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God’s Purpose for Us

The imprisoned prophet sent two of his followers to inquire of Jesus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”1 John the Baptist was human, and we all face doubts at times. After sending the two disciples back with the assurance they had sought, Jesus affirmed the man to the crowd, “Among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”2 Luke records their response: “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right . . . but the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s propose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.”3 Whoa! Did you catch that? In refusing John’s call to turn back to God, the religious leaders “rejected God’s purpose for themselves.” How tragic! We all want our lives to have meaning, and we seek our purpose in life. The elusive answer to the universal question was in reach for all within earshot of John, but these leaders rejected it. So close, yet so far.

There is more here. For if through unbelief, the Pharisees and experts of the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, what can we conclude about the others but that, believing John’s message and turning to God, they had found God’s purpose for themselves. The same must be also true for all who do likewise: in Him, we find His purpose for us.

It was John’s father, Zechariah, who foretold that the Messiah’s purpose was, in part, to empower us to realize our own purpose: “to serve [God] without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days.”4 In Christ, we serve effectively and with eternal impact, for He purposes that we “go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”5 We speak and serve in gospel truth, then God reaps the harvest of hearts—new life where death once reigned. And what purpose could possibly exceed this—that we the church, through our redeemed and indwelled lives, make known “the manifold wisdom of God . . . to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”—this according to God’s eternal purpose, realized in Christ.6 With resounding echoes, our new lives in Christ shout God’s glory.

Know this: through faith in Christ, we receive God’s purpose for us, for we who were dead in our sins yet live, and these reborn lives proclaim the wisdom and mercy of our God. Then in this confidence, do what He calls you to do today. There will be fruit, and God will be glorified.

Father, thank You for the gift of purpose, for our redeemed lives proclaim Your goodness. Lead us into Kingdom work, and may our lives in Christ bring you glory today. Amen.

1 Luke 7:20 NIV
2 Luke 7:28 NIV
3 Luke 7:29-30 NIV
4 Luke 1:74-75 NIV
5 John 15:16 NIV
6 Ephesians 3:10-11 NIV

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The Silent Killer Within

Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. —Job 5:2

Saturday evening on a Kairos Prison Ministry weekend is a powerful time. That morning, all attendees—residents and volunteers—receive a slip of paper and are encouraged to write down the names of those we need to forgive. No one except the individual will ever see these names; this is a private encounter between self and God. As we gather in the chapel at day’s end, we drop our forgiveness lists into water and watch them instantly vanish, for the paper on which we write the names is dissolvable. The moment is externally symbolic and internally liberating, and the relief that follows forgiveness is palpable. Freedom feels good.

Does this mean old feelings of hurt and anger never fester and surface again? Not at all. As one who has had to forgive some knuckleheads over and over again, I can attest that old feelings return. In fact, though “resentment” has come to connote holding a grudge in anger or pain, the literal origin of the word is to “feel again.” How descriptive! And how diagnostic! Isn’t this what we do—feel the same anger, disappointment, or pain again and again, refusing to let it go? A friend recently learned that someone had been holding him in resentment for close to ten years, and my friend didn’t even know it until someone else told him! So who did resentment hurt for so long?

When our son was a boy, Peggy would occasionally teach him, “Emotions are good, but you cannot let them master you; we must learn to manage them.” This is a decision, as Paul likewise exhorts us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another . . .”1 But how can I relinquish my pain and release my grudge? Paul continues, “. . . as God in Christ forgave you.”2 Therein lies the key: we have sinned against God exponentially more than any one individual has ever offended us. Our sin against God is immeasurable, but others’ wrongs against us are finite. Then as God in Christ forgives us much, so we as people forgiven in Christ are free to forgive others for comparatively little. And in doing so, we overcome that silent “killer of fools”—resentment.3

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.4 —Jesus, to His disciples

Father, thank You for forgiving me my trespasses. May I flourish in Your forgiveness to the point of overflowing it to those who have trespassed against me. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV
2 Ephesians 4:32 ESV
3 Job 5:2 ESV
4 Mark 11:25 NIV

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Losing Weights

Do you remember this scene from the movie, Forrest Gump? 1 Walking home with his friend Jenny, Forrest is bullied by boys throwing rocks at him. At Jenny’s urging, —“Run, Forrest! Run!”—he quickens his pace as fast as his leg braces will allow. As he picks up speed, his orthotics miraculously fly off and Forrest freely outruns his antagonists. “From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was running!” he recalled.

In last week’s post, we observed “each stride—each calendar page—counts” as we “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”2 As such, the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to “lay aside every weight that clings so closely”3 —to burst free of every obstacle. So what do our spiritual constraints look like? What hindrances slow us down, and what burdens wear us out? Let’s expose a few and, to each, speak truth that sets us free.4

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”5 So lay aside the weight of forgiven guilt.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm . . . and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”6 Hence throw off the unbearable weight of legalism, and stand guard against its return.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”7 Then leave behind the penalty of sin and any fear thereof.

“I [Jesus] chose you out of the world.”8 So, strip off worldliness—“the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life,”9 “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.”10

“[Jesus] shared in [our] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”11 In this assurance, cast off the fear of death and run in the promise of life.

God has assigned to each of us a measure of faith, and even with “faith like a grain of mustard seed,” 12 nothing is impossible. Rid yourself of the fear of inadequate faith; act in “the measure of faith that God has assigned to [you].” 13

We could go on to speak of other weights—the weights of resentment, accusatory judgment, self-pity, control, or assuming spiritual burdens through natural strength. In every case, our call is the same: to embrace truth that sets us free, and to run with endurance the race that is set before us.14

Yes, Father, we desire to run free from all that would trip us up or hold us back. Send Your Spirit to remind us of Your Word, embolden us in truth, and inspire us to endure for the joy set before us. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Zemeckis, Robert, director. Forrest Gump. 1994; Paramount Pictures, 1994. 2hr, 22 min.
2,3 Hebrews 12:1
4 John 8:32
5 1 John 1:9
6 Galatians 5:1
7 Romans 8:1
8 John 17:19
9 1 John 2:16
10 Matthew 13:22
11 Hebrews 2:14-16
12 Matthew 17:20
13 Romans 12:3
14 Hebrews 12:1