“For It Is God Who Works in You Both to Will and to Do . . . .”

“For It Is God Who Works in You Both to Will and to Do . . . .”

This is how God is, and He cannot do otherwise because He is perfect in love and goodness. However, everything has two sides! The other side or the reverse side of the matter has to do with us or how we react to a situation or how we use our free will! For God does not force His salvation, or His divine life, on a single person!

When God is working in everyone to will and to do, and after many years nothing whatsoever has been wrought of what He very much desired to work in us, or only very little, or only a tiny bit, or in any case not much, and even less than that, then it definitely has to be our lack of receptivity, or in other words, our lack of hunger and thirst; our longing and need, or an avid interest is either lacking or there is very little of it!

Just as it is written in Philippians 4:19, God fills all our desire. Our desire is like a vessel, large or small, and that vessel cannot be filled more than to the brim. However, God in His perfect goodness makes sure that our small or large vessel is always filled! His name be highly praised!

Now the pertinent and great question is this: Can my vessel be enlarged; and if so, how??? Paul has clearly stated that the vessel can become larger. 2 Cor. 6:12-13.

His heart was large, filled to a great extent with divine life, and there was room for very many— for all those of the church in Corinth and for many, many more. However, there was little room in the Corinthians’ hearts; their hearts were constricted. Therefore He exhorts as follows: “You must also make wide your hearts.”

Therefore it is possible, just as it is also possible to enlarge the stomach so it has room for more and more and therefore cries out to be filled with more and more.

What can be done about enlarging the heart? For one thing, reading far, far more in God’s Word and dwelling on it, thinking about it; and meditating on it in order to get to know all the truths of life for this one good reason: to live exactly according to it! Then you will soon or a little later be apprehended of its indescribably glorious content so that the heart will automatically become larger. It even happens that atheists who read diligently in the Bible because they want to write a book against Christianity are so apprehended of the Word that they get converted.

Saying that you would like to do God’s will and yet reading relatively little or very little in the Book in which all God’s will is plainly revealed is an impertinent, outrageous, religious lie!

It is obvious that then things are not going well in one’s own life and with all the things one ought to do for others!