YOU HAVE PURPOSE

YOU HAVE PURPOSE

READ:  1 Peter 4:7-11

If anyone serves, they should do

so with the strength God provides, 

so that in all things God may be

praised through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:11

On a hot day in western Texas, my niece Vania saw a woman standing by a stoplight and holding up a sign.  As she drove closer, she tried to read what the sign said, assuming it was a request for food or money.  Instead, she was surprised to see these three words:

“You Have Purpose”

God has created each of us for a specific purpose.  Primarily that purpose is to bring honor to Him, and one way we do that is by meeting the needs of others (1 Peter 4:10-11).

A mother of young children may find purpose in wiping runny noses and telling her kids about Jesus.  An employee in an unsatisfying job might find his purpose in doing his work conscientiously, remembering it is the Lord he is serving (Colossians 3:23-24).  A woman who has lost her sight still finds purpose in praying for her children and grandchildren and influencing them to trust God.

Psalm 139 says that before we were born “all the days ordained for [us] were written in [His] book” (v. 16).  We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” to bring glory to our Creator (v.14).  

Never forget:  You have purpose!  CINDY HESS KASPER

Lord, it often seems that our lives swing from drudgery to challenges we don’t want.  Today help us to see You in the midst of whatever faces us.  Show us a small glimpse of the purpose and meaning You bring to everything

Even when everything seems meaningless,

God still has a purpose for your life.

INSIGHT

The words translated “be alert” and “of sober mind” in verse seven of today’s passage are both imperatives.  The verb tense indicates a time-specific action with ongoing effects.  This means Peter is not asking his readers if they will be alert and sober-minded; he is commanding that they be (and continue to be) alert (use sensible judgment) and be sober-minded (have clear and rational thinking).  They are to do this for a specific purpose-so that they can pray.  Obeying this command to alertness and self-control can and will have a lasting effect because it empowers our prayers.  DENNIS MOLES

SELF-IMPROVEMENT, WORLD CHANGE, AND HUMAN NATURE

SELF-IMPROVEMENT, WORLD CHANGE, AND HUMAN NATURE

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Diagnosis should precede prescription and intervention. Therefore, we first have to understand the nature and problems of humanity before we can intercede effectively.

Joseph Stalin was convinced that humanity’s problems did not lie within but without. Consequently, his prescription was to change the environment—the State and its economy:

•                  Whatever is the mode of production of a society, such in the main is the society itself, its ideas, and theories, its political views and institutions. Or, to put it more crudely, whatever is man’s manner of life, such is his manner of thought.

For Stalin, a change in the “manner of life,” namely, a change in the economic and political institutions, would greatly improve the human condition.

Other utopian schemes rely upon the removal of the repressive or capitalistic elements. The Occupy Wall Street movement seemed to suggest that if we could simply remove the capitalist oppressors—the top one percent—we could have a better world. Such thinking is predicated on the idea that if the bad guys are removed, the good guys will naturally thrive and create a benign society.

Why? Because the great majority of people are naturally compassionate and other-centered, but they have been oppressed by those who are selfish. By this line of thinking, all the masses need to do is grow in awareness and self-trust.

According to New Age guru, Shakti Gawain, we have failed to learn how to trust in ourselves:

•                  “When we consistently suppress and distrust our intuitive knowingness, looking instead for external authority, validation, and the approval of others, we give our personal power away…Every time you don’t trust yourself and don’t follow your inner truth, you decrease your aliveness and your body will reflect this with a loss of vitality, numbness, pain, and eventually physical disease.”

How then do we learn how to trust in ourselves? We need to be empowered. How? According to some, by learning how to relate to one another! Yesterday, I attended a workshop given by THEDIALOGUEPROJECT.ORG for high school youth. We were all directed to write the names of three people in the group whom we admired, and what we admired about them. Then, we broke up into pairs and one had to recite the admirable qualities we noticed to the other as the other listened attentively. Then, the other person related back to the first what they understood the presenter to be saying. Finally, we had to process what we felt about the experience of being understood.

This proved to be an easy way to generate human connectedness. I had attended one of their talks before. While I do think that there is a place for these kinds of exercises, they wrongly convey the idea that if we simply learn how to affirm others, those others will in turn reciprocate and the world will be a better place. If we could simply learn the skills of affirmation, we would empower both ourselves and others. Consequently, we would no longer need police or soldiers.

This, of course, is predicated on a positive diagnosis of the human condition, a condition that presupposes that we all naturally want to affiliate, creating a win-win situation for all.

Similarly, many college students believe that love will conquer all, even hate. We just have to learn how to love. These students are convinced that if we had known better how to love, then Hitler, Stalin, and Mao would never have embarked on their genocidal rampages.

How do we love? Well, one way is through affirming conversations. I recently talked with a group of young communists at Columbia University in a conversation I hoped would be affirmative. I began by asking them about their hopes. They answered, “Revolution.” Light-heartedly—at least at first—I probed: “Well certainly, you are not advocating violent revolution?” They were; but they assured me that their revolt would kill a mere 1% of the population.

Again, I probed: “In light of the failed communist experiments of the twentieth century, what hope do you have that yours will be successful?”

They explained that they now had an enlightened Thinker/Leader who would not repeat the mistakes of former Marxist revolutions. Meanwhile, I was wondering if, rightly applied, love could persuade their enlightened Leader to lay aside his sickle in favor of tulips.

Meanwhile, my young, idealistic communist comrades assured me that love for humanity required them to strike a quick, relatively painless and antiseptic blow against the controlling elites.

I wondered about what was motivating them. Whatever it was—anger, jealousy, or self-righteous idealism—it seemed to be more decisive than all the love that I could muster through my affirmative attentiveness and understanding of their concerns.

These students are human beings with the same feelings and needs that I have, but yet, they are also our future murderers—instruments of genocide. Can friendship and conversation turn them around? Would these techniques have turned around Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, or would they have co-opted them for their own sinister designs?  In view of the fact that there has never been a society that has been able to relax  sanctions against anti-social behaviors, I had my doubts about their effectiveness.

I’m certainly not against using the carrot before the club. Some will respond favorably to the carrot, but it seems to be undeniable that the club also has its place.

Perhaps this should lead us to a reassessment of humanity and our prescriptions for a better world. Perhaps we have faults at the core of our being that all of the loving affirmations in the world cannot adequately address. Occupy Wall Street and the communists are convinced that they can create a better world by removing the evil elites.

However, the elites are the people who are rich in affirmations. They are successful and have had their needs met, at least more completely than the rest of us. Aren’t they the ones who should be models of self-actualization and humanity? However, affirmations can also harden us in our pride and self-trust.

If our illness lies at the core of our being, perhaps we need to be reborn from above, as the Prophet Ezekiel wrote:

•                  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses (Ezekiel 36:25-29).

If this is correct, then all of our attempts at self-rectification, revolution, and social re-designing are, at best, superficial and temporary. Instead, the inside must first be changed before the outside can be meaningfully addressed.

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New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/

THE BEAUTY OF ROME

THE BEAUTY OF ROME

READ:  John 17:1-5

Now this is eternal life:  that

they know you, the only true

God.   - John 17:3

The glory of the Roman Empire offered an expansive backdrop for the birth of Jesus.  In 27 BC Rome’s first emperor, Caesar Augustus, ended 200 years of civil war and began to replace rundown neighborhoods with monuments, temples, arenas, and government complexes.  According to Roman historian Pliny the Elder, they were “the most beautiful buildings the world has ever seen.”

Yet even with her beauty, the Eternal City and its empire had history of brutality that continued until Rome fell.  Thousands of slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and army deserters were crucified on roadside poles as a warning to anyone who dared to defy the power of Rome.

What irony that Jesus’s death on a Roman cross turned out to reveal an eternal glory that made the pride of Rome look like the momentary beauty of a sunset!

Who could have imagined that in the public curse and agony of the cross we would find the eternal glory of the love, presence, and kingdom of our God?

Who could have foreseen that all heaven and earth would one day sing, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).  MART DEHAAN

Father in heaven, please help us to reflect the heart of Your sacrifice for the world.  May Your love become our love,Your life our life, and Your glory our never-ending joy.

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The Lamb who died is the Lord who lives!

INSIGHT

Jesus’s model for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 is often referred to as “the Lord’s prayer.”  However, these words form a pattern for our prayers.  Jesus’s prayer in John 17 might better be called “the Lord’s prayer” because it is an expression of His heart to the Father about His mission (vv.1-10), His followers (vv.11-16), and His longing for His people to be one with Him and with each other (vv.17-26).  This prayer reaches its conclusion with the desire that we know the wonder of His love:  “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (v.26).  BILL CROWDER

Have a blessed night.

God Our Creator’s Love Always.

Unity & Peace

LORD, HELP!

LORD, HELP!

READ:  Hebrews 4:14-16

Let us then approach God’s 

throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy

and find grace to help us in our

time of need.  -  Hebrews 4:16

I was so happy for my friend when she told me she was going to be a mum!  Together we counted the days until the birth.  But when the baby suffered a brain injury during delivery, my heart broke and I didn’t know how to pray.  All I knew was who I should pray to-God.  He is our Father, and He hears us when we call.

I knew that God was capable of miracles.  He brought Jairus’s daughter back to life (Luke 8:49-55) and in so doing also healed the girl of whatever disease had robbed her of life.  So I asked Him to bring healing for my friend’s baby too.  

But what if God doesn’t heal?  I wondered.  Surely He doesn’t lack the power.  Could it be He doesn’t’ care?  I thought of Jesus’s suffering on the cross and the explanation that “God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Then I remembered the questions of Job and how he learned to see the wisdom of God as shown in the creation around him (Job 38-39).

Slowly I saw how God calls us to Him in the details of our lives.  In God’s grace, my friend and I learned together what it means to call on the Lord and to trust Him-Whatever the outcome.  POH FANG CHIA

Lord, to whom can I go but You!  I trust You with my life and the lives of my loved ones.  I’m grateful You always hear my cry.

When life knocks you down, you’re in the perfect position to pray!

INSIGHT

The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as our Great High Priest.  This concept can be difficult to understand when we are so distanced from the religion of ancient Israel.  The high priest was the single representative who could enter the Holy of Holies and the presence of God to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people  Even though the Word of God exposes our sin (Hebrews 4:12-13), we can still confidently come to God because Jesus, our High Priest, has offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.  The mercy and grace we receive (v.16) is the forgiveness of our sins.  J.R. HUDBERG

ARE WE MISSING OUT IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING SIGNS AND WONDERS?

ARE WE MISSING OUT IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING SIGNS AND WONDERS?

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsword.blogspot.com

In Untamed Christian, Unleashed Church, Terry Wardle, professor of spiritual formation at Ashland Theological Seminary, confessed “I am bored in church.” He is bored because most churches do not manifest the dynamic and miraculous presence of the Spirit:

∑       We must have his Presence. We are little more than a tame imitation without his [miraculous] Presence…We will only be a force in the world when we are once again clearly, and dangerously [because the Spirit is supernaturally manifesting through us], the People of the Presence. The people…experience and manifest the power of the living God…I am desperate because I have tasted…and the power of the experience is beyond words. (17)

What should this look like? Wardle writes that “the supernatural should be natural for all Christians (24)”:

∑       Not always proper, sometimes messy…Dangerous is what the church should be…the church should be un-tame to the core. (25-26)

Wardle believes that signs and wonders should be the standard diet for the Church, even if messy at times. And he is not alone. Bethel Church, Redding California, is devoted to a “signs and wonders” revival, which they claim that they are experiencing. One young woman, who had previously been a student at Wheaton College, claimed that her experience of the Lord had previously been very limited:

∑       “I even felt from a young age that there was something more to God. I mean, Jesus went around and healed people. What is salvation actually about? Why am I only pursuing one shade of salvation?” (Christianity Today, May 2016, 34)

She now claims that she has a more direct experience of God at Bethel. However, is the miraculous the unmistakable sign that the Spirit is at work? Not always! Jesus had warned that we would be confronted with deceiving wonders:

∑       Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23-24; ESV)

Jesus was referring to the end-times. Paul also warned that these miraculous deceptions:

∑       The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

However, we’d be wrong to suppose that these signs and wonders would only be performed during the Tribulation. Even the Israelites had been warned about this danger:

∑       “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)

Here is a case of a false prophet performing a miracle to lead Israel astray. However, if his teachings did not coincide with God’s commandments and teachings, then Israel was not to follow. Instead, this was God’s method of “testing” Israel’s love for God. If Israel truly loved God, they would obey Him and not the worker of miracles.

Bethel congregants report many miracles, but what does Bethel teach? Martyn Wendell Jones reports that they tend to mix the occult with Christian teachings:

∑       Bethel leaders have been said to practice “grave sucking” or “grave soaking,” purportedly a means of absorbing the spiritual anointing of deceased Christians by lying atop the graves. Accusations of mixing New Age practices with Christianity are also common.

Nowhere in the Bible is such a practice commanded. Well, perhaps the Bible doesn’t reveal to us everything we need for a relationship with God? Instead, going beyond the Bible is prohibited in these matters. Paul had warned “that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Similarly, Isaiah had warned:

∑       And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)

Does Bethel go beyond Scripture? According to Jones, they do. Repentance is essential to revival and a healthy relationship with our Lord. However, one observer commented:

∑       “There is never a call for repentance or faith in Christ [at Bethel] – never. It is all about experience and signs and wonders.”

Instead, as two of their leaders have gladly confessed, Bethel is committed to spiritual experimentation to learn what will best produce signs and wonders:

∑       “ I do not know how to learn except to experiment.” (36)

Evidently, this leader pays little heed to Scripture:

∑       All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for EVERY good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

It is Scripture that enables “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” not experimentation. Nowhere does Scripture advocate experimentation as a means of learning the ways of God. In contrast, another Bethel leader admitted:

∑       “We celebrate creativity, revelation, invention, and innovation above comfort, safety, and security.” (36)

While there is certainly a place for “invention and innovation,” these are not scripturally encouraged to improve our relationship with God. Instead, the Bible is clear that our Lord requires faith, repentance, confession, and obedience to His Word and not our own innovations.

Interestingly, Wardle admits that there is a downside to these “revivals”:

• I have experienced Christians moving in gifts in the absence of love. It can be a real mess. Spiritual pride, showing off, self-righteousness, a critical spirit – it all shows up, and when it does, it’s nasty…In the end, far more people are hurt than helped. (142)

• What starts out as a fresh move of the Spirit ends in a confusing and unproductive free-for-all of unbiblical spiritual excess…There has also been more than a little immaturity evident in these movements, which has not always ended well for the people or congregations involved…Not all people or congregations who have “caught the fire” [of the Spirit] have survived the experience. Individual believers, and in some cases local churches…experience division and in some cases destruction. (152-53)

Perhaps these weren’t revivals at all but demonic counterfeits. Instead, when we walk in the Spirit, we should manifest the fruits of the Spirit:

∑       But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:22-24)

They also abide in the Word of God:

∑       “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples… Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” (John 15:7-10)

And what about the supernatural manifestations of the Spirit? Shouldn’t they accompany us? Not necessarily:

∑       For we walk by faith, not by sight [of miracles]. (2 Cor. 5:7)

∑       Now faith [not miracles] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

In contrast to Bethel, we should not demand or expect miracles:

∑       Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen [the miracle of the resurrection] and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

∑       But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign.  (Matthew 12:39; Luke 16)

I certainly don’t want to miss out on any of God’s miraculous blessings, and so I pray in the manner of my Lord: “Not my will but thy will be done.” I don’t want my will anymore. I just want what He has for me. That might be the safe way, but the Holy Spirit promises to compensate for my failures to pray correctly:

• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

I’m therefore confident that I’m not missing out! He promises as much!

BLOG - http://www.mannsword.blogspot.com

New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/

NOT A SIMPLE STORY

NOT A SIMPLE STORY

READ:  2 Chronicles 16:7-14

The eyes of the LORD range

throughout the earth to strengthen

those whose hearts are fully committed

to Him.  - 2 Chronicles 16:9

Life seems straightforward in the laws of the Old Testament.  Obey God and get blessed.  Disobey Him and expect trouble.  It’s a satisfying theology.  But is it that simple?

King Asa’s story seems to fit the pattern.  He led his people away from false gods and his kingdom thrived (2 Chronicles 15:1-19).  Then late in his reign, he depended on himself instead of God (16:2-7) and the rest of his life was marked by war and illness (v.12).

It’s easy to look at that story and draw a simple conclusion.  But when the prophet Hanani warned Asa, he said that God will “strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (16:9).  Why do our hearts need strengthening?  Because doing the right thing may require courage and perseverance.

Job got the starring role in a cosmic tragedy.  His crime?  “He [was] blameless and upright” (Job 1:8).  Joseph, falsely accused of attempted rape, languished in prison for years-to serve God’s good purposes (Genesis 39:19-41:1).  And Jeremiah was beaten and put in stocks (Jeremiah 20:2).  What was the prophet’s offense?  Telling the truth to rebellious people (26:15).

Life is not simple, and God’s ways are not our ways.  Making the right decision may come at a cost.  But in God’s eternal plan, His blessings arrive in due time.

  TIM GUSTAFSON

Lord, thank You for the examples of courage and obedience in Your Word.  Help us learn from their mistakes and from their wise choices, as we make our choice to serve You.

God helps those who depend on Him.

INSIGHT

The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles cover much of the same historical ground as 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings.  One of the differences, however, is that the books of Samuel and Kings come primarily from a prophetic perspective, while 1 and 2 Chronicles have a more priestly influence.  BILL CROWDER

Have a blessed night.

God Our Creator’s Love Always.

KNOWING AND DOING

KNOWING AND DOING

READ:  Mark 10:17-27

With man this is impossible, but 

not with God; all things are

possible with God.  Mark 10:27

Chinese philosopher Han Feizi made this observation about life:  “Knowing the facts is easy.  Knowing how to act based on the facts is difficult.”

A rich man with that problem once came to Jesus.  He knew the law of Moses and believed he had kept the commandments since his youth (Mark 10:20).  But he seems to be wondering what additional facts he might hear from Jesus.  “‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (v.17).

Jesus’ answer disappointed the rich man.  He told him to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Him (v.21).  With these few words Jesus exposed a fact the man didn’t want to hear.  He loved and relied on his wealth more than he trusted Jesus.  Abandoning the security of his money to follow Jesus was too great a risk, and he went away sad (v.22).

What was the Teacher thinking?  His own disciples were alarmed and asked, “Who then can be saved?”  He replied, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (v.27).  It takes courage and faith.  “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).  POH FANG CHIA

God, thank You for the good news of Jesus.  Give us the courage to act on what we know to be true, and to accept the salvation offered through Jesus. Thank You that You will give us the strength to act on the facts.

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.  Acts 16:31

INSIGHT

The rich young ruler (Matthew 19:20; Luke 18:18) believed he had earned his place in heaven (Mark 10:19-20).  But Jesus revealed that the young man had put his trust in material things (vv. 21-22) and that salvation is obtained when we love God first and trust in Jesus only (v. 21).  

SIM KAKY TEE

Have a blessed night.

God Our Creator’s Love Always.

Unity & Peace