Let us study the word of Abba Father with regards to our will versus the will of the Father. As foundation, we must understand that Abba Father does not tempt us (James 1:13). He uses temptations as a test for our faith. We must understand that the tests of faith we endure indicates the priority of my will versus the will of Abba Father. Let me explain:
The moment my will emerges in a situation, the enemy will gain legal ground in my life which will leave me in bondage. The exact definition of not being free as discussed in our previous article. As our will emerges, we start moving in pride and self-righteousness that will be like filthy rags in the eyes of our King (Isaiah 64:6). My will weakens my spiritual authority as I stand in own power and not in His power and authority. Bondage in our lives occurs on the ground of our own will, pride and self-righteousness. The moment I submit to the will of Abba Father, the enemy loses legal ground in my life. As the enemy loses legal ground, I am set free (bondage in broken), and Abba Father will receive the glory because it will not be on my own accord that bondage will be broken but through His grace.
This brings us to the Hebrew mindset of transformation. We hear so many definitions of transformation in our country, very few having any resemblance to the definition from the word of Abba Father. Listen to the Hebrew definition from the word of Abba Father for transformation – when the will of the Father becomes my nature, my restored nature or renewed nature. The will of the Father can only become my nature, as I die in my own will. There will always be a war between my will and the will of Abba Father, but victory is in Him.
Too many times, we have a consciousness of the will of the Father, but it is buried very deep under the “arrogance gravel” of my own will. If this is the case, we will always live a life of bondage. Spiritual authority is much more than a consciousness of the will of the Father. To have a theoretical knowledge of His will, carries no spiritual authority if it does not super cede and bury and void my will.
It is, when the buttons of our lives are pushed in times of testing, that the priority of whose will I follow will come to the surface of our lives. The power of the enemy in our lives is not anchored in who he is. That fact was established on Calvary. It lies in the legal ground that we give the enemy, sometimes unknowingly, that gives him authority in our lives. He needs legal ground to move. He moves in the atmosphere of my will being done and not Abba Father’s. The true definition of being an overcomer, is that place where nothing is more important in my life than the will of the Father. This is the place where the enemy is stripped of legal ground because the will of the Father is woven into our very beings.
Suddenly, the scripture in John 14:30, where Jesus Himself is speaking, makes so much more sense:
“Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”
The Greek words translated as “hath nothing in me” means – has no legal ground in me or my life. Why is this? Because He was fully submitted to the will of the Father (John 5:19, John 6:38).
Freedom, to have your own will in choosing between good and evil, isolates me from the instructions and guidelines of Abba Father, and although we call it “freedom to choose”, it causes me to lose my identity and significance, as the word and instructions of Abba Father, defines my purpose. The moment I start screaming my will, it cuts me from His word, and I will be bound.
The garden in Eden is an exemplary example of this. Abba Father gave us the instruction not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This created the “worship space” of freedom to live in harmony and fellowship with the King of kings Himself. We (mankind) however, wanted to choose between good and evil for ourselves, and chose not to be “bound” to the instructions of the Father. This caused Adam and Eve to end, cut off from the presence of the Father and stripped of true purpose in Him.
This is exactly how the idol of so-called freedom works – you can choose your own will. Abba Father knows best and it’s time that we submit and return to His word. His word that sets us free – truly!
Prof Gerrie Bester PhD