Category: purpose in life

We know also that the Son of God
has come and has given us understanding,
so that we may know him who is true.
And we are in him who is true —
even in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:20 (NIV)

The Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone. The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big thing.

Many fads come and go but Jesus is exactly the answer to the wanting of the heart. In our culture today, every new item to hit the market steals the headlines only for a brief moment and then fades into obscurity. God knows our short attention span and how easily we are distracted so He sent Jesus to be a permanent satisfaction to the longing of our hearts.

Jesus came to reveal God to us. He has given us the clearest picture yet of what God is really like. Because of Jesus, we can know God, the only one who is truly genuine. Because we are in Christ, we share that special bond with the Father and find in him a whole new quality of life. This life won’t end when our bodies die, and eternal life begins now, as we walk with him each day and extends unto forever. For the eternal and transcendent God to make himself known to us is grace. For him to do it in Jesus is salvation… God is the same yesterday, today and forever… no need for a new and improved savior!

Holy and awesome Father,
I know that because my life
is joined to you through Jesus,
I will enjoy your presence forever.
I love you for all you have done for me
and the terrible price you paid
to redeem me from my sins.
I love you for creating me
and having a plan for my life
when no one else knew
I was even conceived.
Most of all, I love you for being God
and choosing to be the kind of Father
who wants his children
to know and love him.
In Jesus name. Amen.

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way.
Proverbs 19:2 (NIV)

Maybe one of the most important things we can do to grow in spiritual maturity is to find the right things to get passionate about. We can get riled up about some of the most inconsequential issues. We can get wildly passionate about everything from sports to chocolate pie. But zeal, passion for an issue, must be anchored to spiritual wisdom and understanding. We can get worked up over something and completely miss the will of the Lord because we were blinded by our own passions. While I want zealous people around me, I want them to be zealous for God’s things and for Kingdom issues.

Powerful and perfect God,
I find it so easy to get “all wound up”
about something and then lose
my zeal for it by the next morning,
or I get so roused to action,
I go off half-cocked
and do terrible damage.
Dear Father,
please give me the wisdom to
see what is best and right and true.
Holy God, I want to serve and honor
you and bless others in your name.
In Jesus’ wonderful name I pray.
Amen.

It is not that we think we are qualified
to do anything on our own.
Our qualification comes from God.
He has enabled us to be
ministers of his new covenant.
This is a covenant not of written laws,
but of the Spirit. The old
written covenant ends in death;
but under the new covenant,
the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLT

Unfortunately, most folks who claim to follow Jesus miss the incredibly radical claims of the apostle Paul. We are not under law. It’s not that the righteous demands of law are bad, but they have no power to change us — not down inside where the problems in our behaviors really reside. Instead, when we surrender our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. With the gift of the Spirit’s presence come both the power and the urge to be more like God — holy and righteous, gracious and compassionate. Written laws ultimately convict us of our failures, but this “law,” the principle of living by the Holy Spirit of God within us, is life-inspiring and enabling. Rather than a law demanding us to be holy, we have the presence of the Holy One inside us urging, leading, empowering, convicting, and transforming us to be like Jesus.

Holy God,
I appreciate the Ten Commandments
and the rules, regulations, and laws
you gave your people through Moses.
I hear your call to me to be holy —
to be righteous and compassionate
like you are. Yet I know, dear Father,
that without the empowering presence
of your Holy Spirit and the gift
of your grace in Jesus,
I would never measure up.
I ask that you give me life,
hope, holiness, joy, peace, passion,
endurance, and grace as I seek to yield
to the Spirit’s influence in my life.
I ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

 

Why do the daily routines that we struggle with rob us of so much joy? It is good to take a break from the stress of life and there is no better way to destress than finding a time of worship. There are many churches within close proximity to where you are right now, some may be close enough for a short walk. Why not risk a small amount of time seeking worship instead of just taking in more stressful distractions today? It is a chance to re-fresh and re-create just like God intends for us.

Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12 (NIV)

While many substitute saviors have been offered, only the True Messiah saves. While we often live for many masters, but only one Lord liberates and sets us free from sin and death. While many ways are claimed to bring us close to God, Jesus insists that he is the only way, the truth and the light.

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are
filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Proverbs 24:3-4 (NIV

So we’re driven to one ultimate reality: do we believe salvation is in Jesus alone, or do we not. It’s our choice. But what we decide about Jesus is really deciding about everything. Is Jesus your Lord? Is Jesus the name above all names in your life? Is Jesus your Savior? If not, then please reconsider, for the Bible says: “Salvation is found in no one else.”

Thank you, Almighty God,
for choosing to share your
grace with me in Jesus.
May I never take the precious
name of Jesus in vain.
May Jesus himself come and reign
as Lord in my heart and in my life.
May Jesus be seen in the
way I treat others.
May Jesus know that there
is no other rival for
my allegiance to him.
In that precious name of Jesus,
your Son and my Savior, I pray.
Amen.