Devotional Time with God

I did wonder, why on earth am I here for?  Why does God create me and let me suffer through the pain in this world?  Why do I have to deal with all of the rude, back-stabbing, inconsiderate, unfriendly, or downright nasty people?

The answer is simple: God wants me to win them for Him!  By leading a Jesus-centric life and modeling His love, I’m to be of service to my fellow man/woman.  No matter who they are!

I need to fulfill my purpose in life by serving others. (Ephesians 4:4 -14; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 1:9;  1 Corinthians 1:26; 1 Corinthians 7:17; Philippians 3:14; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3)

The fruit of salvation is serving God, by serving others!

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah 1:5

God said He has a purpose for my child even before she was born!  She’s been chosen, just like me, for His great purpose.  God chose me to raise her, and that’s my responsibility.  It’s my job to direct her, in accordance to God’s directions.  With His divine light, she will not drift off.  I must provide those barriers on the sides of her path, so she knows exactly where she has to go – straight on to heaven.

God commands me to teach my child to love God will all our heart, soul, and strength.   It’s something that I must do for God, for it is good for me, as well as my children.

Just as God has a purpose for me, I must intentionally raise my children to have a purpose, in God.

God’s way fit in every home, every parent, and every child.

It’s not easy being a parent.  God is here to help.  By loving Him first, nothing is as tough as it seems.

I’ve struggled with this thought for a while: Why doesn’t God explain to me His plan?

Whenever I see hardship, unfairness, and cruelty in this world, I asked why does God let this happen?  Whenever I do something good, why does it sometime seem God doesn’t reward me?  Whenever I hear God’s calling, why does it seem it’s not always a clear message?

The answer lies in both faith and obedience.  I can’t possibly know all of God’s plan because He’s all knowing.  He reveals little by little to me.  He lets me handle what I can.  He’s a fair and just God.  I know that because of my faith in Him.

But when he does call, I have to do what He says.  I must be obedient.  It’s not my place to expect God to answer all of my questions.  I have to answer His calling.   God always have a purpose for me, in every moment of my life.  Whether He wants me to learn, endure pain, grow in character, or just sit and listen – there’ll always be a reason.

God doesn’t owe me an explanation.  I owe him my life for Jesus Christ, His Son, who died on the cross to save my otherwise meaningless existence.

Pastor Greg Laurie has a really good devotional that explained How to know God’s will.  In a nutshell, I must be a living sacrifice, be separated from this world, and live by His words (in that order).  It’s encapsulated in this scripture:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1–2

filh/donov (Philedonos)

• loving pleasure

Many times, I’ve chosen to do something that feels nice and easy for me.  I did it sometimes knowing it was against God’s command.  For example, I chose to sleep in instead of going to church on Sunday morning.  I’ve refused to do a regular ministry because I  had “better” things to do, like shopping or watching TV.  I’ve even lost my virginity before marriage.

God wants me to put Him first before any earthly pleasures.  It’s when I focus my attention to God, I will have a clear purpose in my life.

Thank you, Lord, for guiding me thus far.  Thank you for not abandoning me.  I have some hard choices to make because it’s your command.  To live a Godly life is not easy and I know I can’t do it without your help.  I want to make each step I take moving towards you, God.  I choose you, not this world.  Amen.

They will… love pleasure over God.

2 Timothy 3:4

This short interview has been passed around in emails, and I just got it recently from a friend in Toronto.  I know this story very well and Pastor Rick had told it to the congregation several times before.  It’s still an inspirational message and it’s worth forwarding to everyone. 

Love & Blessings to you all. You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,’which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

1. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
2. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
3. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
4. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.

That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

And [Jesus] will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6b (NIV)

The holiday is over. I’m back to work in my usual mundane office, doing the same stuff as I did for the past 10 years or so, and dealing with the same office politics and red tape. During small talk with co-workers and vendors, we always talked about how we need more vacations, more time away from busy and hectic office life, more peace and quiet. So I asked myself, how can I preserve that “peace”? Is it really the peace I’m looking for?

Jesus reminds me that He is the Prince of peace. I just have to look for Him whenever I’m experiencing stress, despair, or worry. He gives me hope when I don’t feel I have any. He gives me the presence of security. He wants me to live my life and continuously be sanctified in truth: living out my purpose. Nothing is greater than serving God, relying on God, and serve others.

I have to ask myself, what matters most? Is it my job? My family? My posessions? My health? They may seem important, but they ought not to be. The bible says in Romans 6:13,

Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

I am to be used for God’s purposes! I’m not here to look good, feel good, and have the goods. I need more than that! I need the purposes that God has for me. Jesus came to earth to give Himself as a sacrifice, and to give us a new life. He is giving us God’s amazing grace for every race.

I thank you, Lord, for saving me. Your birth signifies the new birth in all of us. I don’t deserve to be saved, but you’re a God of love, and you want to save me. Thank you, Jesus for everything you have done. Let your will be done, in this day and the days ahead. Amen.

When will I take the time to write down my answers to life’s five great questions? When will I put my purpose on paper?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 319

I will write down my purpose on “paper” now in this blog.

1. What will be the center of my life?
   I thought about my family, then my career. But they are actually my secondary reasons, because Jesus must be first in my life since he is the alpha and omega – the beginning and the end. I started in this world by God’s creation. At the end, He wants me to fulfill His purpose. God is the one I turn to when I have troubles with my family and career. I report to a higher authority.
2. What will be the character of my life?
   The ultimate Jesus-like characters are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I must strive to be all of those and maintain those characteristics at all time. Not an easy task. I struggle with every single one of those, every day. I will have to get these characters carved out on a plaque and display them prominently in my house to remind myself daily.
3. What will be the contribution of my life?
   I must also be a helping hand to my community and my workplace. Helping others is one of my purpose. God gave my abilities to be used to help others.
4. What will be the communication of my life?
   I have my testimonies. I must share them with everyone and lead them to Jesus. I must remember the experiences when I depend on God for resolution. God is good, and people must know that.
5. What will be the community of my life?
   I must be involved in the church and my small group. It’s my fellowship with them. I must seek discipleship and accountability. I can not be a bench warmer at church to merely just simmer, sit, and sour. I must be a functioning member of the body of Christ.

This is my list of things to do. My first draft of my mission statement:

My life purpose is to use my abilities to serve others, be a functioning body of Christ, share my testimonies, develop Jesus’ character quality, and have God as the center of my life!

This statement will be my purpose statement, as I lead my generation for the glory of God.

How can I make the best use of what God has given me?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 256

It’s time to take inventory of my abilities:

The harder I think about this list, the more I realize that I have more unabilities. One way to find out is to ask the people that know me, and see if my self-assessment is accurate or not. With what I have, I will give it to God for use. I will avoid comparisons, resist exaggerations, and seek only God’s recommendation (p. 254). The bible said in 2 Corinthians 10:12 (Msg):

We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

I must keep my focus on God and serve Him with the best of my abilities. That is my purpose in this life.