God’s Will Leads to Level Ground

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne

Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated 1874
By: Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)

Listen to this worshipful version of this hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.

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Please enjoy this video and the transcript below.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

As we continue our journey through this classic hymn, work to sincerely offer each part of your life and your entire life to God. It requires diligence and intentionality. Thanks for joining us in this grand pursuit. Let’s tune our hearts.

Level Ground

Climbing is exhilarating. But it is also very difficult.

So is surrendering your will to God. 

Have you ever tried it? Then you know what I mean. Just like climbing requires some specific skills to be successful, so does surrender. You must learn those skills, either by trial and error, or much more easily by having someone show you.

God wants to teach you His will. When you are seeking the same the ground levels out tremendously. Are you ready to echo this prayer and see the mountain before you shrink before your eyes?

Climbing can also be very dangerous, especially if you do not know what you are doing. All the more reason when it comes to your spiritual life to remove some of the hazards that could be harmful to your health by seeking a level path to walk on as opposed to a steep one. Learning God’s will levels the ground before you.

Take my will and make it Thine

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! Psalm 143:10 ESV

Here is a very challenging transaction. The Psalmist asks simply to be taught His God’s will, but the hymn writer asks for an exchange. I suppose you could argue they have the same result but I like the surrender of the latter. Both lead to level ground though, so yield today.

Some of our other offerings, hands, feet, lips, silver and gold are either external or can be approximated with the right actions. Offering our will expresses our desire for not only our actions but our motivations to be right. It gets to the very core of the issue. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you offer your will to God.

RESONATE!
Take a few moments and offer your will to God. Ask yourself this simple question, “Have I offered my will to God?” and then allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you. Make this your simple prayer today “Spirit, help me offer my will to God.” Then prepare to walk the level ground it creates.

God’s Will

But walking that level ground can be challenging as well, especially if the direction marked out is not the one you would choose. See, you could be taught the way to go but still choose to go your own way. The struggle between those two can be mighty unless you determine your response before the fork.

For instance, maybe you want to walk a path through wide open fields where your soul has space to expand. When God shows you His way it leads you through the city with walls that feel like they are closing in on you. If you have determined to follow God before the city comes into view it will be much easier.

Fortunately for us, Jesus had already determined to follow God’s path before He came to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was still a difficult path but He was prepared to walk it because He had decided ahead of time. When we place our will in God’s hands like Jesus did there we took can follow on even difficult paths.

It shall be no longer mine

Saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42 ESV

Jesus prays and voices a slightly different approach than simply learning God’s will. Where His will was not the Father’s He surrendered. There is no exchanging of wills, simply surrender. However you choose to approach this today, being taught, or an exchange, determine to surrender your will to God’s.

Complete and total surrender. My will no longer my own, but completely God’s. If you have ever offered your will to God you know it is not a one-and-done transaction, but must be repeated regularly. Our flesh likes to exercise ownership even after surrender. Offer your will again today.

RESONATE!
Take a few moments and surrender your will to God. Pray a simple prayer like this one, “Father, I offer my will again today.” Then trust the Spirit to help you follow through with that commitment.

God teach me your will. Spirit help me to walk in it once I learn it. Jesus, thank You for giving me an example to follow when it comes to surrendering my will to the Father. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Surrendered Tuning!

Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

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Video 30.5 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne

Some of our other offerings are either external or can be approximated with the right actions. Offering our will expresses our desire for not only our actions but our motivations to be right. It gets to the very core of the issue. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you offer your will to God.

Spirit, help me offer my will to God.

Complete and total surrender. My will no longer my own, but completely God’s. If you have ever offered your will to God you know it is not a one-and-done transaction, but must be repeated regularly. Our flesh likes to exercise ownership even after surrender. Offer your will again today. 

Father, I offer my will again today.

The heart is the seat of the emotions, intellect and will. We have already addressed the intellect and will in earlier sections, but not our emotions. They are so fickle, but they too are a gift from God which we can offer back to Him. Offer your emotions to God today to use for His glory.

God, use my emotions for Your glory.

God on the throne of our hearts. This is powerful imagery and helps us rightly consider the cost of offering anything and everything to God. He is King of kings and when we choose to acknowledge this in our hearts the conflict between ours and His finds resolution.

Lord, make my heart Your throne.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, Be Resonant.

The post God’s Will Leads to Level Ground appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image Attributions
Take my will and make it Thine – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/climbing-climber-ice-pick-rope-4514507/
It shall be no longer mine – https://pixabay.com/photos/yellow-wall-girl-woman-hipster-926728/