3 Things to Achieve God’s Vision for Your Life - Part 1

TO ACHIEVE God's will for your life, you must pay close attention to these three things.

Your encounter with God, the posture of your heart and the culture of Christ.

YOUR ENCOUNTER with God begins when he makes Himself known to you. Without it, you cannot know Him.

Paul was on his way to Damascus when he saw a bright light from heaven and a voice said to him, Saul, why do you persecute me? (Acts of the Apostles 22:6)

AN ENCOUNTER does not come as an expectation but as an intervention.

God met Moses to intervene in his life. So he appeared to him in a strange sight and spoke from the midst of the fire.

Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place you are standing is holy ground (Exodus 3:5).

We don't choose what we will do for God; He invites us to join Him where He wants to involve us — Henry T. Blackaby.

YOUR ENCOUNTER may be as simple as reading the scriptures and something jumping out at you, or you may hear God tell you what to do, like he instructed Abraham.

God told him to leave his country, relatives, and father’s house and go to the land he would show him (Genesis 12:1).

God called Abraham because he wanted a man he could trust. He saved him because he wanted to bless him.

So, Abraham needed an encounter with God to be a witness. Abraham could not go except he was sent.

Every experience you have with God is a divine appointment. It draws you closer to your place in Him.

YOUR ENCOUNTER may be jaw-dropping, like Jacob, who woke from sleep and said: Without any doubt, the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.”(Genesis 28: 10-16)

What happened next spoke volumes about what he saw.

Jacob built an altar and made a vow.

You may not be able to schedule an encounter with God, but you can attract one because God is always searching for people to trust.

The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9).

You may be unable to schedule an encounter but, you can attract one.

WHENEVER you create a sacred place to meet God, you open yourself to encountering Him.

Solomon opened himself to encountering God when he dedicated the temple.

He prayed, and fire came from heaven and consumed the burnt offering.

And God came to him at night, saying, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:1-15).

God will forgive you because he wants to trust you.

EVERY ENCOUNTER with Him is an opportunity to trust Him. It is not a one-time thing but a lifelong thing.

So, you live day by day wanting to encounter Him. You live second by second, trusting His process.

When Jesus’ disciples gathered in Jerusalem, they trusted His process and waited for an encounter with His Spirit (Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14).

They knew they needed his ability to do His work. You need him, too.

For it is [not your strength], but it is God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.

David understood this and said: O God, you are my God. At dawn, I search for you. My soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you in a dry, parched land without water (Psalm 63:1).

As much as God longs for you, you must long for Him. So your desire for Him is continuous.

As you hunger for God, your desire to know Him increases, and the more you know Him, the more you want to know Him.

Paul summarized it this way:

That I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did]; so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).

Paul wanted a continuous encounter with Jesus.

A Final Thought

MANY [people] stop short of a divine encounter because they are satisfied with good theology. The word of God is to lead us to the God of the Word — Bill Johnson.

Have a great week!