THY WILL LORD; NOT MINE BE DONE

Everybody has aspirations, what then is God's will for us? God's will can be defined as those things of which God aspires. Scriptures point out, regardless of all else, God's will for each of us simply is that we lead not astray from the straight path He puts before us, this is for our own well being.

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Qur'an, The Opening [1:5-7]

"It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path: the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray."

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Dhammapada: Verse 273

"Of all the paths the Eightfold Path is the best; of all the truths the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all things passionlessness is the best: of men the Seeing One (the Buddha) is the best."

Another name for Hinduism, the term 'Sanatana Dharma' from Sanskrit is translated as 'eternal path', 'eternal way' or 'eternal law'.

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If God's personality is as a Father, in being The Creator, His guidance is always on the mark. The best possible things we can do is heed His instruction, which is not from self will but of the will of God and those who went before us.

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Matthew 7:9-11

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Proverbs 1:8-9

"Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck."

Sri Guru Granth Sahib: Ang 467

"The Creator who created the creation, takes care of it as well. He, the Creator who formed the world, cares for it. Unto Him I bow and offer my reverence; His Royal Court is eternal."

Although God is always there for us, instead of asking God what He can do for us, it is greater that we ask what we can do for Him.

Qur'an, Divorce [65:3]

"Whoever relies upon Allah (God) - then He will be sufficient for him,"

Luke 22:42

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.”

Psalm 37:5

"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."

Qur'an, Al Hijr [15:86]

"Your Lord is the All Knowing Creator."

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It is one thing to acknowledge God's will as good direction; it is another to look deeper into what it actually is. God's prophets throughout the ages gave heed to the will of God. Sacred texts offer the messages of prophets whom deliver teachings concerning divine will. These proclamations are aimed to enlighten, inspire, and reveal. They are essentially truth based, assertions, beliefs, thoughts and propostitions. They deepen our knowledge concerning God's will, which in it simplest essence is written in our heart.

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Isha Upanishad: Verse 1

"The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.

The Lord is the supreme Reality.

Rejoice in him through renunciation.

Covet nothing. All belongs to The Lord."

Psalms 27:1

"The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?"

Dhammapada: Verse 280-282

The idler who does not exert himself when he should, who though young and strong is full of sloth, with a mind full of vain thoughts — such an indolent man does not find the path to wisdom.

Let a man be watchful of speech, well controlled in mind, and not commit evil in bodily action. Let him purify these three courses of action, and win the path made known by the Great Sage.

Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes. Having known these two paths of progress and decline, let a man so conduct himself that his wisdom may increase.

Galatians 5:13-26

Life by the Spirit

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

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The teachings in all the sacred texts give the description of a straight path or noble walk abiding under law and goodwill towards mankind as the essential factor in transcendence toward attaining liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth; namely, continuity of consciousness. Things point toward God being a Spirit; that living a spiritual life is the ingredient that is necessary in order to overcome suffering, which is God's ultimate intention for us.

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- Romans 7:14-25

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

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Treading the righteous path I am set free; two laws are at work. One from within, delighting in God's Spirit and a law of my mind or psyche. The other is of sinful nature this is the outer influence and fleshly law concerning my body. One is of realization the other based in pleasures. A war rages between them as there is a desire to do both. Adhering to God's law, by grace I am not condemned. Furthermore the power of sin is to condemn by the law, however the law is just; the power in God's law is in obeying it, in the heeding of instruction, ever grateful for salvation; a gift from God.

By the grace of God and spiritual law we are set free and no longer a slave to sin. It is our own sinful nature that puts us in chains, by adhering to the principals of the law we are freed from our bonds. There is a war within to go both ways. To tread the righteous path we develop spiritually gaining life hereafter.

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Psalms 23

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."