18.k. “Not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 14:13   Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 15:7   If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Luke 22:44   “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Psalms 40:8    I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

John 6:38    For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Can you imagine what it would be like to know the exact day and time that you were going to die an agonizing death with immense pain and suffering?  As the day approaches every waking moment is consumed with what is coming.  Wouldn’t you do everything within your power to advert this from happening?  Wouldn’t you seek help and intervention from your family and close friends?    What makes the willing surrender of Jesus to suffer immensely and die on the cross so amazing is that He did not say no.  He certainly did not want to go through this but out of His love for us He willingly obeyed, willingly submitted, willingly suffered, willingly listened to the mocking, and willingly died.  He willingly paid the price for OUR sin

Prayer is not about bending God’s will to get what we want. The purpose of prayer is to seek God’s will and then align our desires with His.  Alignment with God’s will.  Do you ever wonder how this happens?  How do we know God’s will? Jesus said “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do”.  Some may say this verse confirms Jesus’ will because He said to ask and He will do.  Do you ever wonder how many prayers seek personal will over the will of God?  

When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favorite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners from whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled.  (Matthew Henry)

15.p. “I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 5:30   “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 14:10    Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

John 8:42     Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

John 8:28     So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

Psalms 40:7-8    Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:  I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

John 4:34     Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Psalms 96:13    before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Isaiah 11:3-4    And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Romans 2:5    But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Jesus explained that He is qualified as a completely righteous judge because His power is in submission too and to do the will of God the Father.  How much of our day(s) do we do our will without a single thought too doing the will of God?  I am certain there are those who believe there is God or a god but give no thought to having a personal relationship with Him.  There are fewer who believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God and even of these there are many who give no thought to having a personal relationship with Him.  If we are to come to the Father we must come through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Here is the difference between these and those who have had a personal relationship with the Son and the Father. Those who believe trust in, cling too and rely on Jesus Christ.  They are aware of sin, their sin, and the Holiness of the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Father, God.  In this awareness, they seek to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  In this awareness, they have an understanding that has been given to them by and through Jesus Christ.  In this awareness, they have intentionally chosen to seek this relationship and believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this awareness, they have sought forgiveness, repented of their sin, and believed in salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ.  There is more than just head knowledge.  The difference is that they personally know Jesus Christ rather than knowledge of Him.  They have made an intentional choice to surrender, serve, listen, follow, yield, trust, obey, honor, and glorify Jesus Christ.  They do not seek their own will but continually seek to do the will of Jesus Christ every day.  They do not seek to honor themselves.

Judgment is coming and the wrath of God is being stored up against all who reject Jesus Christ.  Today we are closer to this coming judgment than before.  The warning has been given that this judgment is coming.  The warning has been given that all who reject Jesus Christ will go to hell and be tormented forever and ever in eternity.  It is out of love that God sends these warnings.  “For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” “But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Knowing of Jesus Christ will never result in repentance or trust.  Knowing Jesus Christ will.  Behold, He stands at the door of your heart, knocking.  Open that door and allow Him in.

15.h. “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

John 4:34  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Psalms 40:8  I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Job 23:12    I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Hebrews 12:2   looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

 Jesus wasn’t saying that food and drink and rest are not important. Instead, He wanted His disciples to know that life was more than those things; that man does not eat by bread alone. Jesus was refreshed by a “nourishment” that was hidden from them.  Jesus did not have His focus primarily on the work, the need, the strategy, the techniques, or even the needy soul. First and foremost His focus was on doing the will of Him who sent Me.  (Enduring Word) “The man of the world thinks that, if he could have his own way, he would be perfectly happy, and his dream of happiness in this state or in the next is comprised in this, that his own wishes will be gratified, his own longings fulfilled, his own desires granted to him. This is all a mistake. A man will never be happy in this way.” (Spurgeon)  “The harvest is ready. The wages are there. Let no man hang back. A harvest will not wait.” (Morris)  Jesus warned His disciples to not think, there are still four months and then comes the harvest. If they had the eyes to see it, the harvest was ready now – even white for harvest, implying that the grain was fully ripe or over ripe.

Wouldn’t be nice if every morning when we awoke we would have these two thoughts; 1. To do the will of Him who sends us.  2. The harvest is ripe and ready.