Our Purpose

July 21, 2018

Our Purpose is to Glorify God!`

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 At the right time he revealed his message through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior. ​ – Titus 1:3 ISV​

Titus 1:1-4 ISV

Not much is known about Titus, except that he is of Greek descent.  He is mentioned in only 4 books of the Bible. Paul calls him “my true son in the faith” and “my fellow worker”.  The same phrases that Paul used to describe Timothy. Just as Paul wrote letters of encouragement and instructions to the churches, he also wrote letters of encouragement and instructions to Timothy and Titus. He showed the same care and concern for individuals as he did for the churches he had established. The purpose of these letters was to further the faith of the elect and to instruct them in their knowledge of the truth.  Just as surely as God had His missionaries teaching the Gospel, satan had his disciples trying to tear it down with confusing and divisive stories.  It was true then and it is still true today.  That is why we need to spend time in disciplining new converts and being sure that they are well established in the faith and will be able to continue on to good works. We need to be sure that they understand that God is THE truth and that God is love, then they will not be easily shaken or deterred from leading others to Christ.  If we do this job well, the Kingdom of God will continue to grow and God will be given honor and glory. By doing this, we will be fulfilling our purpose here on earth, which is to bring glory to God.

 
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. — Hebrews 13:20, 21 NIV
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
Post 07-21-2018
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December 7, 2016

Reasons for Seasons

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1 For everything there is a season,

    a time for every activity under heaven.  –Ecclesiastes.3:1 NLT

As we travel on our journey with Jesus, we all have seasons that we go through, some are short, others longer. Some are joyous, others are sad. Some are lonely, others seem so crowded that we lose touch with our Master. Some are stormy, others calm and peaceful. God allows these seasons in our lives for His own reasons and purposes. But, always remember, we are just passing through on our journey to spend an eternity with Him. And we are never alone, He is always with us. Take a few moments to consider what you are going through right now. Are you allowing your emotions and feelings to rule your life? If so, it probably seems like you are on a roller coaster that never stops. All year long, but particularly now, let the peace of God rule in your life and enjoy His presence. Do you want to get off that roller coaster of emotions and feelings? Accept Jesus into your life as your Savior and Lord and He has promised:

5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
    and the rough places made smooth.
6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’ — Luke 3:5-6 NLT
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
Post 12-07-2016
May 14, 2016

Have A Love Affair!

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2  Kiss me and kiss me again,    for your love is sweeter than wine.  
— Song of Solomon 1:2 NLT
Song of Solomon 4:1-15 NLT
The Song of Solomon is a love letter from Jesus to HIs chosen bride, the Church. It explains how He sees the Church in its purest form, when all the members are living in unity with each other.  It gives us a glimpse into the depth, length and width of His love.  It shows what great lengths to which He will go to get us to spend time with Him. Everything He created was created for one purpose.  That purpose was to bring all the glory to Himself.  A part of that glory is the exaltation of the Church to the postion of His chosen bride.  For the marriage to bring Him glory, the bride must be spotless.  He has assured that purity by washing each member in His own blood.  When the Holy Spirit comes to each of us, He is not bringing an invitation to the wedding, He is coming with a question from the Bridegroom. The question is, “Will you marry me?”  Such love demands a response and a total commitment.  Keeping that commitment is not always easy and in the flesh,it is seemingly impossible.  But, it gets so much easier when we understand that a Holy lifestyle is really about having a love affair with Jesus. The thing that Jesus really wants from us is to be treated the way we treated our first real love.  Remember that?  That person was on our mind constantly,we were always contemplating how great it would be the next time we were with them and what we could do to please them.   Jesus wants us to think about Him that way. Take some time today and just spend it loving on Jesus and allowing Him to love on you.  He’s waiting to hear from us now.
Post 05-14-2016
May 1, 2016

Worthless Silver

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21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day! — 1Kings 10:21 NLT
1 Kings 10:21-29
Can you imagine being blessed so abundantly that you would consider silver as being worthless?  I don’t think my “imaginer” works that well.  And we must remember that Solomon did not ask for wealth, he asked for wisdom. Since he recieved all the worldly goods he did not ask for, the wisdom that Solomon did ask for and receive would have been out of this world.  Since it was divine wisdom from heaven, it certainly would have been from somewhere out of this world.  The point is this;  God wants to bless us with super-abundance, but God is not a wasteful God.  He blesses each of us with what we need and as much more as we can handle.  Each of us is blessed with a gift that is to be used for the growth of His Kingdom.  There is one job that God has designed each of us to do and  we can do that job better than anyon else can do it.  Why?  Because God provides us with the wisdom and the resources to do that job.  Not all of us can be great leaders worthy of worldly fame, but each of us has a tremendous job to do in the work of the Kingdom.  Not all of us can handle great wealth, we can see the proof of that when we read the sad stories of the people who win millions in the lotteries and a few years later they are broke.  We see proof of it when great sports figures who received millions of dollars while playing have to file bankruptcy a few years after retirement.  God has a plan and a purpose for each of us.  When we discover that plan and we are content to fulfill His purpose, then we can truly see that “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to HIS PURPOSE”.  
Post 05-01-2016
April 15, 2016

It’s All Around You

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20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you — Luke 17:20, 21 NLT

 Luke 17:20-37

The coming of the end of time and the return of Jesus are discussions that take up a lot of time and energy.  They are used positively in the fact that the hope of Christians is that this is factual and will happen.  They are used negatively by those that are non-belivers because they hear the same story over and over and it hasn’t happened in over two centuries.  There is much discussion among believers because we can’t agree on the meaning of what is written in the Book of The Revelation.  Jesus tells us that only the Father knows the day and the hour when Jesus will return. Mark 13:32-37   Knowing that we can’t really know the time when Jesus will return, let us be concerned about the things we can and do know.  Jesus tell us here that “the Kingdom of God is already among you” and in Hebrews, we are told that we have come to Mount Zion and are receiving an unshakable Kingdom. Both of these verbs are present and future.   Hebrews 12:18-28 

We have the Kingdom of God dwelling in us because the Holy Spirit abides within us.  And one day, we will receive the fullness of that Kingdom when we arrive in heaven.  Our concern needs to be on obedience to God so that we make it to heaven and to bring as many others with us as we can.  Our purpose on earth is to glorify God by witnessing for Him now.  He will take care of the “later”.
Post 04-15-2016
April 13, 2016

Witnessing Is A Christian Imperative

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31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”  — Luke 16:31 NLT
 
Luke 16:19-31
The rich man who had refused to comfort Lazarus was sent to Hades (the place of the dead).  From there, he was allowed to look into Paradise where he saw Lazarus sitting with Abraham.  Realizing how wrong he had been in not showing mercy to Lazarus when they both lived on earth, he began to beg for mercy. “Just allow Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and bring it to me”.  But Abraham reminded the rich man that he had had ample opportunity to help others with his riches while he lived on the earth.  The rich man realizes that the reason he has ended up in this place of torment is because he refused to accept Jesus and his teachings.  Since there is now no hope for him, he remembers his brothers and asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to witness to them.. Abraham tells the rich man that it wouldn’t make any difference, if his brothers won’t believe Moses and the prophets, they won’t believe just because someone returned from the dead.  We find this statement proved to be true over and over since so many refused to believe when Jesus was raised from the dead.  Even now, with all the proof we have of His Resurrection, there are those who still refuse to believe.  Since we don’t know who those believe are, we still must witness to everyone that God puts in our lives.  When we don’t share the Gospel with those around us who desparately need it, we are as guilty of withholding our riches from them as the rich man was in withholding his riches from Lazarus.  Our part is to share the Gospel with everyone, God takes care of the results.
Isaiah 55:8-11
Post 04- 14-2016
October 5, 2015

Help Me!

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​7b …. ​Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. — 2 Cor. 12:7b-10 NIV
​In the verses​ from 2 Cor.11:5 to 12:7a, Paul has been making the case that only a fool would boast about the things that they accomplish in their own strength. He is is making two points. One is that as long as we think we can, God won’t and the other is that we are foolish to think that we can do any of God’s work in our own strength.  Jesus made that fact very clear.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:5

We are not put here on earth to brag and boast about ourselves and our accomplishments.​ Our purpose here on earth is to bring praise to God ​in our words and actions.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.​ — 1 Peter 2:9​

​It is in our weakest moments that God shows up to deliver us, it is when we come to the end of our rope and ask God for wisdom, that He shows us the open door through which He will take us to safety. Therefore, let us, like Paul, delight in our weaknesses and in whatever situation we find ourselves, trust God. ​
​As long as we think we can, God will allow us to struggle on our own.
Post 10-05-2015