Chosen for God's Purpose

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Follower. Imitator.  After a careful review of the previous six posts that allowed us to dig into the characteristics that Christ manifested in flesh - can you now see the stark difference between these two terms? A follower is one who simply goes where another leads. An imitator is one who strives to become like the one they follow. I believe that the early church was full of disciples , those who truly desired not only to follow Christ, but to become more like Him every day. They were passionate pursuers of the truth that He lived out, and proclaimed it with boldness . They learned to lay their lives down in sacrifice and humility and faithfully serve one another as they served Jesus. And they worshiped - oh did they worship ! For the...

All we are...All we ever will be...found only at the Cross One of the greatest blessings of Christian fellowship is the mystery of worship.  The God of the universe, creator of all things, ruler of the stars, longs and desires to fellowship with us. In fact, He is jealous over His time with us; seen in Exodus 34:14 as we are told “you must worship no other Gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about His relationship with you”.  What an honor and privilege to worship.  Worship is inherent in creation. Luke 19:40 shows Jesus answering the Pharisees who commanded Him to silence the disciples from offering worship, and Jesus stated “I tell you, He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”  All creation was designed to offer worship and praise to the creator. The winds blow praise. The waves crash in praise. The mountains stand majestic in praise. The creatures of the earth and see proclaim...

The Ultimate Sacrifice- Once For All In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 , Paul tells us what is the most important aspect of discipleship. He expresses the fullness of the gospel in a few succinct sentences,   “For what I received I passed onto you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  No Christian really needs anything greater than these three truths:  Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ rose again. But what prompted the gospel story to come to fruition? One word – Sacrifice.  The ultimate sacrifice. The once-for-all sacrifice. The complete sacrifice. The Greek word for sacrifice is thusia , meaning “an offering”. Jesus was the fragrant offering before the Father as remission for our sin.  The necessity of sacrifice dates all the way back to the days of Cain and Abel. And the concept of “proper sac...

The master showed us the concept of true humility, and reminded us that the servant is not above the master Humble. Meek. Modest. Webster’s defines humility as a “modest or low view of one’s own importance”.  How does Scripture define humility? God defines humility as one of the most important character trait a person can possess. This is a trait that will bring you close to Christ – the humble servant – in living out your life.  If you seek to live a life to be seen or to be the greatest in the kingdom of God or even within your own sphere of influence, you are truly missing out on what God is. We see the concept of humility come up so often in Scripture, but a particular story comes to mind.  The disciples have been following Christ for a while. They are seeing great miracles done all the time. Jesus has sent them out to begin to minister apart from Him, and they are moving in the power of His spirit. They come back rejoicing that the demons a...

Great Is Thy Faithfulness!! What is faithfulness to you? Do you see yourself as a faithful person? Faithfulness is something that comes up in so many areas of our lives- in our relationships, in our work place, in society, and especially in relation to God. Faithfulness is a trait that many strive for, but few manage to pull off.  Yes – we can stay faithful to our spouses, faithful to our commitments, and even faithful to the things we agree to do for the Lord. But it is in the heart that true faithfulness is judged. It is not simply faithful actions. It is faithful intentions, faithful motivation, that really matters. Obviously, Jesus is the epitome of faithfulness, but I believe there is another example from Scripture that we can view as well. I believe that Paul the Apostle is a great case study on human faithfulness.  Even in his evil treachery against the early church, he believed he was living out a life in service to God. He was dead set, ...

Are you bold enough to take a leap for Jesus? When you consider people from the Scripture, who would you find to be truly bold ? There are so many to choose from who showed strength amid great travail and adversity; Peter, Paul, Elijah, Ezekiel, Esther, David, and so many more. However, I want to look at someone who  would often be overlooked - Gideon. We see the story of Gideon unfold in chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Judges. Here is a normal, everyday man living in a city struggling against the oppressive forces of the Midianites. He does not see himself as much- in fact when the Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Christ) calls him “a mighty man of valor” and informs Gideon that he shall deliver Israel from this current bondage, he responds with a typical statement. He cries out “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15) . On a sidenote, isn’t God awesome - how He alw...