"Behold, I will put out a fleece of wool on the floor and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it is dry upon the earth, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said."
I always get a little aggravated with Gideon when I read this. My thinking is something like this: "Where is his faith? Wasn't God's declaration enough?" Then I think again. The Midianites had conquered Israel and ruined their crops and houses. Now the vast Midianite army was about to attack again. The Israelites repented and God turned to Gideon to rescue them. I have to ask myself what I would do under similar circumstances? I would probably act like Moses and say "Why me?" Or I would probably pull a Gideon and say "Prove yourself to me." Taking on the Midianite army at that time in Israel's weakened condition would surely be a tough task, especially since God pared his army down from ten thousand to three hundred. God proved himself to Gideon and, to make a long story short, under Gideon's leadership the Israelites prevailed. What is the moral of this story? When God calls upon us to serve Him, He wants us to do it by faith. This is certainly what Gideon had to do. I once heard a preacher say that “God plus one is a majority.” I later heard a correction to that: “God is a majority.” Compared to the power of God we have little power. What God wants from us is obedience. We are living in what is being called “the post-Christian age.” This means that we are not in the majority. The fact is that we have never been in the majority, but we have never needed to be in the majority. God wants us to know what Gideon learned, if we will follow Him by faith and obey Him, He will do great things through us. I recently wrote an article entitled “God Is not in Trouble.” In it I pointed out that just because things seem to be moving away from Him, God is not anxious, because He knows that He is a majority. That being the case, we don’t have to worry about it either. I wish that people across America would be more responsive to the gospel, and I wish that unbelievers would stop worrying about where the Ten Commandments are posted. But the reality is that these negative things are happening, but it is still true that “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Verse 31 of Romans 8 tells us: “What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us who can be against us?” This goes for our personal problems as well. Whatever you might be going through at this time, God is not unaware of it, and He will take you through it, over it, under it or around it. You need to start seeing yourself as a conqueror, not because of you, but because of Jesus. You won't go through anything that God will not go through with you. He has promised to never leave or forsake you, so take heart, have faith and, like Gideon, see what God can do. When you get to the end of what you are going through you will be the victor. The Lord wants us to take Him at His word and trust Him. He will take our humanity into account and humor us, like He did Gideon, but it would be better if we would just trust Him. The Bible is full of God's promises to us about using His power to aid us in serving Him. We quote Philippians 4:13 so confidently: "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me." Do we really believe it or do we lay out the fleece? When I really think about it, I'm not quite as aggravated with Gideon and his fleece. But I can pray that I will have the faith and courage to serve the Lord in any endeavor He calls me to. You can pray the same prayer. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
I must have read this verse at least one-hundred times in the past, and the full impact of it has escaped me until now. To be such a short verse it is really loaded. It teaches us a lot about Jesus and ourselves in just a few words. Let me share with you what I found today. It is true that “a (true) friends loves at all times.” Notice that I added that a “true” friend loves at all times. I know that Solomon knew that anyone who “loves at all times” is a real “true” friend. These kinds of friends are rare, and should be treasured when we find them. Come to think of it, we should seek to be that kind of friend. Proverbs 18:24 shows us how to be that kind of friend: “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” First, to be a loving friend, we must be friendly – period. I guess there are days that we do not feel friendly, but for the sake of the brother, we “show” ourselves friendly. It takes the same amount of energy to be friendly as it takes to be unfriendly. Then it says that a true friend sticks closer than a brother. This says to me that a true friend is one who will stick by you through bad times as well as good times. This leads to the next part of this proverb: “…..and a brother is born for adversity.” A friend that “loves at all times” is akin to a brother is like one who sticks with you through adversity. Who in the world knows what “adversity” can be? It can be anything from a bad day to serious illness. No matter what the adverse conditions may be, a true friend and brother will stick with you through it. You have no doubt heard of “fair weather friends.” These are “friends” (observe the quotation marks,) instead of true friends. We need to seriously stop and ask ourselves are we “friends that love at all times,” and like “a brother born for adversity.” The answer will tell us what kind of friends we are. Would we like to have the kind of friend that we are? Just asking??? In other words, would we be friends like Jesus – which leads us the climax of this matter in the next paragraph. If you will think about the “friend” and “brother” in this verse, they sound an awful lot like Jesus. You will never find a friend who will love you like Jesus, nor will you ever find a brother who will stand by you in adversity like Jesus. In all that life has brought to me, I have found that Jesus has loved me through it all. What a joy it is to know that we can have the presence of Jesus in all that life brings. This doesn’t mean that I have not had family and friends and brothers who have not been there for me, for they certainly have, but there is no one who loves and cares like Jesus. In fact, there are times that you realize that He is helping you through friends and brothers. I guess that a good concluding reminder would be that we should remember that Jesus is seeking us to be friends and brothers/sisters who love friends at all times, even through adversity. A good thing to remember – don’t you think? Bro. Joe “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
The text is the end of a discussion beteen Jesus and His disciples. They were discussing which of them would be the chiefest of them and would be the greatest in the coming kingdom of God. These men were in for a rude awakening. They were not to serve for the wrong reasons, but to serve like their Master. First, they came to the table with the wrong idea about why they were called to follow Jesus. When Jesus called these ordinary men to be “fishers of men,” they were not called to rule men but to fish for men. Somewhere along the line these ordinary men got the idea that they were better than other people because they were called to follow Jesus. Jesus call to follow Him is not to somehow enhance our resume, but the call to serve, and the intent of which is to serve our fellowmen (and fellow women) by introducing to them chief of all servants, their boss, Jesus Christ. Second, Jesus told them what His call to follow Him really did mean: “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all…” This includes those of us who follow Jesus today. We are to find ways to serve other people as Jesus did. The call of a church of Jesus Christ is to serve the world today. He has not called us to rule the world but to serve the world. One of the best ways that we can serve the world is to be more and more like Jesus. (Jesus said that His disciples would rule the world one day, but not at the present time. Let’s not get the “cart before the horse.”) Third, Jesus told them that they needed to follow Him: “For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister…” By giving His own reason for coming, Jesus was showing the disciples that they were seeking the wrong thing. After all is said and done as to why Jesus calls people is to be like Him. The way Jesus lived among men and women is plainly marked out in the four gospels of the New Testament. We see Him living humbly and lovingly among people. The only people that Jesus berated were those who thought themselves better than others – scribes and Pharisees. Finally, Jesus gave the final reason about why He came, which His disciples would least understand, and that is that He would “give His life a ransom for many.” This would mean that the ultimate service that Jesus would offer sinful humanity would be His life. He came to die in order for our sins to be forgiven. That would also be the main message that we would have for fallen humanity. We need to receive Jesus’ sacrifice in our own lives and share Him with others. That is basically what I mean by “Serve like the Master.” Bro. Joe “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! How great is the sum of them! 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand when I awake I am still with thee.”
I read Psalm 139 in my personal Bible reading this morning and it occurred to me that it is a seed bed of sermon ideas, and, well, of blog ideas. Of the verses that struck me this morning were the two verses printed above. The verses tell us that God has “precious” thoughts about us. I wondered what it means that our sovereign and eternal God would have precious thoughts about us. What I considered is written below. I think that you will agree with me, and will wonder of the knowledge of this as I did. The first thing of I thought of is that God’s thoughts are kind thoughts. What I mean by this is that God thinks of our need for Him. He knows that we are sure to slip off of the skids, so to speak, occasionally and will certainly need his kindness and His grace. I do not mean that God’s thinks kind thoughts about us because He overlooks our sins. I mean that by His kindness and grace He loves us in spite of them, and enough to do something about our sinful condition. God is not looking down on us, just waiting for us to sin in order to punish us; rather, He acts in mercy and grace because of our sinful condition. It is sad that so many people go about their lives doing as they please, unaware of the kind and precious thoughts that our loving God has about and for them. In His kindness He is willing and ready to forgive us for our sins. Rejoice that God’s thoughts about you are kind and full of grace. The next thing that I thought of was that God’s thoughts about us are useful thoughts. What I mean by this is God is thinking about the way that He wants to use us in our lives. I think that even most church members would not know how God could use them. I think of four fishermen who were about their daily task of being fishermen when Jesus came by and told them to follow Him and become “fishers of men.” No one would suspect that the Messiah would use those unlearned and common men to become the genesis of His church. But, with eight other unlikely men, they started the church that goes on in many forms and shapes today. God had useful thoughts about these men, and other mostly unlikely women and men, to start Christ’s church. It always occurs to me that if God could those men and women, He can certainly use me to do what He wants to use me for. Be aware of this, God has useful thoughts about you, and you need to get in touch with He wants to use you for His kingdom’s work. If you have, rejoice in the knowledge of God’s precious, useful thought about and for you. Finally, the text tells us that God’s thoughts about us are numerous: “Oh God! How great is the sum of them. 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand…” What we are to remember based on these words if we are constantly on God’s mind. In His eternal sovereignty, our God has you on His mind. He has kind, useful thoughts, and many more than you and I can name. Think on this and rejoice in it. Bro. Joe "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.”
I’m sure that there are people out there who do not want to blessed, but I don’t know any of them. Personally, I have never heard anybody pray: “Lord do not bless me today.” Even if a person does not believe in God, he or she wants to be blessed. I don’t know what they would call “being blessed” if they didn’t believe in God, but they want life to go smooth for them just all of us who believe. I can’t tell unbelievers how to be blessed, but I can remind believers in Jesus Christ how to be blessed. Now put this thought in your mind and heart: GOD WANTS TO BLESS YOU!!! What will be your part in knowing the blessings of God? If we want to realize the blessings of God, we need to stay close to Him. James 4:8a tells us to “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” It doesn’t go any good to ask for God’s blessings if we spend our days ignoring His presence in our lives. The problem with many people is that they feel that God has forsaken them. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has not forsaken you. One of my favorite stories is about a man and his wife out for a drive. She was sitting on her side of the car, and he was on his side driving. She did not drive, so he had to do all of it. She said to him: “What is wrong with us? It used to be that when we drove down the road, people couldn’t tell if there were one or two people in the car. He glanced carefully over at her as he drove down the road and said: “I didn’t move.” Understand that God promised that He never will never forsake you. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to be in us all of the time. We can stay consciously close to God if we spend time in His word. If anyone thinks that he or she can be close to God and realize His great blessings without spending time reading and meditating on His word, they are wrong. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It is from the Bible that we see God’s revelation of Himself. We come to know God by faith in Jesus Christ, but we grow in our faith by reading His word. The Bible is a perennial best seller every year, but I wonder if it is the most read book every year. God will not bless us just because we read the Bible; rather, it is from His word that we are able to discern His blessings in our lives. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible, is the same Holy Spirit who guides us as we read the Bible, and He can show us the blessings of God from the pages of Holy Writ. We can stay consciously close to God when we pray. I have heard people say that they do not have time to pray. Wait! Do they have time to breathe? Praying should be like breathing to us. We just do it because it is our nature as believers to pray. There are times that we need to get alone with God, get on our knees and cry out to Him, but we do not have to have a certain kind of posture to pray. We can talk to God any time that we wish. I have often said that if we can think, we can pray. If we want to be near to God and realize His blessings, we need to talk to Him as naturally as we would talk to a person sitting next to us. The prayer closet in heaven is never closed down. We are reminded in the Bible that God never “slumbers or sleeps.” (Psalm 121:4) He will hear you any time – day or night. Psalm 40:1 is always true: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” He will always hear your cry. You will notice that I wrote that we should do these things, which are the two most important in my mind, if we want to realize the blessings of God. Pay attention to the word “realize.” That intimates that God is blessing you, and if you don’t feel blessed, it is because you are not staying in close contact with Him through Bible reading and prayer. Sing this little chorus: “Every time I turn around, God is blessing me…..” He is! Claim it! Believe it! Bro. Joe "Best Of" #5
“Jesus said unto them, My meat (food) is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.” In John 4, while Jesus ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar, Jesus’ disciples went into the city to get food. When they returned, they asked Jesus to eat and He told them that He had “meat to eat that you know not of.” Jesus added that His food was doing the will of the Father. Not only did Jesus do His Father’s will, He calls us to the same. We need to ask ourselves how carefully we follow God’s will for our lives – or if we even think about it. I want you to at least think about what this could mean for your life. It is important that we know God’s will for our lives and that we do God’s will for our lives . God wants us to know and to do His will. God called upon people in the Bible to do His will. Abraham left his native Ur of the Chaldees in order to obey God’s will for his life. Moses left a comfortable shepherd’s job in Media to lead Israel out of Egypt because it was God’s will for his life. Moses was initially reluctant, but he did it anyway. We could cite many times in the Bible when people did God’s will, but we must remember that doing God’s will wasn’t just for people in the Bible. Both Abraham and Moses were flesh and blood people like we are, but they surrendered to God’s will. We should do the same. In His “Model Prayer” in Matthew 6:10, Jesus prayed: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” All of us should pray for God’s will to be done, not just in a general sense, but in reference to our own lives. Jesus is the prime example of doing God’s will. We not only have the statement that He made in John 4, but we also have His prayer in Gethsemane, where He prayed: “…nevertheless not my will but your will be done.” Because of the will of the Father, Jesus did what was necessary for our salvation. All of this being true, we should take God’s will for our lives seriously as well. We need to know and do God’s will for our lives. The first step for us is to know God’s will for us. It is as simple as asking God what His will is for you. He will give you an answer in your heart and mind. Jesus knows what His will is for you, and He is ready to let you know what it is. Perhaps you need to know that He wants you to teach a certain Sunday School class, sing in the choir or be the outreach leader in your church. You just need to ask Jesus what He wants of you and listen with heart, mind and soul. The next step for us is to do God’s will for our lives. Obviously, it is not enough just to know what God’s will is. We must put hands, feet, heart and mind to that knowledge and actually do God’s will. I remember that when I had to make a public decision concerning my call to the ministry, I was so nervous that my hands were sweating. I don’t recall a lot of what the preacher said that day in his sermon, because I knew that in order to do God’s will I had to make the next step. I knew that when I made that decision, my life would change and the way that people viewed me would change. There would be no turning back. That was fifty-six years ago, and I still remember the nervousness and excitement of following through on God’s will for my life. To be in God’s will, I had to do what I had to do. Though God’s will for you might not be as radical for you as it was for me, it will still be the same for you. Determine that once you know God’s will, you will do whatever it is. Are you presently living in God’s will for your life? Is what you do each day in your life now God’s will for your life? Reflect a few moments on what you just read. Are you ready to do God’s will for your life? Bro. Joe "Best Of" #4
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless His holy name. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not all His benefits: 3. Who forgives all our iniquities; who heals all of our diseases. 4. Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.” David began this psalm with praise for the Lord. He praised God with all of His heart – “all that is within me.” He praised God in gratitude for His holiness – “bless His holy name.” He praised the Lord in the light of all of the benefits of God. There are too many people in the world Awho think that becoming a Christian would take something out of their lives. They need to know that to the contrary, there will be multiple benefits from Him. With these benefits in mind, David warns us not to forget those benefits. If we aren’t careful we can get so tied up in the world that we do not think that we need His benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s benefits do not primarily satisfy physical needs but spiritual ones. What are these benefits? He forgives our sins. Specifically, David wrote that He “forgives all your iniquities.” Sin is our primary problem; therefore God’s forgiveness is our ultimate solution. Notice that God “forgives all of (our) iniquities.” His forgiveness leaves nothing out. People might think that they have been so sinful that they cannot be forgiven. This is not what this verse tells us, and it is what we read about in the entire Bible. Our God is a forgiving God. If you have asked for God’s forgiveness in faith, He has forgiven you; therefore, you do not need to feel guilty about it anymore. He heals our diseases. Again, we are told that he “heals all of (our) diseases.” You might be thinking that you had a disease, or an illness, of some kind and God did not heal it. You got well didn’t you, or are you still sick. God heals people directly in answer to their prayers, but He also heals us through medicine. I like to think that when I am healed it was the result of both. But if a doctor was involved in the healing, would we be wrong to give the Lord ultimate credit? But sometimes people die. For the believer, which is who this passage is about, his or her ultimate healing is to into eternity to place prepared by Jesus. Part of this The greatest benefit of God’s healing is spiritual: “Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with living kindness and tender mercies.” We are not destroyed by the illnesses of life because of the presence of God, to which I can testify with assurance. God saves us from eternal destruction. With all of that He “crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.” There is nothing that heals our souls more than experiencing God’s “loving kindness and tender mercies.” If you have experienced this, you know what this is all about, if not, you can learn right now by going to Jesus and asking to give you His love and mercy. He “satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle.” NIV This presupposes that our desires are in line with who He is and what He does in our lives. He brings good things into our lives and reinvigorates us with energy and joy. In Isaiah 40:33 we are given a similar promise: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and faint.” God loving kindness and tender mercies renews us body and soul. It is my prayer that you are enjoying the benefits of the Lord. If not, you can by putting your faith and trust in Him. Bro. Joe "The Best Of" #3
“Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because He trusts in You.” As I read this, I was thinking that Isaiah comes as close to New Testament themes as any of the Old Testament authors. Peace is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible, but especially in the New Testament and in the ministry of Jesus. Isaiah writes here about “perfect peace.” Now, there is a real concept of peace. My title is “What in the world is perfect peace?” I used “in the world” because we don’t usually think of perfect peace in this world. Yet we have a promise of it here. Let’s see what this verse can tell us about perfect peace. The first thing that we note is that only God is able to give us perfect peace. Notice that Isaiah writes: “Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind in stayed on thee.” In other words, the world does not offer perfect peace. I have read that Jesus came into the world to bring “peace on earth.” I don’t think that Jesus ever promised that. In fact what Jesus did promise us is that there will be “wars and rumors of wars.” The Book of Revelation certainly doesn’t promise world peace. In my life time, there has never been a long period when our country was not in some conflict somewhere in the world. Jews and Arabs have been fighting since Ishmael and Isaac. It is just a fact that the world cannot offer perfect peace. The best that the world can do is to give us lulls between battles – in the world and in our personal lives. The Second thing that we note is that peace can come only by trust in God. Let’s refer again to Isaiah’s written statement that perfect peace comes to those “whose minds are stayed on Thee/God.” The only real relationship that we can have with God is one of trust – of faith. The author of Hebrews makes this plain in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” In John 16:33 we read the words of Jesus on peace: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” What Jesus promises us from the world is trouble. (More on this later) What He promises us pertaining to Him is peace. Having a faith relationship with Jesus Christ is the gateway to perfect peace. The third thing that we note is that we can have this perfect peace in Jesus in spite of all of the troubles that we meet with in this life. Perfect peace, then, does not mean that we will never have conflict. In fact, we are promised that we will be in conflict with the world system at all times. In Ephesians 6:11-12, Paul wrote: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Perfect peace is perfect because it comes from God, who promises to be with us through all of the troubles of life. David sensed this in Psalm 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” That is perfect peace on earth. Real perfect peace where we will be free from all troubles is when we get to heaven and live in the presence of Jesus. If you want perfect peace, let your mind be “stayed” on Christ, who is the author of our peace. Bro. Joe (We have decided to call the articles this week "The Best Of," from the past. You might actually argue with the "The Best Of" title, but it's our call anyway .lol)
“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath of the everlasting arms and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, destroy them.” In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, W. Phillip Keller wrote these words: “When I turn to Him and expose the problem to Him, allowing Him to see that I have a dilemma, a difficulty, a disagreeable experience beyond my control, He comes to assist. Often a helpful approach is simply to say aloud, ‘O Master, this is beyond me – I can’t cope with it – it’s bugging me – I can’t rest – please take over.” Of course, Keller followed this with: “Then He does take over in His own wondrous way….” When I read this, I thought immediately of Deuteronomh 33:27. Our God is the “Go To” God. In fact, He longs for us to come to Him, to let Him help us in the problems of our lives, but too many times, we want to do it ourselves. When we go through health problems, God wants to go through them with us. I know that what we want God to do is to heal us, but He doesn’t always do that. I know that God heals because I have seen it happen many times in my years in the ministry. But sometimes He wants to teach us while we are ill. God recently taught me again of how true this is as I recover from a stroke. Do I want this to happen again? Of course not, but I know that if I do get it again the everlasting arms of God will be there to catch me. When we go through family problems, God wants to go through them with us. Every family goes through some kind of problem at some time or other. Many families today live in crisis most of the time. If you are encountering problems with a child, teenager, or even a parent, you need to remember that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” It is always God’s will that all families be happy families. I know that this is not true, but it is not God’s fault. We need God’s wisdom to raise children in these hedonistic times in which we are living. Things happen in families that literally try people’s souls. Those who “take it to Jesus,” are more apt to solve the problem than those who do not. The only reason the help of Jesus would not work is because the people do not work His plan but try it their own way anyway. Take your family to the Lord. You will find that He will go through the problem with you and show you a way regardless of how it all turns out. Trust the Lord to do a work in your life. When we go through church problems, God wants to go through them with us. I have been in church work since I was twenty-one years old. I served as pastor of seven churches that were filled with good people, but good people can go off in a bad direction sometimes. (We pastors are not immune here either.) When ego and self-will rule in a church, and when people choose sides, bad things happen even in Christ’s church. Churches are made up mostly of saved individuals, but saved individuals are human beings. (duh) If your church is encountering seemingly impossible problems, take those problems to the Lord. He is the answer for those problems and will show you a way, even if it means changing your church. It is as true now as it was when Deuteronomy 33:27 was written: “Underneath are the everlasting arms…” And those arms will still catch you. Bro. Joe We have come to the end of our series on “Four Profound Words.” We looked at the words life, love and hope. Today we turn to the word “purpose.” I’m sure there are many other profound words that we could look at, but these occurred to me to be the most important words to look at now. The word “purpose” has other meanings than what I am giving it here, but for our purposes (see what I mean) we need to see the word pertaining to what we are to do with our lives. We are not here to just take up space, but we are here to serve God. I know that many people, no doubt, most people on earth are not aware of this fact, but that does not make it any less true. We serve our purpose for God wherever we work, play, shop, and etc. Let’s see what the Bible says about our purpose:
PURPOSE Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, and them who are the called according to His purpose.” There is no other verse that fits the life that we have in Jesus. When we trust in Jesus and give the guidance of our lives to the Spirit, our lives have great purpose, because we live “according to His purpose,” and not just our own. As believers, we do not have to flounder around to only find some meaningless purpose for our lives. The purposes of our lives are bound up in what God wants with us. The purpose that the Spirit gives has to do with the life that we have in Jesus, the love that He has given us, and subsequently, the love that we give Him and to the people we encounter in our lives. The quality of our lives is greatly enhanced by the eternal purpose that Jesus brings into our lives. What is the purpose of your life? Like most people you have purposeful things in your life, like family and work. Things like this certainly fulfill purposeful things in your life. The real question is what is the overall purpose of your life that causes you to fulfill all of the other purposes? The overall purpose of the Christian is to serve Christ in all that we do. We should endeavor to witness for Him in all of the aspects of our lives. Romans 8:28 refers to Christians as “called according His purpose.” His purpose is included in everything that we do. This brings satisfaction and fulfillment in all of the things we do in our lives. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|