Will – strong purpose, intention; power of self direction or self-control; conscious and deliberate action or choice.
Subjection – a voluntary attitude of giving in,
Yield – to give place, lose precedence
Jesus is our example. What was his will, his purpose, his deliberate action /choice?
John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 6:38, 40
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Doing God’s will is the requirement for heaven
Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
What is God’s will for us?
Mark 12:29-31
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
How do we submit our will to God?
Matthew 16:24-27
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 14:27
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
The apostle Paul said 1Corinthians 15:31 … I die daily.
Romans 6:6-7
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
God wants a willing heart
1Chronicles 28:9
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Romans 6:13
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Christ again our example
Matthew 26:39,42
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
We aren’t alone in our submission to God’s will
Luke 22:41-42
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
As God sent an angel to comfort and strengthen Jesus, He sends comfort and help to us.
Jesus says in John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Hebrews 13:5-6
… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, …
Christ did the will of the Father.
John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost
Let us ‘walk in grace’ together.
May we find ‘joy in the journey and good times in the going.’