39 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
39 lines
4.2 KiB
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Day By Day By Grace — Bob Hoekstra</title>
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Day By Day By Grace
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Bob Hoekstra
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June 6
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<h1>God Working in Us Both to Will and to Do</h1>
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<div class="block"><i>Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; <b>for</b> it is <b>God</b> who <b>works in you both</b> to <b>will</b> and to <b>do</b> for <b>His good pleasure</b>.</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Phl', 2, '12-13');">Philippians 2:12-13</a>)</div>
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<p>Again, our meditation is from <a onClick="return mV('Phl', 2, '12-13');">Philippians 2:12-13</a>. Yesterday, we saw that God must be allowed to work within our hearts, if we are to walk in obedience. <i>"It is <b>God</b> who <b>works in you</b>…for His good pleasure."</i> Today, we will consider the <b>extent</b> to which He desires to work: <i>"<b>both</b> to <b>will</b> and to <b>do</b>."</i> In order to fully obey the Lord, we need His work within us for <b>both</b> the <b>willing</b> and the <b>doing</b>.</p>
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<p>First, the Lord wants to effect our <b>willingness</b> to obey Him (to fulfill <i>"His good pleasure"</i> ). So, He invites us into His word to learn of His will. <i>"Oh, that My people would <b>listen</b> to <b>Me</b>…</i> [and] <b><i>walk</i></b> <i>in My <b>ways</b>!"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Psa', 81, '13-13');">Psalm 81:13</a>). Then, His word goes to work within our hearts, convicting us of our need to obey it. <i>"But be <b>doers</b> of the word, and <b>not hearers only</b>, deceiving yourselves"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jam', 1, '22-22');">James 1:22</a>). All the while, He is nurturing in us a love for His word. <i>"Therefore I <b>love</b> Your <b>commandments</b> more than gold, yes, than fine gold!"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Psa', 119, '127-127');">Psalm 119:127</a>). Increasingly, we become willing to (we desire to) obey His word. <i>"I <b>delight</b> to do Your <b>will</b>, O my God"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Psa', 40, '8-8');">Psalm 40:8</a>).</p>
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<p>After working in our hearts a willingness to obey Him, the Lord also wants to work in us until we are <b>doing</b> His will. Yes, <b>willing</b> and <b>doing</b> are two <b>different</b> matters. We easily forget this distinction. We wrongly assume that once the willingness is present, the doing will inevitably follow. Jesus revealed the fallacy of this thinking in a well-known warning to His disciples. <i>"<b>Watch</b> and <b>pray</b>, lest you enter into temptation. The <b>spirit</b> indeed is <b>willing</b>, but the <b>flesh</b> is <b>weak</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Mat', 26, '41-41');">Matthew 26:41</a>). Even when our hearts are willing to obey, our flesh is inadequate to bring the willingness on to obedience. Thus, we are to recognize our need for prayer, that we might obey and not yield to temptation. The word even teaches us how to cry out to God for the internal inclination that we need to actually obey His will. <i>"<b>Make me walk</b> in the path of Your commandments…<b>Incline my heart</b> to Your testimonies"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Psa', 119, '35-36');">Psalm 119:35-36</a>).</p>
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<div class="dbdbg_prayer">Dear gracious Lord, how wonderful that You want to work in
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me unto obedience. What a gift of Your grace that You desire
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comprehensive involvement in this vital process—from the willing to the doing. Lord, draw me day by day to Your word. Work in me a growing willingness to obey You. Also, strengthen me to actually do Your will, in Jesus' name, Amen.</div>
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