This Is God's Will | Pastor Michael Teasley | 06.14.26

Jun 14, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Choosing Drinks Becomes Holy Work

The mundane act of selecting a beverage mirrors the weightier decisions of life. Overthinking reveals our desire to "get it right" – not just with snacks or sparkling water, but in aligning every choice with God’s shaping work. Sanctification happens not only in grand gestures but in the muscle memory of daily surrender. Each decision, however small, becomes training ground for trusting God’s work in us. What we drink matters less than who we’re becoming as we practice dependence. [35:39]

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13, ESV)

Reflection: Where has overthinking paralyzed your spiritual growth this week? What ordinary decision could become an act of trust in God’s shaping work today?

Day 2: The Family Resemblance of Adoption

Adopted children unconsciously mirror their parents’ mannerisms over time. So believers, grafted into God’s family, gradually reflect His heart. Sanctification isn’t self-improvement but organic transformation through proximity. The legal declaration of justification (“You’re mine!”) births the slow miracle of shared traits. Our quirks and struggles remain, yet His patience reshapes us as we abide. [01:02:32]

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13, ESV)

Reflection: What emerging “family trait” of God’s character can you celebrate today? Where do you still struggle to see yourself as His beloved child?

Day 3: Stirring the Cake Batter Together

A father guides his child’s hands to mix batter, their combined effort creating something neither could alone. So God energizes our willing and working, His strength making our feeble motions fruitful. Sanctification isn’t self-help with divine cheerleading – it’s apprenticeship where our sweat mingles with His grace. The work feels ours, but the power source remains His. [01:08:04]

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13, ESV)

Reflection: What spiritual practice feels laborious yet life-giving? Where have you mistaken God’s empowering presence for personal willpower?

Day 4: The Sanctifying Count of Three Steps

A wife counts steps while her husband deliberates over drinks, measuring not judgment but the cost of small surrenders. Sanctification often looks like releasing control in trivial moments – the counted steps between request and response. These micro-obediences train us for weightier kingdom work. God uses life’s minor irritations to sand down our self-sufficiency. [35:39]

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” (Romans 12:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What daily friction (like choosing drinks) exposes your need to surrender control? How might small obediences this week prepare you for greater kingdom work?

Day 5: The Father’s Delight in Unfinished Clay

A potter rejoices over lumpy clay, seeing not flaws but future form. Sanctification requires embracing our “unfinishedness” while trusting the Artist’s pleasure. God’s delight isn’t contingent on our perfection but His promise to complete what He began. Our frustration with slow growth meets His patient declaration: “I enjoy shaping you.” [01:12:58]

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you need to trade self-criticism for trust in God’s timeline? What evidence of His past shaping gives hope for continued growth?

Sermon Summary

Paul roots the call to obedience in love. Philippians 2:12–13 greets the church as “my beloved,” so the command lands inside adoption, not employment. The text then ties their obedience to the mindset of Christ just described, the One who took the low place, served, and obeyed to the point of death. That Christ-shaped humility becomes the ground the church stands on when it is told to “work out” salvation.

The command refuses two errors. The phrase does not say “work for” salvation. Justification comes first. Romans 5:1 sounds like a gavel drop. By faith, not works, God makes the ungodly right with himself. Adoption is a legal reality, not a feeling. So sanctification cannot be the ladder that earns a place in the house. It is the family resemblance that grows because the papers are already signed.

Sanctification then carries a feel. “With fear and trembling” names a holy weight. Casual Christianity will not do. Spiritual disciplines are not a pharisee costume but a gym for the soul. The exercises do not create the life. They draw out what grace has already put in. So the command says “work out,” but the next line guards the heart from pride. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God changes the want to and supplies the strength to. The Father’s hand lays over the child’s hand at the bowl. Real motion happens, but the power is his.

The adoption image keeps carrying the load. Studies of affect attunement show adopted children mirroring their parents’ smile and stride over time. That is sanctification. The family name becomes the family nature. The Spirit is the artist and the church is the clay. The Father is not angry at the unfinished parts. He delights in the becoming. One degree at a time is still movement. Paul himself says he has not arrived, but he presses on. The text asks for the same posture in the light and in the dark, in the presence of leaders and much more in their absence. Obedience that only sings on Sunday misses the point. God works in the hidden places, and the church works out what he puts in. The promise holds the whole thing together. He who began the work will finish what he started.

Key Takeaways

1. Before location, God forms character [40:06] God’s will runs deeper than addresses and job titles. Sanctification is the headline before decisions become footnotes. When the heart is reshaped, any place can become a place of faithfulness. Formation makes guidance clearer because the person being led is becoming someone who can carry it. [40:06]
2. Work out, never work for [50:06] Justification is a settled verdict, not a moving target. Sanctification does not purchase a seat at the table, it displays the DNA of grace already given. The disciplines become a joyful gym, not a probation check-in. Freedom from earning frees real effort. [50:06]
3. God supplies the will and the do [01:05:25] Desire is not self-manufactured and strength is not self-generated. The Father lays his hand over the child’s hand so the stir actually stirs. Real tears and real choices matter, yet grace powers both the want and the work. Pride melts when dependence becomes the daily posture. [65:25]
4. Holy awe beats casual religion [01:03:38] “Fear and trembling” names a reverent urgency that rejects passivity. Legalism tries to buy blessing, but laziness squanders it; awe walks a better road. Ordered practices can be warm with love when they aim at knowing God, not scoring points. Weightiness protects delight. [63:38]
5. The Father delights in becoming [01:12:02] God is not scowling at slow progress; he smiles at real growth. The Spirit, the artist, is shaping clay into the image of the Son, one degree at a time. Holy frustration can fuel pursuit without collapsing into shame. The promise to finish keeps hope steady. [72:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:58] - Meet someone new
[31:08] - Jesus died for relationships
[31:53] - Honoring leaders and Scripture
[32:17] - Philippians 2:12–13 read
[33:43] - Overthinking and decisions
[38:14] - Big choices and God’s will
[39:51] - God’s will is sanctification
[41:21] - Sanctification defined as set apart
[44:33] - Christ’s humility as the pattern
[47:53] - Presence, absence, and real obedience
[50:06] - Work out, not work for
[51:12] - Justification as legal declaration
[61:27] - Adoption and family resemblance
[63:38] - Fear and trembling, not casual
[65:25] - God works the will and the do
[67:14] - Father-and-child cake illustration
[70:23] - Not a factory, deeper fellowship
[72:02] - His good pleasure in the process
[74:30] - He will complete the work
[75:09] - Adoption invitation and prayer
[76:51] - Strength and encouragement to endure

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Observation questions

What does it mean to "work out your own salvation" in this passage, and how does the context of being called "beloved" shape that command?
The sermon compared sanctification to adopted children mirroring their parents’ traits over time ([01:01:27]). How does this analogy help explain the process of becoming more like Christ?
What does "fear and trembling" suggest about the attitude believers should have toward spiritual growth?
According to the passage, who ultimately enables both the desire ("to will") and the action ("to work") in a believer’s life?

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul emphasize obedience "much more in my absence" (v. 12)? What does this reveal about the nature of genuine faith?
How does the distinction between "work out" and "work for" salvation guard against misunderstanding our role in sanctification?
The sermon described justification as a "legal declaration" ([51:38]). How does this truth free believers from performance-based spirituality?
What might it look like to confuse "casual Christianity" with grace-based obedience, and how does "fear and trembling" correct that?

Application questions

In what areas of your life do you tend to slip into passivity or casualness in your faith? What practical step could you take this week to "work out" God’s work in that area?
The sermon compared spiritual disciplines to a "gym for the soul" ([01:03:38]). Which "exercise" (prayer, Scripture, community, etc.) do you need to prioritize to grow in Christlikeness?
How might viewing God as "delighting in your becoming" ([01:12:58]) change the way you approach setbacks or slow progress in your spiritual life?
Reflect on a time when you obeyed God even when no one was watching. How did that experience deepen your relationship with Him?
The passage says God works in us "for his good pleasure." How could this truth reshape your motivation for serving others or making difficult decisions?
Where do you need to rely more on God’s power (rather than self-effort) to change your desires or habits? Pray silently for His help in that area now.

Sermon Clips

27s

#GodDelightsInYou

“God is not looking at you frustrated saying, dang. Why aren't you farther along? You know how much it cost me to send my son, and this is how you treat me? Like, God God doesn't have a nasty face when he looks at you. He he he knows that there's some work that he's still doing in your life, and he looks at it with great pleasure. He looks at it with great pleasure.”

34s

#ObedienceRootedInLove

“He says, my beloved. First and foremost, what he's grounding this in, he's saying, your your obedience has to be grounded in love first. Yeah. This is not he didn't say, therefore, my students, therefore, church members, therefore, my employees. He says, therefore, my beloved. There's a pastoral care, he says, because he's communicating the heart of God. You you will never get the heart of obedience right if you understand that you don't work for God's love, that they were already loved even before they were working out in obedience.”

55s

#JustificationIsNotEarned

“But there's two views that I want to guard ourselves from. in light of this, what it does not mean is that justification being made right before God does not happen once we get to a certain holiness level. Because you got some work to do. You you you you you got to grow up. You you you God is still doing something in you and it's not to you certain to get to a certain level that then God says, okay, you're good enough now. You come on. Come on. You you can be my child now. Like, justification is not a reward for those who've accumulated enough obedience. If God waited to justify us until we were good enough on our own, none of us would be right with God.”

50s

#JustifiesTheUngodly

“it doesn't say justifies the one who gets it together. Doesn't say he justifies the level 10 Christian. He doesn't say that he justifies the righteous person, the one who looks like it has to altogether. He justifies the ungodly. Anybody ever been ungodly here? There should have been more hands raised there. I guess I'm in the wrong place. I don't think maybe you should have the microphone. Goodness gracious. Because I at one time, I was ungodly. I was the sinner that God then justified and his faith counted as righteousness. It's not it doesn't say in him who justifies the ungodly, his feelings are counted as righteousness.”

50s

#SanctificationForFellowship

“This is not a factory. Come on. He is not trying to reproduce robots of himself. So when we say become more like Jesus, he's not trying to do this absent of an intimate relationship. He's he's using he's wanting you to become more like him so that your fellowship with him becomes greater. Yes. The the goal of sanctification is that you would enjoy God more. That you would treasure him more. So that's why it's not behavioral modification because he works the will, the intent, the desires, the he says, I'm the one who changes the heart. I I'm not just about trying to change how you look on the outside. I'm working in you to change what you think and what your appetites are and what your thought patterns are and what your core beliefs are. I'm working in.”

27s

#DelightedByGod

“So wherever you are in your walk of faith, where where wherever whatever area or if you're like me, whatever areas, what else? You you have that God is still working. You're working out your salvation on. God is not looking at you with disgust or frustration, but he sees and he delights in you because of his son. It's for his good pleasure.”

42s

#GraceNotEarned

“is not a blank slate, and then you have to live right from there. Sometimes, feel like we have a long rap sheet before we, you know, profess faith in Jesus. And then he says, okay. All of that's clear. And then sometimes we think, okay. Now I just gotta live right on my own. I got a clear a clear rap sheet, but now now the rest is up to me. It's like I got a second chance. I couldn't have done done that on my own. I've been made right with God, but I have to keep right with God. But if you didn't earn it in the first place, you can't keep it afterward. Yeah. So so that that that would still be Jesus plus works. Okay. Jesus did that, but now I have to do this to earn a right standing with God.”

46s

#SetApartToBeLikeJesus

“So sanctification, it's a big word. You really only hear it in church. I've never been in I've been in public school all my life, never heard it. It's not one of those sight words, not not one of the vocabulary words that you learn in fifth grade. But sanctification from the Latin root to make holy, and holy means to set apart. So anything earmarked for the Lord is holy. So so what sanctification, the will of God, your sanctification is, he is causing you to become more like him, to set you apart from the world to say, I'm gonna choose you to show my glory on.”

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This Is God's Will | Pastor Michael Teasley | 06.14.26

Devotional

Day 1: When Choosing Drinks Becomes Holy Work

Day 2: The Family Resemblance of Adoption

Day 3: Stirring the Cake Batter Together

Day 4: The Sanctifying Count of Three Steps

Day 5: The Father’s Delight in Unfinished Clay

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

This Is God's Will | Pastor Michael Teasley | 06.14.26

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