By Purpose

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

Truly, the promises of God are certain and gets fulfilled for His purpose. We may live our lives by accident, default or driven by a plan and purpose. At the end, all things we are told work together for the good of those whose heart is after God and aligned with His purpose. To do otherwise and expect things to work together for our good is like playing lottery and gambling precious moments and life away..

God is a God of integrity, one who follows through with His purpose. Likewise we that have been created in His image must live a life of purpose and not live just for the moment and in the flow of the world. The life we live must be meaningful and purposeful and not just a wandering generality, but one that will be a showcase for Jehovah God.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

Seek fellowship

Friends,

Proverbs 18:1
A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment. -- [NKJV]

Too many of us have fallen prey to the lure of living life in isolation. We seek it out because, when we're alone, there's no one to examine our actions, question our motives, or to offer correction. Beyond a weekly service and -- maybe -- a weekly "small group", we go about our business; answering to no one but our own selves.

Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [NKJV]

You see, this is not a new habit. And so the consequences should not be a surprise ...

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death. [NKJV]

Sisters and brothers, when we isolate ourselves from daily fellowship & intimacy with the Body of Christ, we are following a path that leads away from God. Even if we have the best of intentions, we have no shot at living a life that is worthy of our calling.

The answer is to be in the Body every day ... to have as our most important relationships the ones that are bound by the Name and the Word of God. It will not be easy on our flesh. But we will expereicne a strengthening of the Spirit within us that will shine for all to see.

Be encouraged, Jose

All Things Working Together

Yesterday, I read about the comely parts of the body being necessary. That really struck a major cord with me. I am currently suffering through a physical issue where all my comely parts are not working properly. At the end of the day, I have a massive headache and am very tired. I realize that my body has to work much harder to care for the parts that are not functioning properly. We have all had some condition in our life where we have had to carry the weight of someone else not doing their job. It can be tiring and frustrating while we hope that everyone will eventually pull their weight.

And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. I Corinthians 12:23-25 [KJV]

When the body of Christ, which we are all a part, has non-working members, we all who are working have to work harder to compensate. We may have to work out of our zone in order to get the goals that Christ has accomplished. We need to remember that "many hands make light work". While that is not biblical, it does mean that if we all do the jobs (walking worthy in our vocation) that we are assigned, the Kingdom of God has a much larger reach than if we rely on someone else to do our part. So all people working together accomplishes the goal of spreading the Gospel further and more efficiently than just the one with everyone else watching.

Be Encouraged,


Martin