God’s Only Purpose For Your Life

Words pierce when they are God-words…

“W e must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life.  We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness….God has only one intended destiny for mankind–holiness.  His only goal is to produce saints.  God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity–He came to save us because He created us to be holy.”  -Oswald Chambers

The only way we use the word “holiness” today is as a poetic chant in our favorite praise song. We want nothing to do with holiness if it means interference with our desires and interests.

Why can’t I remember that God’s ONLY purpose is to make me holy?  Holy and happy are sometimes very far apart.  I want to be happy.  He wants me to be holy.  Sometimes they collide, but He isn’t really concerned with that.  I’m busy trying to orchestrate my circumstances to be happy and I have to wonder, how many times do I hinder His attempts to make me holy?

What does it mean to be holy?  Christians aren’t even taught holiness.  The very word falls awkward on our ears and we recoil a bit. Can I even get to the place where all I care about is being completely His, used by Him, for His purposes, no matter the cost?

Can I say to Him, “I am yours, make me holy?” and then see every circumstance in my life as that which is effecting the very prayer in me?

My heart ponders today….what does it mean to be holy, and am I willing for Him to make me? And I wonder, what do you think it means to be holy?

5 Signs of a Virtuous Wife

1.  She does her husband good and his heart safely trusts her.

This phrase is so loaded.  I would do well to dwell on this phrase alone all day.  I’m going to leave it at the challenge to ponder what you think it means to “do your husband good”.  Other clues from Proverbs speak of being a “crown” to him contrasted with being “rottenness in his bones”.  He is also “known in the city gates” (well-known and respected) and that advantage seems to be at least partially attributed to his wife’s character.

2. She feeds her family well.

This is more than quantity, I believe, and requires a considerate amount of studying, preparing and planning for meal time.

3.  She is a strong and vigorous worker.

A virtuous woman in God’s economy is not a woman too delicate to get her hands dirty.

4.  She helps those in need.

One important element of being a keeper at home is being available for the very basic Christian command-helping others.  The Christian community was and is expected to have reaching arms, always ready to help those around them, especially those of the household of faith.  The home should be the center of this tangible, outflowing of love. Such an important responsibility has been diminished and replaced by the activities we have deemed important, leaving little time for this lifeline of ministry.

5.  She dresses well and with dignity.

A virtuous woman doesn’t need a lot of money to dress nicely and keep herself tidy and attractive.  All it takes is a little time and fore-thought.  I think it’s important for us to be careful to avoid gaudy fads while still maintaining a stylish appearance.  Sometimes that’s a fine line.

God’s ideal woman has a tall order to fill.  I want to study, ponder and practice to become that woman.  It’s a life-long process; we are all in different places.  But by God’s grace, let’s keep looking to the Author and Finisher of our faith and believe that He will enable us to become “a rare jewel” in our homes, to our husbands and children, and in our communities!

Suffering–Not My Will

“Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing.” 1 Peter 4:19

To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s Will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.

The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. The people who do us good are never those who sympathize with us, they always hinder, because sympathy enervates (weakens).  If we accept the sympathy of a saint, the reflex feeling is – Well, God is dealing hardly with me. That is why Jesus said self-pity was of the devil (see Matt. 16:23).

Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from man because He knew far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was after. He took sympathy from His Father only, and from the angels in heaven. (Cf. Luke 15:10.)

Notice God’s unutterable waste of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in the most useless places. We say – God intends me to be here because I am so useful. Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are no judges at all of where that is.

-Oswald Chambers

“If My People…” God Answers Hungarian’s Prayers–He Can Answer Ours Too

There is always hope among a people who call out to God…there is hope for us!  Very exciting video!

The Beauty of Liturgy

“Let me know you, for you are the God who knows me…This is my hope…”

Husband leads and we follow, in unison from our printed liturgies the night before the Sabbath, around the table.

Little ones look us in the face curiously.  “What is this rhythmic ritual?”

Our voices rise in song…

“For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child…Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.”

The swell and break of our voices, this family, together has a unifying effect…our eyes dart at one another.

“Tomorrow when we read our confession, listen to the words and make them yours.”

“I am righteous before God only by true faith in Jesus Christ; that is, although my conscience accuses me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God….yet God, without any merit of mine, of mere grace, imputes to me perfect righteousness…”

Our souls are instructed, young and old, baby learns to sit quietly and though she doesn’t understand, she will.

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven…”

The liturgical exercise I once spurned has now become precious to me.

Its very constancy reflects the constancy of our faithful God.

The reading of truths out loud serves me twice as I see it and then hear it, and it strengthens the eyes of my faith more and more.

The affirmation of our faith at home as a family and then corporately with the rest of our family, week after week, begins to weave itself in and out of our lives like a tapestry that comes to life as God breathes over it.

“In joy of heart, in brotherly union, in Christian love we come to partake of Your table, giving thanks for the great love which You have shown to us through Christ our Lord.”

Little ones take their cues, hold their bread and wait….then together we remember His love and death and resurrection for us.

Hands lifted up…they don’t know why now, but they will.

“Praise God from Whom all blessings flow…”

One body, one Lord, one heart going out “to love and serve the Lord”.

Fortified for the week, strengthened for the task, we look forward to when we’ll meet again.

The Secret to Abundant Life

There is always another floor to sweep, another closet to arrange, the yard to mow, the thing to repair.

We are never done, but we keep working like we think we can get done.

And life gets crowded with the essentials and we lose our smiles.

And kindness.

And we become more automatic than full, creative, life-filled creatures.

“I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”

Abundant life.

That’s not better cars and bigger houses and more vacations.

In fact, there’s irony in “abundance.”

The more we have the more we have to keep up with and repair and maintain.

Abundance is a fullness of life, only possible through the grace and love our Lord Jesus can give us.

It’s a spiritual abundance that fills us with security and peace, knowing that even if it doesn’t all get done, there is more to life than my check list.  This life will end and we will go to scoop up our stored treasures.

Abundance spills out of me onto those around me.  And even while I must do the daily things that beckon me, they don’t own me and that knowledge gives me back my smile and lets me remember the most important things in life–

the people here.

Smile first, hug always, never be too busy to listen–really, forgive no matter what, and follow the prompting that tells you to “stop and love” and your life will grow into abundance.