Day 85 – Cultural Diversity

 

“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.” Colossians 3:11

There are two ways in which cultural diversity may be seen in our churches: one is the establishment of churches that mainly reflect a particular cultural group (e.g., an African American or black church, or a Chinese church, etc.) and another is the integration of various cultures in a single local church. The latter may be less common than the former, though, at present, I attend such a church. Our congregation is composed of believers who have immigrated from Egypt, a few different African countries, the Caribbean, Asia, as well as those of us who are of European heritage. We are reflecting changes in the demographics of our city, and that’s as it should be. This cultural diversity is a blessing and something we presently are seeking to find ways to acknowledge and from which to benefit. Last year, I preached at the anniversary service of a congregation I once pastored. That church now hears both English and Spanish in its services, a result of the positive integration of two congregations. Thus, the service I attended included some Spanish worship songs and prayer, as well as a Spanish summary of my message provided by the current pastor.

The Bible addresses cultural diversity in a variety of ways. In the Old Testament, Israel is told to welcome the “stranger” or foreigner (see Isaiah 56:6-8), Moses marries a Cushite woman (possibly a Black African, Numbers 12:1), the exemplary Ruth is from Moab, and an Ethiopian saved the life of Jeremiah (38:7-13; 39:16). In the New Testament, Jesus commends the faith of a Roman soldier (Matt. 8:5-13), people of many languages hear the gospel on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 21-12), an Ethiopian official is baptized by Philip (Acts 8:26-40), the decision is made to integrate Jewish and Gentile believers into the church (Acts 15:12-20), and in the eternal kingdom there are people of all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages (Rev. 7:9-10).

Besides these last designations, and besides the terms Jews and Gentiles, the Bible speaks of God’s family as being composed of many from east and west, slaves and free, barbarians and the uncivilized and well as cultured Greeks. These folk are said to be blessed, people who love the Lord, people of faith, those who are promised heaven, those whose dwelling place is with Christ, and as participants in the new life.

All of this teaching surely is a warning for us to avoid antisemitism, racism, cultural bigotry, and racial or ethnic exclusivity. When it comes to faith, “Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us” (Colossians 3:11).

Your Turn:

1. Read Acts 2:1-12.
2. If we are all descended from Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27), how can we harbour racist attitudes seeing that all have the same origin?
3. Have you ever found yourself feeling prejudiced toward a person of another colour? language? accent? custom? Why? Would Jesus hold such feelings?
4. Think of a person you know and encounter often. What would you like to learn from this person? How can you approach this person to ask for instruction?

 

Day 86      –   What It Means to Bless and Be Blessed

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us_in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… Ephesians 1:3 ESV

 

I remember the Sunday one of our grandsons was dedicated to the Lord by his parents. The pastor took the child in his arms and walked up and down the centre aisle of the sanctuary as members of the congregation called out blessings on our grandson: “May he grow up to be a man of God”, “Bless him with a heart that loves You, O Lord”, “May he learn the blessing of obedience”, “May he be a blessing to his parents”, and so on. It was beautiful!

We use the word “bless”, “blessing”, “blessed’ and their relatives quite freely in church circles and in our prayers. Early in life I was taught the child’s prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” and when I asked if I could say more, my mother suggested I could add, “God bless Mommy and Daddy and my sister and my brother, etc.” We pray before a meal that God would bless the food, and when someone does or says something nice, we exclaim, “Bless you!”

The word, while it has come to be used of a religious act invoking God’s favour, at its root means “to satisfy fully”. Thus, in our relationship to God, it refers to receiving God’s favour so as to make the recipient fully satisfied in Him. (See the article by Vaneetha Rendall Risner at  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-blessed .)

Today, when you pray for someone to be blessed, what do you mean by that? When you hear someone using the word “bless” what does that person mean? Sometimes, we are expressing hope for physical or material recovery or prosperity, or we hope to avoid troubles and have a ‘good’ day. That may indeed be God’s will, but it also may be in His plan and permissive will that we learn through suffering. Take Jacob’s blessing of his son Joseph and Joseph’s offspring in Genesis 49:22-26. There, Jacob speaks of archers bitterly attacking Joseph in verse 23 and then in verses 25-26 of blessing him with “blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath” and more – “up to the bounties of the everlasting hills”. That was a mixture of hardship and delights, both found in a blessing. Of course, through the hardship these people found God came along to help. Thus, blessing led to learning more about the power and love of God to deliver them. If whatever we experience in life – negative as well as positive – leads us to God, it is a blessing.

The congregation that day of our grandson’s dedication did not call out “May he become rich”, “Bless him with fame”, and the like, for they no doubt realized that these things are temporary and often corrupting of the soul. But, they could have said, “If he becomes wealthy or famous, may he use those riches to benefit the needy and further the Gospel” or “Bless him with a deep knowledge of You, Lord, and use that knowledge to humbly draw others to You”. When we bless others may we seek for them whatever will have eternal value to their generation and beyond.

Ms. Risner, referenced above, writes this, “Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives and that makes us fully satisfied in him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus.” Keep that in mind when seeking or dispensing a blessing.

Your Turn:

1. Read Luke 1 and 2 and take note of the several blessings found in this account of the birth of Christ. Among these blessed were Mary (by the angel and by Elizabeth), God Himself (by Mary, Zechariah, angels), and John the Baptist (by his father).
2. Can you think of someone who directly blessed you in words that have remained with you through life? Thank God for this person.
3. If you were to prepare words of blessing to be given to your children or grandchildren or nieces/nephews, what would you say about each that would direct them to Jesus? In Jacob’s last words to his large family, he included predictions for each son/tribe. Thinking of your children’s/grandchildren’s gifts or talents, how could you tie those into a prayer for future blessing?

 

Day 87  –  Upsetting Times

“Judah mourns and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.” Jeremiah 14:2

Jeremiah was a prophet of God, living in Judah just prior to and during her time of demise and ultimate captivity to Babylon. He lived through hard times, when the world as the people of Israel had known for so long was upset. Chapter 14 speaks of a time of famine:

                  ⁴  Because of the ground that is dismayed,

since there is no rain on the land,

the farmers are ashamed;

they cover their heads.

                  ⁵  Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

                  ⁶  The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;

they pant for air like jackals;

their eyes fail

because there is no vegetation.

 

Around the world, many in our generation have faced something similar. The crops fail. Vegetation is dried up. The wild animals are impacted just as we humans.

In late 2019 and early 2020, Australia experienced severe bush fires that killed a billion animals and 34 people, while destroying 46 million acres (18.6 million hectares) and nearly 3,000 homes. Lives have forever been affected. In 2020 the unimaginable happened when much of the world shut down and waited out the spread of the coronavirus.  COVID-19 was discovered in China in December 2019 and by May 13 the pandemic had spread to more than 187 countries with1.87 million cases reported, resulting in more than 294,000 deaths. As I write this, I am self-isolating, staying indoors as my government’s health authorities have said we must do. Family members are unable to work and we wonder how the bills will be paid – and our case is not nearly as threatening as many, many others. Large gatherings have been cancelled – church services, sports and cultural events – and schools and universities are closed to in-person classes. This is a time when the world is turned upside down. My parents lived through the Great Depression and World War II. I  have lived during the era of the Cold War, various regional wars, the displacement of large numbers of refugees, natural disasters (like floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, and fires), and transformative events not inherently “disasters”, such as the social upheavals of the 1960s, and the dawn of the information and computer age. And now COVID-19.

I suppose every generation has some widespread disruption to face. Jeremiah’s day saw pestilence, captivity, and the sword (43:11). While many in his era turned to manmade attempts at escape form the terrors around them, Jeremiah turned to the Lord. He wrote in 14:7-9,

“Though our iniquities testify against us,

act, O LORD, for your name’s sake;

for our backslidings are many;

we have sinned against you.

                  ⁸  O you hope of Israel,

its savior in time of trouble,

why should you be like a stranger in the land,

like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

                  ⁹  Why should you be like a man confused

like a mighty warrior who cannot save?

Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us,

and we are called by your name;

do not leave us.”

 

The real truth was that God was not confused then, nor is He now. He is not a stranger to suffering, nor to us. He can still save us. He will not leave us. Many terrifying things out of his control happened to Jeremiah, but he listened to God and remained faithful through them all. How will  I respond when the world around me is turned upside down?

Your Turn:

1. Read Jeremiah 14.
2. How have turbulent times affected you? What have you lost in such times and how have you grieved? How have you reacted?
3. The Apostle Paul suffered labours, imprisonments, beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, dangers, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, cold, pressures and anxiety. See II Corinthians 11:23-29. Why did these sufferings come his way? (II Corinthians 11:23, “servants of Christ”). What did he learn? See II Corinthians 12:9-10.
4. There is no doubt someone you know who has gone through very difficult times and shown the grace of God in those tough circumstances. Thank God for this person’s example while praying for God’s enablement for yourself in life’s challenges.

 

Day 88  –  Isolated

“Be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:10

 During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 the terms “self-isolation”, “social distancing”, and “quarantine” became commonplace. These terms convey different degrees of separation of an individual from others. Take the term “isolation”, for example. Merriam-Webster lists these words as synonyms: aloneness, insulation, privacy, secludedness, seclusion, segregation, separateness, sequestration, solitariness, and solitude.

There are times when in the busyness of life with crowded roads and sidewalks and jammed parking lots, that we crave some alone time. We feel a need to get away. God directs us to take a weekly rest time – the sabbath.  It used to be in my lifetime that society as a whole engaged in some sort of weekly rest – closed stores, a day off work, few public entertainments, and the like. Before my lifetime, in 1911, the Province of Ontario, Canada forbade most work including farm work, the work of paid musicians, deliveries, all public meetings except in churches, the use of profane language, and “all other acts which disturb the pubic quiet” (see photo of 1911 proclamation above). That changed significantly when the Supreme Court of Canada in 1985 ruled The Lord’s Day Act unconstitutional, as an infringement on freedom of conscience and religion. Now, stores and malls are very busy on Sundays!

But, we need some quiet in our lives. The corona virus crisis forced some time away from the rush and personal interaction of “normal” times, with most countries of the world limiting gatherings to 250, 100, 50, 5, or even 2 people, and telling us to stay at home. Some people lived in a tiny apartment, or were staying in a dorm room at a college or university or were caught on a cruise and in a room with no window. For them, the space made self-isolation especially difficult.

Nonetheless, in the Bible we find individuals who were directed by God to lonely spaces. We also see that God had a purpose in this alone time.

Jacob- God spoke to him (Gen.32:24-32

Moses- met with God (Exodus 33:7, 11)

Elijah- God spoke to him (I Kings 19)

the 12 disciples- after a busy day were invited by Jesus to a quiet place for rest                                   (Mark 6:31-32)

And we find Jesus Himself retreating to a place of solitude.

for rest after a day of performing miracles (Mark 1:35)

often withdrew to pray (Luke5:16)

before making the decisions needed to choose the 12  (Luke 6:12-13)

after hearing of the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:13)

to pray in Gethsemane before the Cross (Luke 22:39-44)

So, if we are required by governmental decree to isolate ourselves at home, or are forced by illness or recovery time after surgery to withdraw from regular involvement with others, or imprisoned for our faith, we can find some good thing to put our minds and hearts to.

In this day and age, we can still connect with family and friends through communication technology. This means we are not truly alone from other humans. We can also know for a surety that we are not isolated from God.

²⁵  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

                                    ²⁶  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the       LORD.      (Lamentations 3:25-26)

¹⁰  “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!” ¹¹  The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:10-11)

God has told us that He has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us (John 14:16), that He is with us in times of fear (Isaiah 41:10), that He won’t abandon us (Deut. 31:8), that His presence and rest is with us (Exodus 33:14), and that He is with us always (Matt. 28:20).

Your Turn:

1. Read Psalm 46.
2. When you are isolated to a degree from others, do you find it difficult to fill the time?
3. What might be included in the invitation to “rest”? Think of at-home work that needs done, of hobbies you have long wanted time to pursue, of ways you can minister to others. Think also of how you can reflect on God’s Word.
4. I have a friend who was forced into early retirement by a stroke and finds it hard to see anything significant he can be doing now. In your next time of isolation, whether chosen or forced upon you, what might be God’s purpose for you?

 

Day  89  –  Run for Your Life

^“When Moses had finished writing the words of this law

in a book to the very end, …”

 

During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 the terms “self-isolation”, “social distancing”, and “quarantine” became commonplace. These terms convey different degrees of separation of an individual from others. Take the term “isolation”, for example. Merriam-Webster lists these words as synonyms: aloneness, insulation, privacy, secludedness, seclusion, segregation, separateness, sequestration, solitariness, and solitude.

There are times when in the busyness of life with crowded roads and sidewalks and jammed parking lots, that we crave some alone time. We feel a need to get away. God directs us to take a weekly rest time – the sabbath.  It used to be in my lifetime that society as a whole engaged in some sort of weekly rest – closed stores, a day off work, few public entertainments, and the like. Before my lifetime, in 1911, the Province of Ontario, Canada forbade most work including farm work, the work of paid musicians, deliveries, all public meetings except in churches, the use of profane language, and “all other acts which disturb the pubic quiet” (see photo of 1911 proclamation above). That changed significantly when the Supreme Court of Canada in 1985 ruled The Lord’s Day Act unconstitutional, as an infringement on freedom of conscience and religion. Now, stores and malls are very busy on Sundays!

But, we need some quiet in our lives. The corona virus crisis forced some time away from the rush and personal interaction of “normal” times, with most countries of the world limiting gatherings of 250, 100, 50, 5, or even 2 people, and telling us to stay at home. Some people lived in a tiny apartment, or were staying in a dorm room at a college or university or were caught on a cruise and in a room with no window. For them, the space made self-isolation especially difficult.

Nonetheless, in the Bible we find individuals who were directed by God to lonely spaces. We also see that God had a purpose in this alone time.

Jacob- God spoke to him (Gen.32:24-32

Moses- met with God (Exodus 33:7, 11)

Elijah- God spoke to him (I Kings 19)

the 12 disciples- after a busy day were invited by Jesus to a quiet place for rest                                   (Mark 6:31-32)

And we find Jesus Himself retreating to a place of solitude.

for rest after a day of performing miracle (Mark 1:35)

often withdrew to pray (Luke5:16)

before making the decisions needed to choose the 12  (Luke 6:12-13)

after hearing of the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:13)

to pray in Gethsemane before the Cross (Luke 22:39-44)

So, if we are required by governmental decree to isolate ourselves at home, or are forced by illness or recovery time after surgery to withdraw from regular involvement with others, or imprisoned for our faith, we can find some good thing to put our minds and hearts to.

In this day and age, we can still connect with family and friends through communication technology. This means we are not truly alone from other humans. We can also know for a surety that we are not isolated from God.

²⁵  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

                                    ²⁶  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

(Lamentations 3:25-26)

¹⁰  “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!” ¹¹  The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:10-11)

God has told us that He has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us (John 14:16), that He is with us in times of fear (Isaiah 41:10), that He won’t abandon us (Deut. 31:8), that His presence and rest is with us (Exodus 33:14), and that He is with us always (Matt. 28:20).

Your Turn:

1. Read Psalm 46.
2. When you are isolated to a degree from others, do you find it difficult to fill the time?
3. What might be included in the invitation to “rest”? Think of at-home work that needs done, of hobbies you have long wanted time to pursue, of ways you can minister to others. Think also of how you can reflect on God’s Word.
4. I have a friend who was forced into early retirement by a stroke and finds it hard to see anything significant he can be doing now. In your next time of isolation, whether chosen or forced upon you, what might be God’s purpose for you?

 

Day 90  –  Aging

“Grey hair is a crown of splendour; it is attended by a righteous life.” Proverbs 16:11

My brother grew up an active young man, quite good at sports. He played hockey into his 50s. Wayne became a pastor and served congregations faithfully for nearly 50 years. He came to love the study of the scripture and the reading of thoughtful books. He proved to be a loving and faithful husband and father, a caring friend to many. When the photo above was taken, he was almost 70 years of age and was already weakened by leukemia and over the remaining three years of his life would also face strokes, lung cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and some dementia, among other ailments. As he aged, illness seemed to attack with a vengeance. I remember well the day we talked on the phone and he said, “After 48 years, I think my preaching days are over.” That was a sad thing for him to face, seeing he loved the preaching, and, as he later said, “especially the preparation”.

Aging does carry with it declining strength. Think of the list Solomon gave in Ecclesiastes 12: 1-8. There, he uses poetic language to describe the natural weakening of the body – failing eyesight and hearing, loss of standing and walking strength, shaking limbs, sleepless nights, etc. But is that the whole story?

In Proverbs 16:25-32, Solomon observes that people can get it wrong, thinking that evil things are good, and good things are evil. Grey hair, he says in v. 11, is a sign of aging – a time which we associate with decline and weakness – but if accompanied by a righteous life, the grey hair is really a crown of splendour.

The same writer adds more thoughts on both aging and wisdom in the Book of Ecclesiastes. In chapter 7:12, Solomon writes, “Wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.” Often, young people take rash chances in life, while older people have learned to be cautious. Thus, while drivers age 80 and over are involved in car crashes 5.5 times as often as middle age drivers, drivers 16-17 have motor vehicle accidents at a rate nine times that of those in middle age (Consumer Reports, October 2012). Grey hairs and wisdom go together.

But even if a person does evil most of his days and lives long, mistakingly being praised by society, that person’s ultimate end will not go well. Rather, it is those who fear God who gain in the end. (Ecclesiastes 8:10-13). That is a good reminder, because often in this life we are confused when we see the wicked apparently prospering and the righteous not so much (Eccl. 8:14).”For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. “ (Eccl. 12:14). The psalmist added, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (90:12).

“Numbering” certainly means taking into account the brevity of life and seeking to make the best use of however many days God grants us. For older men and women, that carries with it a charge to live obediently and faithfully in relation to God and towards those around us. Thus, in Titus 2:2-3, the Apostle Paul gives instruction to older men and older women. Older men are to be

Sober minded – serious about life

Dignified – mature, not frivolous, accepting their age

Self-controlled – a fruit of the Spirit that is often carelessly forgotten

Sound in faith – the basis for the maturity discussed in the first three words above

In love – caring for the next generation of Christian leaders

In steadfastness – not hardened in our ways, but steadily submissive to God’s ways

Older women are to be

Reverent in behaviour – respectful of others, especially her spiritual leaders

Not slanderers – consciously avoiding gossip, a critical spirit

Not slaves to much wine – not dependent upon stimulants of any kind

Teach what is good – seeing her responsibility to set and be an example and instruct                         the younger women

And so train the younger women – training them in what it means to love their                                  husbands and children,  to be self-controlled, pure, homeworkers, kind,                          submissive to their husbands

A model of good works – living what she is teaching

A teacher of integrity, dignity, and sound speech – so that that an opponent says                                against them can be supported

 

It looks like there is still much for us to do, with whatever measure of strength we have remaining,  in the later years of life!

 

Your Turn;

1. Read Ecclesiastes 12 and Titus 2.
2. If you are a child, how do you relate to the aged ones in your life? If a young adult, or a middle adult, how about you? See Leviticus 19:32, “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the_face of an old man, and you shall fear  your God: I am the LORD.” Also see, I Timothy 5:2-3a, “² [Encourage] older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all ³ Honor widows who are truly widows.”
3. If you are the older one and if there were some test for integrity, how would you fair?
4. Creatively think about how best to humbly serve the Lord in your senior years. That way may be different from what you did in your youth and middle years.

 

Day 91  –  Purpose

 

 

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for

the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us

to a holy calling, not because of our works but because ofhis own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”  II Timothy 1:8-9

In the devotional for Day 88, I referred to a friend whose pathway in life has  been interrupted by a stroke. He was forced to retire early and now asks, ‘What does God want me to do?’ He has a hard time understanding his purpose in life.

I’m sure all of us come to places where a decision has to be made about the path we should take next. Young people ask how to determine God’s will – and when they grow old, they ask the same thing about a choice facing them then! After high school I wondered whether to go to university or to a Bible college or seminary. I ended up training for an academic career but choosing a church career before more training that led to an academic career after all! Now I can reflect on this and see that God granted me both types of work I had an interest in – an almost equal 21 years as a pastor and 20 years as a professor! God’s purpose was for me to do both. Decisions were made along the way without seeing the end result, simply trusting that this was the right choice for now and God would make things clear as we moved along.

Of course, there are many other choices that relate to God’s purpose in our lives – choices that apply to marriage and children, places to live, selecting a church home, volunteer service, medical decisions, care of elderly parents, and so on. Understanding life’s purpose helps in making these many kinds of decisions.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1642-1647) begins this way:

Q: What is the chief end of man?
            A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,¹ and to enjoy him forever.²

1. 1 Corinthians 10:31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Romans 11:36.For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

2.     Psalm 73:24-26. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God isthe strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
John 17:22, 24. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one… Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Glorifying God is what the Scriptures say is to be our main purpose in life. I Peter 2:9 says, “…that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into the wonderful light.”

The choices we make about jobs, family life, use of our time, etc., are ways through which we can glorify God and s how our deep love for Him. It’s not about me. It’s about Him. This is where we get it wrong much of the time. We wonder about our happiness instead of God’s honour. The questions that arise throughout life about education, marriage, career, major purchases, and the like are pieces of the puzzle that should be geared to honouring God. Can I make this choice and love God above all else, at the same time?

Sometimes it is hard to determine the best way to go. “The purpose in a man’s heart is like  deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Proverbs 20:5) In these situations we seek the counsel of others; we study the matter and weigh pros and cons; we pray. But always, we must return to the fundamental purpose of life: to glorify God and love Him forever.

The Bible tells us that loving God means obedience to Him. “Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Jesu said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14:15). Keeping His commandments and loving Him is what is meant in Philippians 2:12-13, where it says, “¹² Therefore, my beloved,  as you have always obeyed, so_now, not only as in my  presence but much more in my absence,work out your own salvation with fear and  trembling, ¹³ for it_is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good  pleasure.” You see in that passage the linking of love for God and the fulfillment of His purpose for us.

God’s purpose is that we live a holy life: “who saved us and called us_to a holy calling” Following Him in this calling is in keeping with “His own purpose” (II Timothy 1:9). May it be said of us as it was of David, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep.” (Acts 13:36)

Your Turn:

1. Read Philippians 2:1-12.
2. What advice would you offer to my friend?
3. Looking back, can you see ways in which God has been glorified in a life decision you made?
4. The overall purpose is to honour God. What is His particular, momentary purpose for you at the stage of life and circumstances you are in right now?