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TRACED WITH PURPOSE

you are not a mistake – you are created uniquely for a unique purpose by God

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God Knits You Together

Posted on January 13, 2014 Leave a Comment

Inspired by a sermon on the radio this morning, some life experience and Matt Chandler’s sermon yesterday on the Sanctity of Life:

The Sanctity of Human Life from The Village Church on Vimeo.

There’s a purpose behind every suffering we experience but so often we give up because we can’t see past the cloud. Even if your suffering is caused by someone else’s wickedness God takes everything and works it together for the good of those who love Him. That “good” will not always be what you consider is best for you, but wouldn’t you think if God knows EVERYTHING, that He knows wayyyy better than we do about what’s GOOD for us and what’s not? You may never get to live to see the “good” of your suffering but that doesn’t change anything! Sometimes we just need to trust God’s sovereignty over our little brains! I for one suffer every single day compared to the healthy person, and sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down with the situation and feel hopeless and purposeless but then there’s this truth:

Psalm 139:13-16
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

God shaped you in your mother’s womb specifically for everything you will experience your entire life, the good and the bad and he dreamed of His purpose for you before you were even formed!! So don’t you think He cares deeply about you now that you are formed? God doesn’t reject or walk away from you through suffering, in fact, God often uses suffering to draw us to Him!

And yep, sometimes your greatest disappointments, are your blessings in disguise.

Posted in: Blog | Tagged: Knitted together, Purpose, Suffering

Koinonia – What Does God Say About It?

Posted on December 31, 2013 Leave a Comment

imagesKoinonia is a transliterated form of the Greek word, κοινωνία, which means communion, joint participation; the share which one has in anything, participation, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, etc. It identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ. – Wikipedia

How important is living in community?

Perhaps one of the primary ways we experience God and His Love is through “one another”?

If God cares enough about this to mention it 56 times in the Bible why do we tend to miss it?

Yeah I get it, we’ve all been hurt by “one anothering” in church, but why wouldn’t we get hurt? The very fact that we are all human means we are gonna get hurt in close community and we’ll even hurt others unintentionally sometimes! Ever wish for the perfect church with perfect community? yeah? Well I hope you don’t go there because if you did find one, your own presence would contaminate it! There is no perfect church, or perfect community!

But we, in our miserable imperfection, living together in community seems to be very close to the heart of God. If we are the hands and feet of Jesus, doesn’t that mean that if we live together in community we will all be experiencing Jesus through each other? You see, God never intended that you face life alone. Of course, God is sufficient, but what we so often miss is that often God chooses to show himself to us through a brother or sister! There’s Biblical evidence that God intended all along for us to work in communities of people who are there for each other, to help each other, to bear each others burdens and yes, even to love each other enough to point out sin in each other’s lives. The last one is a tough one for many people because it makes us uncomfortable. We wanna be left alone to do our own thing but when times get tough, we wish for community.

You will get hurt, you will have people wrongly accusing you of sin, that will hurt you, you will be let down! We’re human for crying out loud!

So is it worth it?

I’m turning a blank here because words cannot begin to describe how awesome living in biblical community is! I guess you could say I have extra need for community due to my health issues especially in the future. Words cannot describe how often the communities I’ve been involved with have been there for me, prayed for me, called out areas I needed to repent of, hurt me sometimes, forgave me, encouraged me and on and on. (my family tops all this but I’m just assuming that’s a given 🙂 ) God has allowed me to experience Him in way richer forms through community then I ever would have experienced alone.

Recently the elders and prayer team at The Village laid hands on me in prayer for healing. While bowing my head, with many amazing friends standing around including my community leader, I was overwhelmed with God’s love & peace. A love and peace I would never know if I would try to face life alone. I feel sorry for so many people who have been hurt by other imperfect people in churches and turn their backs on living in real, open and rich community only to experience misery and miss out on one of the primary ways God shows Himself to us.

Community is a covenant not a come and go as you please. It’s, I’m here for you no matter what. If you hurt me I’ll love you back. If you approach me about sin, I’m listening. Why? Because only through this kind of community do we experience God to the fullest!

If you’re still not convinced that living in community is better, just go join a Biblical community and start first with pouring your life out for them. You’ll see.

Personally I’m thankful to go to a church that views church membership as a biblical command. No its not biblical to demand membership so we can breath down each other’s backs about personal preferences. It’s a covenant which means you’re with it through thick and thin and for better or for worse for as long as God is calling you to that community. Just make sure your community is centered around the Gospel and not man-made religion.

Here’s what the Bible has to say about “one anothering”

Leviticus 19:11 “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another.
John 13:14  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
John 13:34  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13:35  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Romans 12:10  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.
Romans 13:8  Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Romans 14:13  Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
Romans 15:7  Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Romans 15:14   I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
Romans 16:16  Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
1 Corinthians 1:10  I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Galatians 5:13   You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;  rather, serve one another in love.
Ephesians 4:2   Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:32  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 5:19  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
Ephesians 5:21   Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Colossians 3:13  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Hebrews 10:25  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
James 4:11  Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
1 Peter 3:8  Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 4:9  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
1 Peter 5:5   Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another , because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all  sin.
1 John 3:11  This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:23  And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 4:7   Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 Peter 4:8  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
James 5:16  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:9  Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
Hebrews 13:1   Keep on loving each other as brothers.
2 Thessalonians 1:3  We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:15  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
1 Thessalonians 5:13  Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
1 Thessalonians 5:11   Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 4:18  Therefore encourage each other with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:9   Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
1 Thessalonians 3:12  May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Colossians 3:13  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:9  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
Philippians 4:2  I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.
Ephesians 4:32  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Galatians 5:26  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 6:2  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Corinthians 12:25  so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
Galatians 5:15  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
1 Corinthians 11:33  So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
Romans 1:12  that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
Ephesians 4:16  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Philippians 2:3-5   Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

 

Posted in: Blog | Tagged: accountability, Bible, Christian Community, church, Community, God, one another

Let God Be God!

Posted on December 31, 2013 Leave a Comment

It’s so easy to look at the small world I am involved in and see the sin, the pain, the brokenness, the messed up relationships, messed up thinking and become really discouraged and wonder if the Gospel really is powerful over everything. I’m one that tends to react by getting impatient with the person and almost be a bug in their life. over the past few years it’s been a real journey for me to see sin, dishonesty & many other things in people and not feel like I am the one to set things straight and to show them their faults. To often I’ve “spoken the truth in love” yet kept pressuring like their salvation depended on me.

The Truth is, God needs none of us to carry out his work here on earth, he doesn’t NEED any of us! God is the God of the universe and too many times, just like I have been sometimes, we are actually in His way! Like the song by Casting Crowns puts it-“The world is on their way to you, but they’re trippin’ over me”

You see, we are obligated out of sincere Love for each other to stand by each other and point out sin in our Christian friends lives and to share the Gospel with our unbelieving friends, but the minute we think it all depends on us we are basically trying to play a roll that only God can play. Share the Gospel with your friends, but let God do the saving work, speak truth in love to a believer but let God do the saving work. Simply put, stop trying to be God! When this truth really hit me was when I looked around and saw just how crazy this world is, all the brokenness, sin, hurt and it’s easy to feel hopeless and feel like i have to do something about it, yet I can only see a tiny tiny tiny drop in the bucket of all the sin, pain and hurt that goes on around the world! God sees ALL the pain, hurt, sin and whatever else goes on .How do you think He feels? Hopeless? Angry? NEITHER! God IS hope! He responds out of love and sends His only begotten Son to die for me and you so that all who put their faith in Him have eternal hope!

So the next time you are feeling hopeless about just how messed up the world you interact in is and are tempted to try to play God’s role in your friends lives, just remember, God sure was patient and merciful with you! Besides, who are you to feel hurt or anger because how messed up some of your friends are? God has wayyyy more reason to be angry, yet he responded out of love. Shouldn’t this be our example?

Love your friends! That will mean some tough moments of speaking Truth about sin in their lives sometimes, but speak Truth and let God work out the redemption.

Sometimes we need to get out of the way and let God be God!

Posted in: Blog | Tagged: Friends, God, Grace, love, Sin, Truth

“You Better Not Be Found Fighting Against God!”

Posted on December 23, 2013 Leave a Comment

So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!

Acts 5 (The Message)

29-32 Peter and the apostles answered, “It’s necessary to obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven. And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates every detail.”

33-37 When they heard that, they were furious and wanted to kill them on the spot. But one of the council members stood up, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of God’s Law who was honored by everyone. He ordered the men taken out of the room for a short time, then said, “Fellow Israelites, be careful what you do to these men. Not long ago Theudas made something of a splash, claiming to be somebody, and got about four hundred men to join him. He was killed, his followers dispersed, and nothing came of it. A little later, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and acquired a following. He also fizzled out and the people following him were scattered to the four winds.

38-39 “So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!”

40-42 That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus’ name and sent them off. The apostles went out of the High Council overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name. Every day they were in the Temple and homes, teaching and preaching Christ Jesus, not letting up for a minute.

If what my life is about is of God, there’s nothing that can stop it. If it is merely human (selfish), it will fall apart.

Posted in: Blog | Tagged: Acts 5, God, Merely Human

A&E Can’t Take The “Happy, Happy, Happy” out of Phil Robertson!

Posted on December 20, 2013 Leave a Comment

If we just had more people who aren’t scared to proclaim truth in a loving manner at all costs! One of the appealing things about his show is how down to earth he is, you feel like there’s a connection because he’s practical. Yet when he uses the same down to earthness to talk about the Bible he gets thrown out for it!

Shame on A&E yet what can you expect? We’re living in a broken world full of broken people who all need Jesus, so why should we act shocked when evil takes it’s evil course? God doesn’t need our help to defend Himself! It’s sad that A&E suspended Phil Robertson yet God isn’t set back one bit, rather He takes everything and turns it in His favor.

So while Evil is taking it’s toll, God is being glorified! God uses Evil and Good to Glorify His name, there’s nothing that cannot Glorify God! Even the atheist who denies God’s very own existence Glorifies God just by the simple fact that he’s breathing and has a heart beat! So for me, I’m sad about what A&E did yet God Rules!

So I’m Happy, Happy, Happy!

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Posted in: Blog | Tagged: A & E, A&E, Duck Dynasty, Duck Dynasty Nation, happy happy happy, Phil Robertson
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