Understanding Purpose (Part 3)

Understanding Purpose

“Obedience is far better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22, TLB) As believers in Christ, many have gone to extraordinary measures to heighten their view of the relationship they maintain with the Lord. Some endlessly fast, others pray for hours on bended knee, some give up all material possessions; but without obedience, it is all for naught. This is an effort on the part of those who lack the understanding that all we do should be on the basis of our love of God, not our positional standing. Obedience requires love of God, the passion from my heart; soul, mind and spirit that unquestionably seeks to please Him, not myself. Obedience is the realization that what God desires of me is first and foremost in my desire. What God desires of me regarding others is inclusive in my obedience to Him. Is it easy to obey God? I have heard many people affirm that it is, but I think it is quite difficult. The path of obedience is lined with obstacles and temptations that undermine my intentions. “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to—what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking. But I can’t help myself because I’m no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things.” (Romans 15-17, TLB) Even my own determination isn’t enough to withstand the strongest temptations I face in life. I need something more determined than myself, stronger than I could ever be. It is not simply the obstacles and temptations along my path, it is the sin in me waging war with me; fighting for supremacy. Paul continues this discussion in Romans 7 with this realization: “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” (Romans 7:24-25, The Message) Isn’t that the real question? I am powerless to help myself, but Christ has set me free by setting things right in this life. It is God Himself who lives in me through the power of the Holy Spirit; enabling me to obey in my flesh. “If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth.” (John 14:15-17, TLB) Obedience is rooted in the basis of my love of God in Christ. When you love someone, you inexplicably want to please them. A husband brings his wife flowers on Valentine’s Day. Parents prepare the celebration of their child's birthday. Children remember Mother's Day and Father's Day. We give presents on Christmas. Some do out of obligation, but others do it on the basis of love. Recently, I was visiting my daughter and her children. My little granddaughter handed me a sheet of paper. On it, she’d written in large block letters, “I LOVE YOU”. There was the face of a girl smiling the biggest smile and oversized heart. At the bottom (just so there was no confusion on my part), was her name. It was her gift to me. I didn’t ask her for it, no one forced it out of her; she chose to do it. Obedience is rooted in the basis of our love of God and others; but it is a free choice I must make. If I am to obey God, it stands to reason that I ought to love Him. But my love cannot simply be directed to God alone; I must love others as well. “...whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20, NIV) The results (fruit) of my love are demonstrated in my obedience to God. This then is the fulfillment of my purpose; obedience. Obedience is built on the foundation of love, instilled in me by The Holy Spirit, and always seeks to please God. Christ came to set me free from the bondage of sin and death so that I would freely choose to love and obey God; in order to fulfill my purpose in this life. If I am to fulfill my purpose, I must choose to obey God because I love Him. Obedience is a choice made from love. Purpose is my destiny resulting from that choice.

A Note of Thanks: I would just like to say that I appreciate each of you who visit My Thought-filled Journey. Taking time out of your schedule to read a post on this blog is encouraging to me. Many of those who visit, will from time to time leave a comment. Whether a comment is left is not important. What is important, is that you came. I do hope you find encouragement and inspiration in these words. Please know I will pray with you regarding any circumstance you may be facing. Feel free to write me to say "Hello", request prayer, or share what God is doing in your life. I have not said it enough, but thank you for the light of Christ in your life which illuminates the way for us all.

Note: This post is linked to Spiritual Sundays (hosted by Charlotte).

Understanding Purpose (Part 2)

Understanding Purpose

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave...” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NIV) There is competition in all facets of life; one might even say all life is rooted in competition. Being competitive requires discipline. An undisciplined competitor, regardless of their talent, will not be successful. I have seen athletes with far less talent succeed where athletes with far greater talent have failed. Sports, business, technology, science, medicine, and education all require a level of discipline in order to succeed. Even societies require discipline to sustain success. When there is a fundamental breakdown of discipline, failure soon ensues. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying regarding societies. I do not refer to oppression as a form of discipline. Last week, I spoke about the importance of knowing God’s word and applying it in my life. Additionally, I indicated how closely prayer is tied to knowing God’s word. The bible speaks of how God’s people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge. Jesus spoke of our spiritual enemy, referring to him as a “thief”, Jesus says, “The thief comes to rob, kill and destroy…” To rob me of God’s joy and peace, to kill all my love and desire to please God with my life, to destroy my hope of salvation; the thief is very disciplined. If I am to pick up my cross and follow Christ to Calvary, I’d better have a disciplined life to do it! I can remember when, I struggled to pray. I would often go to the church and assemble with others, listening to the prayers offered to God. I was in awe of the men and women I heard praying prayers of intercession on behalf of others, our schools, teachers, students, families, political leaders, the nation, our economy. These were prayers which inspired me, encouraged me and taught me that this was an area of weakness in my life. Often, I would kneel, but not knowing what to say. I studied references to prayer in scripture, I bought books on prayer, but I failed to understand the fundamental principal of prayer; consistency. I can memorize many scriptures so that I know what God says regarding His promises, how He has saved others, the power of His healing touch, and His divine grace; but without a disciplined, consistent prayer life I will never fully apply my faith in action. I had to learn, not to rely on the prayers of others (although it is good when others agree with me to pray), but to rely on my own will to come boldly before the throne of grace and plead to God on my behalf or on the behalf of others as an intercessor. How do I establish discipline in my life as a Christian? “Pick up your cross daily and follow me.” These are more than the words of Christ; they are the instructions to every believer to maintain discipline in my life. Each day, I should eagerly seek God’s presence and call upon Him to guide me throughout the day; my thoughts, words and actions. Now I’ll be the first to admit that even with this thought in mind, I don’t always uphold my words. Like everyone else, I face trials; so in addition to discipline I need patience. Patience will enable me to avoid the trap of discouragement. Every one of us have expectations; of ourselves and others. When these expectations aren’t met, we face discouragement. Discouragement plants the thought of giving up. Have you ever made the decision to lose weight, get healthier through diet and exercise? You begin with such good intentions, but soon, you find yourself craving that favorite food or you say, “I don’t feel like exercising today”. My thought gives way to lack of discipline and then I find myself discouraged. As I yield to this thought, I soon discover that I’ve given up totally with my goal and I am even more discouraged. Instead of acknowledging to God that I need Him even in this area of my life, I may blame it on my diet being too difficult, the exercises too hard, not having an exercise partner, or someone else. Patience helps me recognize that although I failed, I must not give up; I must press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I don’t have to pray for hours, I can pray anywhere at any time! That’s the marvelous gift of prayer which God has given every believer; open access to Him. If you don’t have discipline in your life, start praying to God; practice daily prayer! Don’t focus on length or quantity of words but the quality of what you say to God. Open your heart up and genuinely speak frankly to Him. Do this every day and you will discover a powerful spiritual tool in your arsenal. You will also recognize a more disciplined life. Next week, I will discuss the importance of obedience to understanding purpose.

A Note of Thanks: I would just like to say that I appreciate each of you who visit My Thought-filled Journey. Taking time out of your schedule to read a post on this blog is encouraging to me. Many of those who visit, will from time to time leave a comment. Whether a comment is left is not important. What is important, is that you came. I do hope you find encouragement and inspiration in these words. Please know I will pray with you regarding any circumstance you may be facing. Feel free to write me to say "Hello", request prayer, or share what God is doing in your life. I have not said it enough, but thank you for the light of Christ in your life which illuminates the way for us all.

Note: This post is linked to Spiritual Sundays (hosted by Charlotte).

Understanding Purpose

Understanding Purpose

I remember as a boy how much I loved model planes and cars. There was always a sense of excitement when I opened the box and looked at all the small pieces of plastic which had to be assembled together to become the finished product. Always, without exception, I would open the folded piece of paper which provided the assembly instructions and a diagram of each piece included in the kit. I would meticulously follow the instructions until I had an exact replica of the image on the box. I didn’t know then, but I believe God was preparing me to be both analytical and solution-driven by learning the procedures for doing things correctly. I'm certain you'll agree with me that knowing and doing are not the same; still the seed was sown in me. I wish I could say that I have always followed procedures correctly, but I would be lying. As a Christian and as a software engineer, I have had my share of failures when I didn’t follow the correct instructions. I once heard a minister say, “If you don’t know the purpose of a thing, you will only abuse it.” I believe that whenever we see the word, “abuse” used as the suffix of a word, it is the result of someone not understanding the true purpose of a person or thing. Child-abuse, spousal-abuse, parental-abuse, alcohol-abuse, and drug-abuse are just a few of the obvious abuses we are most familiar with; I’m certain there are many, many more. How does one avoid becoming abusive? There has to be a way to bypass what Hosea the prophet wrote in Hosea 4 when he said: “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6, NIV) There are three keys to understanding purpose: knowledge, discipline, and obedience. Knowledge: To know the true purpose of anything, I must have knowledge which equips me with a level of understanding so I am successful in what I endeavor to do. A small child may not understand the difference between a left shoe and right shoe, but we would think it quite odd to see a man wearing his shoes on the wrong foot. I have watched hunting programs where men sit in trees or hide in tall grass waiting for the exact moment to shoot a deer, bear, moose or other animal. But those who would use weapons on humans, like what happened in a Kenyan mall, or here recently in DC, tells me that people lack an understanding of the purpose of human life. There is no honor in killing. Those who commit such acts dishonor not only themselves, but all life which the Lord created. The opposite of knowledge is ignorance and ignorance can be quite damaging. I remember attempting to fix a leaking pipe once. I’m no plumber and I have no knowledge of plumbing, but I told myself I could fix this pipe. I approached the problem analytically, using my own knowledge of software solution problem solving: Remove a portion of the leaky pipe, replace it and presto change-o, problem solved! Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize that pipes have to have exact fittings, exact lengths, everything must be precise; I wasn’t precise. I stripped the threads on the pipe and couldn’t remove it. The leak was now worse than before; I failed to use the proper tools and parts correctly to remedy the original problem because I lacked the requisite knowledge. I didn’t know and in my ignorance, I caused a bigger problem for myself. What’s the typical response when we’re stopped by law enforcement for speeding? Officer, I had no idea I was speeding. Our excuse is ignorance, but there is a purpose for posting signs to indicate the maximum speed. Perhaps there are children in the area, perhaps there is road construction ahead, or perhaps the road curves. Whatever the reason, there is a purpose for it. Have you ever come close to hitting another car or pedestrian because you failed to look left or right before turning? The purpose in doing so is obvious but sometimes, we’re in a hurry and purpose becomes secondary to what I want to do. As a Christian, it’s vital that I understand the importance of God’s word and the correct application of it my life. You see, if I don’t understand the importance of prayer, I will abuse it through neglect. I will have a multitude of excuses for not praying. I don’t know how to pray, I prefer someone with faith pray on my behalf, or God doesn’t hear my prayers. These excuses are born from my ignorance of God’s word because the bible says: “...the prayer of the upright is his delight.” (Proverbs 15:8, NIV) God delights when He hears you pray! Why pray? “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14, NIV) When you know God will hear you, you get excited about praying! My Father, the Creator of heaven and earth hears me! When a person doesn’t know that God not only hears, but listens with keen interest in hearing what you say, then prayer for you is erratic, it lacks consistency, and is too often uttered with little sincerity or depth from one’s heart. Prayer is a strategic weapon God has given each believer to fight the good fight of faith. Prayer defeats the spiritual forces of darkness which oppose your life. There is a common enemy to every believer. This enemy seeks to undermine the purpose of prayer in your life; and the common method of spiritual attack is your own ignorance. You’ve heard it said that, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you”, but nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to knowing God’s word. Jesus said: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NIV) The opposite of freedom is slavery and when I live my life in spiritual ignorance, I am a slave to sin, unbelief, doubt, worry, fear, and spiritual defeat. This is why knowledge is so necessary to understanding purpose. Next week, I will discuss the importance of discipline to understanding purpose.

A Note of Thanks: I would just like to say that I appreciate each of you who visit My Thought-filled Journey. Taking time out of your schedule to read a post on this blog is encouraging to me. Many of those who visit, will from time to time leave a comment. Whether a comment is left is not important. What is important, is that you came. I do hope you find encouragement and inspiration in these words. Please know I will pray with you regarding any circumstance you may be facing. Feel free to write me to say "Hello", request prayer, or share what God is doing in your life. I have not said it enough, but thank you for the light of Christ in your life which illuminates the way for us all.

Note: This post is linked to Spiritual Sundays (hosted by Charlotte).