“Fulfilling God’s Plan, Part 2” by Nancy Dufresne
(Last month we started a three-part teaching on how to fulfill the plan of God. Let’s continue on with that teaching this month.)
Paul finished his course, and in Acts 20, he gives us a divine check list of the six steps he took to fulfill God’s plan. “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).
#1 — Bound in the Spirit
“I go BOUND in the spirit unto Jerusalem….” What was “Jerusalem?” The place where God told him to be.
Our “Jerusalem” is the place where God told us to be. Be “bound” inwardly to where God told you to be, and don’t be swayed from it for anything or anyone. (See part 1 for this complete teaching.)
#2 — Go Not Knowing
“And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, NOT KNOWING….” To move with God, we have to be willing to move into the unknown!
Hebrews 11:8 reads, “[Urged on] by faith Abraham, when he was called, OBEYED and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, ALTHOUGH HE DID NOT KNOW OR TROUBLE HIS MIND ABOUT WHERE HE WAS TO GO” (AMPC).
Every day, Abraham moved with God by faith into the unknown. God didn’t give him a map. Abraham just followed daily as God directed him.
We are safe in moving with Him into the unknown because we are following the One who does know. We don’t have to know every step to move ahead – we are to just move with what we do know, then more will be made known to us.
Abraham didn’t “trouble his mind” about where to go – he didn’t try to figure it out, reason it out, or mentally calculate it. He wasn’t being led and dominated by his mind, but by what God said – moving by faith.
When we go “not knowing,” faith in what God said to us is our assurance.
Hebrews 11:13 tells us, “These people all died CONTROLLED and SUSTAINED by their faith…” (AMPC). Every man is under the control of something – it might as well be faith controlling us, for faith will sustain us.
In 1923, Aimee Semple McPherson completed the two-year construction of Angeles Temple debt-free. In the beginning days of construction, she brought $5,000 to her contractor and asked, “What will this buy?”
“That will dig you a hole,” he replied.
“You dig the hole – God will fill it up!” she responded. She was going “not knowing!”
Everything my husband and I built didn’t start with money – it started with what God said! We just moved on the part we did know, and then the rest came. It’s not money that gives us permission to advance – we advance by faith with what God says!
If someone won’t move ahead until they can figure out and calculate everything mentally, they won’t be able to keep pace with God. Faith moves with what God says, not with what it can figure out.
When Dr. Sumrall was a missionary in the Philippines, God told him to build a 10,000-seat auditorium when his entire congregation was only his five family members – and he did! But within a short time, God sent Dr. Sumrall to minister to a girl who was set free from the power of the devil, and as a result of that event, 100,000 people were born again within three weeks!
Building a 10,000-seat auditorium without a congregation wouldn’t “make sense” to the natural mind, but it was the wisdom of God, the plan of God. When God told him to build the building, he didn’t know a nationwide revival was coming – he just knew the next step. And because he obeyed “not knowing,” he was ready to move with God! This one man moved with God into the unknown and it changed a nation!
#3 — Follow the Witness of the Holy Ghost
“And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: SAVE THAT THE HOLY GHOST WITNESSETH in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me….”
When we are going “not knowing, ” how do we know when we have arrived? How do we know the next step to take? By the witness of the Holy Spirit. His Spirit is within us to lead and guide us every step of the way. But it is up to us to follow closely. The closer we follow, the better we finish!
On his way to Jerusalem, in every city, someone would minister to Paul to forewarn him that difficulties were ahead. God revealed that to forewarn him, not to keep him from going. God prepared him by forewarning him.
Entire congregations who heard the forewarnings tried to get Paul not to go to Jerusalem because they misread what God was saying to Paul; they put their own interpretation on what the Spirit said. But Paul didn’t go by the words of others – he stayed with “the witness of the Spirit.”
Others may not understand everything God has already said to you, but they didn’t hear what you’ve heard! Stay with what God has said to you!
The “witness of the Spirit” within trumps all other leadings – visions, dreams, prophecies, and other voices.
One of the most important things to learn in the Christian life is how to follow the Spirit of God.
God leads us through our own spirit. Brother Hagin would often say, “If you can teach people to follow their spirit, you can help them in every arena of life.”
Many Christians don’t even know they are supposed to follow their spirit, and many don’t know how the Spirit of God leads.
If you have peace in your spirit about doing something, follow that inward peace, even if your mind is unsettled; ignore your head and follow the inward peace. That is the leading of the Spirit. Isaiah 55:12 tells us, “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace….” You are safe in following peace. The peace is all the clarity you need to move with God. But if you don’t have peace in your spirit, no matter if it makes natural sense, don’t do it. Never override what you have in your spirit.
We must have the witness of the Spirit to move ahead. Faith acts on what God says. Don’t try to force the hand of God by making a move He didn’t direct, but take time to hear from Him, then move with Him into the unknown!
(Part 3 continued next month)