Posts

Why Do We Exist?

Why Do We Exist?

/in /by

One of the big questions of life is “Why do we exist?” Whether we know God or not, most of us will ask this question at some time in our lives. God created us as curious beings. We love to know how things work. Young children instinctively and frequently ask the question “Why?”, and in different ways, we never outgrow this desire to understand.

For many, this question of why we exist remains unanswered. For us as followers of Christ, God so lovingly speaks into this through His precious Word. Let’s look at a scripture in Jeremiah which gives us some insights into why we exist.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NIV) The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

We exist because we were conceived in the mind of God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit live eternally in perfect harmony and unity. They love each other’s company. And this is what makes our existence even more special. Our starting point was in the desire and the design of God. We exist because God wants us to exist! God did not need to create us in order to complete Himself – He created us because He wanted to share His love and enjoy relationship with us.

The truth is, before we were naturally conceived, we were conceived in the mind of God. He knew us before our parents conceived us. The word ‘knew’ in this Scripture means to know; to ascertain by seeing. God saw us before there was anything to see!

This impossible reality points to the eternal nature of God. This also makes clear our value to God and His overwhelmingly wonderful heart for us as humans. He desired us as His children and to be part of His family.

We were created by the will of God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

God saw us in the realm of the spirit before He formed us in the natural realm. The word ‘formed’ means to mold into a form, especially as a potter, to determine.

There are no accidents in God – there are only masterfully created designs! God did not make a mistake in how He made us. Remember, God saw us before He formed us, and He formed us exactly as He saw us. You were created just as you should be.

Psalms 139:13-16 (NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

David declared that God saw his unformed body. Before there was anything, God saw everything. This is true for every one of us. God saw us, then God formed us.

We are called by the will of God.

“…before you were born I set you apart…”

We were not called by God as an afterthought. We were called by God before we were conceived or born!

Throughout the Bible, we read that God called people by name. He did this with Adam and Eve, with Moses, with Samuel, and with the disciples. He still does this today, and He has done it with you.

John 15:16 (NIV) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Think of a school yard pick to choose teams for sports. Two captains are chosen, and then with each taking turns, they choose who they want on their team. God Almighty chose you! This choosing is your calling by God to Himself. Our significance is not primarily in what we are called to do for God, but in the truth that we are called by name to be His child and His friend.

We exist because we are commissioned to work with God.

“…I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

God doesn’t exist to help us in our work. We exist to help God in His work!

Jesus exemplified this continually throughout His life and ministry. He only did what He saw His Father doing, and He was led and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived on mission, and He was about His Father’s business.

Our lives are to look the same.

“I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”

God has placed within us all that we need for Him to be seen through us. Every gift and ability, every talent and nuance of our lives is given to be used in the work of God. From the Genesis of time, we were created to take care of what God owns. Adam and Eve looked after and worked the garden that God placed them in and called them to steward on His behalf. You and I also are placed on this earth to work with God in what He is doing.

Why do we exist? We exist by the will of God, for relationship with God, and for the glory of God.

RELATED BLOGS AND DEVOTIONAL PLANS

Faith For New Beginnings

Don’t Postpone The Call Of God

What Is It Time For?

Celebrate Life

/in /by

I pulled myself up recently with my wayward thoughts and sometimes wayward speech. Over the last 10 years, how did I become ‘old’! How did I get from a fit, active, and healthy 40-year-old, to a 77-year-old with aches and pains, sags and bags, wrinkles, and diminished strength and health? And how much do I really celebrate life?

Ageing has taken place. Ageing is a life process.

When a baby is born, it’s a newborn. Over time it becomes a one-year-old. Then a five-year-old. Later a twenty-one-year-old… the aging process continues, and so on and so forth. It only stops when we die.

We age, we change, we mature (hopefully) and we sure look different as the decades pass. Old age is NOT for the faint-hearted!

BUT AGE IS JUST A NUMBER! OLD IS A STATE OF MIND!

I know that random things can happen that can rob people of their minds and health. It’s extremely sad. But those of us who can think clearly can make a choice.

Either I can believe that because I am old, my best years are well and truly behind me. I can allow this thinking to affect me. I can mistakenly think that I have reasons to stop loving life and exploring new possibilities in God. My negative thoughts make every area of my life worse and bring unhappiness. Or I understand that I may be 77 or 80 or whatever age… BUT I CHOOSE LIFE! I choose to believe that God still has plenty for me to do. I am useful and fruitful as I abide in Him.

Recently I saw a comment on social media about actor Clint Eastwood. (This is not an endorsement of Clint, just an observation.) Clint is in his 90’s and is still involved in directing movies and active in his life.  At the age of 88, he was asked what the key was to being so alive and energetic. He answered, “I don’t let the old man in.” It struck a chord with me. It’s a way of thinking! A choice.

Proverbs 23:7a (NKJV) For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

WHAT DO WE CHOOSE TO THINK? HOW MUCH DO WE CELEBRATE LIFE?

I have friends in their 80’s whose thinking is based on the Word of God. They are a joy to be around! They think young, are full of gratitude and joy, and have a positive outlook on life. (Contrasted by those who are negative, complaining, unhappy and have a pessimistic outlook.)

My source is God, “For in Him, we live and move and have our being”. (Acts 17:28a) The Holy Spirit within me gives me the strength to face everyday challenges with wisdom and perseverance. He is my strength, even if I am weak. He is the ‘difference Maker’.

Proverbs 18:14a (NKJV) The Spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness.

Our spirit is stronger than our body… now ain’t that the truth! Our Spirit can change our body! We can experience peace and joy at the same time as we experience pain. I choose to think young.

I am grateful for all that I have. God has purpose and ministry for me now and in my future. I choose to serve others, love, encourage, step out in faith and obey His commandments. There is a daily decision to stand on the promises of God and believe in the truth of His word. I endeavour to live by faith, and I trust Him.

This is a great promise:

Isaiah 46:3-4 (NIV) “Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

We all need a personal conviction that God is good and that He is ordering our steps. He has been faithful throughout my lifetime, and I know that He always will be.

Note to self: Don’t let the old lady in! 😃

CELEBRATE LIFE!

RELATED BLOGS AND DEVOTIONAL PLANS

Indescribable Love

Available To God

Why Do We Exist?

Understanding Seasons

Understanding Seasons

/in /by

In the natural, we live life differently in summer than we do in winter. We are the same person, but what we wear, where we go, the sports we play, and the holidays we take are all subject to understanding the season we are in.

As the natural seasons significantly impact our lives, so too do the spiritual seasons. The good news is, God doesn’t make the seasons difficult to recognise.

Psalms 1:1-3 (NIV) Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

This scripture tells us clearly that you can be a blessed person who meditates on God’s Word day and night, and yet only yield fruit in season. In other words, there are seasons when blessed and biblical people do not see the fruit that they have sown in the form of seed!

And then it goes even deeper by telling us that godly people prosper in whatever they do! Do you see it? You can be in a season that is not producing fruit, and still be prospering in every area of your life. God wants to change the way that we measure outcomes in our lives.

In the natural, a farmer only plants seed in certain seasons. That same farmer also only reaps a harvest in certain seasons. A farmer knows that you don’t plant seeds in harvest season, nor do you harvest a crop in seed time.

Proverbs 20:4 (NIV) Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

If a farmer does not understand what is required in the different seasons, then frustration, disappointment and unfruitfulness is the result. How much more so for the people of God when it comes to kingdom matters! Understanding the seasons is made clear for us in His Word.

Not everything is budding and sprouting new life all the time. Sometimes the season we find ourselves in is a season of preparing the soil, planting the seed, watering the seed and pulling out the weeds. The shift of measurement for many believers is this: These seasons are just as important as the seasons when we see the fruit, and we can prosper in God just as much in these seasons.

Is it possible that at times, the lack of fruit in our lives and ministry is because we have not ploughed in ploughing time? If we don’t plough, we won’t see a harvest. When we don’t plant seeds, there won’t be a harvest. If we don’t water and fertilise the seeds, we won’t see a harvest.

Unless we become people of prayer, we won’t see a harvest of miracles. If we don’t become people of God’s Word, we won’t see a harvest of a transformed mind. Unless we are people of faith, we won’t see a harvest of pleasing God.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV) There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Not recognising the season that we are in can be tragic. We all know that King David committed adultery and followed this up with murder. It is one of the most devastating stories in the Bible. But how did it start?

2 Samuel 11:1-2 (NIV) In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful.

David stayed home at a time when kings went off to war. As God’s appointed king, David was meant to be on the battlefield. Instead, he was at home resting. It was in this ‘out of position’ season that David was tempted and made some terrible decisions.

There are obvious indicators for us to recognise the natural season that we are in; we don’t have to strive to work it out. When it’s continually cold, it’s winter. When it’s hot all the time, it’s summer.

In the spiritual, God speaks clearly when we position ourselves to hear His voice. People who humbly surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and continually saturate themselves in the Word will hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Those who have a posture of heart that declares, “Not my will, but yours be done”, will know what season they are in.

If there is any doubt, the greatest way to discover the season is to focus on God. It might take some time, but that is because God is enjoying the time with us and He knows the power of having our attention on Him.

It’s time to be wise discerners of the seasons. Let’s be diligent to do what is needed in the God-ordained season. Understanding seasons empowers us to honour God and to flourish in life.

So, what is it the season for in your life?

RELATED BLOGS

Transition

Trust and Let Go

Beyond Understanding

The Year To Build

The Year To Build

/in /by

2021. A new year dawns and with it the promise of new beginnings.

For those of you for whom 2020 was a most difficult year, I want to declare the absolute certainty of a fresh start as you receive Father’s wonderful love and grace, releasing you from any disappointments of yesterday.

For those of you for whom 2020 was a year of fruitfulness, I want to declare that this is a new year with new horizons and that it is not a year to ‘maintain’ but a year to build!

1 Corinthians 3:10  (NKJV) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

Friends, God holds us responsible for the lives and the destinies that He has given to us.  He requires faithful stewardship of our calling, marriage, family, finances, energy and ministries. The question is not IF He wants you to build, but WHAT He wants you to build.

So… how and what are you building this coming year?

Possessing your God-given destiny is all about building successfully as the responsive partner in your partnership with Him. He is the Divine Architect, you are the executor of His plan and purpose.

  • My friend, do you have an anticipation of the future?
  • Is today pregnant with potential because of the Master Plan to which you walk?

Take time to listen, take time to hear Father’s commissioning voice clearly, take time to plan and strategise, as He directs. Take time to put values and boundaries into place that will keep you rested, fresh, energised, and sensitive to Holy Spirit’s whispers.

And take time to be filled with a renewed revelation of your authority as a royal son or daughter. Let that so fill your heart with increased faith that the mundane will flee and the excitement of new conquest will burn brightly within you.

As you listen to His voice anticipate a new and bold future of enlargement, increase and adventure! There is a new destination waiting for you.

2021 is not a repetition of last year, it is a year to build on all that Father has already accomplished in and through you.

I pray that every day will be filled with His wonder and your own inner delight at bringing Him celebration and joy.

MORE BLOG POSTS

The Call of God

Don’t Postpone the Call of God

/in /by

What is the call of God? The call of God is anything God asks us to do; it’s God’s will.

There are general calls for every person, such as the invitation to come to the Father through Jesus, talk to God in prayer, and discover God in His Word. There are calls to love people like Jesus loves us, be gentle, patient and kind, and live life according to God’s Word.

Then there are specific calls that can be different to each individual. God may have asked you to go somewhere in particular or do something specific in life or vocation. Father may call you to go to Bible school, lead a home group, get involved in youth ministry or children’s church, or give a certain amount of money to a specific cause. God might call you to stop something you have been doing for a while, or start something new.

The Call of God for your Life

Do you know what God has asked you to do in life? What is your commission? And are you postponing the call of God?

The word postpone means “to cause or arrange for something to take place at a later time than that first scheduled.” The first thing I notice is that when we postpone, there is an intention to do the thing which is asked or planned. Many people have the thought that they will do what God has said…but just not right now. There’s a thought of “I will do it…one day”. However, the longer we delay, the more likely we will disobey.

Why do we postpone what God asks us to do? Might I suggest that it’s because we don’t really trust Him. I’ve learnt that to know the Author is to trust the Author. God’s Word shows us that when God calls us, He enables us to fulfill that call. Therefore, I’ve learnt I can always trust Him!

God is a good God, He is a God of invitation, and He is always working for the good of those who love Him.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

The enemy tries to convince us that by postponing the call of God we are protecting ourselves from bad things. The truth is, when we delay obeying God’s will, we are keeping ourselves from God’s best. But we need to understand that obeying the call is not always easy.

God’s Will

There is a cost to following the will of God. And the call of God won’t always come at a convenient time. But I have a conviction that we cannot lose when we do God’s will at the time He asks us to do it.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”

God’s will is sometimes contested through contradictions (like Joseph and the dream he shared with His brothers). But Joseph acknowledged that God had his hand in everything that happened, even after he went through betrayal and many trials.

Genesis 45:5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

God’s will is also often contested through disappointments. Job lost almost everything, yet he still acknowledges the Lord and praises Him in the midst of loss.

Job 1:21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

On your way to discovering God’s specific will for your life, commit to being faithful with God’s written will which is found in His Word. We have a call to be about our Father’s business: “Not my will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

The Lord speaks to us in the book of Jeremiah about His wonderful will for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). God’s will is always the best place for us. God will always bring His good work in us to completion. There comes a time when we must make God’s will and His call our first and greatest priority.

RELATED BLOGS AND DEVOTIONAL PLANS

Faith For New Beginnings

Deeper, Stronger, Further

A New Destination

A New Destination

/in /by

Father wants to put fresh, new spiritual destinations in your heart, along with a compelling purpose for pursuing them. God has a new destination for you – this is a time to be listening!

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

The Hebrew word ‘wilderness’ means, ‘a vast open field where cattle are driven’, ‘uninhabited land’, or ‘large tracts of open land and pasture’.

The picture is of someone herding cattle like a drover and discovering uninhabited, vast plains of land that are virgin territory. However, the thought is not that of dryness. Quite the opposite! ‘A road in the wilderness’ speaks of a place where there is an abundance of food for cattle. Settlers can come and prosper in a new land. The ‘wilderness’ speaks of new territory. Expansive new territory – a new destination!

Father clearly spoke to me one morning a number of years ago and said: “I want the rest of your life as a blank sheet of paper.” I was amazed, as I sincerely considered that was the case already. However, over a period of a few weeks He showed me how subtle the nature of our desires can be. Indeed, our view of the future can be influenced by our knowledge of the past. I had to discover a place of complete surrender, with no qualifications attached. What an incredible sense of anticipation then flooded my heart!

So, if you feel as though you are facing a wilderness, take courage. The promise of God is that He will give you a ‘road’ that will cause that wilderness to become accessible and a place of great fruitfulness.

Can I encourage each one of you to take some time aside to present yourself afresh before the Lord to hear from Him.  Bring your own blank sheet of paper to see what exciting new things He would write upon it for your future. Of one thing I am certain: He has a remarkable and fruitful new era for each one of us, if we dare to embrace it.

God's Timing

God’s Timing

/in /by

Have you ever dared to dream a dream but wondered when? Has God said that it is time for change, but you are wondering when? Have you ever been challenged to take a new horizon in faith but wondered when? What does God’s timing really look like in our lives?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is an appointed time for every purpose. God has an appointed time! But history tells us that, on many occasions, God’s people missed that divine moment. All heaven was anticipating with great excitement only to see man missing that opportunity; procrastination, human logic and selfish complacency robbing them of their destiny.

In Exodus, God delivers Israel from Egypt in order to take them into the Promised Land in a matter of days. Right on cue the day arrives, but unbelief and a lack of trust causes them to miss their moment. The result was a wasted generation – 40 years spent in regret. They failed to seize the moment! Oh, the tragic consequence of failing to seize the moment!

Contrast that with World War 2 and what would become D-Day. In the middle of a week of horrendous weather came a brief window of opportunity. It was so brief that the German High Command did not believe anyone would attempt anything. But Churchill and Eisenhower were men that seized the moment. They launched that invasion and the tide of world history changed.

In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. Why? Because, “You did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (verse 44) They failed to seize the moment of God’s opportunity.

Friends, we live in urgent days. In each of our lives, God is challenging us to greater horizons of faith, deeper levels of trust, greater intensities of commitment, zeal and passion, bolder steps of initiative. But will we seize the moment? Or will we procrastinate and lose the promise? I believe that our Father is looking for an attitude: My people shall be willing in the day of My power!

Now the question arises: How do we know if it’s God’s timing or not? Here are my thoughts on that:

  • God is a God of order
  • Psalm 37 declares that the steps of a righteous person are ordered by the Lord
  • Philippians 3:15 tells me if my heart and motivation is right, that should I ever leave the path of God’s intention, the Holy Spirit will let me know
  • God is not the author of confusion

Therefore we can deduce that:

  • If it isn’t clear, it isn’t the right time
  • If I have a check in my spirit from the Holy Spirit, it isn’t the right time
  • If my spouse or spiritual oversight have a conviction that it is not the timing, it isn’t the right time
  • If I’m not living as a man or woman of purity, prayer and friendship with God and His people, then I shouldn’t trust my own instincts

However, if:

  • I am a man or woman of prayer
  • I am in a right relationship with my oversight and the people of God
  • I am pure in my motivation to serve God and His Kingdom
  • The fog has cleared and what God has said to do is clear

Then, start taking steps of obedience and faith! Do it now!

Let me encourage you to be bold and courageous in your response to Father’s invitation and see that new day drawn out of the realm of promise into the realm of today’s experience.

Embracing the future of our Father’s intention for God’s timing in our lives.