The Action of God's Will: Part 2 (Ephesians 1:1; John 5:5-6)

EPHESIANS 1:1 says that Paul was "...an apostle through, or by the agency and origin of the 'will' of God"

ACTIVE

(Thelema), 2307, [Strong's], is from (thelo), 2309, "to determine", as an active option; a very strong word, describing not just the wish or desire, but an active resolution to accomplish; urging on to action.

RESULT

The suffix (ma) speaks of the result of the action. (Thelema), then, is 'the desire acted upon, to bring about the result of the intended purpose of the author or originator of the action'. In other words, this is not a passive wish, or desire, but God Himself, has determined, that His plan and purpose will be fulfilled in your life, and He is aggressively orchestrating your daily life, to make sure that His purpose is fulfilled in you.

AGGRESSIVE ACTION

You are the only one that can prevent His plan and purpose from being fulfilled in your life. The devil can't stop it; demons can't stop it; even the angelic host, even if they wanted to, cannot stop the aggressive action of God, on your behalf, from fulfilling every plan and purpose of His holy desire, from being accomplished in and through you.

BELIEVE & ACT

All you have to do, is BELIEVE what He has said about you; BELIEVE that you can do what He has said; ACT like His word concerning you is true; and dare to see His will completely fulfilled in your life! You determine your own destiny, whether you live a fulfilled life, filled with passion, or are a wondering generality, without specific purpose and design.

PLAN / PURPOSE

Interestingly, there are two dominate words in the Greek language translated as "will". The first is (thelema), but the second is (boulomai), 1014, [Strong's]. This second word is 'a passive indication of desire; a want to; an intended purpose'; but no action on the part of the "will" of the subject.

2 PETER 3:9 says that God is not willing (boulomai) that anyone would perish, but that everyone would have space; allowable time, for repentance, and salvation, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

STRONG DESIRE

It really is His strong desire for all to enter into covenant relationship with Him, but He cannot violate anyone's choice; so it is His (boulomai) but not His (thelema).

PASSIVE WORD

In contrasting the two words, (boulomai) relates more to 'a plan; intention; even counsel or purpose'; speaking of what a person or group "want" to have happen, but there is no action on their part to follow through to make sure that the "want to" actually happens. It is a limited, passive word.

Interestingly enough, (boule), 1012, [Strongs], "counsel; decision", is in modern Greek, the word used to describe the parliament. This is the place where the laws are made, but though they make the laws, they do not carry out the action, to enforce the laws.

ACTION

(Thelema),by contrast, speaks of not only the desire, but 'action to insure the fulfillment of the intention'.

JOHN 5:5-6 says, "...there was a certain man there, held in his feebleness for 38 years, and Jesus seeing him reclining and knowing that he was already held a long time, said to him, 'Do you want (thelema) to be made whole' ? "

There are several dynamic happenings in the text from John 5:5-6:

FIRST, as the Greek brings out, the man was "held", in his feebleness, or infirmity. It wasn't God the Father that had "held" him in that condition. Jesus wasn't going around undoing the works of His Father; He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

SECONDLY, Jesus had a word of knowledge concerning the man's condition, that it had been a long time. Some think that Jesus went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, because He was/is God, but Jesus didn't just come to show us what God is like, He came to show us who we are, and it was because He was anointed by the Holy Spirit, the same as you and I, that He did what He did, as a man, because, as the scripture says, "...God was with Him" (Acts.10:38). This divine inspiration of revelation told him about the duration of the man's condition.

THIRDLY, like Jesus, when you receive a word of knowledge concerning someone; a circumstance; a situation; etc., as a general rule, God, your Father, imparts that information to you, because He wants you to do something with it. I have had instances, over the years, where individuals have had a word of knowledge about events; people; happenings, often before the events take place, and they have told me about their revelation, after the fact, when something could have been done, with this spiritual insight, to prevent the negative outcome.

If He gives you spiritual revelation, in the form of a word of knowledge, act on it! Whether it is to intercede in prayer, or speak to someone directly, do something!

FORTHLY, Jesus asked the man, "...do you want (thelema) to be made whole?" What He was saying, is "...are you willing to take action; do you have a strong enough desire to act on what you want, to make it a reality?"

ACT on HIS WILL

God, your Father, has called you; equipped you; and is aggressively acting on His will concerning you, to see that you are fully trained in that equipment; matured and developed, to totally fulfill your destiny and purpose in this life. Since He is acting on His desire for you, act, on your behalf, to fully enter into the covenant, and willingly accept your destiny, by your words and actions; partnering up with Him, to do His will, in your life!

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.