I am going to help you today to learn how to become a frustrated individual, how to learn to live with hate on a daily basis, how to feel exhausted and basically upset every day. This may not seem like the kind of life you may want to lead, but hopefully by the end of this short letter to you, it will become enticing, for it is not only the path to loving your neighbor, but it is a sure way to honor and praise God on a daily basis.
It is really quite simple, and it is offered to all who will but ask for it, but that is the key, you must ask, and you must be truthful in the asking. “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Prov. 8:13) Step one, hate evil, stop walking past it and start confronting it, stand like a man of God is intended to, begin to speak out against it. Do not be afraid, if you submit to the will of God in this area, He will direct you, the only mistakes you will make is when you attempt to take matters into your own hands instead of submitting to the Holy Spirit and following His lead.
Step two, you must start to grow within yourself a hunger and thirst for righteousness, (Matt. 5:6) and you must most defiantly realize in truth that you will never be filled while you are alive here. You will always be thirsty, you will always be hungry, and the more these two progress within your spirit, the more you will be shown that righteousness only dwells in the presence of God Almighty.
Step three, you must ask to be filled with the knowledge of His will, (Col. 1:9) for it is impossible for the born-again believer to function properly as an ambassador of the kingdom of God unless you know exactly what the will of God is for not only your life, but the lives of all men, without superimposing your own ideologies into the equation.
Step four, spiritual discernment. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” (1 Cor. 3:19) And all that He will bless you with in Spiritual knowledge will show this truth to you greater with each passing day, only those who are spiritually minded are of any earthly good, God is a spirit, (John 4:24) He rules in all matters, and it is from the Spiritual realm that He operates, hence we must pray for spiritual discernment.
Step five, and this is extremely important, you must ask for a heart that can discern between good and evil. (1 Kings 3:9) The sin of Adam was not in realizing good and evil, it was in disobeying a direct commandment from the Lord not to eat of the fruit of the tree. (Gen. 2:17) Without the knowledge of good and evil, without being able to discern between the two, man can most easily be led astray, a fact that our adversary is well aware of, lies are evil, he is the father of lies, (John 8:44) and if you cannot discern between a lie and the truth, you will definitely not be able to discern between what is good in the eyes of God and what is evil.
There are of course many attributes that must be asked for if you desire this frustrating and many times distraught life, the life of open eyes and open ears, you must ask for humility, for the desire to be submissive to the will of the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit, you must ask to be able to have the strength to bear every fruit of the Spirit, (Gal. 5:22-23) to seek for every crown that is offered to us, you must ask to be holy. (1 Peter 1:16) But even before step one, before you in earnest ask to be able to live a life in the fellowship of His suffering (Phil 3:10) in whatever way He deems best for the glory of His most Holy name, you must pray for wisdom, that which is prized higher than all the wealth of the world. (Prov. 8:11)
If the Lord Jesus sees fit to, He will bless you with all these things, and there will be many days you will rue the day that you first set foot on this path. The question is this, how profitable a servant do you want to be, and what price are you willing to pay for the prize that is Jesus Christ? You must count the cost first, for there is no turning back, the glory of God will be the fulfillment of your life.
