To the question posed on page 318
“Will you serve God’s purpose in your generation?” (p318 note) Mom
wrote “Yes!” I think she wrote that in 2006 which meant she had 4 more years to
serve before God called her home. She
underlined “Our purpose is to please God, not people.” (p318 note) At what point in your life you commit to serve God has nothing to do with how old you are, but with how surrendered you are.
Who are you most concerned about pleasing? Your family? Your spouse? Your boss? Perhaps, yourself. That is the natural view toward this life that we live. Mom was human – living with the “tug-o-war” that goes on in everyone’s heart, every day. Just like every other Christian. Living for God doesn’t happen on its own. That life requires deliberate action on the part of the one living it. Jesus said (Matthew 16:24) “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” That is a deliberate decision which must be made every day, not just once in a lifetime. Saying “no” to the natural and “yes” to the super-natural.
The Bibles gives us plenty of examples. Some of the people were successful and some were not. C'est la vie! When Lot’s wife was told to leave Sodom behind – not to look back – she failed. She could not subordinate her devotion to the natural to her devotion to God. When the rich young man was told to get rid of his wealth – the thing that he loved more than God – and follow Jesus with nothing in the bank – he could not. When the young man told Jesus that he had to bury his father before he could commit to follow Jesus, Jesus said “Let the dead bury the dead. Making a distinction between the natural and the super-natural. In each circumstance, the issue was one of their devotion of the heart. They loved their natural life more than God.
Reading books like Purpose Driven Life, even the Bible, has no real benefit if the truth revealed is not embraced and applied by the reader. Although she was by no means perfect, mom’s desire was to live her life in a manner that pleased her Father in heaven – and not men.
Listen, knowledge, that is not applied, puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1). My hope is that in my sharing her thoughts – and my thoughts about her thoughts – has served to encourage you to embrace and apply the Truths that the Spirit has illuminated in your heart. You have but one life to live on this planet. Live it in pursuit of God’s purpose. Don’t squander the opportunity that God has given you.
This will be the last post for this series. In November I will endeavor to write a book with the hope that in doing so, I can continue to encourage the Saints to walk by faith with an expectation that God will be by their side. I have not been released from helping in Houston or in Haiti, so that work will continue.
I will leave you by quoting Don Moen’s song “When It’s All Been Said And Done.”
“When it's all been said and done. There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth? Did I live my life for you?
When it's all been said and done. All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's reward. Will stand the test of time
Lord, your mercy is so great. That you look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay. Turning sinners into saints.
And I will always sing your praise. Here on earth and ever after
For you've shown me heavens, my true home. When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone... “
AmenWho are you most concerned about pleasing? Your family? Your spouse? Your boss? Perhaps, yourself. That is the natural view toward this life that we live. Mom was human – living with the “tug-o-war” that goes on in everyone’s heart, every day. Just like every other Christian. Living for God doesn’t happen on its own. That life requires deliberate action on the part of the one living it. Jesus said (Matthew 16:24) “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” That is a deliberate decision which must be made every day, not just once in a lifetime. Saying “no” to the natural and “yes” to the super-natural.
The Bibles gives us plenty of examples. Some of the people were successful and some were not. C'est la vie! When Lot’s wife was told to leave Sodom behind – not to look back – she failed. She could not subordinate her devotion to the natural to her devotion to God. When the rich young man was told to get rid of his wealth – the thing that he loved more than God – and follow Jesus with nothing in the bank – he could not. When the young man told Jesus that he had to bury his father before he could commit to follow Jesus, Jesus said “Let the dead bury the dead. Making a distinction between the natural and the super-natural. In each circumstance, the issue was one of their devotion of the heart. They loved their natural life more than God.
Reading books like Purpose Driven Life, even the Bible, has no real benefit if the truth revealed is not embraced and applied by the reader. Although she was by no means perfect, mom’s desire was to live her life in a manner that pleased her Father in heaven – and not men.
Listen, knowledge, that is not applied, puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1). My hope is that in my sharing her thoughts – and my thoughts about her thoughts – has served to encourage you to embrace and apply the Truths that the Spirit has illuminated in your heart. You have but one life to live on this planet. Live it in pursuit of God’s purpose. Don’t squander the opportunity that God has given you.
This will be the last post for this series. In November I will endeavor to write a book with the hope that in doing so, I can continue to encourage the Saints to walk by faith with an expectation that God will be by their side. I have not been released from helping in Houston or in Haiti, so that work will continue.
I will leave you by quoting Don Moen’s song “When It’s All Been Said And Done.”
“When it's all been said and done. There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth? Did I live my life for you?
When it's all been said and done. All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's reward. Will stand the test of time
Lord, your mercy is so great. That you look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay. Turning sinners into saints.
And I will always sing your praise. Here on earth and ever after
For you've shown me heavens, my true home. When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone... “
Note:
Taken from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren Copyright © 2002 by Rick
Warren. Use by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com
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