“For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His pleasure” – Philippians 2:13.

Did you read that scripture correctly? We need God to work into us His will. Paul said that God called him to know His will (Acts 22:14). Knowing is one step, willing is another and then doing is the final.

Know – Will – Do

Isaiah said that my people are gone into captivity because they lack knowledge (Is.5:13) but we see that it takes more than knowledge to experience the fullness of God. I read in the same verse that their mighty men became hungry and others thirsty because they lacked knowledge? Knowledge will not feed you but show you how, you still need to develop a will that culminates in doing to be freed from hunger. This same principle is at work in every sphere of life. We need to walk into knowledge but we need to desire what the knowledge teaches us; desire it enough to try it, to do it. It is in the doing that we are justified (Rom.2:13). You know, when we meet Jesus on the final day, His words will be “well done” not “well known”…we need to be doers. Psalm 1 says “whatsoever he does shall prosper”.

Know – Will – Do

Read John 1:12-13 slowly and with a desire to ‘discover truth’. It says Jesus had so much more to tell them but he could not because they could not receive or bear them. It means that we are in full control of what we receive from God. How? Our aptitude. The Holy Ghost will teach you – this is when you will be equipped to receive the more that Jesus has for you. So, ignorance or the absence of knowledge is what limits our experience of God. This is so important to embrace and the reason for my insatiable quest for knowledge – day and night i study the scriptures, i have read over 4 books a month for the past 7 years to open myself to the more that Jesus has for me.

In my travels this year with the gospel and i have asked myself in my ‘alone’ moments the reason why there is much more progress to be achieved within the organisations and particularly ministries of rural Africa. God showed me something in scripture that i will briefly share with you for your meditation; not just for knowledge but for a will…and a doing!

When Enosh was born in Genesis 4, the scripture said that people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Now mark how many generations followed before Noah was chosen/identified by God in Genesis 7. In Genesis 4:20 Jabal (a descendant of Cain) was the father/originator of those that dwelled in tents. Do the math and discover the amount of time and generations it took for the children of God to develop an understanding of structure! Noah was the first after so many generations to understand the instruction for structure and to be able to develop a plan to save/rescue his people. Cain’s family had already mastered structure development and planning for their generations but it took the children of God many more years to get there. Why: because they replaced the need for structure with prayer – calling on the name of the Lord. Peter corrected this temptation in Acts where he said “it is not reasonable for us to leave the place of prayer and serve tables BUT select some men to address the issue of serving bread” (Acts 6:2) meaning that prayer was good but structure is equally as important and did you read that the select men had to be full of the Holy Ghost? Yes, the Holy Ghost works through structure. The story in Ezekiel 37 showed that the life of God (breath) was only released when the bones were joined together (structure). Structure always precedes life. Before any life form was made in Genesis, God ensured there was a structure/process for things (day and night).

Friend, i encourage you to examine the structure of your life, of your family, of your business, of your career. Do you know that the secret of your failure or success is hidden in your daily routine? Do you know that there is something, somewhere in your current mental thought structure…something in your daily structure that is either hindering you or propelling you into your great destiny? Examine the structures of your life. I spend considerable amount of time examining the structure of things/people and based on these observations i make decisions. Do the same for your life – God breathes into right structures.

How do you spend your day? When do you get up, when do you go to sleep? How many hours do you spend in prayer? How many hours do you spend meditating on scripture? How many hours do you spend reading? How many hours do you spend “thinking”? How many hours do you spend with your family – no outsiders? How many hours do you spend developing ideas/visions for your family? How many hours….structure your day! The wise man said “i need wisdom to number/structure my day” (Psalm 90:12)

Know – Will – Do.