In my walk through life, as I’m sure there is in everyone’s journey, I have discovered that every part of your past has had a part in shaping you for today. Are there things that I would’ve liked to avoid? Of course, but as I have been a student of the Bible for the past eleven years, every wobble and misstep has a purpose. God used so many things in people’s lives to bring about something good and glorious for each of their lives and Himself as well. He did it in the book of Genesis and He did it all the way through the Bible, right down to the book of Revelation.
Some of you might remind me that most of the book of Revelation hasn’t happened yet. Hang on, it’s coming. Every detail and every curse that is foretold in it will come to pass and I don’t believe we will have to wait very long to see it. Most of you who have denied the truth of God’s Word will see its Truth come to light when the church is taken away from the Earth. There will be many “explanations” for why people vanished but the only one that will be based on fact is the one found in the Bible. God’s facts, not mankind’s ideas or fabrications.
Each part of your life and mine has been a part that shaped each of us into the person that is here today. You read on social media about “what would you tell your younger self if you could”, even knowing what I know today there isn’t anything that I could tell my younger self that would make any real difference. Because if anything was changed in my past life, I wouldn’t be the same person that I am now. If I had stayed in the Air Force my future would be entirely different from what it is. My family would have been different, and my outlook on the world would be altered from what it is now if that one change had taken place.
God knows the person that we are and when He has a plan for your life in the future, He will make sure that you are that person at the appointed time.
You might ask “Does that mean that I’m not in control of my destiny?”. Well…the answer is more of a yes and no when it comes to your destiny. If God has a plan for your life but you choose not to listen to His voice and go off doing your own thing then the answer is yes, you are in control of your own destiny. But if you have given your heart to Jesus and then decide to go your own way for a while, then God will bring you back in line one way or another. When I say “given your heart to Jesus”, I mean truly repenting and turning away from your old life and following Him, at least for a while. Totally refusing to listen spiritually to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and going your own way is rebelling the way that Satan did. That is where freedom of choice comes into play.
God gave the angels and humanity the freedom to choose because He never wanted us, all of us, to be obedient because we didn’t have a choice. He wanted us to love Him and choose to obey Him because we loved Him because He loved each of us first, even before we decided to love and follow Him.
The apostle, John, wrote in the first few lines of his gospel that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. So, John sees Him as the Incarnate Word of God.
In Mark 8 we read:
Peter’s Confession of Christ
(Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 9:18-20; John 6:66-71)
27And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? 28And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29And he saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
Jesus came as the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, and being fully God, He put on the humanity of man when He was born as a baby to a virgin, Mary, who was the wife of Joseph. Jesus was born in the flesh of humanity so He could feel what we feel during His life here. He had to experience pain, hunger, sorrow, and fatigue and truly identify with all of our limitations. The only thing about Him that was truly different from any other man was His nature because He was also fully God as well.
He could heal the sick, cast out demons, calm the seas and the wind and raise people back to life. As John wrote that He was the Word of God incarnate. He was and is our Creator and our Savior.
So…why does belief in Jesus for your salvation cause so much trouble in the world? Is the idea of being saved from an eternity in hell so bad? I could understand if the pain and suffering only lasted a second or two but your eternal body is going to feel that pain forever and it is your decision that sends you there. God doesn’t, you do! When you refuse to believe in Jesus for your salvation, you are condemning yourself to that place.
Please don’t send yourself there. Jesus paid the price for you to be able to enter into heaven, all you have to do is believe in Him for your salvation and repent of your sins and follow Him for the rest of your life.
As human beings, I think our ability to enjoy life is very important to each of us. How we go about that is different for each of us, sometimes it is culturally different even in the same geographical area. We have different beliefs and cultures in every group of people in a city or a community and in the state or in the nation where we live. It is what makes us human. God created each of us in the womb to be special and to be specifically the person that He knows we can be. Sometimes it takes us many years to find that purpose because until we find our life in Him there is no way to know our true purpose.
Humanity has found a reason not to follow God’s ways and it seems that we are moving away from Him at a terrific pace. People don’t want to hear about your beliefs and few will tolerate it if you say “I’ll be praying for you”. It seems that the past few years, since the pandemic began, have taken most of our hope from us. The virus that we’ve had to deal with has killed many people, most of whom already had some serious health issues before they got the covid virus, so it made a bad situation worse. Most of the research shows that the virus by itself was about as deadly as the flu. But if you had an underlying condition, such as diabetes, the virus would increase your mortality because it would make your condition deadly.
This is the pestilence that was prophesied in the Bible long ago. Although it didn’t specifically name it we have so many other diseases like cancers and auto-immune disorders and heart disease and COVID-19 just makes all of those even more deadly than they are. What is my point? Our purpose in this life that God granted to each of us is to find our Savior and find our purpose in Him. Then live in that purpose until we are called home to be with Him. I pray that everyone who reads this will seek out their true purpose in Jesus Christ and live in it until that day!
Did you know that when we give our hearts to Jesus and become adopted children of God, we are also servants of the Most High God! We serve Him in our lives no matter what vocation we live or work in. Your life was purchased with the blood of Jesus two thousand years ago so live every day like you are working for God and His Kingdom. Because you are!
Serving God is not an optional part of life after you have truly given your heart to Jesus. It is a gift to God that all of us should be willing to give each and every day until we are called home to be with Him. Why should we live this way? Because every step that you take and every breath that you breathe is given to you by God. If you wake up in the morning, it is because of His love for you. If you get to be with your family one more day, it is a gift from Him. If you get a restful sleep tonight it is His gift to you. He doesn’t need you, but He loves you enough that you are special to Him. Every good thing in your life comes from Him every day, every hour that you live.
All of us serve Him in some way or another when we have become born-again in Christ. Your life, from that point on, is not your own. You are walking in a new life as a child of God and you are a servant of God too. Serve Him with distinction and a humble heart regardless of where you live or what He has called you to do. Jesus is coming soon so make sure your heart belongs to Him and that you are living in His will every day. Seek His will for your life in His Word, pray about it and listen to His answer because His voice is not loud but if you are listening, He will speak to you.
The Living Message of Christ 