Tag: Purpose Of Man

Gladness of Heart

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It has been my observation while reading Ecclesiastes that Solomon often commented on the vanity of gathering and holding wealth. He suggested the best course we can take is to carefully use what we have, save some for the future, but at the same time — provide for our families, serve God with it, do good with it, and most important; deliver this support within the limits of our income; furthermore, we are to avoid fretting because of limits presented by our income (take a fresh look at my last essay).

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 says — This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart. (NIV)

I think Solomon is suggesting we are to be sober and moderate in the use of our resources granted as a gift from God for the labor we accomplish each day. God gives us work and income to ease our days and to provide things for our family. It is not proper to starve because of covetousness, or, on the other hand, to aggressively spend to satisfy our ‘nice things’ pursuit. We are wise to contain our spending within our means. We are advised to feed our families and keep our families safe as we serve the one true living God. Acquisition is not the goal. Service to God and family is the goal.

Ecclesiastes 2: 24-25 — A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. (NIV)

We are not being asked by God to work ourselves into the ground and then leave wealth for others to enjoy. We are being advised to do things in moderation, use the wealth gained to live a quiet life, and allocate the income so it sustains us for the days of our life. Job wrote — A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed (Job 14:5). We are wise to manage our income with a focus towards our family and God’s service. Let us spend our days serving our family and God’s family with as much joyfulness as we can muster. Find work we can do, learn to love the work, and be happy to share the fruit of our labor. This call to service is not one of drudgery, we are not slaves, but take pleasure in the calling and dive into the work with cheerfulness.

Hebrews 6: 9-12 says — we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (NIV)

The deeper truth – Happiness is an attitude, attitudes are a choice we make; I have said many times — as a man thinks, a man is. Move your mind towards happiness, firmly embrace the goodness of God. You will be surprised by the cool stuff that happens when you enter His gates with praise on your lips. When you use a few gifts wisely, God will bring more your way, because you have proven yourself to be a good steward of a few things (see Proverbs 3:6, Proverbs 3:9-10). Plan. Decide. Move. Assess. Adjust. Move. Do the right things for the right reasons. Take pleasure in your work as a sweet offering to God.

I choose Jesus.

Running the Race to Completion

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It has been my observation while reading the book of Hebrews, standing firm on a commitment to God is not easy (Hebrews 12:1). Why? We are mere humans who cringe at pain, loss, and try to avoid heartache. We are not comfortable with the unknown. We are unable to see into the future. Building and maintaining a steadfast heart (strong character) is not simple, but it is possible if we connect ourselves to God and strengthen our walk with God (Micah 6:8).

Creating a steadfast heart starts and ends with trust. We deepen our trust of God through experience. This is not a ‘thinking exercise’ it is a ‘doing exercise’.  We engage in life’s struggles to strengthen our relationship with God. We learn to trust others by doing things with friends and learning how they solve issues. We build trust by discovering how they think, what they do to meet life’s challenges. If we feel safe, we become willing to reveal our hearts and troubles to them (Ephesians 5:21). Sometimes, we discover that we cannot. Other times we discover that we can.

David Wilkerson tells us – “There are powerful forces at work today against every believer who would hold fast to his confident faith.…in the midst of all this anxiety and fear, we who trust in the Lord hear His Word telling us, ‘Be steadfast and confident to the end.’  The fact is, whenever there is mounting fear, God calls for greater steadfastness. Whenever there is great terror and falling away, He calls for greater confidence. Whenever there is gloom and despair, He calls us to increase our gladness and rejoicing. That is the nature of our heavenly Father. He has made provision for His people to hold fast and retain their joy in the severest of troubled times.” 

With God, we deploy prayer, worship, and attentiveness to his wisdom to build steadfastness. We enter into a long-term conversation with God to learn from him and recognize his presence all around us. This takes time. Yielding our life and heart toward God is a learned skill facilitated by the Holy Spirit. It takes attentiveness on our part as we investigate our past, locate those issues that are impeding progress, and then give those things to him. The more willing we are to trust, the deeper our relationship with God becomes, the more our hearts are steadfast in the storms (Ephesians 4:15). This takes time.

Paul continues in Ephesians 4:17-24 (paraphrased) — So I tell you this, and I insist on it in the Lord, that you must walk away from living as the Gentiles do, standing with your fist in the air, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance they are proclaiming and the gradual hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity to the things of God, they have given themselves over to sensuality, they indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned. You know how to walk with God. You were taught these things when you first heard about Christ. Clearly, you were taught about the things of God in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to allow the Holy Spirit to rebuild the attitude of your minds; and to ‘walk the walk’ in the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)

Paul tells us that ‘walking the walk’ strengthens the heart muscle, grows our reliance on faith, and nurtures our trust in God. Micah presented this notion eons ago. What did he say? What does the Lord desire of us? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humblywith your God (see Micah 6:8).

This approach of stepping away from our norms, pulls us out of the feral lifestyle and brings us close to God. As we are being transformed, we take risks – perhaps we allocate more of our financial resources to God only to notice we still have plenty left. Perhaps we find time for the service of others only to notice we still have time for ourselves and our family. Perhaps we pray for somebody who has hurt us causing our recoil from them only to discover we have been changed and reach out to them with forgiveness. Trusting God. Steadfast Hearts.

I have witnessed this first-hand in many of your lives. I have watched you face impossible choices and find a way to stay true for Jesus. I have seen you make choices that would cause others to give up. I have seen your steadfast heart clinging to God and discovering his peace. We encourage each other.

I choose Jesus.

You are led by the Spirit

Published on by DanLeave a comment

Written by Dan

It has been my observation that Paul often talked about the nature of self-control. I found 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 to be an interesting expression of his view. He wondered if we were aware of the purpose of the human race – getting the prize. He knew that all serious competitors would enter a strict training plan to prepare for the race – the journey. He mused at the temporary honor they obtained for all their work and noted how much better our prize of everlasting life was for the journey.

Then comes the heart of his message in 1 Corinthians – Paul was not interested in aimlessly running the race for mere trinkets at the end, he did not train to merely shadow box or run in place. The personal training was to like most training, the training included forcefully causing the body to become a slave to our mind, not driven by urges and glances, rather to be managed by self-control. God created us in his image, our body is not evil in and of itself. However, our body is a strong center of weakness, it requires management, so our mind remains in control, not our hands, eyes, nose, or urges. Why? Because impulses can be destructive to spiritual life. As a man thinks – a man is (Proverbs 23:6)

Galatians 5:13-26 says — You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious … those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. (NIV)

This message in Galatians was completely in line with the Matthew 5 message from Jesus when he spoke about removing the eye if the eye causes sin or remove the hand if it causes sin. I do not think Jesus was recommending we actually poke our eye or remove a hand. But the message was clear, walk away from sin, it I deadly, it is dangerous, walk away. I think in the same way, Paul was telling us to bring our body into submission, develop the discipline needed to control our personal actions so we stay true to Jesus.

Imagine a runner, who is very skillful and successful in each race exhibiting a selflessness that leaves no trace of conceit. A good runner knows he is going to be standing at the pole, waiting to start, he gently responds to the respect from the younger runners, many more know of him than he realized. During the race he is observed for technique, the younger emulate him. During the race he respects the other runners, he does not need to provoke the other runners hoping to involve a mistake that will give him the advantage. He simply runs his race, his way. He has no envy in his heart for the other runners.

So then, we are not left without positive tools to help manage the body and our mind. Paul names the tools ‘the fruit of the Spirit’.  We are to embrace a joyful heart, seek a peaceful disposition, develop forbearance in all circumstances, always treat other with kindness, find the goodness of God in all things,

Use faithfulness to cement our commitments, pursue an enduring attitude of gentleness, and in all these things cultivate self-control that overrides all our impulses.

I choose Jesus.

Finding the Eye of God

Published on by DanLeave a comment

Essay by Dan

It has been my observation that Jeremiah says the more we seek God, the more we are going to experience His presence in our lives. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13). Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Furthermore, God is hunting for willing hearts, over and over, every day he looks, his eye moves to and fro — “The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” (Psalms 14:2). We are never far from his gaze… The counterpoint? Our lives are full of activities, stuff, and people competing for our attention. The distractions are just part of everyday life, so we often do not notice them until the damage is done.

Getting too busy, my day starts quickly, I race from one thing to the next without pausing. I fall into bed intending to read the Bible or pray, only to fall asleep exhausted. Not only do I fill my schedule, but I also fill my mind. With technology at our fingertips, we may try to fill every spare minute with entertainment or information. Television, movies, music, games, and social media all use energy. Some activities have a positive effect on me; many events do not. Regardless, God’s voice is competing with them for my attention. Despite my foolishness, he pursues me.

Yet, my choices can drown out God’s voice. My attitudes and habits can lead me away from Him without realizing it. Once questionable behaviors become a pattern, the pattern starts directing choices. Poor decisions are covered with shame, those decisions make me want to hide in the shadows from God. Sweet Jesus, how do I break this pattern?

Many people do not realize that doing nothing (apathy) keeps us from hearing God’s voice too. Apathy, a lack of concern or interest, toward the things of God can be just as detrimental to your relationship with Him as implementing poor behavior patterns because you are focused on earthly things. The voice of God always says something that reflects His character. God is gracious, kind and patient. He pursues me; then He installs peace and unity into my life. The more space I give to attitudes that are opposed to God’s qualities, the less I am willing to hear whatever He is trying to tell me.

JI Packer teaches us – The Spirit leads by helping us understand the biblical guidelines within which we must keep, the biblical goals at which we must aim, and the biblical models that we should imitate, as well as the bad examples from which we are meant to take warning. He leads through prayer and others’ advice, giving us wisdom as to how we can best follow biblical teaching. He leads by giving us the desire for spiritual growth and God’s glory. The result? Spiritual priorities become clear; our wisdom when making decisions is increased. He will cause us to delight in His will so that we find ourselves wanting to do it because we know it is best. Wisdom’s path will be ‘ways of pleasantness’ (implied in Proverbs 3:17).

The deeper truth — God is not devious; He does not push us to watch our suffering. If our first reaction is to resist God’s will, He will gently change our attitude — if we let him. God wants the absolute best for us in every activity he designs for us, even activities we shrink from or activities that may involve unpleasantness. In His time, His peace always arrives. Yield, call out for his help.

He who is drifting from the Logos — yield to the Ayin Adonai (Proverbs 15:3), find your bible, and start reading. Find God’s wisdom and affection. The Eye of the Lord (Ayin Adonai) is ready to help. There are no secrets, He knows. Read, learn, seek out Jehovah Shalom. Call out, be still, He is on the way.

I choose Jesus.

Know the Difference

Published on by DanLeave a comment

Essay by Dan

It was my observation when searching for hints of wisdom in scripture that Paul tells us why the subject is elusive. He muses – We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. Rather, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden, a mystery that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of Paul’s age understood it, very few of this current age understand it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (paraphrased from 1 Corinthians 2:6-9). To fear God is the beginning of that wisdom, but only the beginning. Knowing and acting on the notion of fearing God is merely the door.

This posting is an epilog to the first two wisdom essays I previously posted:  God is appreciative of our adoration but unaffected by negative opinions of Him – He will not change. Therefore, our moral sanity requires that we worship his grandeur, demonstrate our appreciation, and attribute to him an entirely perfect use of the wisdom that is demonstrated in His creation and sustainment of this universe. And, when we do not get it right the first time, we repent, adjust, and engage again.

I think — Without creation, the wisdom of God would (most likely) remain forever hidden within his divine presence, never to be known by us. But, through his creation, we can see his glory, the wisdom of his choices, and the respect his power to exercise wisdom. Praise God. And God saw all things he made and behold it was incredibly good. Proverbs 17:24 says “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.”  Proverbs 16:16 says “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!”

So, here is ‘the rest of the story’ — A few weeks ago, while in our Saturday morning group, we were chattering about something, and I blurted out I would love to have a road map of how my life was going to proceed. Several of you demonstrated Proverb 11:14, there is wisdom in the council of many. Y’all jumped right on that foolish statement of mine and pointed out if we knew what God’s path was going to be, the alpha male in us would clearly be making suggestions as to a better way to get something done then what God had chosen for us. As soon as I heard that assessment, I yielded. The council of many. God’s wisdom. Amen. Some people engage their mouth long before they engage their mind.

Later that day I bumped into this quote from AW Tozer. “There is a better way to live. We should repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged himself with a full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over management of our lives the moment we turn to him in faith.”  To quote the TV chef – BAM!

Finally, here is ‘the promise of God’ — He will not leave the blind in a path they have not known: He will make darkness into light; setting crooked things straight. These things He will do for us; He will not forsake us (implied in Isaiah 42:16). This is a strong hint of how God applies his wisdom to each of us.

Daniel 2:46 says — King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel, paid him honor, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” We all know what happened to ‘King Nebbie,’ he went from living within God’s kindness to eating grass in the wild. Pay attention to your surroundings. Know the difference between eating from the king’s table and eating off the floor. Allow Jesus to lift you up off the floor.

I choose Jesus.

A Drop of Water

Published on by DanLeave a comment

Essay By Dan

It has been my observation that exploring God’s Wisdom tends to be accomplished by those of us who are hanging out in God’s sandbox (life in the Spirit), already yielding to the God we serve. The unbelieving mind struggles to be convinced by any proof on topics that include the wisdom of God, but those of us who play in the sandbox, walk with God, talk to God, listen to God, we need no proof. We know. We are hungry to know more.

Permit me to share some paraphrased thoughts from Blaze Pascal (a 16th century Mathematician and namesake for a programming language) about wisdom: We should expect neither truth nor consolation when men act on their own. God formed man and alone taught each of us what we are. God created man to be innocent; God filled man with light and intelligence; God communicated to him wisdom, glory, and awareness of God’s wonders. Through wisdom, the eye of man saw the majesty of God. But man has not been able to sustain the glory God gave him without falling into pride. Man wanted to make himself his own center and free himself from God’s wisdom; therefore, man withdrew himself from God’s grace; then ignored God’s wisdom and set himself equal to God.

Daniel said – Praise the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises others up. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning (paraphrased from Daniel 2:20-21).

When our feeble scribblings about God declare that God is wise, the meaning is far more powerful than what we could ever possibly place on paper. We work to make a comparatively overused word represent the incomprehensible depth of God’s cohesive analytical processing algorithms and breadth of knowledge. Unfortunately, in my weakness, even in this case I have diminished the one true living God’s absolute greatness and majesty merely by my choice of words. On my best day I will fail. Bummer. Isaiah 40:28 says “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.”

His wisdom is infinite (see Psalms 147:5). We know the word infinite describes the bandwidth, height, and depth of something. Given this is the maximum term we could use, we cannot very well put an adjective to enhance the meaning of the word. Would it be appropriate to say “more” infinite or “very” infinite? I think not. Infinite is the correct word. God sets the standard on infinite Wisdom. When I first learned Pascal (a programming language) the notion of MAXINT (the maximum integer possible) seemed immense. However, in the context of God’s wisdom, MAXINT seems like a naive vision of the world (see Proverbs 14:18).

I believe wisdom is taught to us by the Spirit of God (see Nehemiah 9:20) so that on our best day we have the capacity to yield to God’s wisdom as we address situations in a meaningful, positive, moral way. But we should never lose sight that God is infinitely wise and our use of God’s wisdom is but a slight shadow of the totality of God’s wisdom. Our understanding of God’s wisdom is like a drop of water that takes its place in the ocean of water (God’s wisdom) covering most of this globe.

Paul says – “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:33-34). There will be much more on this topic of playtime in sandboxes – a lot more from Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Lamentations.

I choose Jesus.

Walking Through Trouble

Published on by DanLeave a comment

To Taylor my friend (and the rest of us who have endured trouble) — fear not my young friend. Long before any of us were born, you were chosen, written into the plan that Jesus set into motion. It is no mistake that you reached out tonight with an aching heart. The prayers of your friends are wrapped around you. When you first yielded to Jesus you were marked with the seal – the Spirit of God within you is that seal, a guarantee of your redemption (Ephesians 1:11-15).

God is closer to you than the air that’s around your body, he is the air in your lungs and gives life. Draw strength from the community of believers. Pepper showed me this verse and I smiled. It was helpful to me; I hope it’s helpful to all of us who are wrestling with the legacy of divorce.

God said — Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations (Isaiah 60:15). Let us dissect this verse into three segments and take a deeper look. I think we can find an image of how it feels to be divorced.

Segment 1 — although you have been forsaken and hated. This is a tough beginning point. It speaks to the disenfranchised Israelites, pushed into a foreign land, unable to comprehend the change, unable to express the devastation. Let us be certain, this entire verse speaks about Jerusalem’s fall. But I think we can learn from this message and allow this message to speak about the families that have been disassembled by forces beyond our control.

The key Hebrew term in Segment 1 is (tachath) translated ‘have been forsaken’. Vines and Thayer’s suggest the term forsaking implies enduring an assortment of persecutions and trials that crush our spirit and disable our hope for the future. Yet, at the same time, the Hebrew term also hints we will eventually see prosperity, peace, and security arrive on the scene to replace our dejection and isolation. Tachath talks to us about experiencing life’s trouble but also includes the coming hope; peace will eventually arrive for the downtrodden who are enduring divorce.

Segment 2 — The emptiness and isolation created by divorce is visualized as ‘With no man traveling through’. This segment defines the level of disassembly we endure. Our lives become desolate, we feel abandoned, often our friends feel distant, some of our friends isolate themselves from us out of fear (guilt by association) or as a judgment towards us. Few people travel to our place to talk to us, to break bread with us, to let us know we are not alone. The end-result – we are alone.

Segment 3 — Yet God says to us — I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. Goodness, this is a turn-around from the first part of this verse. This is absolute assurance God has a plan for us. We have not fallen through the cracks, we are not alone, we may be discarded or rejected by our friends as damaged goods, but God will stand by us – yesterday, now, tomorrow, forever. This is not about us or who we are, but because of who Jesus is. We will be restored.

Conclusion. It is dark now, but eventually we shall be lifted-up, we shall no longer be alone, desolate, and dejected. I used the word ‘shall’ with purpose. It is a contractive term, an enduring term, used in the legal culture to clearly define a statement as absolutely binding. We shall be a subject of joy from generation to generation because of our redemption granted by God. We shall be a first-class example of God’s grace and redemptive power when others thought we were lost in the desert forever.  Therefore, my friend, let the grief process go its course; know that the sun will rise in the morning, God’s faithfulness will prevail in your life.

I choose Jesus.