The Difference between Can and Will

Matthew 8:1-3 1WHEN JESUS came down from the mountain, great throngs followed Him.  2And behold, a leper came up to Him and, prostrating himself, worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me.  3And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.

This leper came to Jesus, knowing all the great miracles Jesus had performed, knowing that Jesus had been going around the country healing the sick, and said, “I know you can heal, but will you heal me?”  Have you ever felt like that? We know that God can do anything. Ephesians 3:20 tells us 20Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—Knowing that He can and knowing that He will are two different things. 

If we look a little farther in Matthew 8:5-9 & 13 we see the story of the centurion.  5As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him, begging Him,  6And saying, Lord, my servant boy is lying at the house paralyzed and distressed with intense pains.   7And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him.  8But the centurion replied to Him, Lord, I am not worthy or fit to have You come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant boy will be cured.  9For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it…. 13Then to the centurion Jesus said, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant boy was restored to health at that very moment. The centurion  came to Jesus and asked if He would be willing to come and heal his servant. As soon as Jesus said “yes I will”, the he said “Never mind coming to my house, just speak the word and he will be healed.” The soldier never questioned whether or not Jesus could heal, he just wanted to know if He would heal. When he was convinced that Jesus would heal he was able to release his faith and see the miraculous happen in his servant’s life.  In what areas of our lives do we need to be convinced that God will? Are we looking at our finances saying, “I know you can prosper me, but will you?” Are we looking at sickness in our bodies and saying, “I know you can heal me, but will you?” Are we looking at a messed up relationship saying, “I know You can restore, but will you?” We have to be convinced that it is indeed His will for us to prosper, to walk in health and wholeness, and to have complete restoration in every area of our lives. How do we convince ourselves? By finding the promises of God in the Word and holding fast to those promises. The more we meditate on His Word, the more our minds will be persuaded that God is not only able but willing to pour out His blessings upon us. Just like the centurion, when we know that He will, we will open the door for our faith to obtain the miraculous in our lives.

Your Will Be Done

Matthew 6:9-13  9Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.   10Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.  13And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
We are instructed to pray- Your will be done. This is something even Jesus Himself had to do. He was praying in the Garden of Gesthemane before He was betrayed and crucified. We can read the account in Luke 22:41-43 41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed,   42Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.  43And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit. Jesus didn’t want to endure the suffering He knew He was getting ready to go through.  He asked His Heavenly Father if there was any other way. Yet He was still able to say Not my will, but always Yours be done. How often do we say, let your will be done Lord, but when it doesn’t happen the way we want it to we get upset. Surrendering our will is sometimes a difficult thing because it requires crucifying our flesh.  Galations 5:24 says 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. We can’t claim to be in Christ without killing our flesh, letting go of what we want and allowing Him to have free reign in our lives. If we follow the example Jesus laid out for us, and surrender our will to our Heavenly Father we won’t have to do it alone. Luke 22:43 says And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit. When we make the decision to lay down our lives, our wants and our plans, our spirits will be strengthened  enabling us to stand strong in our decision. 
How do we implement this in our lives? We daily make the choice to abandon our rights to our thoughts, our words and our actions. Before we speak or act we stop to ask the Lord if it would be pleasing to Him. Most importantly, we are obedient to His voice in our lives. If He says to do something, we do it, and if He says don’t, we don’t. It’s that simple. It’s one thing to pray- Thy will be done, it’s another thing to walk it out. Are you willing to relinquish your rights to your life? Are you ready to give up yourself? IF so there is great news for you. Matthew 16:24-26 says 24Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].   25For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].  26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?

Bless the Lord at All Times with Everything in You

Psalm 103:1 1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

This verse proclaims Bless the Lord O my soul! David is reminding himself to praise the Lord. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will and emotions, and how many of you know that sometimes they don’t necessarily want to praise the Lord. Have you ever been in church, your hands and voice lifted in worship, but your mind is busy thinking about what you are going to fix for lunch, or what you have to do for the rest of the day? Or have you ever been in a bad mood, and you just didn’t want to bless the Lord because emotionally you were spent? At some point or another, I think everyone goes through a time when they would rather do anything but offer praise to God. Psalm 34:1 however, instructs us 1I WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. No matter what we think, no matter what we want and no matter how we feel, we should be blessing the Lord all the time. If you look up what ALL means, it says it the whole of, any and every. Any and every moment of any and every day is time we have to offer praise to God. It may sound crazy, but if you keep His praise continually in your mouth, your soul will soon line up with your words. If you are having a bad day, but you just begin to praise the Lord- telling Him how good He is, thanking Him for all He’s done for you- your emotional state will change.

The second part of today’s verse says and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name! There’s that word ALL again. Every part of our being is to bless the Lord. Our thoughts, our words, and our actions should bless Him. If we are to bless Him in everything we don’t have time to think things that don’t glorify Him, we don’t have time to say things that don’t bring glory to Him and we don’t have time to do things that don’t honor Him. Much easier said than done I know, but it is something we can achieve. It all comes down to doing what the Word says. Philippians 4:8 shows us how to focus our thoughts- 8For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. We see how to focus our words in Ephesians 4:29 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it. 1 Corinthians 10:31 shows us how to govern our actions-…whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.

Today as you go about your day, make up your mind that everything you do will glorify the Lord, and that His praise will continually be in your mouth. As you bless Him at all times with everything in you, you will see His blessings come back upon you.