Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. KJV

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. AMPC

I bring you both the King James and Classic Amplified versions of Philippians 2:13 in order to demonstrate the extent of His will. In many ways the KJV leaves you wondering “Where am I in all this if God will and God does whatever He wants?”

In truth God can will and do without us. He just chooses not to do so. The reason is twofold. First and foremost is the fact He is in covenant relationship with you and includes you in the same way we like to do things with those we love, inclusion. The second reason is a demonstration of that relationship to a lost soul whom He is calling, an invitation.

Every lost soul longs to know God. Seeing God with us is the promise of hope that they too can have what we have, because we were not different than they once. No one is special without God. That added in the AMPC, [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], is the effectual working in us that which we could not do alone without God.

This born again life is a reanimation of the spirit, baptized into His death and resurrected into His life. What does life with Him do if nothing else but show Himself in ways we cannot!

In many ways my confession was to say, “I don’t want to be this way anymore.” I had seen there was a better way only because it was demonstrated in the lives of people who had already been transformed.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

We do know how the bones grow during pregnancy. This comment was many millennia ago when science was mere superstition. Science has gained much knowledge during that time. Man has been blessed with abilities to search out the mysteries of life and death. We have gone beyond this earth and set our sights on the stars.

For the most part man still does not know the ways of the Spirit. Many religions still deny the Power of God. Even within the community of believers in Christ there are many who still deny His power. They receive the benefits, blessings, mercy and grace without truly understanding the ways of the spirit.

Maybe that is because the gospel, the Good News is simple, plain, available and sufficent. For some being saved is enough understanding to allow them to walk in truth without fully understanding the Spirit of Truth. If service is rendered in love and the gospel in rendered accurately and honestly, that may be enough.

Faith becomes a function of life that is accepted with grace and like the people of Solomon’s time, it is accepted as fact without understanding. Faith is the way of the Spirit and they are tied together as closely as growth and life itself.

Science can examine and explain how things occur without knowing why. They can observe and report but they cannot create. Medicine can cure but it cannot create. Science can manipulate what exists, but it cannot create. It has its unreasonable limits. It begs to be conquered.

The Spirit has the power to do all things without limit and answers only to the will of God the Father. Therein lies the only mystery left in this life of faith we live in Christ. To know His will in this life is often an observation of the effects and seldom a deeper understanding.