Tag: Paul Nordman

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Joining God in His Work

Unequivocally the best Bible study I have ever read regarding the daily Christian walk is Henry Blackaby’s and Claude King’s outstanding work, “Experiencing God.” In it they establish seven major Biblically grounded premises, two of which I am often acutely aware: God is always at work around you; and God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. Now, being invited to join God in His work and actually adjusting our lives to do so (a third premise in this study) are two different things, for saying “yes” to God means adjusting our lives to His meaningful purposes and then trusting Him to accomplish these purposes through us. Yet when we do submit our will to His, good things—amazing things—happen.

This is an awesome part of the Christian life, for Jesus is more than a concept or belief system, He is real, and His presence among us is not limited to a time when He walked the earth. “I am with you always, to the end of the age,”1 He promised before ascending into the heavens from which He came. Yet not only is Jesus with us, through His Spirit He also lives in us. Paul rhetorically prodded early believers, “Do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”2 The Holy Spirit, or “the Spirit of Christ,”3 breathes new life into all who entrust themselves to His redemptive work on the cross, thereafter to take up residence in us. Paul again, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”4

So Jesus is with us, and Jesus lives in us. Should it surprise us, then, that His Spirit works through us? Our faith in Jesus and our love for His people “come from [our] confident hope of what God has reserved for [us] in heaven.”5 Simply put, the freedom and joy of daily experiencing Jesus overflows to others, and the audience of those who want to know about Him is larger and more eager than we realize. Then how do we prepare for God’s purposes? We can do as Paul did for the early Colossian church: ask! Paul prayed for them, specifically that they would be “filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding . . . [and] bearing fruit in every good work.”6

No greater honor could we ever receive than to be the place where the Spirit resides through faith in Christ. And on no greater adventure could we ever embark than to live a life of eternal consequence in Him. This is His will for us. This is His gift to us. Praise Him.  

Father, thank You for making us alive in Christ Jesus. Fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and understanding, that we would live fruitful lives, fully pleasing to You. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Matthew 28:20, emphasis added
2 2 Corinthians 13:5, emphasis added
3 1 Peter 1:11
4 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV, emphasis added
5 Colossians 1:4-5 ESV
6 Colossians 1:9-10 ESV, emphasis added

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The Resolution of a Resolute God

We’re not going to talk about it. Nope. We’re not going to use this space to bemoan the fact we’re not good at keeping New Year’s resolutions. Though we lose our resolve within months, days, or perhaps hours, we won’t bring it up here, not even a mention. Huh-uh. No siree! After all, we’re after self-improvement, right? It’s “new year, new you” time! (Again.) Surely, we’ll be better versions of ourselves when the calendar page turns.

All kidding aside, the truth is, we can do better. It is a matter of knowing and embracing what is already true about God and His work in us. So, let’s start by dropping “new year, new you” and embracing “in Christ, forever new,” for Paul teaches us, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”1 This newness in Christ never fades; it is as fresh as the dawning of each newly created day, for we live safely and securely in Him who always was and will always be. Contemplate this reality. Receive this gift. Celebrate this truth.

Yet if God is changing us, why still our shortfalls? Why do we keep repeating the same mistakes? Once again, it comes down to knowing what is true, for newness in Christ is only the beginning of an entire lifetime of transformation. It is a process of love. The Spirit of God is constantly at work in us, not merely that we would clear the low bar of altered outward behavior, but that we will soar to the heights of Christlikeness in our inner being. Paul again, “We all . . . are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”2 This is not our limited and fickle version of self-improvement; it is God’s steady and purposeful improvement of self. It is His relentless craftsmanship in us, for we live in the certainty that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”3

Our best resolution for change, then, is to trust God’s resolute purpose to change us. “The one who calls you is faithful,” writes Paul, “and he will do it.”4 So in this comfort and joy, draw near to Him in prayer and His Word, for He works through these to bring about in us the change He promises, the change we seek, change that lasts.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.5

1 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV, emphasis added
2 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
3 Philippians 1:6-7 ESV
4 1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV
5 Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

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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