Day 28 | Will Application

Read 1 Thessalonians 3:11–4:12

Once we understand the core of the will of God, that it brings about what He intends and gives us direction for how He wants us to live, our next question may be, “How does that play out in my everyday life?” 1 Thessalonians is a good place to turn to for practical guidelines for living in the identity of an image-bearer of God. Most helpful, Paul, the author, gets to the heart of the matter in chapter 4. In verse 3, he writes, “For this is God’s will: that you become holy…” (NET).

If we are to live how God intends, filling the earth and establishing His reign, we have to look to the source of holiness. Revelation 15:4 reminds us that only God is holy. How can we look or act more like Him if we don’t know what He looks like or how He acts? One of the primary ways we get to know God is through His Word given to us in the Bible. We have to read it regularly. It must become a constant part of our life. We also get to know Him through the Holy Spirit. Those of us who follow Jesus are promised the presence of the Holy Spirit. Since we know He’s here with us, we just have to pay attention to Him in prayer to develop our relationship.

That relationship, more than anything else, will help us in those times when we want to be faithful to the will of God, yet are not sure what that means for that moment. When we face tough decisions, once we know the Holy Spirit and have it settled inside of us that we are to be like Him in all things and spread His reign throughout the world, we can discern the way forward, even in the hardest of circumstances. Whatever the choices we make, as long as we know they’re leading us to grow in holiness, looking more and more every day like the image of God, then we can know we’re living faithfully in His will for us.

Pray for 10 minutes