To Will And To Do

Philippians 2:13

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure

It is not uncommon for us as Christians to complicate things. By this, I mean that we sometimes make things harder than they really are. The Christian life is really pretty simple and easy if we will live it correctly. The problem is that we try to work out all the details and situations ourselves, for our own benefits to fit our own schedules.

Let me show you what I mean. We read the Bible and see how the New Testament Christians really got in there and got things done. We see that they got people saved, delivered and healed. So, we start out as any good Christian would and try to do the things that they did. What we don’t notice sometimes is that they had their troubles too. Everything didn’t always go as they planned either. For example, the disciples had a demonic boy that they simply could not get set free. On another occasion, Peter was told by Jesus,that he was speaking by the spirit of Satan. ( Now that would really boost your spiritual ego)

There has to be a reason why sometimes they got it right on and at other times they were right off. The key is in the message of the verse today. It seems so obvious once we see it. Notice that it says that it is God who is working in us. Well, that is not news, we knew that. Yes, but the reality is that it is the Holy Spirit in us that gives us God’s direction and ability. Without that inner leading, we would not even know what we were supposed to be attempting to do. It is He who gives us the will to do the work of God. The Holy Spirit always delights to do the will of God and to lead us to do the same.

The other part of the formula is that He not only gives us the desire to do the will of God, He also gives us the ability to do that will. The Bible says that it is not by might nor power, but by My Spirit that things get done. So you see, it is He who gives us the desire and the ability to get the will of God accomplished in our lives.