By Ken Fletcher
Being with the Lord now for over 53 years, I have learned a thing or two. Maybe not much more. LOL But, seriously, I have learned the hard way on some things. But, I have also learned some things coming right from Jesus.
I have received His wisdom on some things. One thing that I know, I want MORE of His wisdom working in my life. I have noticed many times, that you can tell when people are really sold out to the Lord. It is my observation that most Christians are partially serving Jesus. In other words, many are living their lives by their own will. Just giving Jesus portions of who they are.
But, the bottom line with many is they are head-strong and are going to do it their way! They make their decisions based upon their own will. Many believers do not know what it means to be Spirit led in life. Because, their own will is in the drivers seat steering their direction. And, because of that, their lives end up in a big mess. I’ve seen it too many times!
Jesus’s will is always better than what we can come up with. He has eternity in mind when He directs us to do things. He has our best in mind when He guides us! The partial Christian does not get to see what Jesus has. Because they are locked in to their own way.
Friend, we have a will of our own. We can do as we wish with it. We can control our own way, if we want to. I have been there! More years than I want to think about! But, I have found that the best thing is to willingly give Jesus complete control over everything.
When He knows that He has ALL of us and our life, things change with us and Him. At that point, He is committed to leading us in HIS way. Which is always better. Do you really want real solutions to your problems? Give your whole life to Jesus! Everything that touches you! Your money, you family, your church, where you live, where you work, what direction your life is going. Everything!
When a believer really gives their whole life to Jesus and keeps it there, Jesus will unfold His direction in their life. Really, a believer cannot know daily living in the will of God unless we have given Him all we are. Dependency upon Jesus within us places us in the sweet spot in life.
Knowing He is after our best. Knowing that He WILL guide us. Knowing He can see ahead and we can’t. Knowing that we will experience miracles. Is there such a thing as a small miracle? I don’t think so. They are all huge!
But, it’s most likely that us seeing real miracles in our life is only because they are tied to our submitting to God’s will for us! He is not committed to leading the self-willed. So the self-willed person will just end up with what they have come up with. Jesus just waits on them. He already knows what is going on.
To get real and gut level with Jesus, we expose ourselves to Him and Father. We get transparent with God. They see our heart anyway. They know our very thoughts in our heart. They also see when we reach out to them inside for direction. But, true direction comes to us when we are submitted and committed to Him and His purposes.
Most believers are afraid to give Him such unrestricted control over their lives. Do you know why? It’s because they are afraid that Jesus will lead them to do something or go somewhere that they think they do not want to go! So, Jesus ends up with just a chunk of control over a limited amount of their will.
So, we end up with very partial and fragmented direction. Jesus is committed to lead us if we give Him something to work with. The self-willed Christian is a not very happy or satisfied Christian. They are not experiencing the fullness of what it means to be Spirit led.
We can live life muddling around bouncing off of this circumstance and that like the ball in a pinball machine. Just being pushed around by the winds and storms of life. Going around putting out fires. The partial Christian is tossed about by the many forces of this world. They are not settled in Christ.
When all is given to Jesus, we have Him to lead us around and through whatever comes. I am so glad that Jesus sees the future that He wants us to live in. It’s a future that includes eternity. So, when we have given it all to Jesus, we have confidence within ourselves that we are going in the right direction–regardless of what we are dealing with at the time.
The partial Christian lives a partial life of blessing. They live far below what the Lord wants to bring them into. Their faith level is low. They mainly live in the natural without seeking the Lord about what HE wants for them. They are what the Bible calls, a carnal Christian. Carnal comes from the word for meat. Remember, chili con-carne means chili with meat. So, I guess you could call carnal minded Christians meat heads! LOL
Seriously, believers should be getting their leading and direction from inside their own spirit. That is where Jesus is. Those of you who have read my material before know that I talk a lot about being led of Jesus one on one inside our soul.
The thing is, if we are not completely sold out to His will FOR us, we will not hear Jesus’s leading as we should. It is what we should all be striving for. To hear Jesus clearly and to do what He says when He says to do it. If we are really living our lives by faith in God’s directions inside, we will arrive at His desired destinations for us! And that, my friend, is the best for us in this life and in the next when we leave here.
God desires a close intimate relationship with us 24/7. But, there is more to it than that. The other side of the equation is US. What do we want? And that, my friend, IS the determining factor! Because, God’s will is established already. He is not going to change His will for you.
But, we are the ones who make the determination of how close we are to Him. He said if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us. It’s already His will to draw near to you and I. But, what is it that WE want with our relationship with Him?
I have found that I can hear from Jesus every day all day and night. But, I determine how much I hear from Him by how much attention I give to Him throughout the day and night. I know I can hear from Him anytime because I know that have given Him everything! I desire to always keep my life there in total. When He and I know that He has everything, I know that I hear from Him true. And, I can be confident to do whatever He is leading me to do–that it is His will, and it is the right thing to do in any given situation.
Do I get it perfect every time? No. But, I’m getting it better as I go along. I have found the secret to living in God’s will. It is completely giving Him all that I have to give, which is MY will. My will is the only thing that exclusively belongs to me. Everything else around me already belongs to God. But, not my will. That’s mine and mine alone! And, as I give it freely and wholly in total to Jesus, He leads me faithfully in His way every time.
What I’m encouraging you to do is give everything to Jesus from now on! Everything! When He has all of you, then He can begin to lead you step by step into His best for you. If you are stubborn and do not want Him to lead you, He won’t. Even though He knows it is for your best,
He will leave you to your own devices and your own plan. But, oh, the things we give up in life, without even knowing WHAT we gave up, because WE were self-willed and not God-willed in our daily lives. When we find out later all that we left on the table in this life, we will be sad.
When we look back at our lives later, will we regret not turning the total of who we are and what we have over to Jesus to use as He wishes? I know without a doubt that I will regret all of those selfish willful things that I did in my life. And, I also know that having everything in His control is what I’m NOT going to regret later! Ever!
I don’t want to be a partial Christian any more! I want Jesus to have the whole thing! Every part of me! Because I have been learning, His way is ALWAYS best for me! Do you know that for yourself? It’s all about living with our lives totally submitted and committed to Jesus. Giving Him all that we are! Every day and night!
Why would a believer want to live another way? It’s simply because they have not discovered the secret of a submitted will to the Master! The only way we can be clear on His direction is when we have given Him everything we are. Then, clarity comes from Jesus.
When we hear from Jesus, it will require faith for us to do what He says. Do we believe Him? Will we do it His way from now on? Will we KEEP our will submitted to Him? No one can give Jesus MY will except me! No one can make you give Jesus your will which is your life in total. No one but YOU!
I only have my own will to give Jesus. I want to keep it there always. You have a will of your own. Are you going to keep doing life your way? Or are you willingly going to stop being a partial Christian and give Jesus everything?” KF KenFletcher.org
