Knowing God’s Will

God’s will for our lives is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The Holy Spirit will also guide us, but that is different from His will for our lives. His number one priority is that we take on the character of Jesus, which is love. He may even have to sacrifice our career or disrupt our plans if that is what it takes to accomplish His will.

Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). To fully comprehend truth, we need to understand the biblical balance between reason and intuition Throughout Scripture, you can see how God balances the two. Paul said, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom . . . but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1
Corinthians 1:22-24).

Truth is both real and right, and those who have fully appropriated the truth have zeal and knowledge. We need to let the word of Christ richly dwell within us (rational), but we also need to be filled with the Spirit (intuitive). Both have the same result (compare Ephesians 5:18-20 with Colossians 3:15-17), and both are required for balance.

In a general sense, rationalism has characterized the western world and intuition has characterized the eastern world. In our humanity, some are more subjective while others are more cognitive. Some rely on feelings while others rely on facts. Some are personal- and art-oriented while others are task- and math-oriented. For those who never come to Christ, some “are swayed by all kinds of evil desires” (2 Timothy 3:6) while others are always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth (2 Timothy 3:7).

Dr. Neil

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