The Will Of The Lord Be Done | Awo Antwi

[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message preached at Karis Church. The word of God is to be lived.! May you receive direction from this message that will be a lamp to your feet.

[0:11] In Acts chapter 19 verse 21, the Bible says that when these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in his spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go through Jerusalem saying, after I have been here, I must also see Rome.

[0:28] And also Acts chapter 20 verse 22 to 24. It says, and see now I go bound in the spirit of Jerusalem, not knowing the things which will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifying every city saying that chains and tribulations awaits me.

[0:45] But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy in the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of God.

[1:01] Hallelujah. So you can see that I'm just trying to create a premise for which they could not persuade him. Okay, so this man is determined that he was going through Macedonia, he's going through Achaia.

[1:13] He will go through Jerusalem. In actual fact, this Jerusalem, they are threatening him that some major things are happening. That's even not his last stop. He will go through Jerusalem knowing that he must get to Rome.

[1:25] And so for you to tell him that there are bounds awaiting him in Jerusalem, he's not even actually, he's not bothered. We'll go through the bounds in Jerusalem. And from Jerusalem, we are going to Rome. And we are going to make sure that the word is declared there.

[1:38] I like his motivation. And I think we can all glean from it. Aim that, yes, people's callings are different. But you can tell that man's motivation, the Christian's motivation, it is my joy and it is my purpose to finish my race with joy.

[1:54] And so Paul's race might be different from yours. However, his main thing was I must finish my race with joy. Each one of us would have to finish our course and our race with joy.

[2:07] It can be challenging to do it with joy. First of all, to finish and then also do it with joy. Because truly, there are a lot of us going through this life without the joy. It's a chain. But you know, joy can be cultivated.

[2:18] It has to be cultivated. One is the fruit of the spirit. And the fruit has to be cultivated. You need time to nurture it, sow seeds, nurture it, and bring it to a point where it begins to bear fruit.

[2:29] So when you are lacking joy in this journey, it will have its own ups and downs. It will have its own challenges as you commit your life to Christ and decide to live by the word of God. You will have your challenges.

[2:40] It is sometimes in the bid to obey God. It will come with its challenges. Yes, last week we heard God 7 saying that the will of God includes suffering. If you're in the will of God, does it mean that all is going to be smooth sailing?

[2:52] No, we hear from the scriptures. They're not necessarily so. How do you maintain your joy? The fruit of the spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, if you can continue to allow his spirit to bear fruit through you, you will see that the joy that you need for your race is there in spite of the challenges.

[3:11] But the good thing about God is he always has a way where he leaves some good moments of great gratitude. And we're going through challenges you can remember. That's why testimonies are so important for us to share in services.

[3:22] But also you keep your own chronicles of the testimonies. Your personal testimonies. God has done a lot for you. There are multiple times you have to call forth the testimonies and declare to the Lord that you have been faithful here.

[3:35] You've been faithful there. You've been faithful there. And I know that you will continue to be faithful. You will show up in spite of what I'm going through. And so this is Paul. So his determination is to finish his course.

[3:48] And so he has now come to Caesarea. He spent time with Philip the evangelist. Again, Agabus has come. He's come and give a prophecy that evil awaits him.

[4:00] And then the brethren. You can understand why they feel that Paul. Please, this time you need to listen. We've heard this over and over and over again. And we are almost at our final stop before we get to Jerusalem.

[4:13] You need to pay heed. God's servant last week was saying that your loved ones will sometimes help you. But sometimes the help is helping you out of the will of God. My God. It's risky and it is dangerous.

[4:24] But there are three wills of God that are generally known. The sovereign will of God, which is, this is what God is doing. The Bible says in Galatians chapter 4, In the fullness of time, God sends forth his son.

[4:35] Nobody can contribute to it. The fact that God created the earth and even allowed you to come into this world. That is the sovereign will of God. You don't choose your parents. That's the sovereign will of God.

[4:46] You don't choose your siblings. That's the sovereign will of God. He decided that you'll be your skin color. You'll come from this country and migrate. All kinds of things. You'll be born there. This is the sovereign will of God.

[4:58] He said, I am the Lord in Isaiah chapter 46 verse 9. And there is no other. There is none like me. I make my own decisions. That is the sovereign will of God. And then there's the revealed or the commanded will of God.

[5:10] Which is the will of God that we know in the scriptures. So there are aspects of God that we don't know. There are aspects of God we don't know. We don't know all of God. But he's given us enough in his word for us to get to know him.

[5:23] So that's the revealed will of God. And you get to know more and more about God and his will from getting to know more of the scriptures. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 it said, All scripture is God breathed.

[5:39] So every scripture is there for a purpose. Though that is useful for other things. But fundamentally is God breathed. This is the word of God to us. And in the revealed will of God, it's not sovereign.

[5:52] So it means that you can choose to obey or not to obey. You see, that's why sometimes we get it wrong. We want the sovereign will of God. We'll go into that. Because sometimes you really want to know the mind of God.

[6:04] But there's one in front of you. You say, I won't do. It's a bit tricky. Well, within the revealed will of God, the first will of God, we find is your salvation.

[6:16] 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9, it says that, It is not the will of God for anyone to perish, that we should all come to repentance. And so it is the will of God for all to come to repentance, for none to perish.

[6:28] But the Bible says it clearly that it is God's desire. God does not will that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. It is God's desire that you be spirit-filled. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, it says, Do not be drunk, we're into dissipation, but be filled with the spirit.

[6:45] When you're filled with the spirit, it means you're under the control of the Holy Spirit. It is God's will that his spirit will lead you and guide you, instruct you, and be the help that he's been sent to be in your life.

[6:56] In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3, it says that this is the will of God, your sanctification. Your sanctification. So your sanctification, which is from born again all the way till the day Christ comes, that the work the Holy Spirit is doing in you.

[7:09] This is the will of God, your holiness. Your holiness. So God wants each one of us to be holy. This is his will. His declared will in his word, that you and I be holy.

[7:20] So there are no excuses. It's God's will. You don't have to question, does God will that I stop sinning? Yes, he does. Is it the will of God? Yes, it is the will of God that you stop sinning, that I stop sinning.

[7:32] Yes. I mean, 1 Thessalonians is popping. He's talking to us directly. He said, if you sin, you are not of God. I said, my God, this John man, in the book of John, he seems so sweet.

[7:48] He seems so nice. And when you encounter him in 1 Thessalonians, I said, my, who are you? Where did you come from? So direct, so strong. But we pay heed to it because all scripture is God's birth.

[7:59] But it's been good. It is the will of God that you be sanctified. It is also the will of God that we do good. In 1 Peter 2, verse 15, it says, for this is the will of God that by doing good, you may put to silence those who say, don't watch my life, only hear what I preach.

[8:16] The ignorance of foolish men. Yeah, there are some Christians, oh, come on. Why are you looking at me? Look at the scriptures when I'm preaching. Yeah, the word of God has to be preached. But not only be preached.

[8:27] It has to be lived. Yes. So as you are preaching, people are hearing, but they are watching. And sometimes people watch more than they hear. Yes. And so as you preach, you must live it.

[8:40] So that foolish men, in doing good, you will put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So it's the will of God that we do good. It's the will of God that we give thanks.

[8:51] In all circumstances, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 18. The will of God that we give thanks. Not for, but in. You know, for means that, if we say for all circumstances, it means that the evil things that happen, you say to God, God, thank you that this evil happened.

[9:09] No. It said in. When you are in need, Lord, I give you thanks that you mean God. In the midst of it, we still can give God thanks. And so this is the will of God that we give thanks in all circumstances.

[9:21] And it is the will of God that we continue in faith. And then the third will of God is the permissive will of God. This is when God has not decreed. God has not declared.

[9:32] He has not commanded. So it's not his sovereign will. It's not his revealed will. But it happens. He permits it. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, we see Israel goes to the prophet Samuel and demands a king like the other nations.

[9:50] And Samuel is very offended in that because he believes that this is a rejection of his leadership. And so he goes to God. He said, no, we want a king. He goes to God and said, God, can you hear your people?

[10:01] They don't like me anymore. They don't like my leadership style. And Samuel had taken a pass. But God said, no, it's not you they have rejected. It is me they have rejected.

[10:12] Yeah. And then God allowed Israel to have a king. So first of all, it's interesting. If you have interest, you can go back and read. Samuel was telling them things that the kings will do to them.

[10:25] He said, they will make your daughters slaves. They will take tax off you. They will do this. That's what kings do. This God, you just bring one. If you don't have a sheep, you say, bring a lamb. If you don't have a lamb, bring a turtle.

[10:37] I mean, he's so accommodative and considerate that giving something small is okay. The widow's mite was okay. No, they said they don't want that.

[10:47] They said, please be careful what you're asking for. Sometimes there are some things you're asking of God. It might fall within his permissive will. He will allow you, but it might come with a few challenges.

[11:04] It happened. You prayed. You cried on him and he gave you. But is it within his sovereign will or his revealed will?

[11:16] We trust God that we don't push too much. You know, sometimes those of us who have children, they pest you and pest you and pest you and pest you and you're giving. We are like that with God.

[11:28] But I pray that not all of the things we ask of God, we are like that. You know, so that is why it's so important that we take a lesson from the phrase in Acts chapter 21 verse 14.

[11:45] The will of the Lord be done. We're all seeking the will of God. It's not a mystery. Since we have seen that there's a lot of it that's already revealed in the scriptures.

[11:55] Sometimes we go to God as if God is trying to hide things from you. He's not trying to hide things from you. No, he's not trying to hide it. But most often we are so desperate to not necessarily obey what is already revealed, but get to God to secure the sovereign will because we know that if God says it, then we are guaranteed it will be of good success.

[12:17] And there's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes it's with a selfish thing. You know, but the truth is most of the time we want to know the revealed will of God. But it's more important to be busy about working in the revealed will of God that we already know.

[12:35] So there are times as pastors, somebody will come to us and say, is this the man I'm supposed to marry? Sometimes somebody says, should I take this job or not take this job? Should I relocate or not relocate?

[12:47] All of these are good things, you know, pastors by God's grace are there for that to help you, you know, try and find the will of God for your life. However, fundamentally, there are some things that God will keep away from everybody.

[13:01] And that how you have conducted your life, this is one of the things I would really hope that I'm able to communicate well by the grace of God and able for you to take something away. You know, when you're trying to know the will of God and you're praying and you're seeking God, there are times God may say something.

[13:16] But there are times God is going to rely on how you have aligned yourself to the living of his word over a period of time to instruct you.

[13:28] So in my case, since I didn't get anything, specifically in terms of God should speak audibly or fool somebody, God had to use the, over a period of time, working in obedience in his word to help me identify ye or nay.

[13:45] And I bet you more often that is how God is going to lead you into his will. More often. Even when you get to sit with a mentor, a pastor, a leader, somebody, they are going to have to rely on their own walk with God in order to be able to tell this will be a right way or this will.

[14:03] For instance, you're trying to relocate. You think, okay, what is the purpose for relocation? Okay, ABC, maybe for work, data for family. Okay, so what are the things you need to consider if you're relocating?

[14:14] If it's for work, okay, it's a great job. What else is important? What are the important things in your life? If you list all the important things in your life and your Christian fellow doesn't show up, it will lead you to a wrong decision.

[14:30] It can easily lead you to a wrong decision because you didn't place, you didn't have priority in terms of your fellowship life, which is a core part of your Christian journey. You know, so how you have worked with God over the years will make a difference.

[14:43] A lot of the time, we live life in spontaneity. You don't think about every decision you've made. You think good over and over. Today, you're trying, let me wear this, let me wear that, let me wear that.

[14:55] I tried this and this and this came together. You worry and you can't. It's not that deep like, oh, Holy Ghost, lead me, direct me, instruct me. You put something together, it came together, you left.

[15:06] Sometimes you're even so in a hurry that, you know, they think they didn't come together properly, but Charlie, we have to go. We have to go, we are late. In Luke chapter 6 verse 45, it said, The good man brings good things out of the treasure of his good heart.

[15:20] The evil man brings things out of the treasure of his evil heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You see, so as he is speaking, it's coming from an overflow, a place of overflow.

[15:36] So if you have developed yourself in living within the revealed will of God, it's so natural that your decisions are inspired by the word of God.

[15:48] The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Psalm 37 verse 23. So this is the secret. This is the secret for Paul to say and the people to say, the will of the Lord be done.

[16:03] Over a period of time, they've worked with God. They've worked with God. So within them, the word of God is consistently being poured in, being poured in over time.

[16:13] If you're struggling to make decisions consistently, sometimes it's good as pastors, we leave people to make decisions. It gives a gauge of where people are.

[16:24] We don't have to be people who are consistently instructing every step of people's lives. It doesn't help people to develop themselves in God, develop their work with God, develop their reliance on God, find God, find themselves in the scriptures.

[16:40] It's important. It's important. As leaders, we have to lead people back to the scriptures. Lead back to the feet of Christ. Build your relationship.

[16:52] Find yourself in the scriptures. When we are doing daily reading, don't only take a box. That is if you get to take the box. The Bible says in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 said, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

[17:07] That you may prove that which is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Okay, so if you are not conformed to the world, but you are being transformed by the renewing of your mind, how do you renew your mind?

[17:22] Getting to the scriptures, applying it, living it. Getting to the scriptures, applying, living it. That's where the renewal is happening. It said, if you are engaged in that process, it said, you will be able to prove what is the good, what is the acceptable.

[17:38] Not just that. What is good? We like good. What is acceptable? God is okay with it. And more than that, what is the perfect? So each one of us, as we go through this life of being transformed by the renewing of our minds, through our engagement of the scriptures and the help of the Holy Spirit, you can have the perfect will of God.

[18:02] You see, it didn't say that a pastor would declare to you. There's a way you do it. By renewing your mind. Not being conformed to the world, but being transformed.

[18:13] Where? Your transformation is to the image of Christ. Be transformed. How does transformation happen? By the renewing of your mind. How does your mind renew? Scripture. Align. Read. Align.

[18:24] Read. Align. You will be living in the perfect will of God. People seek the will of God. Even unbelievers go to psychics. Because they want something that will get it right.

[18:35] This one, if I nail it, is there a good man? Is there a good job? Is there a good opportunity? Some people seek all other means. Because people want to get it right. They don't want their life to be lived by chance.

[18:46] And we Christians, it's also good. We want to get it right. We don't want our lives to be lived by chance. But this is how it is done. For you to live in the perfect will of God. Transformation by the renewing of your mind.

[18:57] This is according to the Bible. And so, going back to Acts chapter 21 verse 14. We see that the believers, we can learn a few things.

[19:09] I've written three things here. So they recognize their limitation. Recognize their limitation. That they were trying to convince him. He said, so when we would not persuade him, we seized.

[19:23] So they knew where they had to stop. There are places where you have to know where you have to stop. Second Samuel chapter 12 tells us a story of after David had been with Bathsheba. Bathsheba got pregnant.

[19:35] Of course, complicating the matter altogether. But he took her as his wife. Tried to make an honest woman out of her. And that is why don't just be courting, courting, courting, dating, dating, dating, dating.

[19:47] And in the dating, there are all kinds of intimate things happening. Nobody is making an honest woman out of you. You are just making yourself available. By the time you realize you are a known name.

[20:00] Yes. Amongst men. In certain quarters. I'm talking to women. By God's grace. It is more in your hands. Not to become a known name. In certain quarters.

[20:12] When the child was told to David, the child was unwell. He was fasting and praying and believing God.

[20:23] That things would turn around. And then at a point, David saw that his servants were communicating amongst themselves. He could see that something was not okay. He asked, does the child lift?

[20:33] They said, no, the child is dead. He got up and cleaned himself. It's his food. And let life continue. He recognized his limits. Their limitations.

[20:44] Job chapter 21 verse 21. It said, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Yeah, it's tough. But we all have our limits.

[20:55] And we must know those limits. So we learn from them that they ceased persuading Paul. Recognizing their limits. When they said, thy will be done. It wasn't a thing of, case, Sarah, Sarah.

[21:08] Whatever will be, will be. No. Because the fact that they mentioned the will of the Lord. I circled the Lord. Be done. It's quite a significant statement. Amen. That means that you're not saying whatever should happen, should happen.

[21:21] Whatever will happen, will happen. Rather, you're bringing the Lord in the center of what is going to happen. And so they knew that they were going to submit to what God was going to do.

[21:34] What the will of God was. Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 6. Verse 9 said, when you pray, pray. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.

[21:45] This is how you're living. Thy will be done. Life. He told his disciples in John chapter 4, verse 34. That my will is to do the will of you who sent.

[21:58] My food is to do the will of who sent me. And to finish his work. In the Garden of Gethsemane, recently we read it. It's the season. Luke chapter 22, verse 24.

[22:10] It said, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Yet not my will be yours. Be done. It said, when you wake up and you go about your business. It said, James chapter 4, verse 13 to 15.

[22:21] It said, instead of boosting about tomorrow, see if it is the will of God. We will do this. We will do that. We will go here. We will go there. And so we see that, one, they knew their limits.

[22:35] They recognized that they'd come to their limits. Number two, they were living the will of the Lord be done. It was their lifestyle. That's why they were able to say it. And then number three, we also see community.

[22:48] We also see unity. Solidarity of the believers around somebody who they know is about to enter suffering. Yeah. They knew. Enough prophecies had come.

[23:00] And the believers had gathered around him. And surrendered him to the will of God. Knowing their limits. You must have people who, even though they know you're going to take a very sacrificial step, they still stand with you in solidarity.

[23:16] That we know you're going to go through the fire. We stand with you. Sometimes people just want to pray you out of your fire. No. The three Hebrew boys. They knew the fire was coming.

[23:27] All three together. Said we will go. They entered and the fourth man appeared. Securing them. So truly, you need people. And you don't find people like. Because truly, a lot of people won't understand why you have to go through some sacrifices.

[23:42] Why you have to go through some hardships. A lot of people. A lot of good Christians want to pray you out of it. Yeah. I mean, we'll pray. We'll pray in tongues. We will see.

[23:53] We'll prophesy. We'll declare. We'll push you. We'll lay hands on you. Whatever. Just so that those things, those challenges don't come. But these ones were spiritual enough to know that this is our limit.

[24:06] Whatever decision you are making. And we know. Because we've heard. That's why it matters who you do life with. It matters who you do life with. The people who will speak to you the voice of God.

[24:20] Who will not try to derail you. Whether with good faith or whatever. But will derail you from the voice of God. From the will of God. It matters. But they stand with you.

[24:31] They pray with you. They commend you to God. You must have friends who send you scriptures. No ways foolish chats. Yeah. You tell them their story. The challenges you're going through.

[24:42] You said. We stand in prayer. And you know Christians who say we stand in prayer. They won't pray. They won't pray. Yeah. But you have to have a few people. You have to have a few people.

[24:53] Who you do life with. That you can call. Let's pray. Stand with me. I have this challenge. I have that challenge. Stand with me. And they can tell you.

[25:05] I believe this is the will of God. It's tough. But I believe this is the will of God. And you already have the conviction. Yeah. So it matters who you do. So a few lessons before. So we see that they knew their limits.

[25:18] They were already people who lived thy will be done life. And they were a community around Paul. But they were first of all community themselves anyway.

[25:28] Because Paul came and met them in Caesarea. And so what lessons do we learn from this? As Christians. When we say the will of the Lord be done.

[25:40] What does that mean? And what is that requiring of us? That we live a life surrendered and submitted to this divine providence. Divine providence.

[25:53] Mary said in Luke chapter 1 verse 38. Let it be unto me according to thy word. There was a point she had questions. But after some information was given.

[26:06] She surrendered to divine providence. This is God's sovereign will. I surrender. The thing about divine providence is if you live under that genuine conviction that God will do me good.

[26:25] Genuine conviction that God will do me good. God is my father. God is my shepherd. He will lead me even if I'm in the wilderness. I'm in the shadow of the valley of shadow of death.

[26:38] He's with me. These things must be the conviction. Deep seated conviction of the believer. That yes, God is with me. It's easy to then say that.

[26:50] Be it unto me according to thy word. And these things come yes with time. True. Now if you don't take risk, you don't know.

[27:02] Yeah. If all your life is like what I was saying earlier on that. Everything you have to be told what to do. It's not healthy. It's not healthy for your personal development.

[27:15] Yeah. Even when you're raising children, they get to a certain age. They ask you what should you do. I say, what do you think? Because I want to know what is going on in your head. I want to know how you think.

[27:27] In order to know the decisions you arrive at. I don't know how you think. I don't know. I can't be detecting to you all the time. What decision you're making. That's how you raise people. To be responsible.

[27:39] To be able to take decisions when you're not there. There's enough you've given. Now, let's put it to practice. You've been pointed to scriptures. Now, let's put it to practice. You know God's will, the revealed will is in here.

[27:53] Now, let's put it to practice. That's how you're raising solid disciples. You don't have to call your midnight please. This or that. Not to say, that makes pastors very important.

[28:04] The same God you could have called on is still in charge. Yeah. When we pray, we are appealing to the same God you can appeal to.

[28:15] There's nobody else. He's the sovereign one. There's nobody we call on. He's the only one we call on. And he's the only one who can do it. Really? What can I do? What can I do?

[28:26] Yeah. There's spiritual. They've walked with God for a long time. But truly, can you heal cancer? You can't. Even if you are praying, God, far from me.

[28:37] Yeah. You believe in God for good health, for long life. You believe God. You feel the same God. Yeah. Really, a pastor's job is to help you into the scriptures.

[28:49] Build your relationship. Build with him. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. You'll become a solid disciple. You walk with God. Yeah. It is well. Number two is a statement of faith.

[29:03] You live under the surrendered, in surrendering to the divine providence. Number two is a statement of faith. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7, it tells us the story of Noah.

[29:16] It said, by faith, Noah being divinely warned of the things not yet seen. This is where the faith comes in. It was that it had not rained before.

[29:28] And God said, there is a rain coming that is going to flood the whole world, that you have to build an ark to save your life. Think about it.

[29:40] But he hasn't seen rain ever. It has never, one drop. So he doesn't even know what rain is like. And he received a divine warning of things not yet seen.

[29:52] Moved with godly fear. Prepared an ark for the saving of his household. This is faith. He had not seen it before. But God has spoken.

[30:06] So the will of God will be done. So he acted, trusting God. That what he can't even imagine. If he can trust God with that, he will be okay.

[30:21] Yeah, because he had no clue. Can he swim? He can't swim. And so he had not seen. But he had to have faith in God. He couldn't imagine what God was talking about.

[30:32] But he had to have faith in God. That the sovereign will of God has got his back. He'll be fine. If God said this is the step I need to take. And I don't even know what I'm supposed to, what is coming.

[30:42] I don't know. But all I need to do is to build an ark. I will build it. Because in the building of the ark will be the salvation of my household. I don't have to know all the details.

[30:53] We will not know all the details. He ceases to be God if we know all the details. So he will not tell you. And we cease to walk in faith if we know all the details.

[31:04] And so he has to maintain being God in your life. And he has to help you to have faith in him. So he will start the journey. He's the author and the finisher.

[31:14] And he's with you through the journey. Can you trust him? So when we say the will of the Lord be done, we are saying that we have faith in God. That whatever he has planned for our lives, it is good.

[31:26] It is the best for us. When we say the will of the Lord be done, we are trusting in his Lordship. You know you have some masters who are wicked. Yeah.

[31:38] Some people, when you serve under them, they are just mean. You've come into contact with mean managers. Mean supervisors. Mean lecturers.

[31:49] Some people just delight in failing people. Thank God in the West you can't do that. However, if you know that Jesus is the Lord of your life, when you say the will of the Lord, meaning the will of your Savior be done.

[32:04] He who left his throne, came down on earth, took human form, humbled himself to take human form, lived a life of a human being, died on the cross, a shameful death, was buried, raised to life, that you and I will have life.

[32:25] You can trust his Lordship. He's not only the Savior of your life. He should be the Lord of your life. His instructions are final in your life.

[32:37] You recognize that he's in charge. We are not in charge. Yeah, it's a shame. If you have Jesus as your Lord and you are in charge. What a loss.

[32:47] What a miss. And in many times, we can be in charge. And put Jesus on the side. Jesus, this one. I got it.

[32:59] I got it. When I need you, I will let you know. Yeah, I will bring you in when you are needed. It's so easy. It's so easy. It's so easy.

[33:09] Typical example, when you don't pray. Because your prayer life is a photograph of your dependence on him. Yeah. When you don't pray, you are not bad. You just don't depend on him. Because if you need it, the day you need him, you didn't know to pray.

[33:24] You prayed. The day you were desperate. Oh God. Oh God, please. God, do something. You remember? Yeah. The day you needed him, you prayed.

[33:34] So when we live a life of prayerlessness, it's an indication that you've put him on the side. Yeah.

[33:45] And we're not saying long hours, you have your prayer points. But most of the time, when your spirit is in good shape, you'll be walking around all of a sudden, you realize that tongues is already in your mouth. Let's not lie to each other.

[33:59] It's natural. It comes. Sometimes you realize that you're speaking in tongues. You're praying. And it's not because you've set time. That's why you can't tell you pray without ceases.

[34:10] It's not because all your life, now you have become some hermit somewhere hiding in some woods, praying all the time. No, it's not possible. And so that is what it means you are. He's the Lord over your life.

[34:22] And how much you depend on him. And you recognize the role he has in your life. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 20 said, Number four.

[34:39] When we say the will of God be done, my life will be lived to his glory. We were bought. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is all the Lord's.

[34:55] We live a life. We seek to live a life that glorifies God. So you've known your limits. You've recognized divine sovereignty and divine providence.

[35:07] You're working in faith in who he is. You recognize and acknowledge the lordship of Christ in your life. You're living for his glory. Please, Christian.

[35:18] Please, believer. Enter the rest of God. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9. Enter the rest of God. The Bible says, There remains therefore rest for the people of God.

[35:33] It said there's rest reserved for you. If you're a child of God, it said we should enter the rest of God. The next verse, please. For he who has entered his rest has himself also seized from his works as God did from his.

[35:52] Verse 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. Lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

[36:04] This is cycling back to the reliance on God. Because you know. Look, if you've lived a little long, you know that life hasn't come out the way you planned it.

[36:17] Not that it's turned out bad. No. But the actual plan of your life, it hasn't turned out the way. So, man proposes, God disposes.

[36:28] Life hasn't turned out that way at all. I mean, it's far. Not that it's bad, but it's far. It tells you that there's more in the sovereign will of God for you than you think.

[36:43] Irrespective of all your plans. All your connections. If I were you, I would learn to be surrendered to the Lord.

[36:55] I would learn to say, not because I'm resigning to faith, the will of the Lord be done. And I know exactly what I mean. I walk in divine providence.

[37:07] I have faith in God. He's the Lord of my life. I will enjoy the rest of God. And all of it will be to his glory.

[37:18] All of it will be to his glory. Thank you for listening to this message. Why not visit your local Karis Church or follow us on all relevant social media platforms, including Instagram and LinkedIn.

[37:30] You can also hear more messages on all relevant streaming platforms and the Karis Church app. Don't forget to like and share the message. Be blessed.