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...fulful God's will...We believe God publishes his manifesto for our lives in many ways: through Creation, through human history, through our consciences, through everyday circumstances and an inner sense of guidance. But there are two supreme ways he has revealed his character and his purposes for us:-
Through these we can know both God’s overall plan and purpose for the world, and his individual will for each of our lives; indeed we can come to know God himself. Knowing is the easy bit. Living it is a different matter. Many a modern-day atheist will claim that they live by the Ten Commandments - conveniently forgetting the first, that we must love God above all else, committing our hearts, minds, and physical resources to serving him. Many a Christian aspires to live by the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ ruthless exposure of the hypocrisies of his own day: not noticing that we are just as hypocritical. Given our blindness and deafness, what hope is there of us fulfilling God’s will? The starting point, says Jesus, is to repent and believe:
When we do so, we receive from Jesus the Holy Spirit. He becomes in us a wellspring of the water of life, cleansing and refreshing us. He leads us into the truth and reshapes our thinking. He enables us to let go of our pride, take up our own personal crosses, and follow Jesus. He gives us special gifts and insights, and replaces our natural selfishness with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-discipline. We find ourselves naturally fulfilling the will of God, not because we are specially virtuous or holy, but because Jesus himself is living in us.
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