about not having self-control, just having as much fun. Look at commercials. The drinking commercials it's all about having fun, fun, fun, fun. There's no self-control. 

Brutal. Oh, we're seeing brutal. In America, not long ago, we had all kinds of protesting that people were being brutal and smashing in businesses. The windows burning buildings down all for the sake that they're trying to get a message across. And that was and is brutal.

And , despisers of good. That's the last one in verse three. Despisers of Good. We see that . That's mentioned several times in the book of Proverbs it's not a good thing when evil is saying that good is evil, and evil is good. One example I can think of is during covid in the past these doctors and nurses bless their hearts working so hard, getting mixed messages because for some reason worldwide suddenly politicians thought they could start telling the medical profession how to actually treat people.

So these people who were once hailed as heroes and first responders and, and people that we admire suddenly in the news because some didn't want to get vaccinated, these people who are putting their life out in front, they were despised despisers of good. That's just one example of, so many.

So the question is why waste our time with living a life that is about gathering as much stuff as possible? Have you really thought about that? And as you're reading God's word, , you will see such things and reminders of, for example, the day of the Lord in second Peter. You can go to chapter three, verses 10 and 11 . It spells it out quite clear why we should not waste our time with things of this earth.

It reads, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works, that's all of our stuff that are in it, will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?

Isn't that something? The day of the Lord will come like a thief of the night. It, will be when we are not expecting it. It's easy to think I got plenty of time. How do we know that? We don't even know when our own life is up, nevertheless, the day of the Lord.

And when the day of the Lord comes, the heavens will pass away with a great noise. It will be huge! The elements will melt with fervent heat that says the earth and the works in it will burn up, which means everything. I mean elements, that means the dirt is going to burn up. It will be so hot, everything is going to burn.

Water, air, everything. Every element is going to burn. Do we really think that the house that I built is going to be around? Or the car that I put together in my garage is still going to be around that for generations and generations. People are going to be in awe? No, because when the Lord comes back, it's gone.

Why waste our time? Why waste our time getting as much stuff as possible, which really not only is it because everything's going to burn anyway, but Christian, we can't take anything with us. Even if our time here expires before the second coming of Christ, it still doesn't matter because we can't take anything with us.

It's not like in eternity we're going to come back to this exact Earth and walk it and go, Hey, yeah, here I hid some pretty cool stuff. Let's go look at that. Hey, I got to show you this bridge that I built. . None of that. Not at all. 

All right. I want to shift gears because we are talking about why we should do God's will, and hopefully I've covered enough there about why we need to do God's will.

But another question is, how, how do I do God's will? That's another great question, Christian. I'm glad you asked me that. And once again, I want to look at what Jesus has to say about that.

 If you will go to Matthew, chapter 20 verse 28. Okay. So let me read that to you.

How do I do God's will? Just as the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. It's the words of our savior. So again, just as the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. There you have it. How do I do God's will serving other people. If our Lord Jesus Christ came down not to be served, not to live this life, to accumulate as much as possible and to build here on this earth and to have people serving him. Why are we doing that? Why are we so caught up in building empires, legacies that we want to leave behind. Great portfolios so our kids and our kids as kids can boast about us when we are long gone about how much money we made. He came to serve. That's why we're here.

We are here to serve. He gave his life a ransom for many. What does that mean? . It doesn't mean that we are all supposed to wait and try to see if we can hang on across. Cause obviously the ransom that he paid, we can never pay. . He paid our sin debt for us, but we are to still give our life in other ways for other people.

 How can we serve other people Christian? We make money and we have time and talent to give. So our money, yes, but to serve others with the resources that God gave us. That's our talents, the skills, in other words, he has given us and time.

 To serve other people. Christian, do you need help in that area?

Is that something that you need help in?

If that's something that you need help with. You are in good company. 

Because first of all, Everybody needs help with that. But king David. 

The man after God's own heart. Desperately needed help. 

 We can go to the book of Psalms. And in the book of Psalms, go to chapter 143. 

 Towards the end of the book. 

And in 143, go to verse 10. David says, teach me to do your will. For you are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. 

Teach me. He says to do your will. 

We naturally don't want to do God's will. Because we are naturally greedy. When you're in God's word, you're reading God's word, you're praying to him and you're spending time. On a regular basis with other brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the kind of stuff that you help each other with when you're together. 

And when you're alone reading God's word, this is the stuff to ask. Ask him. Like David, teach me to do your will Lord. For you are my God. 

He promises that if we pray for something in his will he will deliver it. It's not a question. He will. I'm proof of that. He has given me some wonderful understanding of his word. That I could not do on my own. 

And he says, lead me in the land of uprightness. 

In Psalm 23, we're told he leads us down the path of righteousness for his namesake. Because of that, we can be assured that he will lead us. And that is what David. He is crying out for. So just ask the Lord and he will do that. 

In Proverbs 16. Verse three. 

Commit your works to the Lord. And your thoughts will be established. It's one of my favorite Proverbs. Commit your works to the Lord. And your thoughts will be established. And what does that look like? , Anytime I'm writing or I'm doing this ministry work. When I'm working around my house, if I'm trying to fix something , I asked him for that guidance. And I commit myself to him I commit what I'm doing to him And it's amazing how my thoughts are indeed Established in the lord We can also go to proverbs three verse six And That reads in all your ways acknowledge him And he shall direct your paths So similar In all your ways acknowledge him no matter what we're doing we acknowledge him And he will he will direct your paths it's not a question Beloved he will direct your paths he wants so much That relationship with us he loves us so much he's got so much more patients than we got he's got all the resources will be why would we not turn to our Holy and heavenly father For guidance And as you turn to him and seek his wisdom through his word and through prayer. He will guide you. He will guide you through his Holy Spirit to live a godly life. It's not something you can do on your own. None of us can. We need. The Holy Spirit to help us. 

Then we can lead a godly life. In Philippians 2:3-4 reads, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests. But also for the interest of others. People will see us and realize that there was something different. Why? Because we're not trying to get from moment to moment to better ourselves. We're here to do God's will. 

 We are his hands and feet. We do his work. We stop and help other people. 

We do things because we care for other people. We love them because God loves them. 

And hopefully guide them to our savior. 

 That is what this life is all about. It is about doing God's will. And God's will is serving other people. And in the process, he loves, loves to bless his children. And yes. Those blessings do sometimes come in finances. 

But he blesses us also on more wonderful ways. 

We just sleep better at night. We don't have the fear of what's going to happen to us because we know. That this isn't home that we are sojourners. 

 I want to end with the words of two great men. King Solomon and apostle Paul. 

 Let's first go to king Solomon, we'll go to a Ecclesiastes. And in the book of Ecclesiastes, these, I take you to the very end of his book. So that is chapter 12. And the last two verses. So after reading the entire book of Ecclesiastes, these here is what the, wisest man ever to be wrote. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. And keep his commandments. For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment. Including every secret thing. Whether good. Or evil. 

That's quite the conclusion. 

All that we stand for is keeping his commandments. To fear God. Yes. Reverently to respect and to love him. And to keep his commandments. 

 And that's not a life of legalism. Because for those who are God's children, we love his commandments because they guide us and they keep us safe. We fall from them. Because we're going to still sin. But remember we are to be holy different than the world. 

Because God will bring every work into judgment. Someday he will hold us accountable. For all that we did, that was evil. 

And. All that we did. That is good. 

And the last then is from the apostle Paul. So I now take you to second Corinthians. 

And in the book of second Corinthians, we'll go to chapter four. 

And the last two verses of chapter four. That's 17 and 18. 

It reads. For our light affliction, which is, but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary. But the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Let me just break this down , because this is so important. So important. And if you need to write that down second Corinthians. Chapter four verses 17 and 18. Cause what he's saying here is for our light affliction. Which is, but for a moment, he is referring to the afflictions of this life. 

The pain that we will go through, that we will go through in this life. It can be physical pain. Yes. We may have a terminal illness. But there's going to be all kinds of afflictions. Losing money losing loved ones just going through hard times hunger pains perhaps so there are many afflictions that we will have but It is but for a moment Y. Because we are working for something that is exceeding and internal weight of glory The exceeding weight and eternal weight of glory So in other words what we receive in glory what we will receive in eternity far exceeds our afflictions here Our reward in heaven We can't even fathom we can't even imagine what we will receive in our home in eternity in God's family And so we don't look to things that are seen here we don't focus on stuff. We don't get caught up In our beauty we don't get caught up In things that are going to rot and fall apart. We get caught up with things that are not seen. We get caught up with things that are eternal Instead of temporary So Christian How are you with Your walk with the lord Jesus How has your relationship With a one Who paid your sin debt .And that's assuming you were born again. Are you praying to him daily? Are you reading his bible Daily? That's all important stuff that we need to do And if you are not born again, I encourage you then to seek the Lord and pray to him. One must only confess with the mouth and with the heart believe that God raised him from the dead, and you will be a member of God's family. 

Until next time beloved Stay on the narrow path 

And God bless.

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