"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good"? Deuteronomy 10:12-13.

Here we have the decree of God or His call to commitment. This decree or call to commitment of God is His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His own will. The decree of His will is all-inclusive. Also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will. Ephesians 1:11. That is to say, respond to My decree, respond to My call to commitment; fear Me!, your Lord and your God, walk in all My ways and love Me; serve Me!, your Lord and God, with all your heart and with all your soul; keep My commandments and My statutes and I will cause all things, predestined according to My purpose, after the counsel of My will, to cause and grant to you an eternal inheritance. Heaven is your eternal inheritance. You shall live with Me, the Lord your God, in heaven, peacefully, forever.

So, it was quite clear, even back on Gods' mountain, what that will of God was, and what He expected of the people, to fulfill His purpose according to His will. Gods' desire, purpose and will was that all people would fear Him, yet, love Him, walk in His ways and serve Him, serve Him with all their heart and soul, and to keep all His commandments and statutes. And as it was then, it is the same today. God desires to draw all men unto Him. But, it must be emphasized that His desire is not dependent that the people might do these things. His purpose and will were established on the basis that the people must do these things.

This was further emphasized under the new covenant described in Grace, Grace, in which God, provided a guaranteed way to fulfill Gods' purpose and will. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me". John 14:6.

"Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law, until all is accomplished". Matthew 5:17-18.

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. Ephesians 1:5. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of Promise. Ephesians 1:9-13.

We have here additional scripture that shows Gods' purpose according to His will, was that any and all people that believed the message of the truth, were predestined to the call of glory. They were also given a mark, a seal in the form of the Holy Spirit of Promise. Making known the mystery of His will is a divine revelation, as was Peters' proclamation of faith. Therefore, all lines of divine revelation meet in Christ and all religion centers IN HIM. The spirit which is Holy Himself makes us Holy. By Him, believers are sealed, separated and set apart for God. The spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. The earnest is part payment which secures the full sum. All of His influences and operations, both as a separator and comforter are heaven sent. The spirit's illumination is an earnest of everlasting light; His separation is an earnest of perfect holiness; and His comforts are an earnest of everlasting joys.

As when buying property or real estate, one applies or puts down a deposit which is called an earnest deposit. This earnest deposit represents something of value, that could be forfeited, but, which indicates the buyers good faith intention that he desires to purchase that property. Additional action is then required, and in most cases that entails the securing of a mortgage to complete the sellers price.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46. Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding. Proverbs 23:23.

Likewise, when one comes upon the call of God and recognizes it for what it is, that is, they recognize the great value, they are to sell all that they have and buy it. They are to put down a deposit. This they do by believing in the message of truth, the gospel of their salvation. Interestingly enough, God gives them the deposit to buy. Remember, the basis in believing is faith, and faith comes from divine power, through repentance of sins and confession of faith and proclaiming openly and freely to all the public. This is mans' deposit on the call of God on his life. Again, interestingly, God places an earnest deposit on the buyer, to guarantee that the buyer will buy. WOW ! Have you ever heard of any such thing. Have you ever heard of a seller putting down an earnest deposit on his own property to guarantee that the buyer will buy ? Surely, the seller knows that the buyer must take action to come up with the remaining purchase amount. He has no way of guaranteeing that the buyer will, but he is aware that if the buyer fails to abide by the terms of the proposed commitment, then the buyer may forfeit his down payment.

At this juncture, we must stop and point out that God is not selling anything. God's purpose, God's will, God's call of commitment on ones life is a gift, it is free. No one is forced to make this commitment, but when he finds the pearl of great value, he is jointly in communion with God. He is saying I have found what I have been looking for and at the same time God gives him divine power which establishes faith in the new believer. In order that the new believer can fulfill or abide by the terms of the proposed commitment, God provides him with or seals him with the Holy Spirit of Promise. This spirit is the earnest of ones inheritance and it illuminates, separates and comforts. Now, a true believer has all that he needs to pick up his own cross, if he is willing, and follow after the will of God and fulfill God's purpose. A true believer has all that he needs that he might know God, that he might know the will of God. That he might indicates, should he desire, may he continue to desire to know. This also could be stated, that he would know or that he will know. As the property scenario requires a desire, action and fulfillment, so also do we have the same here; might expresses an immediate and continual desire to know Him; would connotes action required due to desire and purpose to know Him; will indicates fulfillment, that he will know Him. Once he knows Him, his will is the same as Gods will, which puts them in like minds or one accord.

Having this discussion, we now know the overall will of God. We know that it is Gods' will that all men be drawn unto Him. We know that Gods' purpose is to be in communion with and fellowship with all of His people, for He loves them. Yet, when determining Gods' will a little bit closer to home, its not as easy. Is the overall will of God different from that which effects each of our lives on a personal basis ? Is the purpose of God different for me than it is for you ? The answer to both of these questions is an unequivocal no. His purpose and will is always the same, whether we are referring to a corporate body or a personal mode of operation. He wants the same for all, for it is that which is instilled in each individual that makes up the corporate body. So, it is without reason that all should be of like purpose, like mind and like will. And in addition, He has provided His Holy Spirit of Promise to insure and guarantee that happening, for those who are willing.

For sure, the determining of or knowing how to apply Gods' purpose or will for each of our lives, personally, takes action on our part. The applying of the spirit, which God has provided, into our daily activities takes a commitment. Yet, the spirit which God did provide, which is our provision, is Gods' providence. Now, that is a new word thus introduced, providence, but they are all interconnected. The exercising of Gods' providence is the exercising of His will. The word providence is related to the verb provide, which, when translated appears like this in Luke 12:20, to prepare, is "hast provided"; and in Matthew 10:9, to get, to gain, is rendered "provide"; and in Hebrews 11:4, to foresee, is "having provided"; and in 1 Timothy 5:8 and Romans 12:17 and 2 Cor.8:21, to take thought for, is "provide for"". Now, the noun forethought, in Acts 24:2, is translated "providence"", and in Romans 13:14, is translated "provision".

With this additional information can we not say that the exercising of Gods' providence is not only the exercising of His will but the exercising of His forethought. His will, that all men draw unto Him and His providence or His forethought, that they are commanded to take action to fulfill His purpose. Who could take action to fulfill His purpose, by themselves, intellectually ? It has been proven that it can't be done in the natural or in the flesh. But, our God has taken thought that we might be prepared and has made provision, for those who are willing to know the will of God for their life.

There are many who say that they are willing to know the will of God for their lives, but do not know how to apply the provision. I find this a very difficult statement to understand, but I do believe that it is very true. The first thought would be that it could not happen, that it is impossible not to know how to apply the provision. However, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. But, if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Romans 8:9. With this, there is no doubt that those who belong to Christ have the Holy Spirit. Then why are there hundreds of people who maintain that they don't know Gods' will for their lives ? Why are there hundreds of believers who say that they do not know how to apply the provision ? Why and how could this be so ? Remember, when one becomes born again, there is an exchange of power, divine heavenly power that the new believer receives. If he does not use this power it is because he does not desire to be obedient to Gods' call. He is not willing to take action to fulfill the proposed commitment. If he no longer has that desire which produced faith through divine power, then it would appear that he no longer has faith. But, ask the majority of them, and they would answer in the affirmative that, yes, they do have faith. Some refer to this as having faith in your faith, but, no longer having the same divine power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Can this be ? Is it possible for that to Happen ? And what does it really mean ?

Jesus desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4. That means, that Jesus desires all men to be saved, through Him, and to continue to become reconciled to the Father, through the knowledge of the truth. Through increased learning of the knowledge of the truth, which takes time, the infant believer develops into a matured believer. This process of development that occurs as we live our lives, enables us to fellowship more and more fully, with God. This process of development, this increased knowledge of the truth takes action and desire on our part, or the part of each believer.

Now, if we do not take this action, or no longer have the desire, how can we proceed to have fellowship with God ?

When you found the pearl of great value, ( the call of God on your life ) and put down your deposit, ( repentance of sins and confession of faith ) you sold all that you had, ( through complete submission ), and desired to receive truth, wisdom, instruction and understanding. God called upon you. You acknowledged and submitted to His call. God gave you the deposit, in the form of divine spiritual power, to recognize His call upon you; "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me". John 10:27. This is exactly the way it is suppose to be. But, what additionally does God require of you ? Remember, He requires you to fear Him, to walk in all His ways and love Him, to serve Him, with all your heart and soul, and to keep His commandments and His statutes.

Now, there is only one way that you are able to proceed in doing these things, and that is through His spiritual power which He has given unto you. This spiritual power, combined with your desire and action, will allow you to grow in the knowledge of God, and the awareness of God. This knowledge and awareness of God will provide to you inner peace. This inner peace will provide a mature and still soul that is sensitive towards God and sensitive to Gods' will. Being sensitive to Gods' will, shall draw you ever closer into His fellowship. Matured spiritual growth through continued fellowship with the Father, produces the fullness of your divine, eternal inheritance. Therefore, in order to produce these results, you must exercise your spiritual power by allowing it to grow. You can do this by growing in Gods' word, but, it takes action and commitment on your part. Only through this action and commitment will you learn or discover the will of God for your personal life.

Now, how do we stand if we are not enhancing our commitment and taking action that is required on our part ? Well, let's go back to the property scenario. Let's say that you found the house of your dream. It's in your price range and you have enough money to put down a 20% deposit. You get together with the seller and you both agree, you want to buy and he wants to sell. You don't have all the money, so you tell the seller that you'll put down an earnest deposit of 20%. Now, this deposit is given to show your good faith intention that you are serious and want to buy the house. This also gives the seller the security while his house is, in effect, taken off the market, for the time that it takes you to procure the balance of the purchase money. This period of time may vary somewhat, but is considered a reasonable period, possibly four to six weeks. In any case, you have entered into a commitment and have a responsibility to produce the balance within a reasonable period of time.

One week goes by and you haven't attempted to secure the balance. Two weeks go by with the same results. At the end of the third week for some reason, you aren't as excited about your dream house. By the end of the forth week you're beginning to think that maybe you should not have bought this house. By the end of the fifth week you begin to wonder, what can I tell the seller ? At the end of the sixth week the seller is contacting you to find out what is going on with securing the balance. You don't know exactly what to say, so you indicate that you might be having a problem. Really, little does he know ! Then at the end of the seventh week you finally admit that you made a mistake and should not have put down the deposit to purchase the house. You tell the seller that you are very sorry and you admit that you should have told him much earlier, but, it's kind of late for that now. Again, you express your apologies and hope that there will be no hard feelings, but at this time you feel that the best thing that should be done is to take back your deposit and allow the seller to put his house back on the market.

Well, the seller was aghast. He tells you, no, no, he's not giving you your deposit back, in fact he is going to sue you. He takes it to court and the judge finds favor of the seller. The basis of the favorable verdict for the seller was the fact that you did nothing. You entered into an agreement and took upon yourself a responsibility which was handled in a very negative irresponsible manner. As a result, you forfeited and lost your deposit.

The chances of a buyer loosing his deposit in this manner is probably quite remote. It makes no sense not to take action, that, by not doing so, could result in the loss of the deposit. Also, the reasons in this case are quite exaggerated, but, the reasons why are immaterial, and really not the point. The true point to be made is the fact that no action was being taken, for whatever reason. Again, I'm sure you'll agree, it sure doesn't make much sense. Yet, isn't this the same as not enhancing our commitment and taking the required action on our part ! If it makes no sense in the real estate scenario, surely, it makes even less sense when it entails Gods' call on our life, doesn't it ! Yet, we have hundreds that take no action and continue to seek not, with the end result that they know not, the Will of God.