HIS GENERAL WILL. Much of God's direction for our lives is His general will that applies to all believers without variation. We understand His general will directly from the Bible. We learn of His general will from the commandments, principles, and examples in His Word.

Commandments. There are clear commandments in the Bible for every believer. "For this is the will of God ... that you abstain from sexual immorality.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3. "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution ... for such is the will of God.” 1 Peter 2:13-15. Jesus expects us to obey these and the others..."If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." John 14:15. Obedience should be our way of life.

Principles. There are principles in the Bible covering varied situations. There is the principle of good stewardship described at the beginning of Luke 16. The cost of discipleship is at the end of Luke 14. The principle of spending time with lost people is presented in the three parables of Luke 15. We need to understand and apply all the other principles given in the Old and New Testaments. The principles and commandments give us His general will.

Examples. The Bible contains good examples to follow ... and bad ones to avoid. The best example is that of Jesus Christ. Washing the disciples' feet Jesus said, "For I gave you an example that you should also do as I did to you." John 13:15. We should follow the His example of humility, Philippians 2:5. We should walk in His steps in 1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 2:6. We should follow Daniel's good example of honoring and serving God in a godless place. Paul gave a good witnessing example in Acts 17. Paul wrote, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1. In addition, there are bad examples to avoid such as King Saul giving partial obedience to God ... David's adultery with Bathsheba ... and the 17 cycles of failure during the time of the judges. 

HIS INDIVIDUALIZED WILL. We need to follow three steps to learn and to do His individualized will. First, we are to ask Him to tell us. Second, we need to acquire guidance from His Word, His wisdom, His people, and His peace. When we know His individualized will, we need to act ... to do what He has told us to do.

Ask. The starting point of knowing His individualized will is prayer. The Psalmist's prayer should be ours ... "Teach me to do Your will.” Psalm 143:10. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your will be done." Matthew 6:10. Paul prayed that the believers at Colossae would "be filled with the knowledge of His will.” Colossians 1:9. “Epaphras labored earnestly in prayer for them that they would "stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God." Colossians 4:12. Our earnest prayer for ourselves, and for others, should be to know and do the will of God.

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Disciplemaking 1, copyright 2003, is available free from www.MyDisciplemaker.org where you can study online or print free copies. You may copy this course, any any part of it, for free or at-cost distribution ... without change to the content ... and with this copyright policy attached. Published by www.ActsOneEight.org. Bible Quotations are from the NASB unless noted.