How many times have we read the story about "The Potter and the Clay?" Have you ever read it, while knowing that clay is workable? There is no fault in the Potter, but some clay just doesn't hold together the way it should. You can still make a clay cup (man was made from clay) that doesn't yield to hold wine. The inside (your spirit) will hold the "newness" of God, but the outside (the flesh and will) remains unyielding.
2Timothy 2:20-21 (Amplified) says, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also (utensils) of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble (use) and some for menial and ignoble (use)." Verse 21 goes on, "So whoever cleanses himself (from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupt influences) will (then himself) be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work)."
This scripture isn't referring to sinful things in our lives, but is referring to willful things in our lives. Contact with "contaminating and corrupting influences" can mean holding onto old, unrenewed mindsets (as well as the willful things we don't yield over to God's way). It doesn't mean this vessel isn't in the great house (or not saved), but that God cannot use this vessel to do like He would through it. The vessel was created clean and new inside, but still cannot be set before the world in its intended honor in great places.
Have you ever set the Christmas dinner for guests, making sure not to include the ones sporting Mickey Mouse on them? I have. We pull out the finest dishes for displaying before them. The plastic cups or the cartoon ones are still in our house, but not for "noble" use. Those cups still hold the same drinks as the good stuff, but they are not for company. We can still be filled with the new Spirit and be a new creation in God, but continue walking in our own will, so that God can't use you like He wishes.
When Jesus prayed over the sick for healing, He had to know that it was God's will to do so. Jesus didn't stop at each person and pray about whether or not it was God's will for this person to be healed. Jesus knew the Father's heart. Some wonder whether God made them sick for His glory and other religious ideas. Jesus never failed in His faith in God's will concerning the sick. We can involve our own will and fail to do God's will by "corrupt influences," like the above verse says. By an act of our own we, we decide to listen to corrupt voices from others, concerning God's will.
By an act of our own will, we refuse to believe God's will, just like the Israelites who refused to enter the Promised Land, after listening to "corrupt communications" from the leaders of the tribes (Numbers 13-14). We've also been influenced by many in the Church, as to whether something is from God or not. Since they (the leaders) wouldn't believe, they influenced other to not believe and by an act of their own will, refused the promises of God. They were still "God's people" and God still loved them, but His will wasn't carried out, because their will wouldn't allow Him to move.
Your will has everything to do with your faith. If you will not to believe a certain thing, then your faith cannot obtain it from God. God's will in our lives, depends upon our will agreeing with His will on earth. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In order to bring God's will to pass here, He must have those who will surrender their will to Him.
I've had to make decisions in my own life, that went against my will, so that I could do His will. When I initially arrived in New York to begin this ministry, it wasn't my will to be here. I didn't want to leave my family, friends and a good job in order to come here. I had family, friends and a job with good security to hold onto. I spent much time in prayer and fasting over this decision. I finally said, "Lord, if this is what You want, then I will go." Then, God's will could be done here, in the area of upstate New York, because I submitted my will to God's will.
This might sound strange to some reading this account, but God needs you! Why would Jesus tell us to, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel?" We know it's God's will that all mankind be saved, but He needed someone who would take upon God's will, more than his own will. It's sometimes difficult to do, because of all the "hindrances" that come from it. It would be easier to simply do our own will and let someone else do God's will and work. God isn't a Sunday morning God, but a Resurrection Sunday morning God. God created us, the new creation people, to do His will. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right)."
We don't hold elections or have debates in God's Kingdom. His Kingdom reigns by His Word and His Word is His will. We're not called to change it, debate it or reason with it. Nor do we decide what part of it is true. Our part is to yield our will to God's will and to be led by His Spirit. Jesus was so committed to doing God will, that He could actually say, "The Father and I, are One." He also said in John 17 (Amplified), "I pray that they (those who believe) may be one, even as We are One." In order to fulfill this, we must learn and line up with God's will and bring our own will into a place of submission to Him.
Upon His working miracles, Jesus would say to the people, "It is not Me, but the Father in Me that does the works." God's will could flow so fully through Jesus, that it was no longer, but the Father Himself, Who did the works. The Father Himself could flow unrestricted in His will, to set mankind free. When we understand and walk in God's will, we will again see the works of the Father flow from unrestricted vessels. We will be vessels to be used in the Great House and used in Noble houses.
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