By Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead
A Book Report
A Book Report
In times of life's trouble we must be prepared to handle the trouble. In this message is a link to a poem about "Storms in our Lives". The point of the poem is we must study God's word and come to a True Personal Relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit, to be prepared to give our storms up to God. Storms are most difficult when we are not prepared. The "Will of God" by By Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead goes deep in his model, for the Will of God for our lives.
It is ok to feel a bit shaken but rest assured we have a God of love and He will never leave your side. I am testimony to this. Just know the Truth, the Holy Spirit is with you and within you everyday. Life is better if you live everyday with that knowledge internalized, drawn to the depth of your soul so Personal Relationship with Gos is (or grows to) what your are.
It is sometimes difficult to understand life and God's Will in our lives, and feel the Holy Spirit in our lives when we are not totally prepared for the tragedies in life we must face. It is hard to be totally prepared. But, we must pray daily to understand and be in God’s Will. Understanding is the difficult part. "The Will of God" will help you in that understanding.
This model of God’s Will comes from a minister in England in five sermons he gave in the midst of WWII in 1943, a time of horrific tragedy in England. Dr. Leslie D Weatherhead presented his model of God’s will in our lives and I believe it has stood the test of time. His book, “The Will of God” has sold millions since then and has been in continuous print since its first printing during WWII.
Dr. Weatherhead’s model or explanation of Gods Will falls in three parts.
1- God’s Ultimate Will
2- God’s Intentional Will
3- God’s Circumstantial Will.
The first two are more directly and easier to understand.
God’s Ultimate Will is the Will of God that will always prevail. God is in control and what He has set forth in all things will ultimately rule everything.
God’s Intentional Will starts getting into the arena where we as humans can affect our lives. God’s Intentional Will is what God wants for us in our lives. But, we can ignore it, we can adopt it on Sunday, or we can try to live continuously in His Intentional Will as Christ did live. Part of God’s Will is for us to live a life with the Holy Spirit as our Guiding Force. In Star War’s, the first episode filmed, when Luke Skywalker was going to destroy the ‘Death Star’ he lost his man-made guidance system, and through the spirit of Obe Won Kenobe he felt “May the force be with you.” Even when I was not daily praying in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in our lives is what came to mind. In God’s Intentional Will, it is God’s desire that we let the Force, the Holy Spirit, be with us and fill our lives everyday. How? Through prayer and Bible Study.
God’s Intentional Will will not always prevail. We in our lives can choose to be apart from God, either totally or temporarily. Many of us choose to allow God to be a part of lives on Sunday, and live our lives away from Him the rest of the week. It is God’s Intentional will for us to be in his Spirit every moment of every day. The choice is ours. We just have to remember, regardless of our will, His Ultimate Will will prevail.
Finally, there is God’s Circumstantial Will. This is the hard one and most difficult to accept and where we get in the most trouble. It involves the choices in our lives that we make. In this short review, I think it is best only to give some examples of God's Circumstantial Will. In his book, Dr. Weatherhead has an extensive explanation.
God has set up rules for our lives. We must live within the confines of these rules and when we don’t we often suffer many different consequences. Just as I as a teacher have certain Procedures and Protocols (rules) for my classroom, we must learn as my students do. When we do not live by the rules, bad stuff happens. The consequences are rarely to our liking and experience is the wisdom we know and learn from living through consequences of our life's decisions. It is sad that we often do not respect what we learn and make the same mistakes over and over expecting different results.
When my son at 12 years old fell off the timber scaffolding of a Boy Scout made Ferris wheel as the frame was suddenly coming apart, he nearly died on the spot. My years of panic control I learned in the Air Force kicked in and I immediately went to work. Later, I prayed thanking God for giving me the experience and understanding to deal with the tragedy in a successful manner. I knew it was NOT God’s Intentional Will that the Ferris wheel to collapse, but the Circumstantial Will and it consequences came into effect when one of the other scouts accidentally removed the main axle pin that maintained the stability of the wheel. My son missed being killed by about one inch. The main cross beam just barely nicked him as that beam and the main vertical support fell on his legs and broke both bones in his lower left leg and broke the foot in the other leg.
After my sons legs healed, we had another tragedy when my son fell off the lawnmower at my mother’s house and his foot went up into the discharge shoot while the motor was still running. After over 15 operations his foot healed almost as good as new. All this in a similar manner was the Circumstantial Will of God. God did not intend for Anthony to get hurt on the lawnmower or the Ferris wheel. But, when a person pulled the pin on the Ferris wheel axle at the wrong time or the city of Kannapolis left a soft place in the dirt for the steering wheel to throw Antony off the lawnmower, well, mess happened. We have to be careful in our daily lives or we suffer the consequences of the Circumstantial Will of God.
We as humans continue to fail to totally understand this Circumstantial Will. We do not always understand why a particular event had to happen. But, bad things do happen to us. It is something we have to accept and be prepared to deal with. I have been helped many times by this book, I hope is will help prepare you for life's circumstances as it has me. But, remember, to know the Holy Spirit, pray often.... everyday, and Study God's Word.
Can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/Will-God-Leslie-Weatherhead/dp/0687074827
price: $8 plus shipping.
It has been in continuous publication since 1943, close to one million sold.
Praise God and
Thanks be to God.
even in times of our greatest trouble
2nd Thessalonians 5:15-25
© Lonnie
Thanks be to God.
even in times of our greatest trouble
2nd Thessalonians 5:15-25
© Lonnie
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