We Have a Purpose that God will Help Us Fulfill!

At Fuel last night Darrel read from a passage about David.  In this passage he alluded to the fact that God did not call David home until He had accomplished all that David would accomplish in his life.  I read a verse this morning and it gives me confidence of the word Darrel spoke last night.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.  The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.  Psalm 138:7-8 ESV

 I will give a few ideas of what this verse is saying.

1. God has a plan for us all. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me   He has something for us each to carry out in our lifetime.  Some may be short and some may take an entire lifetime, yet God has a plan and a purpose for each of His creations.  It is funny how secular humanism say that we are to create our own meaning in life. "Go do what makes you happy."  Yet has anyone that has tried that gain fulfillment in there lives?  Take Micheal Jackson (an extreme case on both ends).  He is the King of Pop.  Arguable know as the best singer, dancer, and performer of his era and even former and latter eras.  One of the richest people (even after he went broke he sold those Beetle rights and made more money) to walk the planet.  And dare I say one of the handsomest (before all the surgery) people.  But he found no fulfillment as you can see by the parentheses after all his achievements.  He could not find happiness in all of his accomplishments and turned to worldly avenues which ultimately lead to his death and now eternity in hell.  There are many akin to this story I only chose one where the extremes where on both ends.

2. God is going to do whatever it takes to fulfill that purpose. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life   God is going to do His part of the deal. He will equip, strengthen and protect us.  We do not have to worry that He would not do His part.  If life were akin to a high school football game God would be the coach and we would be the players.  After a player knows what position he/she plays, (because God equips us but we still have to work hard to make our selves ready [Proverbs 29:18]) he/she begins to train diligently in getting bigger, faster, and stronger for that position through the training of the coach, but if the player truly wants to be great he/she will exercise and eat right on his/her on time as well as dedicating himself/herself fully to the position he/she was given (1Cor 9:24-27).  Also the coach is scouting out the other team thinking of schemes that will no doubt win the match, and if the players follow the game plan he has mapped out for them then they will have the victory (the Bible is God's game plan for living a glorious life for Him).  The coach will also take a player out if he/she is not producing because of lack of practice or effort (no fruit produced because of the lack of spiritual discipline)  and the coach will also make his players run laps if he sees one slacking (God's discipline).  And if the coach is good, and his players trust him and devote themselves to the sport then victory will be ensured.  That is exactly the way our lives are as Christians.  If we trust God and devote ourselves to His work we will accomplish the task He has set out for us and win the war against flesh, the world and Satan.

3. It is all dependent on us.   Do not forsake the work of your hands  We have to be about doing God's work for His work to be accomplished in us. The writer knew he was doing the will of the Father therefore he pleaded that God would not leave his side.  We ought not think that God will do anything with us if we do not work for Him. We ought not cry out to God (unless for salvation) for a work in our lives if we are not in the process of doing His will daily.  As the football analogy went, If a player does not practice hard he will not be in the game.  God's not going to put us in the game if we are not actively trying to prepare ourselves and living in a manner worthy of His calling.

I challenge you today to live in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ.  In this way only can our lives truly have purpose and be filling.  Ken, at Impact, said about John 10:10  "God gives us life when we accept Him, but we don't have it abundantly because we don't live for Him."  Lets make a commitment to live for Jesus today.

A Personal Body Guard

A few years ago I can remember my paster preaching on Psalm 125.  I'm not sure if he used it as an example or as the sermon's main context but it stuck.

They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.  As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.  For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.  Psalm 125: 1-3

How I love this psalm.  Let us break it down.   They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.  Have you ever tried to move a mountain.  It takes a lot of effort.  Maybe a nuclear bomb could do some damage but other than that it is impossible (aside from God).  That is exactly what it is to trust in GOD.  The quote "If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything"  applies here.  Trust brings a person to believe and do what he/she trust in deems necessary.  A rock climber when repelling must trust the rope.  That means he/she makes decisions based on his trust in the rope that he/she is using.  As in the same way we should base all our trust on GOD.  He is the foundation of all decisions we should make.  If we do this undoubtedly we will have peace and joy in all that can happen in our lives.

 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.  We always hear of the hedge of protection that God puts around his children that stay in His will.  This is a clear scripture that represents that.  God will protect us, first with His presence "...the LORD is round about..."  Its awesome to know that our Father Himself will be there to protect us.  How blessed are His angels who protect but it says confidently the He is round about us.  Second, God will protect us henceforth.  As soon as we are converted, He brings the Holy Spirit to dwell with in us.  The Holy Spirit is a powerful person living within each Christian and He protects us from all harm.  Third, Gods protection is forever.  Now this is the key because when we trust Christ as savior we have His protection forever.  That means no death and no hell.  When God says something He means it (Num 23:19).  Forever is a clear statement for the protection that God will have on His people. In glory there will be no sickness, no sadness, and no suffering, only peace and the love of Christ will be there.  How awesome is this!

Some people may ask "If this hedge is true then why is there persecution and death of the saints?"  I must first refer back to the last statement that the hedge of protection God has given each Christian is first of all about our salvation; however, as men and women of Christ grow stronger in Him, he/she gains a powerful desire to do His will no matter the cost.  I believe God sees this desire in his/her heart and blesses him/her with a legacy.  Sometimes God sees fit to glorify His name exponentially through torture and martyrdom than only a few through a life living.  We see stories that have impacted our lives even now through the sacrifices of others.  I wrote about one of those that impacted me not to long ago.  And through these stories Christians around the world gain strength.

However, there are conditions to the protection of God.  For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. God, controlling everything, will not allow any hand to touch the body of a Christian apart from His will unless we walk away from Him.  The mountains in the previous verse are not an all en campusing mountains, but mountains that protect yet allow freedom.  God as King and Sovereign Ruler does not control His people as puppets but allows us to make decisions because He loves us, yet our decisions come with consequence.  We must remain in the will of the Father and He will protect His children.

I ask which will you chose today, protection or desertion.  It sounds easy when put in these terms but I know life has many twist in turns; however, I remind you.  "He that trust in the LORD...cannot be removed..."