Thank you for your encouragements.
I think what throws some people on these threads and in everyday life is the idea of what place "works" have in a believer's life. We know from Scripture that they do not save us, that they can never take away our sins and they do nothing to make us deserving of eternal life. Some people respond to the Gospel of salvation by grace apart from works, that we are made righteous by faith and not by our good deeds, with sneering accusations of, "You mean you can go out and live as you please and STILL go to heaven when you die?!". And of course we have to answer, as Paul had to to the SAME accusation, that we are created "unto good works which God has prepared for us to walk in them" (Eph. 2:10) and that grace is not a license to sin. BUT...we are not saved by our works. It's really hard for some people to get their minds around that.
We also know from Scripture that a genuine faith causes a change of our very spirits. We are no longer slaves to sin but have been given the power to resist sin through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is given to us as the down payment for our heavenly home. Our new spirit nature is overcoming our old nature and we find ourselves not even desiring the same life we had. We find as we grow closer to the Lord in our relationship with him that we actually WANT to please him because we are so grateful for his mercy, grace and love. We love him because he first loved us and saved us.
God does not cast us out, he will never leave us or forsake us, he won't lose us and no one can pluck us out of his hands - not even ourselves! How can we NOT respond to that kind of love? It is knowing this grace that causes us to want to love him back and live to honor him. This IS the kind of service God desires - NOT the kind that is "good" because of fear of hell. I don't think I have ever met someone who was really a Christian who did not have the life to back it up. Real faith does that to a person. Rather than thinking I have to be good to make it to heaven and being afraid of God, I have the real freedom to serve him because I really love him - and THAT'S the kind of service He wants - not works done out of obligation or fear. I think living for Christ out of love is far more glorifying to God than living in order to somehow merit heaven or avoid hell.
So, yes, I agree that the work God designed us to do will be the very best for us because he loves us and wants what is best for us. When we rebel, we will be chastened so that we are reminded of His plans for us - plans for a future, one for good and not for evil. How can we NOT love him? Knowing that he is at work within us conforming us to be like Christ is the most wonderful thing in the world! His love is SO complete that even when we do sin, he is STILL our Father and will forgive us when we come to him in repentance. His love and grace is SO total that when we do sin - and we will - he will NOT cast us out. We have assurance that nothing can separate us from his love. If this truth is allowed to sink in, there is nothing that can come close to the joy and peace He gives us.
We hear that a lot.It sounds very similar to...(Luke 15)"But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf."...and yet we are told earlier that...he "wasted his substance with riotous living",so maybe the little quip about harlots reveals what was on the mind of the son who stayed home.
"If this truth is allowed to sink in, there is nothing that can come close to the joy and peace He gives us."
Amen...allowing it to "sink in" is indeed that very work of God and joy and peace will be the result!
Grace and peace to you bb! and God bless and keep us all! He is able!