Category: Purpose

God’s Answers to Big Questions

Our identity determines much about how we speak and act. Recognizing who we are is a critical piece of knowing how to respond to the various humbling challenges, mind-bending obstacles, heartaches and heart-breaks that arise in our lives.

This is true about other critical answers to big questions in life, not just the question, “Who am I?”

There’s destiny. Where am I going in life?

There’s purpose. Why am I here?

There’s possibility. What am I capable of?

And there’s community. Who will join me and support me on this journey?

All the answers to these questions can give us greater confidence and hope in our lives. Or the answers we have can demolish us and break our will.

If I’m “nobody” that will inform all my actions. If I believe my life is “going nowhere” that will affect my energy and my drive. If I’m sure that there is no end goal, no real purpose to my life, it can be pretty hard to even get going in the morning. Life becomes just one endless series of meaningless tasks.

If I think I have no gifts or talents, and no promise from a loving God to powerfully be with me, I will easily give up when obstacles arise. If I believe I’m alone is life, with no allies and no friends or family to support me, I will isolate myself and be subject to loneliness, frustration and spiritual attack.

That’s why I’m so grateful that God is clear about his answers to all these big questions. In the love that he has lavished on us, he has responded on our behalf to all five questions. He’s supplied those answers in Jesus Christ, and in the good news of his gospel promises.

Identity? By faith in Christ, we are called children of God, and that is what we are.

Destiny? Jesus is coming, and we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.

Purpose? The world does not know him, but God definitely wants us to let the world know about him! We have a Great Commission given us by Jesus!

Possibility? All who have this hope purify themselves, just as he is pure. Our sins have been forgiven and  it is now possible for us to live a Christ-centered life to the glory of God.

Community? We have a Father, we are his children, and that means we have — through faith in Jesus Christ — many brothers, sisters and friends!

Don’t let anyone commit “identity theft” on you! Or destiny theft. Or purpose, possibility or community theft either. Make no mistake, that’s what the devil and all his “criminal forces” want to accomplish.

Secure your ID by leaning on gospel promises like this. And hold on tightly to what Jesus has given you!

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3, NIV).

Lord, thank you for your Son, Jesus. Through your gospel promises, help me to hold on tightly to my God-given identity, destiny, purpose, possibility and community. Keep the devil far away, and prevent him from stealing any of these from me. Help me to glorify you in all I do by meeting challenges in my life on the basis of my gospel-given answers to the big questions in life.

Our Bible reading for Wednesday, December 2, is Daniel 8:15 – 9:19, 1 John 2:28 – 3:10 and Proverbs 29:10-18.

Header image based on "Identity Theft" by GotCredit, CC By 2.0

Why We Pray for God’s Enemies

The apostle Paul understood the power of government. Intriguingly, the Roman government of his day was not supportive of Christianity. Not even close!

Nero was in power at the time Paul wrote these words. He would become the instigator of some of the most violent persecution against Christians in all history. Yet, Paul still encouraged believers to pray for those in civil authority, even if they seemed to be God’s enemies.

Why? Because they are the ones who — from a human point of view — could create the conditions that would make the spread of the gospel much easier, or on the other hand, much more difficult.

God’s desire is that all people hear the gospel and be saved. There is only one who can mediate between God and mankind, Paul writes. That’s why spreading the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ — that sole mediator — is of paramount importance to God.

If our witness to Jesus Christ is critical, Paul reasons, then having the right conditions of peace, security, easy travel, fast communication and economic stability are extremely valuable.

We can still pray today for governments and civil authorities around the world. We pray not because we are of any party or political persuasion. We pray not because they are friendly toward God, or supportive of the spread of the gospel. Because they may not be friendly toward or supportive of either of these!

Instead, we pray that those in authority will create the right conditions for the gospel, so that it can be spread to more and more people, and they may know Jesus as “the Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”

Sometimes we pray for God’s enemies simply so that God can make more friends.

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:1-6, NIV).

Lord, I pray for those in civil authority. I ask that we who are Christians may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. I ask that you will allow me to be a witness to Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. Through my witness may many people come to a knowledge of the gospel, to a knowledge of the truth about the ransom your Son paid for all mankind.

Our Bible reading for Saturday, October 17, is Jeremiah 35:1 – 37:21, 1 Timothy 2:1-15 and Psalm 119:49-56.

Header image based on "Roman Crown" by Shaun Dunphy, CC By-SA 2.0

A Blessed Person!

Are you a learner? A curious person?

That’s what Solomon was. He loved getting new information. When God offered to bless him in any way he wanted, Solomon asked for greater wisdom.

The Bible tells us that instruction is good, and it is especially good when it is filtered through trust in the Lord. Trust in God, with a steady flow of instruction, will lead to a healthier faith in God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” Solomon stated as he began to write the book of Proverbs (1:7).

That’s why we constantly encourage people to keep reading their Bibles and be instructed in the truths of the Scriptures. Solomon also wrote, “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord” (Proverbs 16:20, NIV).

Intriguingly, many years later, the apostle Paul finds this Proverbs passage confirmed by his own experience. He too was a curious man — loving to learn.

As a Pharisee who did not believe in Jesus, he put his knowledge to work persecuting Christ-followers. But once Paul had been confronted by Jesus, and became a Christ-follower himself, he put his knowledge to work for a new purpose: sharing Christ with his fellow Jews, and especially with Gentiles.

As a result of this, persecution began to come his way.

But through it all, Paul feels blessed. He has had God’s help all along. And despite what might befall him, he is absolutely confident that he has devoted his life to the right purpose.

I hope for you that your life is filled with the same sense of purpose as Paul’s. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you are a blessed person. Because to be a person who blesses others is to be a blessed person yourself!

“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:20-23, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Tuesday, July 7, is 2 Kings 14:23 – 15:38, Acts 25:23 – 26:23 and Proverbs 16:18-27.

Father, thank you for rescuing me from the dominion of darkness, and bringing me into the kingdom of the Son you love. Help me to devote my life to bringing others into that same kingdom, and to be blessed by blessing others.

Header image based on "Colossians 1:13" by Tito and Eva Marie Balangue, CC By 2.0

Clear Purpose = Unstoppable

Peter and the other apostles now knew precisely what their purpose in life was.

As they told the not-so-friendly Sanhedrin, Jesus is their “Prince and Savior.” He had called them to repentance and given them forgiveness for all their sins. They had been privileged to see Jesus crucified and then resurrected.

There was only one thing that would ever suffice as their life’s pursuit from this moment on. They might still go fishing occasionally. But that was no longer their calling in life. No more tax collecting. No more trying to zealously eject Rome from their homeland. There would be no more of anything that couldn’t be worked around so that they could do the main thing.

And that main thing was crystal clear to them. They were left behind to witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. Teaching his love, forgiveness, grace and mercy, and instructing people in his truth — this was their life’s purpose and mission from now on.

“Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him…'” (Acts 5:29-32, NIV).

And this clarity of purpose is exactly what made the apostles resilient, relentless, and unstoppable.

“…They (the Sanhedrin) called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah” (Acts 5:40b-42, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Tuesday, June 9, is 2 Samuel 14:1 – 15:12, Acts 5:12-42 and Proverbs 14:15-24.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, help me to be as crystal clear about my purpose in this life as the apostles were. You have sent me your Son to be my Prince and my Savior. Jesus won forgiveness and eternal life for me and all people. You have given the Holy Spirit to us in the word and sacraments — there is great comfort in this! We are witnesses of these things. Help me to be unstoppable in sharing your love and your grace.