Called with a Purpose (Romans 8:28)

I was at a Bible study this week, where we were studying the exhalted Christ and his characteristics as Paul writes of him in Colossians 1:14-20. As we were discussing the greatness of our Lord Jesus and how He achieved perfection even while being a person, facing the same trials we do everyday.... it's hard at this point for me to remember the exact conversation, but we more or less came to the conclusion that our sin keeps us from being completely focused on this Christ and keeps pushing him out of our inner temple, and that thought sent us rolling down to the point where we were questioning whether there is even a point in trying to attain the fullness of God and the holiness of Christ within us. Do we even know anyone who lives a sinless life and has achieved their all in Christ? If we don't know anyone like that, how likely are we to steer from sin and selfish desires and seek fulfillment in God? How are we to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ himself?

At that point, I was struck with a thought. Why do we care what other people have done and will continue to do? We are called to be followers of Christ! He is supposed to be constantly increasing in us as we are decreasing (John 3:30), decreasing to the point where there is no more of "ME" left and it is all CHRIST. And what happens then? Then we can quote Paul, saying "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me! And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). So, if Christ is our perfection and our life goal is to have him live within us and all our actions are to be HIS actions, then technically we are called to live a sinless life. Does that always happen? Of course not! Does that mean we should give up our goal? Of course not!! People, we will always make mistakes - that's how we learn. Do we just give up after every mistake and say that we will never try again? I think not... 

One verse that has especially helped me to keep on going in the past months is Romans 8:28. In my younger days I used to think it meant that a Christian's life was full of miracles and blessings and that everything was always sunshine and rainbows, until I realized that most Christians deal with almost the complete opposite of that, and then I realized that I wasn't even really a Christian (but that's a different story). My point is, even when it seems like your world is turning upside down and you can't defeat the sin that lives within you and you spend every night crying into your pillow... even then Christ is working in your life and letting you grow into a spiritual warrior that will one day join Him in defeating the enemy one. last. time. And now I'm crying because that image is just so beautiful that I'm willing to spend my entire life fighting my own flesh and getting hated on by the world so that the Christ of Colossians 1 can become the Christ that lives in me, and wins. That is how all things for together for good. Nevertheless, not my will but Yours, Lord, be done...

"God has a very great purpose for His people by their eternal calling and by their wonderful redemption. A very great purpose... so much greater than the majority of Christians have realized. I do not think I am saying a false thing when I say that perhaps the larger number of Christians have got little further than to know that they are saved, and to be very glad that they are saved, to rejoice in being saved. Comparatively few are really in the good of God’s great, great purpose from eternity, “called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). It is not for us now to say what that purpose is, to explain it. It is sufficient to state the fact. We are called with a very great purpose, not just even to get out of Egypt and the clutches of the devil, but with an object, a tremendous object, nothing less than the infinite fullness of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and an eternal vocation. It is a great thing to which we are called in Christ, but how many Christians are really in it, and if they know they are in it, are tasting of the meaning of it: that this Life is an inexhaustible Life, that there are new vistas all the time?

"I am not exaggerating. The heavens are opened and we see more and more, and ever more, of what it is to which we are called. It is just wonderful.... You are not meant just to be saved and get to heaven, to know your sins are forgiven and to have a certain number of blessings which come with salvation. But there lies before you and reaches out through eternal ages such a purpose of God concerning us all that “the eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). ~T. Austin-Sparks - "The Cross and the Way of Life"

The (deepest) of these is (Christ) love

I start by saying that I write this post first and foremost as a reminder for myself. If these words find a way into someone else's heart, then praise God! It is not my doing.

We live in a world that has not only rejected Christ's Love but has also replaced it (meaning Agape) with its own pathetic version of love, which goes by the same name but a very different meaning. I think we all pretty much know 1 Corinthians 13. Or do we? I memorized that passage when I was about 12 or so. Did it do me any good? Not really. I mean I knew it, I memorized it, I could quote it! But alas, I didn't know it at the time, and so I quickly forgot what I had learned and sought the world's verion of love, which led me to absolutely nowhere... except loneliness, despair, despondency, and emptiness. Yes, I came to that point. I was recently reading through an old high school notebook with a friend from my high school days, and as we read it I found that I had written the work love almost on every page, but to my shame, almost every word I wrote made me want to vomit. It was an ugly kind of love, like a really bad facade of pink icing on a completely burnt cake. You see, dear friend, our sinful nature leads us to pursue the wrong kind of love, be it platonic or romantic or whatever kind of love you want to call it - if it's the kind that the world invented then it is the wrong kind of love.

What is, then, this greater Love without which we are literally nothing (13:2)?? How can I be nothing - I mean, I've accomplished at least something in life. I've been places, done nice things, been a generally good person..... and herein lies the fault of our reasoning. All the "good deeds" and discipline in the world cannot lead us to joy and peace in Christ, because despite all that, we are still living for ourselves. Not until we surrender ourselves and give every ounce of love within ourselves to Jesus will we accomplish anything that has any worth in God's eyes. Nothing we ever do will amount to anything if it is not directed by God Himself and done out of love for and to the glory of Jesus Christ. 

1 Cor 13:1-3  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Here is a link to all the verses in the New Testament in which the word "agape" is used. Read them and try to know them. Try to understand how agape love fits into your life, and how you can apply it towards yourself and your love towards God and others. Open your Bible and read these verses in context. Agape is the main message of the New Testament - God's testament/covenant towards us is that He loved us enough to sacrifice Himself for us, and He continues to unwaveringly love us daily in this fashion. Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. Agape is the source of all love, joy, peace, contentment, hope, the reason we can obtain salvation and become God's children, the reason the Bride of Christ is so passionate, the reason that one day, Christ will return for us and take us to an everlasing home of eternal Life... If you think about this Truth, then really, what else do you need from life? Think about it - if you imagine the fruits of the spirit growing on a tree, the root of that tree would be agape - holy, Christ-love. I know there are other kinds of love that are mentioned in the Bible, but without Christ love, we cannot truly experience even those, because we are nothing without it... Without it, we are just pretending to love and be happy. We are just pretending to be Christians. We are just pretending to know God. We are nothing but a bunch of professional stage actors who have never experienced the true life story of God-love and have never let it permeate our lives.

1 Cor. 13: 4-8   Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

What you have just read is the essence of Christ-love. Learn to love like He did, and you will find your life transforming into a beautiful refection of His perfect Love. When you know Christ-love, you have no reason to despair - you have found the one thing that never fails! Rejoice, o weary soul! You have found the secret to Life! Drink, and never thirst again! Believe, and never doubt again! Love, and let yourself be loved by the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, your Reedemer and Bridegroom, or whatever else you love to call our precious Jesus. 

1 Cor. 13: 8-13   Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Oh the deep, deep Love... All I need and trust, is the deep, deep Love of Jesus!

On Prayer...

On the power of prayer:

Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer can do. ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God's work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God's work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails. ~ E. M. Bounds

The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history. ~Andrew Murray

Prayer at its best is the expression of the total life, for all things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives. ~A. W. Tozer

Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure. ~D. L. Moody

Prayer is our strength; Prayer generates strength; it generates vision; it generates power; and the devil wilI drive you away from the prayer closet more than anything. ~Leonard Ravenhill

In the war upon the powers of darkness, prayer is the primary and mightiest weapon, both in aggressive war upon them and their works; in the deliverance of men from their power; and against them as a hierarchy of powers opposed to Christ and His Church. ~Jessie Penn-Lewis

Spiritual sounding chitter-chatter tends to be self-centric in its banter, begging for comforts to be protected, deadlines to be met, surgeon’s hands to be guided, test so be passed, and food to be blessed. It’s always about us. And, whereas there is nothing wrong with praying about our own personal needs, prayer—real-life historic prayer—is otherworldly and built upon the notion of a forgotten self. It’s aggressive, growling, attacking, commanding, persevering, passionate, and feverishly unrelenting—it’s battlefield firing, as if every utterance is chipping away at enemy stronghold and every petition is moving God’s indomitable purposes forward in this natural realm. ~Eric Ludy, Wrestling Prayer

On specific prayer:

There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed. ~Charles Spurgeon

Here is a crucial truth: Specific praying is the key to building faith. It's the way Christ asks us to pray. It's the pattern of Scripture. And when we are willling to go out on a limb and make a specific request for God, our faith grows as we see Him come through for us. ~Leslie Ludy, Wrestling Prayer

On overcoming prayer:

He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has heaven and earth at his disposal. ~Charles Spurgeon 

Negligence in prayer withers the inner man. Nothing can be a substitute for it, not even Christian work. Many are so preoccupied with work that they allow little time for prayer. Hence they cannot cast out demons. Prayer enables us first inwardly to overcome the enemy and then outwardly to deal with him. ~Watchman Nee

And there you have the reason why many people pray for the power of the Holy Ghost, and they get something, but oh, so little! because they prayed for power for work, and power for blessing, but they have not prayed for power for full deliverance from self. ~Andrew Murray

On praying for God's Will:

Believers must persevere in prayer that they may see clearly their own pitiful state and understand the indwelling, working, and demands of the Holy Spirit. ~Watchman Nee

When an answer I did not expect comes to a prayer which I believed I truly meant, I shrink back from it; if the burden my Lord asks me to bear be not the burden of my heart's choice, and I fret inwardly and do not welcome His will, then I know nothing of Calvary love. ~Amy Carmichael

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1 Timothy 2:1-2  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

James 5:13-16  Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? Let him pray. Is any merry (joyful, cheerful)? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth (accomplishes) much (has much power).

2 Corinthians 5:17

The Word teaches us very clearly that Christ has been taken right out of this old creation and set at God's right hand in the heavenlies. On the other hand, it shows us that His being there, and our being in spiritual union with Him, means that for all spiritual purposes and resources, we also are in the heavenlies in Christ.... Let us ask the Lord to give us a real, spiritual, quick, living apprehension of this great truth concerning our Lord Jesus, the great realm of the new creation into which we are brought, and let us apply it, practice it, put it into operation from day to day.

You may have to go into a place where there is not much spiritual wealth on the outside, not much upon which to feed. Remember you have Christ, the whole Land, lying before you. You may have to go into scenes where there is anything but rest, spiritual rest; where all is fret, care, drive, strain. Remember that you are in the Land; you are in Christ; you have Him as your Rest. You may have to go into the conflict, into the battle, into the tremendous activities of the enemy to overthrow you. Remember you are in Christ, Who is Victory, complete, final victory. That remains true, whatever the enemy may say about it. Christ is all that we need for a life which is glorifying to Him. It is what Christ is, what we have in the new creation.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Essential Newness of the New Creation - Chapter 4 

Jesus, Lover of my Soul!

Just and holy is Thy Name,

I am all unrighteousness;

False and full of sin I am;

Thou art full of truth and grace…