Acceptable part 1
The more I see this, the more sickened I am by it: People trying to be someone they are not. That's about the fakest thing there is. AND it's impossible. How could you be someone you're not? And why would you want to? Well, I know why people want to. Because they think they aren't good enough. But I've always been of the opinion that if you're not good enough to start with... how could you (on your own) improve upon that condition? Which is why abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is built on the Rock of REST, not works and labor. You're not SUPPOSED to try to be someone you're not. You're supposed to discover who you are (by discovering who Jesus is... by letting Him reveal Himself to you and in you and through you and as you). Let me say it this way, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). There's a lot here, and that's why we're going to spend the next couple of days on it. But first things first. God doesn't have three wills. He doesn't have a good will, AND an acceptable will, AND a perfect will. His will is good, acceptable and perfect. Now I'm going to quote Galatians 1:4 because I think it best sums up what the will of God is. "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Now I'm not saying this is the only description of the "will of God" in the Bible. And I'm not saying that God's will for us manifests in the same way for everybody. But I like the picture here. We were slaves to sin--to unbelief, to a lie that said we had to do in order to be--and Jesus saved us from our sins by telling us the truth. The truth about who God is (our heavenly Father) and the truth about who we are (His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased). That was God's will. All throughout the Old Testament God shares His heart with us by telling us that He wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people. And then you fast forward to Revelation 21:3, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." God's will was accompished through the cross. Through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. And now we can prove that good, acceptable, perfect will. But who are we proving it to? OURSELVES! WE are the will of God. That WE might be good, acceptable, and perfect. That's what Jesus did on the cross. He presented us to Himself as a bride without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. And what the renewing of our mind does is it lets the truth in. The truth about who we are. So we can stop trying to be someone else. So we can see ourselves as Daddy sees us. So we can BE ourselves. You don't do in order to be. That's the lie. You do BECAUSE you be. That's the truth! You ARE good. You ARE perfect. And you ARE acceptable. And anyone who tells you differently isn't someone you need to be listening to anyway. "...let God be true, but every man a liar..." (Romans 3:4). Listen to what Daddy says, because He loves you!