Q: Remember the poem called "Footprints"? At the end of the poem the writer said to Jesus, "why is there one set of footprint when times got tough"? Jesus replied, "IT WAS THAT I CARRIED YOU". You may be going through tough times, but your Father (Jesus) will carry you threw it..
A: On July 23, 2006, the phone rang. On the other end was my big sister. "Hello," I said. My sister said, in a somber voice,"Well, mom has cancer." While not a surprise, the first thing I did was say a prayer. My prayer was simple. "Father, help my mother's illness bring those closest to her to a deeper understanding of who You are." Over the next 79 days I was subjected to things I never thought a son would have to do for his mother. Frequent and long trips to the emergency room. Up at all hours of the night to administer pain medication and cancer drugs. On the phone at 2 a.m with a nurse trying to change my mothers IV in her arm. Helping her stabilize herself after her chemo therapy treatment zapped her strength and cognitive abilities. Cleaning up after her. Soon after she passed away, November 10, 2006, I became sick. It was the end result of my body coming down after being focused on my mom for three months. In hindsight, it was God putting me back down from carrying me through this traumatic event. It was at this dark hour in my family's history that I realized how God lifted me up and carried me to the finish line. What devastates many, the suffering and loss of a parent, only emboldened my faith. It never has been about me and my ability, only Him and His ability. Thanks for the video, Chris. Be blessed.
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Q: What is our(Christians) "purpose"? And does our purpose ever "change"?
A: When we think of purpose we think in terms of what is it that God wants me to do with my life? Our purpose in life is to be available to God to live His life, that only He can live, in and through us. We make ourselves available to God by resting from our works."Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Rom 12:1)." A living sacrifice is something that is completely at the mercy of God; totally surrendered. You cannot be available to God unless you believe you are completely accepted and loved by Him. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, what all did you receive? "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3)." You received every spiritual blessing. What else? "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Pet 1:3)." You received everything you need for life and godliness. Therefore, since you have everything you could ever want in Christ, you are now free to rest and make yourselves available to Him. Your purpose in life has is allowing the Lord to serve others through you rather than you trying to serve God in order to get what you already have been given.
Our purpose never changes. God's will is that He is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9)." Therefore, as long as we live and there are unbelievers in this world, there will always be an opportunity for God to use us. Again, God gave us Himself, in Christ, so we could be totally focused on Him, who we are and what we have in Him, in order to share Him with those we encounter in life. If you're a parent, remember how it was when you had your child? All you wanted to do was show them off to everybody and anybody that meant something to you. Even complete strangers would often stop to look at your baby. Your entire focus, and still is in many respects, on your child. It is not any different with our God. We are completely focused on Him and desire to share Him with everybody, including strangers. And although not quite the same, we are at His mercy just like you can be with a child. When that child needs something, you are right there. Therefore, when God wants us to do something that will shed His light and love on someone, we are right there. And we can only be there because we are totally at rest and content with all God has blessed us with through faith in Jesus. Be blessed.
Q: What is the "purpose" for God blessing us(Christians)?
A: God's purpose for blessing us was to restore Himself to us. Every person ever born on this planet, with the exception of Jesus, is born with the need to have the desires of their heart met. Those desires are for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning and purpose to life. Those needs were put there by God because He is the only one who can fulfill them. When we accept Jesus by faith we have had the life of God restored to us. And the blessings we have in Him meet those deep desires. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3)." We already have every spiritual blessing we will ever get through our faith in Jesus Christ. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3)." We also have everything we need for life and godliness. The byproduct of having every spiritual blessing and everything we need for life and godliness is so we will rest from trying to get these desires of our heart met outside our relationship with God. Because when you don't believe you have received these things from God you are forced to turn to the world and sin to try and meet those needs.
Because of these blessings and our resting in them we can now make ourselves the "living sacrifices" spoken of in Romans 12. We now engage the world with what we can give to it rather than trying to get from it that which it cannot provide. God blessed us with Himself so through us He can bless others who don't have Him. Unfortunately, many Christians are trying to get blessings of the flesh from God in order to meet these needs. And the only way to get those is through subjecting themselves to some form of law. They think that through their obedience and repentance God will bless their flesh. Sadly, they are expecting something from God He didn't promise Christians He would give. And missing out on the things He did come to give. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, you are incomplete. You are forced to look high and low to make yourself whole. Hopefully, the journey has led you to the Lord. And in Him you are now complete. "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete ... (Col 2:9-10)." God blessed you with Himself! That is a no small thing. Do not let that truth escape you. Ponder how much your God loves you that He created you for Himself. Be blessed.
Q: What is the true meaning of "forgiveness"? And how do you know you have "truly" forgiven someone who has done you wrong?
A: Jesus gave us the meaning of true forgiveness when He said, "It is finished (John 19:30)." Because of the death of Jesus Christ, God no longer expects us to pay a debt to Him we cannot pay. Our sins deserve death (Rom 6:23) and none of us h...ave a life to give that would have satisfied God for our sins. Therefore, God reconciled us to Himself and begs us to be reconciled to Him (2 Cor 5:20). Since, we have been reconciled, God no longer remembers our sins (2 Cor 5:19). Since He no longer remembers our sins, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:17-18). That tells us to put away our bloodless sacrifices which God no longer requires from us or accepts. That means to put away your confession booth, stop keeping short accounts, quit answering altar calls to rededicate yourself to Him, quit repeating the "Lord's Prayer" endlessly and stop asking Him to forgive you. If you are still asking God to forgive you, then you don't believe the death of Jesus Christ was sufficient enough to take away your sins. Jesus' sacrifice was once and for all (Rom 6:10) and for eternity (Heb 9:12). How can you approach God if you feel your sins are always coming between the two of you? You cannot. Thus, you will never come to a full understanding of His love, grace, mercy and struggle to experience a relationship with Him. And if you cannot do that how will you share Him with others?
We know we have truly forgiven others when we no longer expect them to pay a debt to us they cannot pay. Sound familiar? Until we realize God is no longer expecting us to pay Him for our sins, we cannot forgive others in the way we have been forgiven (Eph 4:32, Col 3:13). God's forgiveness of us is no longer conditional on us forgiving others. For example, say a woman is raped. We would have to tell her that unless she forgives her attacker she is not forgiven by God and will go to Hell. That sounds harsh, but is effectively the truth. But, when she realizes that her attacker could never repay what he has taken she not only releases herself from the bondage his sin caused, but she frees the attacker as well. It is the only way she can move on with her life. She has forgiven as God forgave her. That is what God wants us to understand. God removed our sins so He could have a relationship with us. We remove the sins of others so, if we choose, we can have a relationship with them. That is why it says "Love ... it keeps no records of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5)." God, in His love, keeps no record of our wrongs. We, in Christ, keep no records of the wrongs perpetrated against us. God, in Christ, reconciled us to Himself. We, in Christ, are reconciled to God. That is forgiveness. Our sins are no longer an issue between man and God. Once you recognize that you are in store for tremendous growth. Be blessed.
Q: How can we as Christians "build" up our faith?
A: We must take Jude 1:20-24 in context to get the answer. To "build" up anything we must start with a foundation. Jude 1:24 says, "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—". Faith must have an object and Jesus Christ, and the assurance of our salvation, is the object of our faith and the secure foundation we build upon. When you understand this truth you are aware of the grace and mercy the Lord has shown towards you. Otherwise, you most likely would not have to come to Him by faith. You recognize just how unworthy of salvation you are and how much God loves you, in Christ. Therefore, upon receiving and understanding His mercy you are able to share it with others. Thus, we come to Jude 1:22-23. "Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." Your faith in Christ and remembrance of who you were and how you were before salvation creates a desire to share Jesus with others and try and bring them to faith in Christ.
Therefore, with that knowledge we can better understand Jude 1:20-21. "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." You keep yourselves in God's love by reminding yourself of just how much He loved you and who you are in Christ. His grace and mercy led you to the salvation you are sharing with others. Now, you pray in the Holy Spirit, which is the opposite of praying in the flesh or speaking in "tongues," in accordance to His will. His will is a description of the inheritance we have received through faith in Christ. It ties in to verse 24 in that as believers we are secure in our salvation with the assurance that Jesus Christ will keep us from falling. We are forgiven, holy, blameless, righteous, have eternal life, sanctified and justified through faith in Jesus. When we are building on that foundation we can be assured that what is built on it will stand for all eternity. Jesus is our Rock. And when we build our faith with Him as the foundation we are like the Wise Builder. "He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built (Luke 6:48)." Be blessed.
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