Mercifully, once you accept Jesus into your life, you are in the will of God, which is, at the very least, good. That is good news, but for the serious child of God, there is more: the three levels of God’s will. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
You have to love God since He never leaves us in doubt about how to make His promises work in our lives. Now, that does not mean the strategy is easy. Not at all because if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. get hold of His promises. The minute you invite Jesus into your life, God puts you on the first rung of the ladder. But to get to the three levels of God’s will, you have to climb.
And many of us are too lazy to do that. Climbing, whether physical or spiritual, is not easy. But for the child of God who desires to enjoy the acceptable will and move on to the perfect, it is a necessary effort. That is not to say that kindergarten is useless, but compared to a doctoral level, the benefits are almost zero. So the choice is ours, really: stay at kindergarten or make the effort and get a PhD. No pain, no gain.
The Three Levels Of God’s Will Are Available to All
The curriculum for this spiritual PhD is clear, thank God. Our textbook is the Bible, but some (many) ministers are not familiar with it. They only read it to get preaching points, not for their own climb. And yet, the strategy for accessing the three levels of God’s will is plain in the textbook. In Romans 12.2, we see all the strategies for accessing them.
First, we have a clear instruction, presented in a negative format: “Do not be conformed to this world.” I believe God wrote it that way because there is something in each of us that wants to fit in. We crave conformity, not wishing to be different, afraid we would stick out. So, God made it a warning to ensure we are what the Bible calls, “peculiar people” in 1 Peter 2.9.
Next, the verse encourages us to be transformed. That last sentence brought a smile to my face because I have heard sermons that did not contain a call for action. How can lives be transformed when the preacher does not tell them what they want their audience to do to get from point A to point B? Yet, without such a transformation, the three levels of God’s will are out of reach. You remain in kindergarten.
God Deals With Us As Individuals
Mercifully, God deals with us as individuals. You have probably heard that Jess calls His disciples, not as a group, but individually. So, if you are in a church that preaches empty sermons, you have to take the next step under your own steam. Nobody can lift you on a mountain. Do not depend on your pastor because when the benefits of the three levels of God’s will arrive, you will not likely invite anybody. The Bible says clearly, “by the renewing of your mind.” Renewing your mind is how you gradually but steadily become transformed.
And how do you renew anything? Let us say you have a pot of dirty water in your garden and you wish to renew it. You can pour out the dirty water at once and fill it with clean water. Or you can keep adding clean water to displace the dirty water until all the water in the pot becomes fresh. Either way, you displace dirty or wrong thinking with the pure word of God that is in the Bible.
Let us recap the instructions the Bible gives for getting to the three levels of God’s will. First, there is non-conformity. Do not be afraid of being different. Jesus was so different that some labeled Him a rebel. Renew your mind by studying the Bible. It will transform you from an elementary level to a doctoral position.
Start Climbing Today
The Chinese proverb that says “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” credited to Lao Tzu, is relevant here. You look at the top of the three levels of God’s will, and you may despair. Who can be perfect when even King Solomon had a strike against him in the number of his wives and concubines? But God asks us to be perfect as He is perfect, which means perfection is possible.
So, start today. Remove the social media trash from your mind by filling it with God’s word. Gradually, if you do not stop studying, you renew your mind. Before you know it, your life is transformed. Your children may wonder what happened to the ‘old’ you. Keep going, and before too long, you will manifest the three levels of God’s will.
Anybody who straps on their climbing gear and gets into the Word God will have a successful climb. They will not remain at the bottom rung of the ladder. If that is you, trust me, nothing can stop you from manifesting God’s promises in your life. Don’t let laziness keep you from getting to the top level.
Maranatha!
