Know Your Purpose

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.  Acts 20:24 KJV

Do you feel you are wandering through life with your eyes blindfolded, stumbling around trying to find the right direction?  Do you feel insignificant?  Do you wish you had clear direction of why you are here?  If so, you are not alone.  You need to know your purpose.  Knowing your purpose will give you direction, fulfillment, stability, significance, provision and joy.

The Apostle Paul thought he knew his purpose until that life changing day he was traveling to Damascus to arrest the Christians.  God literally stopped him in his tracks and basically said, “No Paul, you’re traveling in the wrong direction.  This is not your purpose.  I have a better plan for you and I’m sending someone to guide you in the right direction.”  Paul was greatly humbled that day and willing to suffer, yes suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ.  His life was literally turned around and thank God for the Apostle Paul.  His epistles (letters) have blessed millions through the space of time and will continue to do so.

Hank Aaron was born in a section of Mobile, Alabama referred to as “Down the Bay”.  He spent most of youth in Toulminville, Alabama.  He grew up in a poor family and picked cotton.  To this day people often say that picking cotton helped Hank Aaron strengthen his hands do he could hit more home runs.  His family couldn’t afford baseball equipment, so he practiced by hitting bottle capes with sticks and often created his own bat and balls out of materials he found on the street.

On April 13, 1954, Aaron made his major league debut playing for the Milwaukee Braves.  Three years later, the New York Yankees played host the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series.

As Aaron stepped into the batter’s box, he was greeted by the infamous, distracting chatter from catcher Yogi Berra.  “Henry, you’re holding that bat wrong.  You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark.”  Aaron didn’t say a word.

Before the second pitch was thrown, Yogi said again, “Henry, you’re supposed to hold the bat so you can read the trademark.”  As the pitch crossed the plate, Aaron hit a home run over the left field wall.  After rounding the bases and tagging home plate, he looked at Yogi Berra and said, “I didn’t come up here to read.”

Hank Aaron knew why he was here.  You need to know why you are here, too.  You need to know why God created you and what His purpose is for your life.

Paul had such clarity concerning his purpose and his calling.  I truly believe every Christian can have that same clarity.  You were made for a purpose and fulfilling that purpose is essential to living the life that God has planned for you from your mother’s womb.  Knowing your God-given purpose will your life meaning.  Nothing can compare to that.

Knowing your purpose will help you find direction and purpose answers the question, “Where am I going?”  This is critical because direction is always tied to a destination.

Knowing your purpose gives you stability and no longer will circumstances deter you from your goal and control your decisions.

Knowing your purpose gives you significance because only you can fulfill your given assignment.  You matter in the scheme of things.

Knowing your purpose addresses the problem of provision because God always provides where He guides.  He’s not going to call you to go somewhere and then let you starve or go without life’s essentials.   He will provide because He is your Jehovah Jireh.

How do you find your purpose?

1.  Are you dissatisfied?  Maybe God wants you somewhere else.  Your uncomfortable so you’ll go where your gifts and calling can shine.

2.  Listen to others.  What do other people compliment you on or tell you you’re good at doing?

3.  Listen to your gifts.  What can you do well?  What’s the one thing you can do better than others?  This may be your clue.

4.  What are you passionate about?  What gets you fired up?

5.  Pray.  Seek God.  Ask Him to show you what you should do or where you should be.

Lastly, consider that your purpose is not just about you; it’s about what God wants to do through you.  Your gifts and calling are always to benefit the Church, the Body of Christ.

But without faith it is impossible to please him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Hebrews 11:6 KJV

Diligently seek him…that is the key.  He will answer!

What are your thoughts on this?  Please feel free to share.

Blessings!

When Someone Shaves Half Your Beard Off, What Do You Do?

Last Saturday morning I read one of the strangest stories in the Bible that really made an impression on me.   The story is found in 2 Samuel 10.  The king of Ammon had died and David decides to show to show kindness to Prince Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father had showed kindness unto him.  He sends messengers to comfort Hanun and to also show his respect and honor to his father.  It would be like our President sending the Vice President to a head of state’s leader to show his respect and honor if he couldn’t attend the funeral himself.

These messengers arrive but are disgracefully treated.  How?  Some of the top leaders of King Hanun are suspicious of the men David had sent.  They ask Hanun, do you really think that David honors your father and that he sent these comforters to you?  (My paraphrase of 2 Samuel 10:3).  They say to King Hanun that they think David sent these men rather to search the city and to spy it out so that he could overthrow it.

My question to you is this, How many times have your acts of kindness been misinterpreted or your motives been misunderstood?  How did it make your feel?  We’ve all been judged wrongly and it hurts.

King Hanun believes what these advisors tell him and look what he did!  Let’s read it directly from the Bible.

Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.  When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed; and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beard be grown, and then return.  2 Samuel 10:4,5 KJV

I must say when I read this I found it to be a little humorous but paradoxically disturbing also.  I could imagine the shame and humiliation these men must have felt, especially when they were representing the king and trying to show kindness.

As Christians we’ve all been humiliated and shamed by the devil when we’ve tried to do a good deed and serve the kingdom of God.  I remember as a young Pastor’s wife serving a small rural church and being humiliated one Sunday morning by one of the ladies of the church.  On this particular Sunday morning the teacher of the women’s class did not show up due to an unexpected event at the last minute.  The Sunday School Superintendent asked me if I would teach the class and he asked me in front of the women’s class.  One of the ladies spoke up and said, “if she teaches…I’m going home!”  Everyone heard her.  It shocked me and hurt me deeply.  I didn’t know until this moment that his older lady felt that way about me and to find out in this very public fashion was very hurtful.  I somehow kept my composure and the Superintendent told me to teach the young adult class and he brought their teacher out to teach the women’s class.

I taught the young adult class that morning, led the praise and worship, listened to my husband’s sermon, greeted the people afterward, went home and ate lunch with my family and never said a word to that woman about the hurt and embarrassment she caused me that morning.  Later on in private I did tell my husband and we continued to Pastor that church amidst more trouble and heartache but I can’t tell all that happened or this Blog post would be way too long!  My point is this…the devil will try to shame you when you do try to do something good for God.

When David heard of how his messengers were shamefully treated he sent Joab (who was David’s nephew and the commander of his army) and all his biggest, baddest, mightiest men.  In the end, the Ammonites are defeated by King David’s army.  Likewise, you and I will be avenged by our King, Father God, if we hold our peace and let Him fight for us.  We too, will be victorious if we stay humble and sweet and not take up the fight in our flesh.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:  for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the LORD.  Romans 12:19 KJV

God sees your hurt and He knows when you are shamefully mistreated.

Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.  Lamentations 3:60 KJV

Do we take up the battle of flesh and fight?  Read what the Word of God says.

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.  Exodus 14:14 KJV

We must stay in peace and we must forgive those who treat us badly.

That church we Pastored is no longer there.  It’s just a faint memory.  The lady that spoke those words had a horrible tragedy happen in her family that she’s living with even to this day.  Am I happy about this?  No way!  I feel for her and I’m not saying any of this happened because of what she did to me…never in a million years would I dare say that.  I’m just saying we must stay in peace, keep our mouth’s shut and let God fight for us.  The King will avenge the devil on our behalf.

If you enjoyed my Blog post will you please leave me a Like or Comment below?  Also, please Follow me if you’d like to read more.  I would appreciate your comments and any constructive criticism or feedback.  I just ask that you be kind.

Blessings!

The Voice

 

 

 

Do you have any experience?

There’s nothing worse than a phony unless it’s a phony Christian!  We’ve all met them at some point in time because there seems to be an abundant supply.  It’s more rare to meet an authentic Christian and even more refreshing.

My goal is to be a “real” Christian.

Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.  And presently the fig tree withered away!  Matthew 21:18,19 KJV

Jesus and His disciples were walking on the way to the synagogue one day and Jesus was hungry.  He saw the fig tree and because he saw leaves on it He also expected to see figs.  In a fig tree, fruit appears the same time as the leaves.  Upon closer inspection Jesus found no fruit and so He cursed the fig tree.  A fig tree is supposed to have figs.  When Jesus discovered there were no figs on the tree, He cursed it.  The fig tree immediately began to wither and die.  The tree was not bearing fruit, so it was useless.

There are plenty of hungry people in our world today.  They are hungry for joy, peace, hope or for some reason to just stay alive.  They have no hope.  The Bible says if we only have hope in this life, we’re miserable, but the fact is, we have been promised eternal life.  That’s something to rejoice about.

If we who are (abiding) in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.  1 Corinthians 15:19 AMPC

A lot of Christians are like that fig tree.  They have leaves but no fruit.  They are advertising, “look at me!  I’ve got fruit!”   If you advertise you are a Christian, people are going to be looking for fruit.  Sadly, however, most Christians have nothing but leaves.

When you apply for a job, one of the first things they will ask you is, “Do you have any experience?” 

Experience is a valuable commodity.  The longer you live the more experience you have…normally.  The older you get the wiser you should be but some are still dumb at 85.

The synonyms of experience are:  exposure to, observation of, awareness of, insight to.  The meaning of experience is:  practical contact with and observation of facts or events.

Experience can be taught, rather it is caught.  Experience is the greatest teacher.  From experience you learn life’s greatest lessons.  You learn things that can’t be taught in a text book.  You can learn facts and truths about your profession, but only when you actually begin working in the field will you gain experience.

Here’s an important truth to remember.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”  ~ Soren Kierkegaard

The things you are facing now that seem horrible, you will look back on in 10-20 years and thank God for it.

Sounds strange, right?  But I’ve heard people say when they received a diagnosis of cancer was the darkest day in their life, but after going through it, they learned so much and actually became a stronger and better person.

If you don’t have experience, you don’t have anything much to say.

How much experience do you have? 

Have you faced adversity?

What do you do when life doesn’t turn out as you expected?  You trust God!

(See my Blog post for September 15, 2016, What To Do When Life Doesn’t Turn Out As Expected)

You may have a calling but you need experience.  Take your time.  Don’t get impatient.  Learn your lessons well.  Don’t despise the tests and trials you are going through…they only serve to make you stronger.

When you gain experience you will be better equipped to help others.  If you faced cancer and survived, you can bring hope and comfort to that one who has just received the awful news they have cancer.  If you’ve been betrayed by your spouse and survived divorce, you can be that shoulder to cry on.  If you’ve lost a loved one, you can hold that one up who just lost the love of their life.

Experience can be painful, but it is priceless.

The Voice

 

 

 

 

 

Will The ‘Real’ Church Please Stand Up?

To Tell the Truth was a television panel game show that first aired in 1956.  The premise of the show was for a panel of four celebrities to correctly identify a described contestant, who had an unusual occupation or experience.  This central character was accompanied by two impostors who pretended to be the central character.  After questioning which of the three contestants were telling the truth, the host would ask, “Will the real (person’s name) please stand up?” 

Will the ‘real’ church of Jesus please stand up?

Where is the ‘real’ church, the church of the Bible, the church that Jesus called to be the church in the New Testament?

There are an estimated 37 million churches in the world with 50,000 new ones added every year and no two are the same.  In fact, 1/3 of the world’s population are Christ followers and it is growing exponentially too.  These figures do not count the millions of underground and house  churches where it’s dangerous to profess your faith publicly.

World Christian Encyclopedia by Barrett, Kurian, Johnson (Oxford Univ Press, 2nd edition, 2001)  refer to 33000+ total “Christian” denominations, but define the word “denomination” as an organized Christian group within a specific country.

What is the Church?

The church is not actually a building but is composed of a body of believers, called the Body of Christ. 

In the Gospels we read where Jesus calls His disciples to come and follow Him.   These ordinary men followed Jesus and watched Him heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons.  He even spoke to a storm one time and told it to, be still, and immediately the Bible says there was a great calm.

There’s another incident where Jesus and His 12 disciples were walking along one day and Jesus was hungry.  He saw a fig tree.  He went to get some figs, but there were none on it.  He cursed the fig tree and it died.

After Jesus’ resurrection and just before He ascended back to Heaven, He gave marching orders to His little body of Believers.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”  Matthew 28:18-20 KJV

He gave the church a job to do and He gave them the power to do it on the Day of Pentecost when He sent the Holy Ghost.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”  Acts 2:1-4

After the infilling of the Holy Ghost, the early church was set ablaze with the fire of God from Heaven.  They picked up where Jesus left off and that was exactly what they were called, chosen, ordained and sent to do.  They literally turned their known world upside down preaching the Gospel.  We can read about all the amazing things they did in The Acts Of The Apostles.  It’s called The Acts, because they acted.  They did exactly what Jesus told them to do in Matthew’s Gospel.  But something has happened to the church along the way.  The church has lost it’s message, it’s meaning and it’s power.

What has happened to the church?

In my opinion, the church as a whole, is not preaching the true Gospel.  The true Gospel is the real Gospel.

What is the real Gospel?

The Greek word from which the English word “Gospel” was translated from literally means, “a good message, or good news.”  It really means more than just “good news”.  It’s more like “nearly-too-good-to-be-true news.”  This perfectly describes what Jesus did for us on Calvary.

Most Christians today think the word “Gospel” is just a word that identifies religious things.  They think preaching the wrath of God and a dooms day message is the Gospel, but it’s not.  It’s true there is coming a Judgment Day, when those who haven’t accepted Jesus’ sacrifice will be turned into hell, but that’s not “good news.”  It’s certainly not “nearly-too-good-to-be-true news.”

Putting any stipulations on what we have to do to obtain God’s free gift of salvation denies grace, and, therefore, is not the Gospel

We can’t earn salvation.  We can’t do enough good works to acquire it.

 The Apostle Paul defined it this way, “the gospel…is the power of God unto salvation.” 

The power that we need to get saved and all of the benefits of salvation, Jesus provided for us in the atonement, and that is the Gospel.

The church has not heard the ‘real’ Gospel.  The church has heard get saved to avoid hell, they’ve heard man made doctrines and traditions, but not the ‘real’ Gospel.

I’m about to say something that will knock most Christians off their feet.

Sin will not send you to hell.  I repeat.  Sin will not send you to hell.

The only thing that will send a person to hell is rejecting God’s Son and His supreme sacrifice on Calvary.   We must be “born again” as Jesus told Nicodemus.

What are the conditions for Salvation?

To obtain God’s free gift of salvation, we confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.  That’s it.  That’s how you are saved.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  Romans 10:9,10 KJV

Notice it doesn’t say anything about confessing your sins.  It says to confess the Lord Jesus.  Your sins will not send you to hell.  It’s refusing to accept Jesus Christ that will send you to hell, but of course, when you accept Him your desire to sin will be gone.  You will want to please Him and sin does not please God.  Sin separates us from God.  That’s why Jesus came and died for our sins.  He died to reconcile us back to God.  We were broken in the fall of Adam.  Adam sinned and because of him sin came on the whole human race.  The second Adam, which was Jesus, came to restore us back to our rightful relationship with God, our heavenly Father.

The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Church

The church was organized by Jesus while here on earth with a handful of raggedy men, who were transformed on the Day of Pentecost.  The church was God’s idea, His plan and the church is very needful.  The church is to tell the Good News of the Gospel.

The church of our day is lacking in many areas.  It is a mere shadow of the early church after Pentecost.   I’ve made a list of some areas where I think the church is lacking or missing it today.

• Misunderstanding of the ‘real’ or true Gospel
• Misunderstanding of the conditions for Salvation
• Misunderstanding of the benefits of Salvation
• Misunderstanding of the church’s commission as given by Jesus
• Lack of power
• Lack of a real love for God and therefore, true love for His people

In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul prayed for the church.  I’m not going to write it here, but I encourage you to read it.

I’ll break it down to basically two things Paul prayed.

• That the church be filled with power
• That the church be filled with love

The church of today needs the power of the Holy Ghost and the love of Jesus to carry out Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.

The early church was effective because they were strong in these two areas.

You might say there are many churches who are impostors today.  They claim to be the church, but are lacking in love and power.

We need to pray for our churches and Pastors to be the church of the Bible.  We must look to Jesus as our example.  He is the head of the church and we are His body.  We must strive to be like Him.

Christ will have a victorious church!  Not only did Paul pray for the church, Jesus, the head of the church did too in John the 17th chapter.  God will answer His Son’s prayer.

My question is:  Will the ‘real’ church please stand up?

The Voice

What are your thoughts?  How do you see the church today?  Please share if you would like to add anything.

The Negligent Christian Voter

 

During the Presidency of Bill Clinton and right in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I heard many friends, family, and co-workers make this same statement with much consternation, “I didn’t vote for him!”

Every time I heard this statement, I always thought, well somebody voted for him!  Several people, who say they are Christians, made this declaration, either to me or my husband…I don’t like him, or his platform, but I believe he’ll help the economy…to which I wanted to reply, “Phooey fish!”, or some other expletive!

I’m so weary and wary of the negligent Christian voter these days.  What happened to faithfulness to the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ?  Do we just lay down our Christianity for the love of money and the economy?  As the Apostle Paul says, “God forbid!”

If you say you’re a Christian and you vote for a political candidate who endorses same sex marriage and abortion, then there’s something wrong with your Christianity.

Sincerely,

The Voice