It is not pleasant to lose one's life!

There are many flaws in the human will—flaws that must be corrected in us by the grace of God before we can serve the Lord Jesus as a king, priest and prophet in the Presence of God.

Some of the flaws are as follows: presumption, personal ambition, disobedience, double-mindedness, suggestibility, man-pleasing, self-aggrandizement, stubbornness, pride, self-pity, self-destruction, self-preservation. These flaws of the will were tested in the temptations of Christ in the wilderness. Christ passed the test with honors.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. (Psalms 19:13)

Presumption is a flaw in the will of mankind.

We Christians are to walk in the way Christ directs and not attempt to force spiritual results before the Lord prepares the time and place. There is a difference between presumption and faith, although sometimes we must be prayerful in order to distinguish between the two. Spiritual presumption is the attempt to force God to fulfill our desires, often through using "faith" and prayer. Presumption leads to sin and defeat. Faith leads to victory.

The current "faith" message is an institutionalizing of presumption.

Personal ambition is another of the flaws in the will of mankind. No person can serve the Lord and his or her ambitions at the same time. He will begin to hate the one and cleave to the other.

We can observe the problems of the will in the behavior of the Pharisees when they came into contact with Jesus of Nazareth. Some of the principal motives behind the desire of the Jewish elders to crucify the innocent Christ were their personal ambition, pride of station, desire for self-aggrandizement, and instinct for self-preservation. They were fearful that Christ was threatening their position as leaders of Israel.

An uncrucified will leads to tragedy in the house of God!

Jonah was a disobedient prophet. The nation of Israel, from the time the people demanded a king until the carrying away into Babylon witnessed few periods in its history when God was able to bless the nation. God was not able to bless the people of Israel because of their continued disobedience to His directives.

The resources of Heaven and earth are required in order for the Holy Spirit to be able to create obedience to the Lord in the will of a human being. We are by nature deeply, instinctively, disobedient to the will of the Lord. We are rebellious and stubborn at heart.

Each saint who would gain the Kingdom must learn obedience to God. For most of us, the methods God uses to teach us are painful—hard on our flesh and our nature. Will the instruction never end? It shall end when we possess a meek, quiet, obedient personality.

To be continued.