THE “HOW” WITHOUT THE “WHY”

Danny Loeffelholz

I’ve always been cursed with a chronic question. As a child, I continually asked my father and mother, “Why do I have to go to bed at an early hour?” “Why must I brush my teeth?” “Why do I have to eat these tasteless green beans?” I’ve asked the question “Why?” for a long time. I cannot imagine how sanctifying this must have been for my parents! As a pimpled-faced teenager, my craving to know the reasons behind what I was wondering only intensified: “Why must I have a curfew?” “Why can’t I have more freedoms?” “Why should I get a summer job?”

Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author, explains a parent’s challenge with the “Why” question: “Often we don’t know the real answers to the innocent questions they ask, but even when we do, our answers don’t slow the pace of their relentless questions.” Dr. Greene thinks we misunderstand the child’s language. He goes on to say that, we “think that when they ask ‘Why?’ they mean the same thing we mean when we ask” that question. “Our cause-and-effect answers miss the mark, and so they fail to satisfy.”  

WE NEVER GRADUATE FROM THE QUESTION 

There’s something very insightful about that last line, “Our cause-and-effect answers miss the mark, and so they fail to satisfy.” I’m not sure we ever graduate from asking why things are the way that they are. Even as adults, there is something within us that desires to know the motivation, purpose, and truth behind what we observe. 

Dr. Greene explains a parent’s frustration when asked, “Why?” boils down to not knowing the actual answer to the child’s inquiry. Could it be with the “Why” of Christianity we often feel a colossal tension between the need to ask “Why?” and the frustration of not knowing the answer? 

It’s almost like our inner child is pestering the inner parent in us with “Why?” and our inner parent just succumbs to defeat for not knowing how to respond to the question.

UNDERSTANDING THE “WHY” FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE  

This can be a significant problem for Christians. The problem exists when men and women know and try to live out the “How” without the “Why.” This was my struggle as a Christian for many years. 

Immediately after placing my trust in Christ, I was taught about praying, reading my Bible, sharing my faith, having excellent character, and making wise decisions. Each of these are rightful activities of the Christian life. What became problematic for me was my possessing a clear understanding of the “How” of Christianity, without really grasping the “Why” yet.

What then is the purpose behind the Christian life? Is the purpose to earn God’s love and approval? Is the purpose to be a good person and treat others well? Is the purpose to not disappoint your Christian parents? I don’t believe so.

Paul helps us answer this question in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” According to the Apostle Paul, the purpose behind a believer’s life is the gospel. It’s a call to allow the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to sink down in you to the degree that the gospel recolors your world, transforms your views, and reshapes your motivations. God has designed for the gospel to be the sufficient reason for our lives because it is the power of God in our lives (Rom. 1:16). An actual power that’s able to redeem, reconcile, adopt, and transform!

When you know the gospel as the driving-purpose of the Christian life, then the means of living the Christian life becomes more obvious and natural. Far too many Christians attempt to manufacture Christian behavior through their own effort—this leads to unmet expectations and endless frustrations. This reality emphasizes the importance for us to understand the gospel as our “Why” and how it practically changes our lives.

GOSPEL MOTIVATION FOR HOW THE CHURCH LIVES 

The gospel acting as the primary motivation behind how we live is a constant theme throughout the New Testament. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph. 5:1-2). The book of Ephesians is concerned with who the church is now—because of the gospel—in Christ. One can sense Paul’s passionate plea that an experience of being loved by God through the gospel is unparalleled. 

Christ’s love compels our hearts so much that we can no longer consider another love to match what Christ has wrapped us in. Paul’s point is simple; the only way we can truly love people in relationship must come from the compelling love of Christ for you. 

Elsewhere, the gospel acting as the primary motivation behind how we live is thematic in the New Testament. When challenging the Corinthian church towards a life of generosity, Paul doesn’t seek to provoke generosity by commanding or guilting. Instead, Paul allows the generosity Christ has poured out through the gospel to be the driving force of the church’s generous lifestyles because at the center of Christianity is an act of uncommon generosity. 

In fact, Paul proclaims, “I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:8-9). This means that our grasping of Jesus’s radical generosity will parallel the amount of generosity evidenced in our lives.  

Of course, a life of love and generosity are not the only the examples of the New Testaments emphasis on the gospel serving as the “Why” the Christian life. The list continues as the gospel motivates extending forgiveness, serving others, seeking reconciliation, enduring in patience, having a selfless marriage, just to name a few. 

PURPOSE FOR DARK DAYS

When I was a senior in high school, I experienced a pain unlike any pain I’ve ever known. Just four days before my high school graduation, my father passed away from an infection in his brain. My pain and sorrow led me to the common question, “God, why would you allow this to happen to our family?” Throughout the past twenty-five years, God has never really answered my question of “Why, Lord?” 

It has been a quarter of a century of missing my dad. Missing conversations over Oklahoma Sooners Football. Feeling his absence in our family vacation photo with my mom, my sister and her family, and my family. Wishing that he could have met my wife, Kara, and our three boys.

Some days of living in a broken world just feel dark. Far too often we experience the reality of pain. Sorrow, difficulty, and suffering all appear inescapable. Yet knowing your why plays a vital role in our days of darkness (2 Cor. 4:8-10; 1 Peter 5:10). Just to clarify, I’m not contending that God always provides us with the exact “Why” behind each experience of suffering in our lives. But there is comfort provided to us in our pain.

Sometimes, God shows us the reason he has walked us through pain and difficulty, and sometimes God­—in his infinite wisdom—withholds that information. His ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8-9). However, God has provided followers of Christ with a greater reason that supplies comfort and perspective in times of darkness. 

In my days of sorrow, the gospel has been the “Why” to provide comfort and to bring perspective. Comfort by knowing Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection assures that nothing can separate me from the covenant he has made with us (Rom. 8). The perspective of knowing these troubling moments of my soul are not the end. For one day Christ will fully restore all that was broken by the fall and sorrow will have no presence or future.

PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE 

I often wonder if our Christian lives can easily be explained through being nice, morally decent, or ascribing to a faith out of family tradition? Is the world really impressed by this explanation of our lives? In his book Gospel Fluency, Jeff Vanderstelt asks a significant question, “I wonder how often our good, moral lives, disconnected from any gospel explanation, convince people they don’t need Jesus?”

When considering your life, what is the “Why” that explains your life? It’s fascinating to meet a gospel-transformed person who’s different from the spiritually-numb family they grew up in. What about a gospel-transformed person who now, as a young adult, differs from the spiritually-devoid peer group they were so engaged with in high school? Or what about the gospel-transformed person, who once journeyed the way of the prodigal, giving their life to reckless living and self-indulgence, but now has been found and saved by grace? What on earth explains such transformation? The gospel is the only explanation for all of these! 

In fact, the gospel is the most profound and sufficient “Why” that your life could ever have.

Danny Loeffelholz lives in Tyler, Texas with his wife Kara and their three sons. He has a PhD. in expository preaching and pulpit communication from Trinity Theological Seminary. Danny is a pastor at Grace Community Church (Tyler, TX), and previously served on staffs at Pine Cove Camps (Tyler, TX) and Grace Community Church (Bartlesville, OK). You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter (@dannyl76).

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/how-without-why

What is God Accomplishing in my Suffering?

John Piper

What is God accomplishing in my suffering and in your suffering? It’s a question Pastor John set out to answer from 1 Peter 4:12–19, a very important text we all need to understand and return to in times of personal suffering. I’ll read that text now, 1 Peter 4:12–19, and then we will hear from Pastor John. The apostle Peter writes,

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

To explain, here’s Pastor John.

I’m going to talk about why Christians suffer and how they can rise above it. But the same truth applies whether or not the suffering is coming from inside, from a disease, from a broken clutch — you name it. Whatever is tending to tempt you to be angry at people and God, that is (under God’s sovereignty) an opportunity of testing to prove and refine your faith, just as much as if you’ve been hit in the face by a person who hated you because you were a Christian. So the point is, while the text deals explicitly (most of it) with persecution, the principle — under God’s loving sovereignty over our lives and how we handle that — is the same as when the suffering comes from another source.

Keep on Rejoicing

The command is there: keep on rejoicing “to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:13 NASB). I think any suffering in obedience to and in union with Christ is sharing in the sufferings of Christ — even if it’s a hangnail, alright? If you are walking in the path of obedience with Jesus, and you get a stubbed toe, he cares — and it is suffering with him. And it tends to make you murmur and be angry, and therefore, it’s a big deal — not as big as if you were going to die, but it’s the same principle.

“God loves us so much that he will spare us nothing to get out of us what he really hates.”TweetShare on Facebook

This text doesn’t just say rejoice in spite of but because of suffering. That’s jolting. This is not a little piece of advice this morning from the power of positive thinking. “Let’s make the best of it.” “Let’s rise above it.” “Let’s be heroic.” “Let’s have some mind over matter here.” That’s not the point. The point is, you’re being called to do something that is so abnormal and so countercultural and so against human nature, it is supernatural and you can’t do it. And it isn’t for your honor. When it happens, it’s because “the Spirit of glory and of God” has come upon you and enabled you (1 Peter 4:14). And that’s true in those little tough things day by day, and that’s true in the big dangerous things. You can’t do it, but God can. And he gets the glory.

Aliens and exiles are what we’re reading about here, and how they respond to suffering. “Count it all joy,” James said, “when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). I mean, maybe he should have said, “Count it a little joy,” or maybe, “Someway, down the line, joy will come from it.” But why this massive “Count it all joy”? How do you handle that?

There’s only one way that I know of that can be not stupid or not foolish. One reason: God — there’s a God. We’ve been reading Jeremiah these weeks, and it’s just one chapter after another about how God reigns over Moab and Edom and Syria and Babylon. He reigns. That’s Jeremiah’s command and his belief and his message to us. And if there’s a God, and if he’s sovereign, and if he rules Satan and suffering and me, and causes kingdoms to go up and go down, and if he reigns over all the nations, and over all circumstances, and over my cars, and my children, and my wife, and my marriage, and my job, and my sickness, and this church, and he’s good, then it’s not stupid to say count it all joy; he loves you. Well, it’s not easy; but it’s there: keep on rejoicing because the suffering is not a surprise, but a plan.

Trust Your Maker

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you [or among you] to test you [it’s purposeful], as though something strange were happening to you. (1 Peter 4:12)

It isn’t strange. It isn’t absurd. It isn’t meaningless. You don’t tear your hair out and say, “There’s no point” — if you believe in God. You’ll see how it has a point: “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

It is according to the will of God when we suffer; God wills it — even when Satan may be the immediate cause of it. We know that from the book of Job; we know it from 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, where the thorn in the flesh was what? A minister of Satan. Doing what? Humbling Paul and making him holy, so that he would love the glory of Jesus Christ because Christ was overruling Satan’s minister, and turning Satan into a means of Paul’s holiness. That’s the kind of God we have.

“Everybody’s imperfect. But there’ll be no imperfect people in heaven.”

God reigns over Satan, over suffering. And therefore, it’s okay to resist your suffering in prayer and pray against it and ask God to remove it, like Paul did. And sometimes he does, miraculously and wonderfully. And sometimes he doesn’t for holy and wise purposes because he loves us. But his sovereignty is not called into question by the immediate causality of sin and Satan. So many passages of Scripture show that God is overruling these things constantly for our great good.

When I Fall, I Shall Rise

Look at 1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God . . .” Do you see the purposefulness in suffering now? This is God’s judgment upon the church:

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us [Christians whom God loves with all of his heart and gave his Son to die for], what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

So, the judgment of God is moving through the earth. And it begins with churches; the judgment of God comes upon churches. Why? Because he hates us? Not at all. But because he loves us so much, he will not spare us anything to get out of us what he hates. It’s not because he hates us. When a church or a Christian goes through times of darkness and trial, it’s because he loves us so much that he will spare us nothing to get out of us what he really hates — namely, sin.

And we are to count it — under the ashes, under the shadow, under the frown — joy. Not the kind of joy that heel-clicks and leaps in that moment, but that says, as Micah 7:8 says,

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
    when I fall, I shall rise.

He who has brought me into this darkness will plead my cause and vindicate me in time. So much has to be burned up within us. We’re all imperfect; everybody’s imperfect. But there’ll be no imperfect people in heaven. And a lot of God’s process of getting us ready for heaven is to burn the hell out of us.

Solzhenitsyn, the novelist, was in prison years ago in Siberia. He wasn’t a Christian yet. He was suffering, and Boris Kornfeld, a Jewish doctor, was sitting with him one night. He was also in prison, and Boris had become a Christian. And he talked late into one night with Solzhenitsyn, and gave his testimony about how he, as a Jewish doctor, had become a Christian. And then he was beaten to death in his bed that same night. And Solzhenitsyn wrote,

His last words lay upon me as an inheritance. . . . It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. . . . Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!

Isn’t that amazing?

Refiner’s Fire

The judgment of God moves through the world. It’ll come to a crescendo one of these days, but it’s moving through the world. It’s moving on churches — hundreds, thousands of churches coming under the judgment of God. When it moves in a church, it’s meant for purity because he loves us.

And when it moves on the world, it has one of two effects: either it awakens — like it did for Solzhenitsyn — or it condemns and destroys, if it is resisted and does not bring people to repentance.

But for the people of God, “the apple of his eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10; Zechariah 2:8), it refines; it purifies.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-god-accomplishing-in-my-suffering?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=6c263ccc-5b7a-4e71-97a0-c28b2986197a&utm_content=apj&utm_campaign=new%20teaching&fbclid=IwAR0T4DXN7hCsL-5T7tdJe2MqAaXLUSA7Bor31ovW53oZDEVVQQdrk4HlASw

Experience Better Relationships

Paul Tripp

Do you want to experience better relationships? Who doesn’t!

The best place to start, as with all things, is with Scripture. But be ready—what you find might be different than what you were initially seeking.

Read Colossians 3:12–14:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (ESV)

Read that a second time.

First, this passage defines our need. We were not designed to live the Christian life on our own. We must all come to understand and accept that our walks with God are community projects.

Second, this passage confronts our ownership. Our relationships don’t belong to us; they belong to God. We cannot allow ourselves to have an owner’s view of our relationships as if they exist for the sole purpose of our happiness.

Third, this passage defines our identity. Where does the Apostle Paul get his character list from? The answer is that these are the traits of Christ. Paul is figuratively telling us to “put on” Christ.

Finally, this passage defines our calling. God has a purpose for you in all of your relationships. It is that you would live as one of his representatives; that is, that you would live representatively.

Who are you representing? You are called to represent your Savior King.

What does that practically look like? Representing the King means you represent his message, his methods, and his character.

Representing the King’s message means that you look at every situation through the lens of the truth of Scripture and determine to help others look at life that way too. How does the Truth help me make sense of this moment, and how can I share that truth with the other person?

Representing the King’s methods means that you seek to be a tool of gospel change in the life of another person. How would the King work to mature this person, and how can I be part of that methodology and process?

Lastly, representing the character of the King means asking yourself, “What aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ does this person need to see in the situation that he or she is now in, and how can I incarnate that love?”

Other people are never about our wants, feelings, and desires. God has not designed your relationships to be vehicles for human happiness but as instruments of ministry and redemption.

The Bible presents a “bigger-purpose-than-my-happiness” way of living when interacting with others.

And when you give up your self-centered agenda, you’ll find more joy, peace, and fulfillment in your relationships than you could have ever imagined!

Posted at: Wednesday’s Word on Paul Tripp’s website

Gospel Centered Life Questions - Part 2

by Bob Kellemen

In the first part of this two-part blog post, Gospel-Centered Life Questions, I began by quoting Michael Horton, in his fine work, The Gospel-Driven Life, where he notes that:

“… we typically introduce the Bible as the ‘answer to life’s questions.’ This is where the Bible becomes relevant to people ‘where they are’ in their experience. Accordingly, it is often said that we must apply the Scriptures to daily living. But this is to invoke the Bible too late, as if we already knew what ‘life’ or ‘daily living’ meant. The problem is not merely that we lack the right answers, but that we don’t even have the right questions until God introduces us to His interpretation of reality.”

I then started comparing the world’s 8 ultimate life questions to the Word’s 8 ultimate life questions. And we began to see that the world doesn’t even get the questions right!

Today we look at ultimate life questions 5-8—contrasting the world’s shallow questions with the Word’s profound questions—and answers.

Ultimate Life Question # 5 

The World’s Question: “How do people change?”

The Word’s Question: “How does Christ change people?” “How does Christ bring us peace with God?”

The world’s question focuses on human self-effort—which is the very definition of secular thinking. It’s all about me and my self-sufficient efforts to be a “better me” in my power for my good.

The Word’s question focuses on Christ-sufficiency—it’s all about Him, His power, for His glory—and becoming more like Christ, not simply a “better me.” Yes, there is a role that we play—but that role is a grace-empowered role. Already changed by Christ, we now put off the vestiges of the old us and put on the new person we already are in Christ—through the Spirit’s empowerment. And Christ not only changes our inner person; Christ changes our relationship with the Father from enemy to family, from alienation to peace.

Ultimate Life Question # 6 

The World’s Question: “Where can we find help?”

The Word’s Question: “Where can we find a place to believe, belong, and to become—like Christ?”

The world says, “It takes a village.”

The Word says, “It takes a church.” Sanctification is a community journey with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Ephesians 3:14-21 reminds us, it is together with all the saints that we grasp grace and grow in grace to glorify our gracious God.

Ultimate Life Question # 7 

The World’s Question: “Where are we headed?”

The Word’s Question: “How does our future destiny impact our lives today?”

We all want to know, “What’s the point?” “What’s our purpose?” The world asks these questions in a vacuum.

The Word asks the destiny question knowing the answer and relevantly tying our future to our present. As Christians, our future destiny is eternity with God on a new heaven and a new earth where we have intimacy with God, purity in our hearts, and victory in our lives. Since this is true, the Bible urges us to live today in light of eternity. As saints who struggle against suffering and sin—our future makes all the difference in our lives now.

Ultimate Life Question # 8 

The World’s Question: “Why are we here?”

The Word’s Question: “What’s our calling/purpose?” “How do we become like Christ”?

The world’s take on the question of ultimate meaning begins with a shallow question and responds with an even more superficial answer: “To be a better me.”

The Word sees our purpose as a calling in relationship to God and others. And the Word focuses our answer on Christlikeness. We are here to glorify the Father the way the Son glorified the Father. We are here to increasingly reflect Jesus. Each of us will do so in unique, idiosyncratic ways because we are each fearfully and wonderfully made to reflect Christ in a billion different ways.

The Right Questions and the Right Answers 

I summarized Part 1 with this tweet-size summary, which also summarizes both of these blog posts:

To offer wise & loving biblical counsel, we must ask & answer gospel-centered biblical questions.

The world not only gets the answers wrong, the world’s questions are impoverished.

The Word not only gets the answers right, the Word’s questions are rich, robust, and relevant.

Join the Conversation 

How are you biblically answering life’s second four ultimate questions?

1. “How does Christ change people?” “How does Christ bring us peace with God?”

2. “Where can we find a place to believe, belong, and to become—like Christ?”

3. “How does our future destiny impact our lives today?”

4. “What’s our calling/purpose?” “How do we become like Christ”?

Tweet It 

To offer wise & loving biblical counsel, we must ask & answer gospel-centered biblical questions.

Posted at: https://www.rpmministries.org/2016/02/4-more-gospel-centered-life-questions/

How To Find and Achieve Your Purpose

Logan Murphy

Graduation is a happy occasion, an important moment in life, and a big achievement. But, it is also a crucial juncture in life. When I was asked to speak at a baccalaureate service for local high school graduates, my message, quoting John Piper, was simple: 

Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life! 

This message is important for us all. I’m sure, however, that wasting your life is not at the top of your to-do list. If you are wasting your life, you probably don’t mean to be! 

You might be wondering then—am I wasting my life? How do I know? Well, in order for something to be wasted it must be spent in such a way that it does not accomplish its intended purpose. 

Your life does have a purpose. And if you don’t want to waste your life, you need to know what your life is meant for.  

Where to Find Your Purpose 

The Bible, as God’s word spoken to you, is the place to turn to find your purpose. And I’ll make it even simpler: you can find your purpose in one short verse. 1 Corinthians 8:6 says:

For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.  

We are made by God, and we are made for God. That’s the answer. You exist for God. Your purpose is to spend your life for God, with Jesus at the center of everything you are and do. Unfortunately, there are two ways you can fail to do this. 

Two Ways to Miss Your Purpose 

Way 1: Spend Your Life on Nothing (No God) 

I met Chris in 6th grade, and we were friends through high school and even through college. In high school and his early college years, Chris was bright, fun, creative, artistic, and well connected. But later in college, Chris became aimless, isolated, and joyless; one of the last times I talked with him he was stuck in a dead-end job that was not related to any of his talents, education, or his passions. 

Over the course of our friendship, we had a few spiritual conversations. Chris was involved in youth band at church, he went on Christian retreats, and once when we were camping he told me that he believed in some higher force or the possibility of a god, but it was clear that Chris had no faith in Jesus Christ. 

Chris’s problem was that he hadn’t come to terms with 1 Corinthians 8:5-6. He didn’t know what he existed for, or rather who he existed for. He had no passion for something greater than himself. No vision past the present. 

Maybe this describes you, too. A missing purpose, fading passion, a lack of commitment to Christ. Reader, find that passion by spending your life—and spend it for the sake of Christ! Spending it for something else leads up to the second way to miss your purpose: 

Way 2: Spend Your Life on The Wrong Things (False gods) 

If the first way to miss your purpose is to drift aimlessly with no target, no goal, no purpose, no intentionality, the second way is to be motivated, driven, passionate, and laser-focused on entirely the wrong goals. You can achieve all the wrong goals.  

You can attain the American dream, you can climb the corporate ladder, but Jesus tells us that to spend yourself for this is foolishness.  

In a brief parable, he tells us about a rich man who had so much stuff he had to build even larger barns to put it all in. He was fat and happy. Living large. But God calls this man a fool because he can’t take these riches with him when he dies. What’s more, all the wealth in the world wouldn’t prepare this man to meet God, because he spent his life serving himself. 

Money will be spent, beauty will fade, power will be limited, fame will be forgotten, and entertainment and pleasure-seeking will fail to provide the joy that you long for in life. Don’t miss your purpose in life by spending it on the wrong things!

The Way to Achieve Your Purpose

The good news is that your life has real meaning and purpose, and you’ll find it in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, God the Son, died in the prime of his life – only 33 years old – never having sinned: not one impure thought, not one hateful word, not one white lie. A life perfectly dedicated to God.

That is a valuable life. A meaningful life. And the Bible says that Jesus laid down his own life for you and me. He sacrificed his perfect, meaningful life so that it could be applied to our imperfect and (seemingly) purposeless lives if we believe in him.  

This is what we call the gospel – the good news of Jesus. Jesus spent his life for you so that you could spend your life for him. When you trust Jesus to save you from your sins he will do so, and he will give you a new life with incredible purpose and meaning. And there is great freedom to be found in this good news.  

The measure of your life lies not in what you accomplish, or how much wealth you have accumulated, but in what Christ has accomplished, and in the riches of God’s grace. You can exist for God, through Jesus, whether you are mopping floors or marketing pharmaceuticals. In fact, the world needs both floor moppers and pharmaceutical marketers who will spend their lives to display the glory of God in Jesus Christ. 

So, how will you spend your life? I pray you will spend it for Jesus. 

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2019/05/how-find-purpose-life/

Your Calling and God's Will

Article by Camron Hyde

There are times I can remember in life where I’ve put intense pressure on myself to know God’s will for my life. One of those instances was trying to discern whether I was called to ministry. I spent a lot of time listening to sermons on calling, praying, and talking to other people who were called to ministry. Trying to figure it out felt a little stressful if I’m honest.

The most stressful decision I can remember having to make was after college. I had applied to be a Journeyman with the IMB and had also applied to seminary. The Journeyman program was delayed when I initially applied, which led me to applying to seminary. I was working a job I hated and was looking to take a next step toward what I believed God had for my future.

I ended up getting accepted to both on the same day and I had no idea what to do. Both seemed like good, holy options, but I was convinced that God had a certain one planned for me and I had to figure it out. I wish I knew what I’m about to share with you because at one point I closed the door to the office I was working in and sat on the floor crying because I could not discern what God’s will was for me. I did not want to make the wrong choice for my life and I definitely wanted to follow God’s plan.

Finding God’s Will

I think that’s the case for every true follower of Jesus. We want to know God’s will. We want to follow His plan. We want things to go well for us. We want favor and want to operate in the best possible circumstances. Maybe that’s why trying to discern a calling and following God’s will can really stress us out. We certainly don’t want to screw up our lives.

So how do we figure this out? This may disappoint you because it’s so simple. We read our Bibles, pray, and make a decision. We don’t have to worry, stress, or fret. God has made His will known in His Word. It is the primary way He speaks to us today. If what we decide to do doesn’t go against anything God has commanded for us as Christians then we are free to do that thing. We certainly want to pray about it and seek wisdom from others as well, but we really can feel free to make a decision.

When I was trying to choose between missions and seminary, I stressed a lot about nothing. Looking back, I could have easily done either and it would have been fine. I could have saved a lot of time and energy by just choosing the one I thought was best for the next step in my life (which is what I ended up doing anyway).

Major Decisions

I think we can really worry about this when it comes to major choices such as college, career, marriage, kids, moving, etc. Questions you can start with are, “What passions did God place in me?” and “How can I use those for His glory?” A very important question is, “Does this decision have any implications that will cause me to disobey what God commands?” If all of those things line up then you can feel free to make that decision.

There’s also wise counsel to be sought with all of these questions. God can speak to us by using other believers who love us to speak into our lives and decisions. Even being called into vocational ministry can have a lot of these questions attached. Usually others will see something in you and will affirm what they see. Also there can be a sense of aspiration for the position. Paul makes this clear when he says, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” (1 Timothy 3:1). Certainly, when it comes to ministry, one may have that sense of “not being happy doing anything else,” but having a desire to be in ministry should be a consideration as well.

I think it is fair to give a little weight to feelings or impressions, but I don’t think we should give them the same weight we give to Scripture and wise counsel of others. God may impress upon us to do something, but our hearts can be deceitful. We should test that impression with Scripture and seek the wise counsel of our pastors and other mature believers.

Conclusion

God wants you to serve Him, glorify Him, and treasure Him. Jesus made it as simple—and complex—as “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Believe it or not, God has given you a lot of freedom in how you choose to do those two things.

If this is a topic you’re interested in, let me recommend Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung, which you can pick up on Amazon.

Posted at: https://camlhyde.com/blog/2019/3/7/your-calling-and-gods-will

Is There Any Hope for Weary Women?

Article by Kimberly Wagner

As I’ve been teaching the book of James to a small group of women on Sunday afternoons, they’ve asked some good questions, and I thought you might like to “get in on” the discussion. I’m so grateful for the women who are digging into the Word with me. These questions surfaced from our focus on James 1:1–12 if you want to read that first for some context.   

Question:

What does steadfast and faithful look like? 

My Response:

Steadfastness is the goal. Steadfastness is produced through our faith being tested and through suffering (James 1:3, Romans 5:3)—neither of which sound like much fun. But the appeal of steadfastness is the glory of reaching a place of victory. Steadfastness is a consistent and joyful endurance that is otherworldly, even supernatural, because it is not something we can produce. Steadfastness is only developed by the grace of God in the crucible of affliction. 

Steadfastness is not an emotional “happiness” or optimistic outlook on dark days. It is not a “Pollyanna” cheerfulness produced from a “name it and claim it” theology or a self-induced positive attitude. Steadfastness is produced through a series of hard falls and failures—but failures followed by repentance and crying out for God’s grace; asking for His help. Steadfastness is the goal. We obtain steadfastness through a long trajectory of pressing on toward that goal, while slogging through seasons of doubt and questioning, but always returning to the source of Truth for help.

Pressing toward steadfastness will definitely include days of weariness, discouragement, self-disgust, doubt, with personal disappointment and embarrassment.

Yes, striving toward steadfastness will include moments, and possibly seasons of doubt—struggling with our view of God, fighting to find a resolution to the crisis of faith we might experience when the crushing blows we receive don’t make sense, when God seems distant and the cruelties of life feel greater than His care for us. But the believer will despair if he stays in that state. That is why James implores us to ask for wisdom; wisdom that is specifically designed for navigating a season of suffering (James 1:5). 

Question:

If I grow weary does that mean that I’m not steadfast?

Does being “steadfast” mean never doubting in weariness?

Never questioning the accuracy of one’s understanding of God or His ways?

Never being in need of encouragement? No feebleness allowed? Only perfection? 

My Response:

James does not say that we won’t doubt, but he provides a compelling contrast between those who endure hardship, in faith, and those who experience the instability and tumultuous consequences of doubt. For the believer, there is usually a mixture of faith and doubt while navigating the rough waters of affliction (James 1:6–8). But the goal is steadfastness. With each test, we have the opportunity to press in to truth, to ask for, and choose, faith. We have the opportunity to trust God in greater ways than before. We have the opportunity to move closer to a consistent walk of steadfastness.   

The Lord knows that we’ll struggle with doubt, that is why the Spirit inspired James to warn us that we need to “ask in faith” and we need God’s grace for that faith. We need His help. We cannot produce the wisdom or the faith to steadfastly endure trials. We need to ask Him for those things. 

The weary believer definitely needs encouragement during seasons of trial. Definitely. I’ve been blessed, this past year and a half, by a friend who is younger than me, but her husband is experiencing a similar trial, and her texts, that are filled with Scripture or words of encouragement letting me know that they are praying for us, have been a true source of comfort. The unexpected gifts of groceries, gift cards, financial donations, and firewood on the porch have been an immeasurable blessing and tangible encouragement.

LeRoy and I have experienced the ministry of encouragement in our difficult season, but sadly, many in the church don’t see the need to personally encourage those who are drowning under what some might consider less “acceptable” struggles—like mental illness, suicidal thoughts, or recurring addictions. 

Some want to avoid the hurting person entirely or approach the broken and needy with the cold message of “Just get it together!” Some preach a “just have faith” message, without compassion or understanding that the road of suffering is hard—no matter how spiritually mature you are, or how much you’re seeking to honor God in the trial. Suffering is hard. And some in the church apparently deny that, or haven’t experienced that kind of real suffering. 

In this life, a believer never reaches the place that they no longer need comfort or encouragement.

The “perfection” of a flawless performance during trial is an unlikely and unrealistic expectation.

But the “perfection” of endurance/steadfastness that produces spiritual maturity is the goal. And along the way of reaching that goal will come failures. These failures are evidence that we need to ask for grace again, we need to ask for help, we need to acknowledge that “faith to endure” and “wisdom in trial”, are things that don’t come naturally. 

Steadfastness can certainly involve reaching out for resources and help—and that might include counseling, or regular conversations with a more mature believer—and that is nothing to be ashamed of. The humble admission that you are in need, is evidence that you desire to continue pressing on in faithfulness—you don’t want to stay in your needy state. Reaching out for help, and having the body walk with the hurting, is the DNA of a healthy Church (Galatians 6:2). We are to bear one another’s burdens, and not look at a broken or needy sister in disgust with the message to “Just grow up!” Feebleness is allowed, even expected, when facing a brutal trial.

Question:

What’s the line between faithfulness and unfaithfulness, steadfastness and non steadfast? 

My Response:

I don’t think we have Scriptural evidence for a distinct and clear line that we can draw between faithfulness and unfaithfulness—unless that line would be rejecting God’s truth. But, even in seeking to know if there is a line, indicates your desire to know and understand God’s ways, rather than just all out rejecting Him. And the contrast between steadfastness and “non steadfastness” is not so much a line, but a process that will, at times, include both. If this year, I’m striving to “walk with endurance” and respond to this trial with steadfastness, but I’m not actually as faithful or consistent as I will be next year . . . does that mean that I’m not steadfast right now? Am I more steadfast now than I was at this time last year while walking through the same trial? 

There will be bumps and falls along the way, but what is your trajectory? Are you continuing to cry out to God for help to walk faithfully . . . and steadfastly? That might be the “line” you’re talking about. The line of willingness to ask God for help, rather than trying to manage it on your own.

Question:

Is there even hope for one who is profoundly weary, re-evaluating her understanding of God and His ways, desperately in need of encouragement (all of which seems to be the antithesis of faithfulness/steadfast) to be deemed faithful?

My Response:

There is hope. Oh, precious friend, yes—there is hope! The hope is found in viewing our suffering through the lens of the cross. The cross provides us with the perspective to endure, to develop steadfastness, to experience a fellowship with Christ that is only possible in trial. 

Far too often, I’m guilty of presenting a simplistic picture of what it looks like to follow Christ or to walk by faith. I fear that, as I attempt to communicate the majestic truths of Scripture, there is no nuance or consideration of the enormous trials or difficulties that another woman may be facing. And she is left feeling hopeless and that she could never approach the life of faithfulness that Scripture presents. If that is you today, dear reader, know that He sees, He knows, and He cares. He sees your pain and struggle, He understands that you are weak and needy, He remembers that we are but flesh, and He cares for you. 

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” (1 Peter 4:12–13)

Posted at: http://www.kimberlywagner.org/?p=7428

Spurgeon's Top 4 New Year's Resolutions

Article by Brandon Freeman

Charles Spurgeon preached at least 14 sermons about the New Year in his 38 years at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Though many themes arise in his comments, belief is as pervasive as any.

“Oh, to believe from January to December!”

Spurgeon prayed and called for belief in every New Year's sermon—for Christians and non-Christians. He hoped that the New Year would bring forth the new mercy of the new birth.

“I pray God that a new year may not be begun by you in sin, but may God begin with you at the fall of the year, and bring you now to know his power to save.”

“Ere yet the midnight bell proclaims the birth of a new year, may you be born to God: at any rate once more shall the truth by which men are regenerated be lovingly brought under your attention.”  

“If this New Year shall be full of unbelief, it will be sure to be dark and dreary. If it be baptized into faith, it will be saturated with benediction. If we will believe our God as he deserves to be believed, our way will run along the still waters, and our rest will be in green pastures. Trusting in the Lord, we shall be prepared for trials, and shall even welcome them as black ships laden with bright treasures.”

Spurgeon's New Year's Resolutions

On the last evening of 1891 and first morning of 1892, Spurgeon gave two brief addresses. He hadn’t preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in several months because of sickness. He was a month away from death. In reflecting on 1891, he spoke about the God-intended lessons of the year, such as the “instability of earthly joys.” As friends came together again in the morning, he gazed upon the new year journey of 1892.

Spurgeon's New Year's resolutions involved seeing more than being.

“Let me tell you, in a few words, what I see as I look into the new year.”

So what did Spurgeon resolve himself to see? Here are the preacher's top four resolutions:

1. God’s Sovereignty

“I see a highway cast up by the foreknowledge and predestination of God. Nothing of the future is left to chance; nay, not the falling of a sparrow, nor the losing of a hair is left to haphazard; but all the events of life are arranged and appointed. Not only is every turn in the road marked in the divine map, but every stone on the road, and every drop of morning dew or evening mist that falls upon the grass which grows at the roadside. We are not to cross a trackless desert; the Lord has ordained our path in his infallible wisdom and infinite love.”

2. God’s Guidance

“I see, next, a Guide provided, as our companion along the way. To him we gladly say, ‘Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.’ He is waiting to go with us through every portion of the road. ‘The Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee.’ We are not left to pass through life as though it were a lone wilderness, a place of dragons and owls; for Jesus says, ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.’”

3. God’s Strength

“Beside the way and the Guide, I perceive very clearly, by the eye of faith, strength for the journey provided. Throughout the whole distance of the year, we shall find halting-places, where we may rest and take refreshment, and then go on our way singing, “He restoreth my soul.” We shall have strength enough, but none to spare; and that strength will come when it is needed, and not before…God all-sufficient will not fail those who trust him. When we come to the place for shouldering the burden, we shall reach the place for receiving the strength. If it pleases the Lord to multiply our troubles from one to ten, he will increase our strength in the same proportion….Our lamps shall be trimmed as long as they shall need to burn. Let not our present weakness tempt us to limit the Holy One of Israel. There is a hospice on every pass over the Alps of life, and a bridge across every river of trial which crosses our way to the Celestial City. Holy angels are as numerous to guard us as fallen ones to tempt us. We shall never have a need for which our gracious Father has furnished no supply.”

4. God Glorified

“One thing more, and this is brightness itself: this year we trust we shall see God glorified by us and in us. If we realize our chief end, we reach our highest enjoyment. It is the delight of the renewed heart to think that God can get glory out of such poor creatures as we are….We hope that God has been in some measure glorified in some of us during the past year, but we trust he will be glorified by us far more in the year which now begins….We wish our whole life to be a sacrifice; an altar of incense continually smoking with sweet perfume unto the Most High. Oh, to be borne through the year on the wings of praise to God.”

Only God Knows the Future

On the morning of January 1, 1892, Spurgeon confessed, “We know nothing of the events which lie before us: of life or death to ourselves or to our friends, or of changes of position, or of sickness or health.”

Though Spurgeon didn't see much of 1892, he put his trust in the fact that God knows the future. This truth blessed him and made him dependent on God in all things.

Whatever is before us in 2018, let's rest in God’s sovereignty, lean fully on God’s guidance, rely on God’s strength, and live for God’s glory. As Spurgeon said:

“Throughout this year may the Lord be with you! Amen.”

Originally published at The Spurgeon Center Blog

Brandon Freeman

Brandon Freeman is a member of Liberty Baptist and a Master of Divinity student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Ouachita Baptist University. He is married to Kaylee Freeman. You can follow Brandon on Twitter at @brandon_free_. 

Posted at: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-top-4-new-years-resolutions

Do You Want to Be Happy?

Article by Rick Thomas

Show me a happy person. Are they generous? Probably. Show me a discontented person? Are they selfish? Probably. There is a circular Bible logic that goes like this: God loves happy givers, and if God loves on a giver, the giver is happy.

It does not matter where you jump into that circular sentence, all of the words connect to each other: God-Love-Happy-Giver. There is a reason for this: when we give generously we are living out who we are in Christ–we are emulating the Lord.

Because God is a generous giver, as the gospel implies, it only makes sense that Christians want to be generous too. Being generous is more than giving your money away. It is giving your life away, which is the gospel. Jesus Christ gave His life away. Happiness comes when we model the self-sacrifice of the Savior by giving our lives away.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9

How generous are you? How do you proactively think about and plan to give your life away? Here is a short list of things generous people give away.

• They give away their money.

• They give their love away.

• They give their encouragement away.

• They give their Christian example away.

• They give their joy away.

• They give their kind words away.

• They give their time away.

• They give their homes away (hospitality).

The Point Is – “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Flow-Through

In our organization, we use the term “flow-through” to describe the process of being a middleman or distributor of what others give to us. For example, each Friday evening we go to our local Panera Bread (sandwich shop) and pick up all of their leftover bread.

Each year we receive more than $30,000 (retail value) of bread products. We bring the bread home, separate it, and distribute it to various people or organizations. We’ve been doing this since 2010. The reason for our bread distribution is multi-faceted. For example,

• We do it because we can.

• We do it to model the generosity of our Savior.

• We do it to put the gospel on display in as many places as possible.

• We do it to emulate for our children the giving of time, effort, and bread.

• We do it to feed those who need God’s kindness through the provision of food.

The bread is an example of what “flow-through” means. Someone gives to us and we, in turn, give to others. We’re merely the coupler or the connector that joins the giver (Panera) with the receiver (those in need).

We trust that Panera Bread will give us bread each Friday evening. Panera Bread believes that we will do what we said we would do–give it to others. This concept is analogous to the Christian life.

• You trust God that He will provide for you (Matthew 6:33).

• God believes that you will give away what He gives to you (Luke 6:38).

This worldview is not a romantic Hollywood pay-it-forward notion. This idea is about incarnating the Savior before a dying world who need examples of the practical gospel in action. It is about receiving to give so the name of God can be made famous.

God Loves Generous Givers

The Father is asking you to trust Him by giving your life away. If you believe Him this way, He will bless you–not so you can have more for yourself, but so you will have more to give away. Will you trust Him by sharing what He has given to you?

These promises are not about the prosperity gospel, but about God blessing us so we can bless others. You give a lot. He provides a lot. It’s not about personal gain. You are the coupler, the “flow-through principle.” What are you giving away?

• Your time, money, wisdom, care, joy?

• What are you exporting to others, to your spouse, to your children, to your church, to your neighborhood, to your world?

God gives to generous givers so they will have more to export to others. Christians are in the import/export business. We receive it so we can give it to others. This worldview has always been the case in God’s mind.

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. – Deuteronomy 16:17

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. – Proverbs 3:9-10

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. – Proverbs 11:24

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. – Proverbs 22:9

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. – Proverbs 28:27

Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. – Malachi 3:10

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. – Luke 6:38

He blesses generosity by personally enriching you so you can meet the needs of others so they will glorify Him. Test yourself on this matter.

• Do you give generously?

• Do you give willingly?

• Do you give cheerfully?

• Do you give carefully?

• Do you give in a premeditative way?

Do Not Be Anxious: It’s the Gospel

Did you know that God cares more about you than about birds (Matthew 6:26)? No, really, did you know this? If so, let me ask you this question:

• Do you become anxious about giving?

• Is there a low-level fear-factor going on in your heart when it comes to giving?

If so, you may be aware that God cares more about you than birds, but you don’t believe it at the functional level of your thinking. It is one thing to know something, but another thing to practice it. Bible knowledge only has value when it becomes a practice in our lives primarily.

Will you trust God in the matter of giving yourself and your things away for the glory of His name? Don’t be anxious about your life. God cares more for you than the birds that fly over your head. Live like sons and daughters of your heavenly Father. Trust Him. It is through your giving that God is glorified. Let me ask you this: What is your first thought when it comes to giving?

• What will it cost me?

• How will it help others?

If you’re thinking like a gospelized-individual, your eye is on what your giving will do, not what it will cost. As far as God is concerned, giving is not about the thing offered, but about helping people in need. Giving is the most explicit way we can model the gospel in our lives, and when we do this, you are putting God on display.

And You Benefit, Too

In Philippians, we learn about a man who gave His all for the good of others, and in the end, He was highly exalted because of His generous giving.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11

Quite simply, this is how the gospel works. I’ve already shared Luke 6:38:  “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” But you say, “I don’t give to get.”

That’s fine, but that does not stop God from blessing you for your generosity toward others. You might not jump into the air just so you can come back down to the ground, but that does not matter. If you jump into the air, you will return to earth. It’s a law. If you give, you will receive. It is a promise from God.

I’m glad that you’re trying to be humble about your generosity, but the fact remains that God loves a generous giver and if you are liberal in your giving, expect the love of God to shower you.

This response from the Lord is how it works. One of the sadder commentaries about selfish people is that they spend their entire lives trying to satisfy themselves and never come to understand this Bible truth: if you give, you will get.

I tell selfish husbands this regularly. I try to explain to them that if they would give kindness, communication, love, affection, repentance, confession, forgiveness, or the other cheek to their wives, that they will get what they want. (And the same applies for wives.)

What do they want? They want a loving wife who respects them. It’s as easy as pie: you give, and it will return to you. (And if she does not give, the Lord will bless you because you’re honoring Him regardless of how she responds.) It’s not complicated folks. Trust God. Give your life away and watch God bless you in ways that you could have never imagined, even if the “return” is different from what you expected.

Plan to Receive from God

If your motive is to give your life away, you will be a happy person. If your motivation is to get, you will never be satisfied. The gospel is not unidirectional, as though all you do is give. The generous giver is lavished upon by the Lord–the giver becomes a receiver by default. But you must remember the order: you give first and then you receive.

Christ gave and then He received. Two people were blessed–Christ and others, but the divine order was to provide something before you benefit from the Lord’s favor. I like the way Paul said it in Philippians. Other than Christ, he was one of the most outrageous and generous givers in the Bible.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:11-13

The secret to happiness is to give your life away. The secret to misery is to hoard what was given to you, while seeking more ways to gain more, for self-serving and self-promoting purposes.

You will be more blessed if you choose to give as the first call to action, rather than wanting to receive (Acts 20:35). The reason for this is because God loves a generous giver. In what ways do you need to be more generous in your giving?

• Do you need to give more money away?

• Do you need to give more time away?

• Do you need to give more repentance away?

• Do you need to give more forgiveness away?

• Do you need to give more wisdom away?

• Do you need to give more (fill in the blank)?

What is it that you are holding onto because you’re afraid to let it go? Whatever that is, I appeal to you to become a cheerful giver. Lay it down for the glory of God and the benefit of others. Do you want to be happy? There is only one way: you must give up your life in the specific way in which God is speaking to you right now.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Mark 10:45

Why are you living? What is your purpose in life? Do you wanna be happy? The gospelized individual is here to serve others. Blessed is the man who chooses to give his life away generously.

Posted at: https://rickthomas.net/do-you-wanna-be-happy/

I Do Not Aspire to Be a ‘Regular Guy’

Article by John Piper: Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

When my soul is hungry for deep help from God; when I am blank before the word of God, and ache for someone to show me the greatness and glory of Christ; when I feel a longing for heaven, and desire a soul-brother who shares this passion; when I am full of fresh fruit from God’s word, and yearn for a fellow lover of Scripture, I do not look for a “regular guy.”

And since that’s not what my soul longs for, it’s not what I long to be.

What My Soul Needs

In my deepest need or deepest joy, I do not say, “What I need now is a regular guy.” At the best and worst moments of my life I do not say, “What my soul needs just now is a regular guy.”

I am far more likely to look for someone who eats grasshoppers, wears animal skins, and lives in the desert. I don’t care if he’s never seen a movie or driven a car or owned a cell phone.

What my soul needs is not the ordinary. I’ve got plenty of that inside of me already. I don’t need more “regular.” I need something irregular, unusual. Something unusually wise and deep and strong and pure and great. Something this world does not offer. I long for a person who has seen God and been forever put out of sync with this world. I long for a person who can tell me what God has shown him — something that is really there in the word of God, something that few see, something solid and glorious.

Too Heavenly Minded?

Yes, I know. It is possible to be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use. My problem is: I’ve never met one of those people. And I suspect, if I met one, the problem would not be that his mind is full of the glories of heaven, but that his mind is empty and his mouth is full of platitudes.

I suspect that for every professing believer who is useless in this world because of other-worldliness, there are a hundred who are useless because of this-worldliness.

And yes, I know that our aim is not to be weird. We don’t need more weird people in our lives. We are supposed to let our light shine before others that they may give glory to our Father. But in my experience, shining with supernatural, divine light from another world is the very essence of non-regular.

And yes, not aspiring to be a regular guy comes close to the vanity of needing to be somebody. Abstaining from the ordinary is no proof of being spiritual, and very likely a sign of egotism. “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me” (Psalm 131:1).

To Be Sculpted

Yes. Yes. Yes. All that. God help us. But still my perplexed and longing soul needs something more than a “regular guy.” It needs one

• who loves God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength (Matthew 22:37),

• who loves Jesus more than mother or father or son or daughter (Matthew 10:37),

• who knows he has died and is seated with Christ in heaven (Colossians 3:3),

• who sets his mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2),

• who is not conformed to this world (Romans 12:2),

• who does not love this world (1 John 2:15),

• who flees youthful passions and pursues righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2 Timothy 2:22),

• who seeks understanding like silver and searches for it as for hidden treasures (Proverbs 2:4),

• who does not account his life of any value nor as precious to himself (Acts 20:24),

• who is filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18),

• who rejoices when others revile him and persecute him (Matthew 5:11–12),

• who prays without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17),

• who dies every day (1 Corinthians 15:31), and

• who boils in spirit (Romans 12:11).

O Lord, have mercy on us! Stun us. Sculpt us with your hammer and chisel till we look and live like holy, helpful, happy aliens. Guard us from the aspiration of regular worldly cool. Put us out of sync with every secular and religious sin. Get us ready to meet you without fear, without shame, without surprise.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/i-do-not-aspire-to-be-a-regular-guy?fbclid=IwAR31mkqEV4J9RBsn3LMt98tN7cg_Au6_PMH9Z4KaNMyyiRoID6K__5i8tpA