This way? That way?

One of the most difficult things that we struggle with as Christians sometimes is determining what God wants us to do. So, how do we figure out God's will? Open with me to Philippians chapter 2 as we discover one of the answers to that.

I’m going to interrupt this service with a special announcement. Friday marked 10 years of our pastor taking over the church here. Many of you who grew up in the Calvary movement, as I did, are really big on hideous Hawaiian shirts—loud and proud. That’s how we want you to preach: loud and proud!

What’s funny is that when I got here this morning, I saw Toby with a Hawaiian shirt and Mark with a Hawaiian shirt. I went up to Toby and said, “Wow, this is great!” He replied, “Well, now you’ve got your own, cause I know you don’t have any in your closet.” I think so! And there you go. It might be just like this in ten years, my God! You’ve got to wear that so you don’t hurt our feelings.

I’ll wear it around the house. Oh well, we’re really blessed. You could put it on later, in between services. I just came up on five years here, and part of the reason that I came here was your dedication to what the Word actually says, as opposed to what we want it to say or try to fit into a situation.

Your dedication to that is evident. I know how much you study, how much time you spend in the Word, and I know what a command you have of the Word. I appreciate that about you, and I know that you can’t have that understanding of the Word and that dedication to preaching what it actually says without it coming through in other areas of your life.

So, we want to celebrate that. I’d like the elders to come forward, and some of you servants of the Lord, let’s come forward here. We’re going to pray for Myles, celebrating 10 years. Thank you, and we want to pray for the next 10 years. Amen.

And so, let's do this. Father, I want to thank You for this life. Just as Myles has grown up in this church, he has taken the long way, Lord. He actually served here, and it wasn't just head knowledge; he served here in practical ministry for so many years. As he learned to be a pastor from other pastors, he has been faithful to this call.

Lord, we know his dedication to the Word and the dedication of this church. We ask that for the next ten years, You would have him grow not just in favor with man, but also with You. We pray that You would increase his borders here at this church. As a husband, a father, and a pastor, may You continue to mature him. We know he will never stop maturing until we go to be with You.

Father, we ask that we would see what a blessed man looks like as an example to us. We thank You for him and ask that for the next ten years, You would lay good things at his feet and in his path. May this church get to see those things and celebrate them along with him.

Lord, act on him, guide him, and above all things, may he have the blessing of the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit. Led by that Spirit, may he be overcome by that Spirit and continue to absorb all the things that go along with it. We love You and thank You for this man, and we ask You to bless him. In Jesus' holy name we pray, and we all say, Amen.

Thanks! Oh, that is your color! Everyone at Hudson is awesome. Well, would you open with me the Scriptures? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise a hand, and one of the ushers will come and bring you one.

We're going to detour again out of First Timothy. You know the passage we're supposed to be in; First Timothy says to drink a little wine for your stomach and for your frequent infirmities, and I've been skipping it for like a month. So, Philippians chapter 2 is where we're going to be. Philippians is not too far from First Timothy. Philippians chapter 2, verse 1, reads, "Therefore, if there..."

Is there any consolation in Christ? Any comfort of love? If any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, and being of one accord and of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each one esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. He made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of a man. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, of those on earth, and of those under the earth. Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Father, thank you for the privilege that it is to be able to stand here week after week and to open the Scriptures with people who desire to open the Scriptures. We know that these things are inspired of You and they are useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that we would be equipped for every good work.

So, God, I pray that right now, in the time that we have this morning, You would continue that equipping work by this great Living Word and by the power of Your Spirit in us. Lord, so work in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Can be seated. I've been doing a lot of thinking, especially with this anniversary coming up. I've been reflecting on the last ten years, which went by frighteningly quick. It's amazing to see the work that God has done here in this church, as well as in and through my life. A lot has happened, and a lot has changed in these ten years. I believe the church has changed substantially for the better.

Before becoming the pastor of this church ten years ago, I had the privilege of serving for nine years in ministry, specifically in youth ministry and college ministry. I taught at some Bible colleges and served here as an associate pastor. Now, I have almost nineteen years of experience in that capacity.

It's interesting to consider the questions that you receive as a pastor. Every single week, I receive all kinds of different questions from people. There isn't a week that goes by without receiving an email with questions or someone coming in to talk with me. These questions often pertain to faith, prayer, marriage, parenting, work-related issues, and leadership. People also ask about how to read, study, and apply the Scriptures.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that the most commonly asked question I've received—whether in youth ministry, with college students, or with adults—is a question that many of you have wrestled with at one point or another. You might even be wrestling with it right now. This question can sometimes cause us to experience anxiety and turmoil, leading to sleepless nights.

Despite the anxiety and turmoil that this question may bring, it drives Christians to the Scriptures. It prompts Christians to pray or seek counsel from trusted individuals within the church. This question is one that I think only...

Christians really struggle with a simple question, but it's a hard question. That question is: What is God's will for my life? What is God's will in this situation? What is God's plan? What does God want me to do in this situation that's before me? I don't know that there is a more challenging question. It's a very personal and challenging question when we wrestle with it.

If you're asking this question or if you've ever asked this question, then you're actually on the right path. That kind of question honors God's sovereignty and lordship in your life. Your desire for God's will honors His sovereignty and lordship in your life. So, if you find yourself asking that question, whether you are right now or you do in the future, you're asking the right question. I commend you for doing so.

Offering your will, your plan, your desires—whatever the path is in front of you—to God honors His sovereign lordship in your life. It exalts Him as Lord when you bring that to Him. I commend you for asking that question, but at the same time, I understand how much of a struggle it is because I've wrestled with it as well.

We wrestle with this question over a lot of different things in life. What school should I go to? What career should I choose? What person should I marry? That's a challenging one that people wrestle with. Should I quit this job to take another job? Should I launch out to start my own business? Should I close this business? Should I buy this house? Whatever it may be, we wrestle with these things.

If, while you're wrestling with the answer to those kinds of questions, you take that and submit it to God, saying, "God, I want Your input. I want Your will in this," that totally honors His lordship over your life. We live in a culture that says you have to know what you want to do. You have to have a plan, work the plan, and get it done because you're the captain of your own ship. You're the master of your own destiny. You're the only one looking out for you.

Well, when you become a Christian, you realize that none of that is true. It honors God's lordship to say, "Lord, I..."

I want your input. I want to know what you want me to do in this situation. Do you realize that's the very first question that the newly converted Saul of Tarsus, who would become Paul the Apostle and wrote a third of the New Testament, asked? When he first became a follower of Jesus after he realized he was having a conversation with the Risen Jesus Christ, the first question he asked is recorded in Acts chapter 9, I believe about verse 6: "Lord, what do you have me to do? What do you want me to do, Lord? What do you want me to do?"

If you're a Christian, you've wrestled with that question at some point, and you will again in the future. I've wrestled with it many times over the last 19 years, even before becoming a part of the leadership team here at the church. I really wrestled with that question in a big way not too long ago. At the end of 2016, I was given an offer to take on a different church, a bigger church in another place, and I wrestled with that question for about two months: "What will you have me to do, Lord?" It was challenging to go through and think about that.

At times, we wrestle with God's plan, desire, and direction for our lives. That's what Christians do. To discern and determine what His will and plan is, what do we do? We search the Scriptures, hoping that there is a very personal and direct word from God to us. We pray, "God, I want you to speak in this situation." You might even fast, setting aside your own comfort and appetites so that you can focus and hear the directing word of God.

You might also seek counsel from those people you trust. What do they say when you ask other believers in the church, "I'm trying to figure out what I should do in this situation. Should I go left or right? I don't know what to do. Would you give me counsel?" Sometimes, people are a little flustered because we don't want to be in the place of God in your life. Especially because if I tell you to do something and you later determine that wasn't a good plan, you might be mad at me. So, people often say, "Well, have you prayed about it?" Yes, I've prayed about it. "Have you been searching the Scriptures?" Yes, I've been doing that. "Have you considered fasting?" Yes, I've lost 15 pounds.

I want to know what the Lord wants me to do in this situation. There's a beautiful verse in the Book of Isaiah. God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 30, and God says, "You will hear in your ears a word behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it,' when you turn to the right hand or to the left." I can't tell you how many times I've prayed that verse: "God, I just want to hear a word behind me saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"

After more than twenty years of walking with Jesus, I've never heard the audible voice of God. I've had a number of friends over the years who throw around the statement, "God told me this" or "God told me that," or "The Lord said this" or "The Lord said that." I am the Christian skeptic, the one who says, "How did God do that? Did you hear an audible voice?" Invariably, they say, "Well, no." I ask, "Well, how did He speak to you?" and they respond, "I don't know."

On a number of occasions, I've been tempted to just take out a coin and go, "Okay, left or right, heads or tails." Then I look at it and think, "Okay, that's two out of three," because I don't have enough faith for the flip-of-the-coin kind of following Jesus mode. I get it; in the Old Testament, you see a lot of what's called casting of lots, which is kind of equivalent to our thinking of flipping a coin. I totally understand that.

In Proverbs, one of the verses, I believe it's Proverbs 16, says that the lot is cast, but the decision is with the Lord. So, God can even be sovereign in the flip of a coin, and He can direct in that way. However, I don't know that I have enough faith to just say, "Okay, this way," and boom, let's go. The coin said this, and I don't think that God desires us to walk with Him and live in that way anyway. I think He wants something better.

So, what is that better way? I think of a couple of verses that are favorites of mine. I have lots of favorite verses, but in Proverbs chapter 3, maybe you've read it before or even memorized it, it says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." There's an algorithm there: trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not...

On your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. I think it's really important to point out point number two: God desires my wholehearted trust. He desires my wholehearted trust, but that's challenging when you first begin to follow Jesus. Hopefully, many of you, hopefully all of you, are followers of Jesus today. You put your trust, your faith, in Jesus, and it's a little bit—it's not wholehearted. It takes time of walking with Jesus to become more wholehearted in our trust.

I've been walking with Jesus for more than twenty years now, and I cannot say that I wholeheartedly trust Him in every area of my life. It's a challenge. Now, I know the Scriptures make it really clear that God knows me perfectly, but I'm still getting to know Him. The longer that we walk with Him and get to know Him, the more we trust Him. We realize that He is good and that He does have a plan for a future and an expected end for us. His thoughts towards us are not evil; they're good. As we walk with Him more, we understand this a little bit more, and we begin to wholeheartedly trust Him.

Even in the area of trust in God and in people, we often throw that out. Well, you just gotta trust the Lord. Yes, I know that; that's like Christian 101, right? I get that. But I'm one of those people who, in that area of trusting the Lord, feels like I have to do something more than just trust. I have to do something. Christians, come on, be honest—how many of you feel that way? I thought more of you would. You feel like you gotta make this work.

But the Christian life is all about getting to know God, trusting Him, acknowledging Him, and walking with Him. So how do we do this? How do we trust God? How do we lean upon Him, acknowledge Him, and allow Him to direct our paths? How do we discover what God's will is?

I had you open to Philippians chapter 2, and I think that there are some helpful hints, some important answers to move us in the right direction of discerning God's will, plan, and direction in our lives. Now, Philippians 2, verses 1 through 16, divide up perfectly. They provide a perfect outline of four major things in this passage. If you're taking notes, I'll give you the four headings of these outlines. In verses 1 through 4, we have an exhortation. Don't worry if you don't get them all down because we're going to go through this.

In Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, we find an exhortation. In verses 12 and 13, we have an example, and in verses 14 through 16, we see an exhibition. So, we have an exhortation, an example, an exercise, and an exhibition.

First, let's look at the exhortation. Paul writes, "Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy." Pastor Paul says, "Make me genuinely happy, church. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded." Isn't this similar to the prayer of every parent? If you have one child, you may not have said it, but if you have more than two, you instantly understand: "Make me happy; get along." That's what he's saying—fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. If you want to begin to discern God's will, plan, and direction for your life, then Paul's exhortation here in Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, is very important.

We could spend a lot of time on these verses. I could be really long-winded and spend an hour, two, three, or even four going through them alone. However, I have 22 minutes and 5 seconds. When you boil it all down, it comes to this point: endeavor to live your life for the joy and interests of others.

Now, that's pretty countercultural to 21st-century American living. We are constantly indoctrinated by our culture, which tells us to look out for ourselves because nobody else will. But here, God, through Paul, turns that around and says, "No, if you want to begin to know God's will, plan, and direction for your life, endeavor to live your life for the joy and interests of others." This kind of selfless living is not easy. I'm not going to just casually say, "Come on."

Church, this is easy to get done, but it is difficult to live selflessly. The Christian life and the Christian faith begin with the sacrifice of our Savior. These are sacrificial words: to live your life for the joy and interests of others.

The interesting thing about sacrifice is that it is an entirely future-focused endeavor. What do I mean by that? Sacrifice is a faith-filled exchange of something of value now in hopes of something of greater value in the future. I’m going to set aside, get rid of, or cut off something that is valuable to me right now in hopes of something far greater and far superior in the future. That is what a sacrifice is.

Paul gives the exhortation here to live in this sacrificial way, and then he provides us with an example of it. Look at verses five through eleven: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Be like-minded with Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Instead, he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, he sacrificed. As a result, God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth. Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

If you desire to discern and discover God's will, let this mind be in you. Point number four on your outline: endeavor to follow the example of our sacrificed Savior. If you want to begin to discern, "God, what do you want me to do?" follow Paul's exhortation to live for the joy and interest of others. Endeavor to follow the example of our sacrificed Savior. What did he do? He stepped down from the throne, further from heaven down to earth.

He came here as a king, but he didn't come in royalty; he came really as a peasant. He stepped down and humbled himself. God became a man, and the Incarnation is central to the Christian faith. Then he humbled himself even further and became a servant, a bondservant, as the Scripture says, which is a slave by choice. He chose to take that lower road and humbled himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, we have all of that sacrifice. God has highly exalted him. He exchanged something of value in the present, when he was enthroned in heaven, for something of far superior value in the future. That's sacrifice, and it doesn't sound fun in the moment until you begin to realize that there is a great salvation and reward that comes on the other side of it. That realization compels us to lay our lives down.

Might I suggest to you that our culture needs to see followers of Jesus laying their lives down? It is just not our culture to see that at all. If you're desiring to live and to know God's great will, which assumes that his will and plan are good, then this is the path we have.

We have this exhortation, an example, and an exercise. Look at Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13. I said a few minutes ago that I have a lot of favorite verses, but I am pretty convinced, after a lot of thought on this, that of the thirty-one thousand one hundred two verses in the Bible, these are my two favorites right here: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation." There's the exercise—work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to do his good pleasure.

If you're one of those people who has wrestled with the question that has been a big issue within the church for the last five hundred years, you've wrestled with the question of God's sovereignty and man's free will. These two verses are very, very important. Do you realize that the whole question of God's will, as you live out your life walking with Jesus, is a question of God's sovereignty in tension with my free will? When I'm wrestling with God, asking, "What do you want me to do?" it is an area of tension.

Wrestling with God's sovereignty and my own free will, we live as though we have free will. Why? Because I believe God, who is sovereign, has sovereignly created us to have free will. That's how He made us, and so there is no conflict. The question is not God's sovereignty versus man's free will; these are not in conflict.

When you go through the Scriptures, you find these things are in concert together. God's sovereignty and free will work out your own salvation; that's human responsibility. For it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure; that's God's sovereignty. We see that here in this passage.

This is the great surrender; this is the great sacrifice of my will for His will. This is what Jesus shows us in the Garden of Gethsemane as He is praying just before He goes to the cross. What does Jesus, in His humanity, pray? "Not my will, but Yours be done." That's sacrifice—sacrificing my will for Your will. And that's where this tension comes in.

So, point number five on your outline: we must work out the saving grace that God has worked into us. Christ saved us by the sacrifice that is described in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. He saved us by grace through faith. Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9 says, "Not of works, lest anyone should boast."

So, He saved us, and we need to show it off by working out that salvation that God has wrought in us. You see, when you put your trust in Jesus, God works in you by His Holy Spirit. He puts a new heart in you; this is the born-again experience. Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26 says, "Behold, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you." That's what happens when you become a Christian.

But in many ways, it's totally invisible on the outside because it's an internal work of God's grace. He says, "I've done this work in you; you need to work it out so people would see it." Walk it out so people would see it. It's like this: God fashioned and formed humanity. He created us and built us with all these muscles underneath the skin, effectively invisible until you work them out, and then they start to show up.

So, God has worked into us His salvation, and He wants us to work it out so that people would see this in our lives. Well, that brings us back to our...

While I'm working it out, how do I know what God wants me to do? Paul the Apostle, in Acts chapter 9, verse 6, asks, "What would you have me to do, Lord?" This question reflects a deep desire to understand God's will. The Bible instructs us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." Another English translation states that it is God who works in you to desire and to do those things that please Him. He works in you to desire and to do those things that please Him.

After walking with Jesus for more than twenty years, I've come to discover that God leads me into His will in a very simple way: He leads me into His will by desire, first and foremost. Perhaps you've read the verse, or maybe it's a favorite of yours: Psalm 37, verse 4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." That sounds like a really good deal. If I delight myself in the Lord, whatever that might mean, He will give me the desires of my heart.

I've heard it taught, and I've heard Christians speak about it like this: if I just delight myself in the Lord, whatever that means, He’s going to give me whatever desire manifests in my heart. The problem is that this interpretation doesn't really pass the theological smell test, and I just haven't experienced that. You know, I'm delighting myself in the Lord, and I still don't have a Tesla Model S in my garage. So, I just don't think it works quite that way. It’s not like there's a button you push; you just delight yourself in the Lord, and He’s going to give you whatever you want.

It's similar to people who say, "If I pray in Jesus' name, He’s going to give me whatever I ask." So, they just add "in Jesus' name" at the end of everything, treating it like a genie in a bottle. No, it doesn't work like that.

So, if it doesn't mean that, what does it mean? I think it means this: you delight yourself in the Lord. What does that look like? It means to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," following His example. You delight yourself in the Lord, and in my experience—both through observation and what I see in the Scriptures—He will give you new desires in your heart. That's what I've seen; He changes our desires. You may experience this if you're a Christian.

You experience this almost the instant you become a Christian. Within 24 to 48 hours after you put your faith and trust in Jesus, new desires emerge that you never had before. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may live thereby, as stated in 1 Peter 2:2, I believe you develop a desire to read God's Word. Where did that come from? You didn't create that desire. The urge to share your newfound faith in Christ is not something you manufactured; it is something that God works in you.

God places new desires in our hearts as we put our trust in Him, and He changes our desires. Thus, God leads us into His will by giving us new desires. For some reason, many Christians struggle with the concept of desire, as if whatever they desire must be wrong or in conflict with what God desires. This is a common misconception. While it is true that some desires can be bad, if you are a Christian today, you have a conscience and the indwelling Holy Spirit. With these, you can identify wrong-motivated desires with a high degree of certainty.

We are like desire factories, constantly producing desires. I want this, and I want that, all the time. Identifying carnal desires that do not align with the nature of God, as He has revealed Himself in Scripture, is not very difficult. Because you have a conscience and the indwelling Holy Spirit, God gives us new desires in our hearts. I believe He begins to lead us into His will through these desires.

It is God who works in you to desire and to do those things that are pleasing to Him. I will suggest to you that God's plan for you, His good pleasure, will be your greatest satisfaction in fulfilling those desires. I have found this to be true in my own life. Therefore, it is God who works in you to desire and do those things that please Him, which will ultimately be the most satisfying for you. He begins to move us into His will through desire.

The great theologian Augustine said this many hundreds of years ago.

Years ago, I heard someone say, "Love God and do whatever you please." That's a big statement. He went on to say that the soul trained in love for God will do nothing to offend the one who is beloved. When you delight yourself in the Lord, love God, pursue Him, and follow His example, you commit, by His grace and by His indwelling Spirit, to fulfill the exhortation to put other people's joy and interests above your own. As you delight yourself in the Lord in this way, He will give you new desires in your heart. As you begin to walk in those things, you will find that you are walking in His will.

Point number six on your outline is that God's will manifests as my new desires. It works like this: I was sitting in Pastor Pat Kenny's living room almost eleven years ago, in December 2007. I was with a group of pastors from this church, and he looked at me and asked, "Do you believe God wants you to take over this church?" I said, "Yes, I do." He then asked, "Why do you think that?" I replied, "Because I've wanted to since 2002, six years before. But I get it; I wasn't ready, and the church was not ready in 2002 for a 22-year-old Pastor Miles to lead this church."

Why did I marry Andrea? Because I wanted to, and the miracle is that she wanted to marry me too. As you pursue God and follow Him, He will manifest His will through new desires in your heart.

I had a conversation with a student at the Bible College about seven or eight years ago. I had shared a similar message with my Isaiah class at the Bible College, and afterwards, a whole bunch of students came to talk to me. One of them was a girl with tears in her eyes. She said to me, "Listen, I'm in my fourth semester. Some more semesters are going to end in just about a month, and I'm struggling with God's will." I said, "Okay, what's going on?"

Since I was in junior high, I've wanted to serve God at an orphanage in the Philippines. How specific can you get? I thought, "Yeah, that sounds like a really carnal desire. You want to leave Southern California's comfort and beauty to serve in a third-world country with kids in need? That sounds totally carnal; it can't be of God."

I said, "So what's the problem?" Well, I got an email from a friend inviting me to come and serve at an orphanage in the Philippines. I didn't know if it was God's will. I had been praying about it, seeking counsel, and reading the Scriptures, but I just hadn't heard from God. I didn't know what to do.

I suggested, "I think you should go through the door because He gave you a desire, and now the opportunity to do it is there. Go through the door." And she did, because God works in you to desire and to do.

You might say, "I have a desire, but I have no door." Okay, wait and get ready. Prepare for the day that the door opens. The door may not be open right now, so you prepare for the day. That's what I did in August of 2002. I had a strong feeling that I would be the pastor of this church. So what do you do? You prepare for the day that the door opens.

When the door opened, I said yes. I didn't hesitate and say, "You know, I think I need to pray about that." I said yes. Why didn't I move to go to Santa Barbara when I was invited? Because I wanted to be here; that's why. It was a great opportunity to work with a good friend. Everything looked like it made sense, and I really struggled with it. Why? Because I didn't want to go; I wanted to stay here.

So, how does God's will manifest as our new desires? For what purpose? Finally, let's look at Philippians 2, verses 14 through 16: "Do all things without complaining and disputing." That's easy, right? "That you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." Underline these words: "among whom you shine as lights in the world."

God wants to shine brightly through your life, lived according to His will for His good pleasure in a world that desperately needs it.

That needs to see His glory among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice. Pastor Paul says in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Your good works will be those that align with His will as you walk out His good pleasure, as He plants new desires into your heart. Let us walk in it for His glory.

Did you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, I thank You that You do make it rather simple. Although it can be challenging, it is still simple. You direct our steps by transforming our desires. Lord, I pray for this church, Your church, from me, that You would help us, by Your Spirit and grace and power, to live our lives in a way that exalts the interest and joy of others, following after Your example.

We live our lives in that way, delighting in You, and that we would just step into these things that we desire to do for Your glory, and that You would shine brightly through Your church. I pray, God, for anyone today who is wrestling with a decision. Maybe at this moment, they don't even know what they want. I pray, God, that in the quiet moment they may have this evening or maybe tomorrow morning, You would speak by desire in their heart. Transform our desires, and Lord, help us to walk by faith in You, not in anxiety, not in turmoil.

It is Your desire that we would walk in Your will. I don't think You want us to be anxiously trying to figure these things out. You don't hide it from us, God. Help us to walk in these things for Your glory and for Your good will, Your good pleasure in this world. Shine brightly through Your church, we pray. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

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