What is my purpose for living?

I read about Paul's purpose this morning. He wrote the following to the church in Colosse:

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart

and united in love, so that they may have the full riches

of complete understanding, in order that they may know the

mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the

treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Colossians 2:2-3

Could my purpose be the same as Paul's? If so, who is my "they?" Is it my fellow church members? My family? Orphans in Peru? Muslims in W. Africa? Do I have enough "complete understanding" to share Jesus?

Because I know how much I need encouragement and love, I figure most everyone I meet needs a hefty dose. I can start serving it up right at home. As soon as I wake up, I have a husband, a son, and two daughters to love on and tell how special they are to God--so special Jesus died for them.

How can "they" know Jesus unless I share what little I know about him? I doubt there is time for me to gain the knowledge I think I need before starting to share, either. The mystery was revealed over 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. Time is running out!

So for now, I will continue to dig for the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge during my time spent alone with Jesus studying his word. I will ask Jesus to fill my heart with his indescribable love and take the encouragement his promises deliver and give all that I gather to "them," that is whoever crosses my path. This is my purpose for living.

Keep Your Sword Sharp.

To stay focused on the fundamentals requires keeping our swords sharp. At salvation we are issued a two edged sword, we are granted ears that can hear his word, for it is written:

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power-

making it active, operative, energizing and effective;

it is sharper that any two-edged sword, penetrating to

the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal]

spirit, and of joints and marrow [that is, the deepest parts of our nature]

exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very

thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12AMP

God's living word will activate and energize our lives when we spend time with him listening. Listening keeps our swords sharp. While there we can praise him for equipping us with his two-edged sword. Daily Meditation on his word combined with praise of our almighty God makes for powerfully effective days. We can ward off our enemies successfully.

And while spending time alone with him, his word exposes where we are in error, sifting, analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of our hearts. We can then confess and asked to be filled with his Holy Spirit. Cleansed and filled children of God change the world in miraculous ways. The ripple effect spans the globe. Let's remain accountable to each other to keep our swords sharp, shiny and by our side. The world needs to hear the magnificent word that God speaks.

Fundamentals

I once read a memorable story about Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers. He was a fanatic about fundamentals. One time when his championship team lost to an inferior squad, he called a practice early the next morning. The team had no idea what to expect from the man they feared the most. With gritted teeth, staring holes into each athlete, Lombardi began the meeting with: “Ok, we go back to the basics this morning . . . .” Holding a football high enough for every one to see, he continued to yell: “. . . gentlemen, this is a football!”

In our Christian life, we lose to an inferior squad every now and then. Satan and his team can get the best of us at times. During those losing days, we may need to get back to the basics: Keeping our eye on Jesus, our Master Coach and keeping our hands on the ball. Our football is the Holy Bible. I’m not a yelling football coach, but if you could see me now, I’d hold my Bible high and say, “Christians, let’s stay focused on the basics of our game—the Holy Bible at all times.”

May God grant us Victory in Jesus more and more each day.

A P.S. for Today's Entry

After I wrote today's blog I ran across a quote (in my personal journal) that confirms today's entry. I felt I should share it with you. Enjoy!

When we live life centered around

what others like, feel, and say, we lose touch with our

own identity. I am an eternal being, created by God.

I am an individual with purpose. It's not only what

I get from life, but who I am, that makes the difference.

Neva Coyle

Prayer for Confidence in One's Identity in Christ

This week I am asking God to give you confidence in your identity in Christ. Many Christians are in an identity crisis. Our human nature causes us to be driven by a desire for approval. I pray you will seek to derive security from Christ alone.

People-pleasing makes me think of Paul’s questions in Galatians 1:10: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

O Dear Jesus, our Rock and Salvation,

I lift up the precious readers of this blog to you in prayer. May their souls find rest in God alone; their salvation comes from you. You alone are their rock and salvation; you are their fortress, they will never be shaken. May each one find rest in God alone; their hope comes from you, dear Lord. Their salvation and honor depend on God, no one else. You, God, are their mighty rock and refuge. May they trust in you at all times, pour out their hearts to you for you are their refuge (From Psalm 62:1, 2, 5-8).

Remind them that they have been selected (Ephesians 1:4), saved (Ephesians 1:7-9), sealed (Ephesians 1:13), seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6), are secure (Ephesians 2:19), and strong (Ephesians 3:16).

In the powerful name of Jesus Christ I pray all these things. Amen.

Worshipping a Worthy God

One of the hindrances of true worship is attempting to double up in service to make up for quality time spent in prayer and praise. Sadly, this problem prevails in most churches today. Our sovereign God knows that the opposite—placing worship as our top priority, describes his best for us. He has told us so through the familiar story of two sisters—Mary and
Martha.

According to the gospels, Jesus visited Mary and Martha’s home on a regular basis. On one occasion, Martha was running around frantically trying to serve everyone while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet hanging on his every word. Finally, Martha became so overwhelmed that she went to Jesus and complained. She asked Jesus to make Mary come and help her, but Jesus’ reply to Martha’s complaint was, “Mary has chosen what is better” (Luke 10:42).


God considers worship seeking him. Mary chose to seek the face of Jesus. To God, the act of seeking him far outweighs non-stop service. The Hebrew word for seek is baqash. It means to search out by any method, specifically in worship and prayer, to strive after, ask, beg, beseech, desire and enquire. Let’s pray for each other that we will strive after our Lord and take time out of every day to sit at his feet and enquire of him.

(Definition found in the Hebrew Dictionary in the Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance, Expanded Edition, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Editor Warren Baker)

Spiritual Disciplines

A good conscience is a tender conscience. The consciences of the godless may be so calloused that they scarcely ever act at all; but the healthy Christian conscience is constantly in operation, listening for God's voice in his word, seeking to discern his will in everything, active in self-watch and self-judgment. The healthy Christian knows his frailty and always suspects and distrusts himself, lest sin and Satan should be ensnaring him unawares; therefore he regularly grills himself before God, scrutinizing his deeds and motives and ruthlessly condemning himself when he finds within himself moral deficiency and dishonesty.

The healthy Christian has a sense of God's presence stamped deep on his soul, trembles at it, and tests and reforms his life daily in response to it. We can begin to assess our real estate in God's sight by asking ourselves how much exercise of conscience along these lines goes into our own daily living.

J. I. PACKER

Dear Lord,

Please teach me how to be a healthy Christian. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24). Forgive me of my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can follow where you lead and serve the way you want me to serve. In the powerful and precious name of Jesus Christ I pray all these things. Amen