It's important for God's people to know if they are in the will of God for their lives. We all need to know if we are still in line with God's plans and still within the boundaries of His Word. Why is this?

It's because going out of God's will is not only dangerous, it's also very defeating: we won't be able to fulfill His will for us.

In this article we'll be talking about how we can know if we are still in God's will.

Stepping out of God's will

We all need to carefully examine ourselves is we are still in God's will for our lives. Sadly, many of us do not do so, and fail to realize that we have already swerved away from the path that God wanted us to walk in.

Many of us Christians today do not realize that we are not walking in the ways of God anymore. We think that because we are Christian, we go to church every Sunday, and we join church activities every now and then, even giving loads of financial contributions to the church, we are following God's will.

That is not always the case and that is because we can do all of those things and yet still have stepped out of God's will for our lives.

• We can exchange the Word of God for the instruction of men;
• We can neglect times of personal prayer and worship justifying it on the grounds that we've taken part in "corporate prayer";
• We can exchange Biblical discipline and correction for a distorted message of grace that gives us a hellish license to live carnal, compromising lives;
• We can trade authentic Christ-focused discipleship with man-centered kingdom building;
• We can trade God for ourselves and justify anything we do on the grounds that "God loves me"

Yes, many Christians have stepped out of God's will.

Dear friends, I know that you've opened this article because you want to know if you're in God's will for your life. I pray that by reading this, you'll find that out.

Here are a few ways to know if we're in God's will:

1) We obey the Word of God

When we obey the Word of God, we're assured that we're in God's will -- provided we follow the whole counsel of Scripture, not just a bunch of cherry-picked passages that we use to justify our selfish desires.

Jesus Himself said in John 14:23-24,

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."

2) We bear fruit unto God

The Bible promises that those who are obedient to God and are walking in His will are able to produce fruit. Jesus Himself said that in John 15:4-5.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

3) We are protected and provided for

Friends, we must realize that God protects and provides for those who trust Him and are walking in His will.

While that surely doesn't mean we are spared from all troubles, it simply means that we have God's protection and provision as we follow Him and do His will. Psalm 91 tells us all of this:

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.""