Something New (Part 3)

Something more

Matthew 4:18‭-‬20 KJV

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalms 42:1‭-‬2 KJV

The sea was calm, flat, nothing new. Weather conditions were the same as the day before. They threw the net and no fish came back with it, so they threw it again and again. It takes patience to be a fisherman.

In the middle of that day's work, they heard, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19). That was the moment: it was something different from everything they were doing. Suddenly, the water was not so interesting anymore and the nets lost their significance. Fishing was normal, but fishing men?

Through an invitation, everything became different. Peter and Andrew, at once, left their nets. Nothing else mattered, the new was standing before them. They abandon the trivial, for now they would no longer be fishermen. They would be something more. They did not hesitate, they simply followed. Something inside them desired for change, something inside them wanted more.

Do not settle for your everyday. When Jesus calls, crave for something more. Do not let the routine erase your dreams, do not let religiosity destroy your faith. Leave your nets and follow Jesus.

Shalom.

Something New (Part 2)

Something in return

1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:15 KJV

When I was younger, it was always a disappointment to get clothes as gifts. After all, how could we have fun with socks or T-shirts? Oh the joy of getting toys!

Over the years our tastes change. We do not want any more toys, we want a purse, a car, and even clothes. A ten year old does not need a car, but a young man dreams of driving even before he has a vehicle. Our gifts change, just as our tastes, expectations and needs.

God is like a father, who before giving the gift, needs to see the maturity of his son. It is of no use giving a great blessing to one who isn’t able to manage and enjoy it. God knows exactly how mature we spiritually are. He knows the measure and the time to bless us. It is not enough to just want something new, you have to be prepared to receive it. 

God in His word shows us that there are conditions for the whole Christian life. It is of no use to want something from God, if you still do not understand that in order to receive, you first have to give.

Shalom. 

Something New (Part 1)

Something Old

Isaiah 43:18 KJV

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13‭-‬14 KJV

When we travel, we take a little bit of everything: for cold weather, we bring coats; for sunny days, we bring dresses or shorts. Jeans are always needed, so we take them too. We are filling our suitcase thinking, "I may need this in the future".

That’s exactly what we do with our lives: we carry heavy and unnecessary baggage. 

After all, it is very difficult to leave behind our favorite blouse, the one that has been with us for such a long time. It’s difficult to get rid of addictions, they are all so very well kept. What about disappointments? We've carried them for so many years, we even forget they're in the suitcase we carry everyday. In our walk we must leave things behind as we go. If the bag is too heavy, we will be in pain, or maybe we won’t even be able to reach the end of the trip. 

When we accept Jesus, He carries our suitcases and confirms that we no longer need to carry all that weight. He takes away everything that overwhelms us by setting us free. Free to the point where we can run and not get tired. Jesus cares about your “today”, and for that reason, your old burdens do not weigh on you anymore.

We must learn how to let God take all our luggage, do not take whatever’s old with you.

Shalom. 

Union With Christ (Part 7)

2 Timothy 2:13 KJV

Union and Communion

A name you’ve seen repeated throughout this book is John Owen (1616–1683), and that’s because he’s one of the writers who has thought best and most about communion with God. In his book Communion with God, Owen makes a distinction between union with Christ and communion with God that remains so helpful for us today.

On the one hand, our union with Christ is fixed and unalterable. It does not rise and fall with our faith or the quality of our lives, with what we’ve done or failed to do. Our union with Christ is as certain as Christ’s irrevocable love, which does not wax or wane. It is as sure as Christ’s grip on our lives, and his promise that nothing can snatch us from his hand (John 10:28).

On the other hand, our communion with God does change and vary. It is affected by our faith and what we choose to do or not do. To be clear, the love of God for us does not change, but our experience of it does. Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

Jesus is saying that the way we respond to God will affect our experience of him. If we trust God and obey him, then Jesus promises he will “manifest” himself to us. He will make himself more apparent. Jesus couldn’t be clearer that we will know God better by obeying him more.

Our response to God is not the root of his love; it is the fruit. But the fruit is where the nourishment drawn from the root manifests in sweetness and beauty. And the presence of fruit will give us greater assurance that our lives are rooted in him: “By this we know that we have come to know him, if you obey his commands” (1 John 2:3–6).

Now why is this distinction between union and communion so important for us? Because we naturally fall into the trap of assessing the security of our union (Does God really love me?) on the strength of our communion (How am I feeling? How am I doing?). And we get seduced into thinking it’s up to us to keep it up.

Abiding then becomes a chore, a box to check, a bar to clear—“Read your Bible!” comes across like, “Clean your room!” “Pray more” sounds like “Do more.” It then becomes easy to feel frustrated and think, “But I’m not getting anything out of this. So why bother?”

Don’t you see how this is like standing up in your sailboat and blowing on your own sail? Not only will you never move forward this way, not only will you exhaust yourself, but how could you ever rest? How could you ever have any assurance that God loves you if the ground of your confidence is your own frantic blowing?

Thank God that the basis of our acceptance is found outside of us in our union with Christ! Christ is always faithful, even when we are not (2 Tim. 2:13). We change, but he never does. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:5). One of the Puritan writers put it memorably, “Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by.”

Shalom. 

Union With Christ (Part 6)

Philippians 1:6 KJV 

Doldrums

To extend the sailing metaphor we’ve drawn through these two chapters, there is also a nautical term known as the doldrums. The doldrums are an area near the equator where the water is especially warm and so the wind can die down suddenly, leaving a ship stranded for an extended period of time.

The word doldrums has carried over into common usage to mean a period of listlessness, depression or stagnation. Just as experienced sailors know to expect the doldrums, so those who want to grow in God’s grace must know to expect the doldrums.

The doldrums are an important, even necessary, part of learning to abide. They protect us from the dangerous temptation of enthroning our experience of Christ over the real Christ. See, if you always got a high, or a spiritual surge, every time you drew the sail, it would be easy to shift into pursuing your own immediate gratification instead of pursuing Christ.

It might become less about the horizon and more about another spiritual jolt. In the name of seeking God, you’d be using God to help you maintain a sense of control over your own life.

But precisely because it is the real God you are seeking, by definition this means you must give up your right to control him. You can’t control the wind! You are utterly dependent on a power outside of you. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). It’s a terrifying truth, but in order for it to break through and become life-giving to us, we have to be made aware, sometimes painfully so, that we can’t coerce or control God by our own frantic maneuvering.

Think about how silly and pointless and exhausting it would be for someone to stand up in his sailboat and blow with all of his might onto a limp hanging sail. How sad. But isn’t that how many of us approach these “means of grace”—if we just try hard enough, we’ll be bound to move? No wonder we get so easily flustered.

The doldrums train you to place your trust in God and not in your own frantic blowing. There will be, even must be, times when you draw the sail and nothing happens. You are doing everything “right.”

You are reading the living word, but it does not seem alive. You are praying to the living God, but it seems like no one’s listening. You are worshiping, but it just sounds like noise. You’re doing all you know how to do, yet you are stuck.

The doldrums are there to remind you that it is the real God you are seeking. You must wait on him because he is God. He is not in our service. We are in his. Waiting on him means… waiting on him. How else would we learn to wait other than by waiting? Waiting on God is critical to knowing God (Ps. 130:5–6) because it teaches us that we are not God.

In terms of a biblical picture, we can be like a tree planted by streams of living water, meditating day and night, and still be in a season with no visible fruit on the vine. Psalm 1 describes this tree, which “yields its fruit in season” (Ps. 1:3), implying that there are other seasons where there is no fruit.

Every tree has seasons of winter, when it looks like nothing is happening. It may almost look dead. But far below the surface where no one can see, the roots are forcing their way down deeper so that the tree can bear more fruit when spring comes again.

Union With Christ (Part 5)

Galatians 5:1 KJV

A Weary World Rejoices

First, to our paralysis. Union with Christ gives us permission to rest. We don’t have to be burdened by the weight of the possible. We do have so many choices. But union with Christ says there is one choice more important than any other choice you will make: Thy will be done or my will be done?

As long as your will is set on following Christ, you can rest in the choices you make. You don’t have to be frozen in fear because your life is no longer in your own hands. You can surrender your plans to Christ, who has joined his life to yours.

Second, to our anxiety, to that old way of trying to justify our existence by our own work. Union with Christ tells us, “you have died,” to that way of living. To the angst that comes from feeling like you’re not allowed to fail, or to the feelings of inadequacy that come from feeling like you have. To those human questions “Am I significant? Have I done enough? Am I accepted?” the answer is “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1).

This is the precious biblical truth of justification (Gal. 2:16). You no longer have to justify your life. You don’t have to worry, like Jay Gatsby, about others thinking you’re a nobody. You don’t have to go the distance, like Rocky, to prove you’re not a bum. Christ marries himself to you and in a wonderful exchange, you give him all your sins, and he gives you all of his righteousness.

In Christ, you are significant—he makes you so. In Christ, you are secure—he gathers you to himself and keeps you safe (Isa. 40:11). In Christ, you are accepted. But that acceptance no longer has to be earned or maintained; it is granted by grace and guaranteed in Christ. This doesn’t mean you stop working, but it does mean you now work in a totally new way. You no longer work for approval; you work from approval.

American Idol was one of the most popular television shows of all time, and for the contestants, one of the most nerve jangling. A single missed note could cost you the competition, but winning could change the course of your life. At the end of each season, when the competition was over and the winner had been crowned, she took up the microphone and sang one more time. But she was no longer singing to win; she was singing because she had won.

It was no longer a contest. She had nothing more to prove or earn. Instead, the chosen and honored performer could sing with all her heart, delighting in her gifts for the benefit of others. That’s the freedom from anxiety the gospel gives. You have already been chosen and crowned in Christ, so now you can do what you do with all your energy, delighting in whatever gifts God has given you for the benefit of serving others.

Shalom. 

Union With Christ (Part 4)

James 1:19‭-‬25 KJV

Grace and Demand

Any conscientious reader of the Bible at some point asks, “How do I reconcile these voices?” Are they incompatible? Is the Bible inconsistent? Does the Bible teach an extravagant grace that asks nothing of us, or radical discipleship that demands everything from us? Which is it?

The church is in desperate need of a way to express the grace of the gospel and the demand of the gospel in a way that enhances both without canceling either. If you have ever asked these questions—union with Christ is your answer.

For example, the Letter of James, like the Sermon on the Mount, sets a very high bar for the Christian life. James uses strong language. “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? (James 4:4).

Either we turn down the volume on James (“Now he doesn’t mean …”) or it becomes a cudgel with which to batter even the most faithful among us. Who can read the letter of James, in good conscience, and not cry out, “Who then can be saved?”

Only union with Christ allows us to read James not as a crushing burden but as an uplifting possibility. The letter of James is a litmus test—are you in Christ? But if you are, then James becomes encouraging, even beautiful to you. You can persevere under trial (Ch. 1), have a living faith (Ch. 2), tame your tongue (Ch. 3), rest in not knowing what tomorrow will bring (Ch. 4), and love the poor (Ch. 5)—because you are married to Christ. James describes the life that Christ died to enable you to live.

The Bible teaches us that we can be united to Christ, and our union with Christ, in turn, teaches us how to read the Bible. If you are united to Christ, then from him come both grace and demand, which together lead to a life of joy. Listen for the dynamics in Jesus’ own words:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. [You hear the grace in this]. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. [You hear the demand following right after. And then you hear the consequence]. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." -John 15:9–11

Shalom.

Union With Christ (Part 3)

2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 

which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19 KJV

A Reality to Grow Into

My grandparents both died in recent years. They were married for seventy years. I called them Dear and Hacko—“Hacko” was my childish mispronunciation of my grandfather’s middle name, and “Dear” because Hacko said that his wife was too pretty to be called anyone’s grandmother. They were so close to one another that I can hardly speak one of their names without the other’s.

Dear and Hacko were deeply in love. After so many decades together, they could finish each other’s sentences. Dear could probably tell you, verbatim, all of Hacko’s many stories. And boy, was he a storyteller! It’s an inherent part of being a Southern man, but Hacko was uniquely gifted in this capacity.

Hacko could no doubt tell by the tone of Dear’s voice or the tilt of her head what she was about to say to him as well. They felt each other’s joys and pains, successes and failures. They always turned to one another, included the other. It would be foreign to one of them to make a plan that didn’t include the other. They had lived life together for so long that they truly became one.

Now, objectively, they were no more married on the last day of their life together than on their wedding day, seventy years before. When the minister first pronounced them “man and wife,” they were fully and completely married. Legally, they became a new entity, a married couple. They shared a family name. Their most significant possessions were no longer “his” or “hers,” but “ours.” They began to be “one.”

But subjectively, their experience of this new identity grew over time. The sentence-finishing, mind-reading, need-anticipating, thinking of the other before themselves—that grew with the years. And just as in a long marriage, your experience of being found in Christ is something that will grow over time.

Christ has wed himself to you. This is not just a declaration to agree with. It is an objective reality to live into. He has fully atoned for you, and he is now with you, assuring you that with him, you have the resources to overcome anything that threatens to overwhelm you. To paraphrase Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this is not an ideal to be achieved, but a reality to be embraced.

Shalom.

Union With Christ (Part 2)

1 Peter 2:24 KJV

What is Union with Christ?

Faith is how union with Christ becomes operative and powerful in your life. Faith is a God-given gift that allows you to take hold of God’s having taken hold of you.

If you are in Christ, this is now the defining truth of who you are. Your life, your story, becomes enfolded by another story—Another’s story. That’s one way to define faith: faith means finding your identity in Christ.

“I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Paul is unusually personal here because he wants it to be utterly personal for you. He wants you, too, to be able to say, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

I have a friend who used to be Mickey Mouse. She was the person inside the costume at Disneyland. Reflecting on her time “in Mickey,” she says, “Growing up, I thrived on behavior modification. I thought: If I’m good, I will be loved. If I’m bad, I will be rejected.

I learned to wear a mask—not to show what was really going on. My core beliefs were that I was not worthy, accepted, or loved, so I would clamor and manufacture ways to elicit the positive responses I wanted from people.

When I put on Mickey’s costume, I got that positive response times a hundred.” She felt safe and loved, covered in Mickey’s “righteousness.” But she also gained a new sense of what it means to be in Christ. She recalls praying, “Lord, is this what it’s like to have masses of people run towards you with joy, excitement, and eagerness?”

This is another way to picture what it means for you to be in Christ. You are completely safe, hidden in him. He represents you before the Father. He covers you—your sin, your shame, your weakness. But he covers you in a very real way, not as a temporary fiction.

Being “in Mickey” (or any other mask we hide behind) is to masquerade in a false identity. But being in Christ is to discover our true, God-given identity. You are alive in him, moving with him through this world, clothed in all his benefits and blessings. You are in Christ.

To be found in Christ means you don’t have to prove yourself anymore. Your frantic attempts to find or craft an acceptable identity, or your tireless work to manage your own reputation—these are over and done. You can rest. In Christ. You don’t have to be intimidated by anyone, ever. Who are you? You are in Christ! And you no longer need to fear the judgment of God (1 John 4:18). When God looks at you, he sees you hidden in Christ. This is freedom. This is confidence. This is good, good news.

Shalom. 

Union With Christ (Part 1)

Galatians 2:20 NIV

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

Mind the Gap

A skeptical friend once asked me, “If the gospel is supernatural, as you say, then why doesn’t it seem to make more of a difference in the lives of so many who claim to believe it?”

That’s a great question and not just for skeptics. Because the gap between what Christians claim is true about themselves and what we often see when we look in the mirror—that gap is real.

Melissa knows it and John Newton knew it. And I’m writing this book because I’ll tell you a secret. In my job I’ve learned there are a lot of people out there who feel alone and afraid, who feel like a fraud.

Do you feel the gap? Having the courage to recognize it and admit it is the first step in this gap being closed. You must mind the gap.

But it’s certainly possible to ignore, or not be bothered by, the gap. I’ll never forget the first sermon I ever preached. As I stood at the door afterwards greeting people on their way out, one older man patted me on the shoulder like I was a young cub scout and said, “Well, that was a nice sermon. Now, back to the real world.”

If, like that man, you never try to connect the truths of God to your everyday life; if you construct a wall to divide the sacred “nice sermons” from the secular “real world”; if you keep Jesus and his authority safely tucked away in heaven where he can’t threaten your way of doing things, then this gap won’t concern you. It won’t even occur to you that it should.

Neither will this gap concern you if you believe that the gospel means you have a ticket to heaven when you die and that grace means you don’t need to strive to obey Christ while you live. If you believe “It is finished” means there’s nothing then left for you to do; if you consider Jesus’ call to discipleship to be optional, reserved for the cloistered few or super-committed, then you won’t be bothered by the gap either.

And sadly, many Christians have lived with this gap for so long that they no longer mind it. Ernest Hemingway ends his novel The Sun Also Rises  with the line, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” And isn’t that how many of us feel, in the quiet of our hearts, about these grand, high promises in the Bible: “Rivers of living water,” or, “Whoever drinks of the water that I give him shall never thirst” (John 7:37; 4:14)? Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so? Now, back to the real world.

Shalom. 

Created For Purpose (Part 5)

JOHN 15:4‭-‬5 AMP

Anointed for Purpose  

What Is the Anointing?

Becoming who we were created to be is possible only through the grace, power, and anointing of God. Our purpose has a heavenly origin, and therefore it is beyond the perception of our natural senses. It transcends the boundaries of human reason and ability, as well as the limits of physical law. Thus, we categorically need the supernatural power of God to fulfill His unique assignment for us on earth. It follows that if you believe you can achieve your purpose according to your own ability, it surely is not God’s true purpose for you!

The supernatural power to carry out a purpose, call, or assignment from God is known as “the anointing.” In the previous devotional, we talked about our need to go through God’s process of transformation and maturation. It is only through process that we can be prepared to receive God’s anointing. To “anoint” means to endow someone with divine ability to do what they could not do according to their own nature and gifts. To effectively fulfill the purpose God has given you, you must have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Know the Purpose of Your Anointing

The nature and measure of your anointing are given in accordance with your unique purpose. This divine ability is not given to you arbitrarily. It is not given to you with an option to use it or not. And it is not given to you merely for your own purposes. It is granted exclusively for the fulfillment of a specific purpose, call, or assignment. Whether that purpose is in the area of business, the arts, education, sports, technology, law, ministry, politics, government, science, medicine, or anything else, it can only be achieved in God. Therefore, no matter what sphere of influence or territory He has assigned to you, if you are working on the purpose He has given you, then you can be assured that God will provide you with His anointing.

Some people have divine ability, but they don’t know the reason for which God has anointed them. Because they don’t know how to connect their anointing with their purpose, they become extremely frustrated. Others don’t even recognize that a divine anointing awaits them. This is one of the reasons why many people feel empty and unhappy. They are ineffective or unproductive in their lives because they are operating outside of their calling and purpose.

But when we are anointed, we are supernaturally empowered to do the impossible! Acts 10:38 says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Are you facing something impossible? Are you trying to fulfill your purpose in your own strength? If your answer to either of these questions is yes, it is time to begin seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit so you can receive God’s supernatural strength and wisdom.

We always need to keep in mind that nothing God sends us to do is possible on our own. For example, Jesus has entrusted us with this mandate: “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:7–8). This mandate can only be accomplished when we are anointed with power from on high. Therefore, Jesus explains, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Receive Your Anointing

It is God’s will that we live under the anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish our purpose. The only place from which we can minister to others is this place of anointing. We have to choose the way of God because then we will be empowered to bring His kingdom to earth through our assignment.

Thus, the anointing is the grace and supernatural power of God that enables us to fulfill the purpose or call that the Lord has given us. The anointing is granted exclusively to fulfill a divine assignment that separates and consecrates us for a specific mission in life. In addition, the anointing is proof that we are operating in the right calling. It comes to us in that place where we surrender our will to the will of the Father.

Have you received an anointing from God? Have you undergone the process of being formed so that you can know your purpose and correctly apply your anointing? Surrender completely to the Lord so that He can fulfill His plans in your life, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit can empower you to achieve the impossible for God’s kingdom on earth.

Will You Accept the Challenge?

As we conclude this devotional, here is your challenge: Draw closer to God, seeking Him in the intimacy of prayer and worship. Submit to the process that He has prepared in order to form your character into the image of Christ. Be filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And commit to live according to the purpose for which you exist on earth. The price is high and the process is hard, but the reward is to live in Christ to the fullest, be involved in the advancement of the kingdom of God, and leave a legacy of blessing to subsequent generations. 

If you are willing to receive this challenge, I invite you to pray this prayer with me:

Heavenly Father,

Today, I make a commitment to seek You more, to know You more intimately, and to know myself in the light of Your presence. I pledge to seek the right environment to maximize my potential and serve a vision given by You. I await the supernatural encounter initiated by You that will launch me in my destiny and move me toward fulfilling my purpose on earth. Here I am, Lord! I am willing to do Your will, and not my own. Grant me Your grace and power to endure all adversity and overcome all obstacles that stand in the way. I know that in You, I will do great things for Your kingdom. I pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.

Shalom.

Created For Purpose (Part 4)

Romans 5:1‭-‬5 CSB

Processed for a Purpose  

In the spiritual dimension, nothing is in the process of being created and nothing will be created in the “future.” Everything is fully developed, mature, complete, ready, or formed. Additionally, everything in the spiritual realm is instantaneous, occurring in an eternal present. In contrast, in the natural dimension, we are governed by time. That is why, after being created in heaven, everything that is formed on earth in fulfillment of God’s plan requires a process. This includes our life and our purpose.

Your purpose has already been established by God. However, there is an enormous distance between creation and formation—becoming what He created us to be. We need to undergo a process—usually a series of processes—for our purpose to reach maturity or fullness. And the aspects of our purpose will unfold as we await God’s earthly timing for fulfillment. We carry something powerful from God in the Spirit, but we must be ready to go through His process, so that what has already been created in the spiritual realm can be manifested in the natural realm.

The Law of Process

Just as there are universal laws in the natural world, such as the law of gravity or the laws of motion, there are laws in the spiritual world. Universal laws cannot be avoided, annulled, or changed. The law of process is one of them. It is not optional, but rather a law to which every purpose of heaven is subject.

A process is a continuous series of actions, steps, and changes that lead to a result or destination. Again, we undergo this process in order to be formed. To be “formed” means to be fully developed, completed, finished, or trained. Growing in our purpose necessitates that we adapt to new levels of maturity, intellect, and character. Without a doubt, we must often go through painful stages involving periods of adjustment and adaptation, until we reach the development and transformation that our purpose requires.

If we don’t go through this process, we won’t be able to enter into our destiny. Many people know in theory that they were created for a big purpose, but they haven’t been taught how to achieve it or what to do with it. Others understand the idea of process, but they aren’t willing to submit to it, and so they miss out on their potential. For this reason, breaking the law of process can be lethal to our calling.

Total Transformation

The main purpose of process is to achieve a total transformation in our lives. God’s process leads to the transformation of our spirit, soul, and body. We are to be transformed into the image of Christ, which is a continuous and progressive process that takes us “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

What can we expect from this process of transformation? Here are some of its divine purposes.

1. Transformation changes our heart. All transformation into the image and likeness of Christ originates in the heart, not in the mind, even though the mind is also renewed. We cannot truly be changed merely by applying a mental understanding of sound principles. We must first be transformed in our spirit. When our spirit is renewed in Christ, we can undergo change in our minds and emotions.

2. Transformation leads us to know God as our total reality. Our transformation by the Holy Spirit gives us an awareness of the reality of God and enables us to receive revelation of the Father’s mind. If we allow ourselves to be guided and changed by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to see God, in His splendor, in every area of our life.

3. Transformation leads to a demonstration of God’s power, dominion, and authority. The divine process allows us to experience God in the “now” and manifest His life and power in our environment. The more advanced the transformation of our body, mind, will, and emotions, the more we can demonstrate the power of God and spread His kingdom with the authority that Jesus won on the cross.

4. Transformation enables us to become a bearer of the glory of God. Transformation also brings the presence of God and makes us bearers of His glory. Wherever God’s presence is, heaven invades earth, and God does what man finds impossible. You can become a bearer of the glory of God if you allow yourself to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

5. Transformation puts to death the old nature. Each time we allow the Holy Spirit to bring change and healing to our minds and emotions, more of the power of the old sinful nature within us dies. At the same time, the holy nature of Jesus grows in us until we are transformed into His likeness. 

As we become more like Christ, our transformation brings about the development of our personal character. Having mature character is a foundational condition for fulfilling our eternal purpose on earth. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength and wisdom to submit to your personal process of transformation so that you can recognize your calling and achieve your purpose.

Shalom. 

Created For Purpose (Part 3)

Psalms 25:14 CSB

The Revelation of Purpose  

If we want to know our purpose, we must go to the Source—to the Person who created us, and that Person is God. God’s Holy Spirit is the One who reveals His mysteries to us, and if we are hungry to discover our purpose in life, He is willing to disclose it. He will show us the truth of who we are and the reason for our existence.

There is a significant difference between the process of “discovering” something and the process of receiving revelation. Discovering involves acquiring knowledge through studies, research, experiments, statistics, and so on. It also refers to seeking out what is unknown. Receiving revelation, on the other hand, is a supernatural process in which our spiritual senses are opened to God and our understanding is enlightened.

When we receive revelation, this knowledge comes directly from God by the Holy Spirit. As we have seen, God does give us indicators of our purpose that involve natural processes of observing and analyzing, but we must set those indicators alongside the revelation of His purpose for us in order to confirm our calling.

The process of receiving revelation is vital for us to understand because many people confuse the purpose of their life with the profession for which they prepared in college or trade school. The two may well coincide. However, education is a function of the natural realm, while purpose, although it operates in the natural, has spiritual characteristics, and its effect is supernatural and eternal. Therefore, education may prepare us for a job, but it does not prepare us for a purpose.

Receiving Revealed Knowledge

How does the revelation of God’s purpose come to us? 

The Holy Spirit is in charge of revealing our unique, unrepeatable, and eternal purpose. The Spirit chooses the way in which He reveals our purpose, and it is different for each person. Is there anything we can do to cooperate with Him in the revelation of this purpose? Can we prepare our spiritual senses to be open to receiving His knowledge? Yes, we can! Here are some vital guidelines for doing so:

Know God

No one can know their purpose without first knowing God. When we know Him, we find out who we are, and we turn our hearts toward His purposes. We need to seek the Lord because aligning ourselves with the one true God is the only way we can really understand what we were created for. We must dedicate time and effort to knowing Him better, to understanding His plans and our role in them.

When we truly know God, we stop questioning and resisting His will for us. Whoever questions the voice of God has a problem because they are not in harmony with His heart and mind. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). With this metaphor of sheep, the Lord is referring to the people who have a covenant with Him, those who know His heart, His love, and His teachings, and who obey them faithfully and wholeheartedly.

The best way to know God is to recognize His voice, and one of the means by which God speaks to us is through His written Word. In the Scriptures, God reveals who He is. He Himself inspired the Scriptures to make Himself known to mankind. When we know God’s Word, we will know Him, because His Word tells us His nature and will.

In addition to knowing God’s Word, we need to be in continuous communion with Him through prayer, fasting, and seeking Him daily. “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psalm 25:14).

If we want to know our purpose, we must come to know God in a deeper way, and a significant means by which we do this is by worshipping Him. It is during worship that God reveals Himself to us, and in that revelation comes the knowledge of our purpose. As our relationship with God grows, we will receive more revelation of our calling.

Be in the Right Environment

To fulfill our purpose, we must be in the right environment—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and geographically. If someone is in an environment that does not cultivate, nourish, or develop their purpose, they will be unable to accomplish it.

Think about the current environments in which you live, in all aspects of your life. What are you doing to prepare and adjust these environments for the nurturing of your purpose? Your preparation can range from simple matters, such as having better organization in your workspace, to greater issues, like discerning which friends and associates with whom you should spend your time. Recognize that if you are not in the right environment, you will be hindered from achieving your purpose.

Serve a Vision

The idea of “vision” is often defined as how we see our future. However, in terms of purpose, vision is God’s perspective on our future. It is what He reveals to us as we develop an intimate relationship with Him.

If we want to know our purpose, we must be committed to a vision. Whatever vision you have—whether it is to be a doctor, firefighter, scientist, builder, musician, businessperson, writer, nurse, pastor, or apostle—it is almost always necessary to begin by serving the vision of someone else and being faithful in that capacity. Often, by serving someone else’s vision, we can find the place of our own purpose because vision is the point where purpose begins. 

We can say that our purpose reflects who we are, but our vision guides us to where we are going. We must have a strong vision to be able to reach our destiny.

Receive a Supernatural Encounter

I believe God reveals and confirms our purpose by using supernatural means, such as a dream, a vision, a sign, a prophetic word, or a supernatural encounter. We can receive a revelation of our destiny through a supernatural encounter directly initiated by God. The pattern we see throughout the Scriptures is that God presents Himself to His people through such encounters. In those meetings, He reveals people’s purposes and callings. A supernatural encounter makes God “real” to us. He Himself becomes the reality in which we live. After an encounter, He is more real to us than any opposition, persecution, disappointment, or even blessing.

Supernatural encounters transform your heart, reveal your purpose, and activate your calling. If you want an encounter with God, you must be hungry for Him and eager to know His purpose for you. Through encounters, God makes you a bearer of His presence, purpose, and power. Ask the Lord to open your spiritual senses to perceive what He wants to reveal to you.

All of the above involves a process that is often lengthy but has incalculable value because, through it, our character is formed and we are prepared to be successful in fulfilling our destiny in God.

Shalom.

Part 6: Hearing God Speak

1 Peter 2:2‭-‬3 CEB

In this text God commands us not to be spiritual fatalists. The word for long here is very simply the word desire — it’s a command to desire.

What this means is that if you feel stuck because you don’t have the kind of spiritual desires that you should, this text says, You do not need to be stuck! It says, Get them! Get the desires you don’t have. If you don’t desire the milk of the Word, start desiring it!

Now, that is amazing. A command to desire! A command to feel longings we do not feel. A command to feel desires we do not have. Is anything more contrary to spiritual fatalism than that? Fatalism says, I can’t just create desires. If they’re not there, they’re not there. If I don’t feel things the way the psalmists seem to feel things when they say, “;As a deer pants for the flowing streams so my soul pants for you, O God’ (Psalm 42:1) — if I don’t feel that way toward God, then that’s that. I just don’t. I'm not like the psalmists. That’s the dangerous voice of spiritual fatalism.

But God says, Desire the pure milk of the word! Now before you raise all kinds of objections, like, How can you command me to have a desire? What can I do to obey a command like that? How do I just produce a desire? You may as well tell a lame man to walk.

Can you imagine such a thing — commanding a lame man to walk? Who could do such a thing? We know. Let us ask God to create in us the miracle of longing for his word.

Shalom

MSG BY: John Piper

Created for Purpose (Part 2)

Romans 12:3‭-‬8 NIV 

Indicators of Purpose  

We cannot understand our God-given purpose through our intellect alone. Rather, it is revealed and confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit. (We will explore this theme further in day 3 of this devotional.) Nonetheless, God has designed each of us in a particular way that provides indicators of our purpose. These are like unique seals of the destiny that God designated for our life before the foundation of the world. The following are some of these indicators:

Holy Frustration

Those who feel a “holy frustration” in the face of the injustice, poverty, ignorance, immaturity, sickness, depression, mental illness, marital breakdown, and other issues and problems in the world cannot stay the same afterward. They feel they have to do something about these issues. Their frustration is an indication of their true purpose, which prompts them to bring positive change to individuals and society.

Holy Anger

What situation makes you angry enough to want to change it? Anger turns into holy indignation when we have the ability to focus our anointing, efforts, and faith on an issue, with the aim of producing transformation. When this happens, we are ready to move forward with our purpose. It is when we say, “Enough is enough!” and start working on making that change. 

The Ideas That Occupy Your Mind

What ideas occupy your mind? Do you find yourself thinking about matters relating to the family, ministry, business, justice, education, or medicine? You should start paying attention to your thought patterns, because they will help reveal your purpose. Thought produces action, and repeated or persistent action creates a habit. There are both good and bad habits, but all good habits are related to purpose.

A Desire to Pursue a Particular Endeavor

Similar to the previous point, whatever you continually seek out or diligently pursue is an indicator of your purpose. What have you been chasing all of your life? What would you still like to achieve? Is it a type of ministry? A business? A particular vocation? Consider what you reach toward most in both your thoughts and actions.

A Particular Compassion for Others

When Moses saw a fellow Hebrew being beaten by an Egyptian, he felt moved by the fate of his brother. This was because his life calling was to free his people from slavery and oppression. Jesus was moved to compassion by the state of people’s lives as He toured cities and villages and taught in synagogues. We can learn to discern God’s purpose for us by what moves us to compassion.

A Holy Passion

Whatever awakens a “holy passion” within you is another indicator of your purpose. It is a burning desire, an internal fire that never goes out. Such passion produces a strong motivation to be or do something in life. Moses’s passion was to be in the presence of God and speak with Him face-to-face. Joshua’s passion was to fight until God’s people had conquered the promised land. David’s passion was to worship the one true God with all his might. John the Baptist’s passion was to prepare the way for the Messiah. Paul’s passion was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. What is your passion?

A Sense of Accomplishment and Fulfillment

If you are motivated to do something in particular, and it gives you a feeling of accomplishment, this is a further indicator of your purpose. When your work or any other activity does not lead to a sense of fulfillment, then that is a sign you are not in your purpose. Start observing the activities in your life that cause you to feel fulfilled. What activity fills your heart with joy?

A Divine Burden

I define a “divine burden” as an obligation that leads us to perform an action. It is a situation that we cannot bear, and feel we must resolve. We take it on and do not stop until we have done something about it. For example, if you see people living on the street, without any food to eat, and you feel that you need to help remedy this situation, you have identified your purpose of helping the homeless. If you see people who don’t know God, and you feel you have do something to show them the way to the Father, you have identified your purpose of teaching or evangelizing. If you see the devastation that results from broken homes, and you feel you must bring hope in such situations, then you have identified your purpose of restoring families. What burdens you? If you identify your divine burden, you will identify your purpose.

Supernatural Grace to Accomplish Something

We need to diligently pursue our purpose, but we don’t have to strive to do it because we will receive God’s supernatural grace for it. If there is a task that is generally considered difficult, but you find easy to do, this means that you are working in the supernatural grace of God. I call this “the grace factor.” 

The grace factor is not the same as “situational grace,” which comes at a given time for a specific purpose. We should not base our life’s purpose on something that happened to us once, or even happens to us occasionally. When God’s anointing, grace, and power continually come upon you with regard to the same endeavor or activity, it is an indicator that you have identified your life’s purpose.

I encourage you to carefully consider all of the above indicators of purpose. Pray that you will be able to recognize the specific indicators of your unique calling and begin to walk toward the glorious destiny God has for you.

Shalom.

Created for Purpose (Part 1)

Jeremiah 1:4‭-‬5 NIV

One of the biggest problems many people face today is not a lack of time, although they may think that’s the issue. Rather, it is the exhaustion and emptiness they feel—even after working hard and being involved in many activities and tasks—because they don’t have a clear direction in life or know what they really want to achieve.

Four Crucial Questions

Every human being wants to know the purpose for their existence. In fact, there are four main questions that we all seek to answer for our lives: (1) “Who am I?” This is a question of identity. (2) “Where do I come from?” This is a question of origin. (3) “Why am I here?” This is a question of purpose. (4) “Where am I going?” This is a question of destiny. We will experience genuine fulfillment when we find the answers to these crucial questions. And the only one who can reveal the answers to us is our Creator.

When we don’t know our purpose, it is like trying to push against the heavy waves of the sea or like walking around aimlessly—we never get anywhere.

Sadly, a large percentage of men and women die without understanding why God created them or discovering their purpose on earth. When our lives lack meaning, time itself can become a difficult burden to carry. In contrast, those who know their purpose walk safely through life and are even pursued by success. When I refer to “success,” I do not necessarily mean achieving fame or becoming rich, especially since both of these con­ditions tend to occupy the lowest rungs on the happiness scale. True success comes from doing the will of God and fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. Everything else is extra.

Successful people conquer kingdoms, create nations, and shape history. History does not make them; on the contrary, they make history. When any person dares to think and live differently from the norm, obeying God and following His purposes, they will leave their own mark on the world. If you want to influence the history of your life and that of your family, your city, and even your nation, you must realize that you have been created for purpose.

God Created Everything with Purpose

People who lack purpose often do not understand or accept themselves, so they end up competing with those around them. They will try to imitate someone else’s appearance, seek to take the place that belongs to another, or attempt to steal the blessings that have been poured out on others. Such competition arises from a missing sense of identity and an ignorance of the fact that each individual has a distinct purpose in life. Those who do not know their purpose will always be insecure.

God has a purpose for everyone and everything He created. We can define purpose as “the original intent or reason for which something was created.” In the case of human beings, our purpose is the original intent of God—His determination and desire for us when He gave us life. When I refer to our “creation” by God, I am not talking primarily about our earthly birth, but rather our design by Him in eternity, outside of the kronos, or chronological time, that we function under in the world.

Contrary to what many people think, life begins in heaven, not on earth. God designed us in heavenly places before we came to live on the earth. Since everything in God begins with His original intention, we were a fully formed idea in His mind before we ever received our physical bodies. Therefore, we can say that, before we are born, we already “are”—and we have already been given a unique purpose by our Creator.

Purpose Gives Significance

Purpose gives our lives significance because, once we follow it, we begin to make a difference in the world. Without purpose, our day-to-day life lacks meaning; it becomes merely the passage of time. In effect, those who live without knowing their purpose act irresponsibly because they do not know how to properly value their life, and they end up wasting it. This is the reason why many people are unhappy, dissatisfied, empty, unfocused, depressed, and alone.

Furthermore, God has given each human being a period of time to fulfill their purpose on earth. That is why it is necessary for us to understand and start to follow that purpose as soon as possible. We can­not waste time! We must live with a clear and defined mission for our lives. The Bible states, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). It is time to discover your purpose and begin to achieve it!


Shalom. 

Part 7: Hearing God Speak

II Timothy 3:16‭-‬17 NKJV

2 Timothy 3:16–17,

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, "17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

That is a remarkable phrase: “every good work”! Everything good that God expects us to do, the Scriptures equip us to do. That is an amazing claim. How does it work? How does the Bible equip us for “every good work”?

It’s not by supplying specific lists that cover all possible situations. Thinking that way would be a mistake in two ways. It would be a mistake because there are hundreds of specific situations we are in that the Bible does not specifically address. There were no TVs, computers, cars, phones, birth control pills, Prozac, genetic engineering, respirators, bullets, bombs in Jesus’s day. The Bible does not equip us for every good deed by telling us the specific choice to make for every new situation.

The other reason it would be a mistake to think that way is that it leads straight to legalism — doing things because of outward conformity to a demand in the hope that performance will win approval. That is not Christian morality. Good works are done from a heart that treasures God and his help, and from a heart that loves to display the glory of Christ, else the good works are not good, no matter how they conform to external expectations.

The Scripture, day after day, reveals to us the greatness and the beauty and the power and the wisdom and the mercy of all that God is for us in Christ so that by the power of the Spirit we find our joy in him, and the ways of sin become distasteful — indeed ugly and repugnant. Yes the Bible gives us many specifics as pointers how to live. But most deeply the way the Bible equips us for every good work is by changing what we find satisfaction in so that our obedience comes from within freely, not by coercion from without. It does this when we read it and meditate on it and memorize it and meditate over it every day.

Shalom

MSG BY: John Piper

©2014 Desiring God Foundation. Find many other free resources by John Piper at desiringGod.org