2021

Your Purpose and Mission

Dr. Mike 2021, Life Tools, Your Identity , ,

Proverbs 16:4

The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 20:5

The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

ESV

God is Purposeful. Everything he does has a focused reason and mission. He doesn’t waste anything. Even when HE rests, there is a purpose behind HIS actions (Gen 2:2-3).

You and I, like little gods, have been designed with an internal drive for purposeful living. Without purpose, one never truly discovers meaning for life.

Since God is the Author of life, HE has already established meaning and purpose for life. When we understand HIS macro plan and understand our role within HIS story, the doors to live out our micro plan become more meaningful and exciting. Many of us try to discover our purpose apart from God. The situation is like being the letter “c”.

The letter “c” is the third letter in the English alphabet. Alone, apart from the alphabet, it stands by itself until someone assigns meaning for it. But when belonging with the other 25 letters of the alphabet, one is given the means to communicate with others. The letter “c”, uniquely designed, then becomes a partner of others to help communicate ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. And depending on who their partnering with, the sound may be slightly different. For example, the “c” in cat generates a different sound then the “c” in church. Yet it is the same letter, but changes their sound when associated with others.

People are the same. We are uniquely designed and our natural abilities and purpose for living become known by the people we associate with. Just like the letter “c” has certain characteristics, you and I have certain natural abilities and personality which make us individuals. Alone, we have very little to offer. However, when we join others, we discover our purpose and derive meaning for living.

Though this is a simply analogy, I hope to demonstrate that when we partake with the Triune God on HIS mission to raise a universal family, train them in HIS family business, and make HIM known to others, opens the door to living a more meaningful life now.

And while we learn to walk with HIM now, we also learn to serve others. As we learn to serve others, we discover our unique design and natural abilities. Over time, we begin to purposely focus our uniqueness with the opportunities which come our way and when we view life from the rear-view mirror, we then will spot the invisible hand leading us through all the stuff that makes up life until we arrive where we are today.

Yet while we stagger along, hesitant yet faithful, testing and failing, celebrating the smallest of victories and gracefully learning from our poor decisions, we become more secure in our walk with the Lord’s macro mission while HE strengthens us and lives HIS life in us while we also pursue our micro mission on earth today.

As I have mentioned many times, life is a ballroom dance with the Almighty. As HE works on HIS macro-objectives, we follow; As we work on our micro-objectives, HE walks with us teaching us along the way. Just like the letter “c”.

When your purpose is centered around HIM, then you learn the joy in serving others, and your purpose and meaning for life will follow.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2013-Present | Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Learning To Serve and Govern

Dr. Mike 2021, Kingdom Actions , ,

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:6

So, when you get to heaven, what do you think you will be doing? Laying around on hammocks?  Taking short walks through the countryside? Fishing on your favorite river?

What does the Bible imply?

When Christ returns and we who have followed HIM in this life will be resurrected and join him in his plan for humanity. This is the first resurrection. As today’s Scripture indicates, we who are resurrected will be given assignments which involve being priests (serving ministers) and will reign (govern) with Jesus during the millennium.

Yes, we will be serving and governing God’s way.

So, what does that indicate you are learning now in this life to prepare you for eternity? Correct, we are learning how to serve and govern God’s way.

As married couples, we are learning to mutually serve one another. As parents, we are learning to govern our households. In the marketplace, we are learning to serve others through our work. In the community, we are likewise learning to serve when we volunteer to help a worthwhile mission. If we have been given the opportunity, we may also be learning to govern in the marketplace and community depending on our leadership abilities.

In fact, each day you and I are learning to become more effective leaders while serving and governing others. Not like this world teaches, but as Christ teaches. We lead and govern not by lording over another person, but humbly serving them from a position of love for our Father God’s glory. We realize each person we meet is a child of the living God and is likewise being trained in godly character. They may not realize the full importance nor accept the authority of the Triune God in their life yet, but in time who knows the future. Nothing is impossible for God.

So, the next time someone asks you what you will be doing in the world tomorrow. Let them know its what you are doing today – learning to serve and govern God’s way.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Misinterpreting Scripture

Dr. Mike 2021, Scriptures , ,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…

John 5:39

When it comes to reading and understanding the Bible, there are at least five main schools of thought people use to interpret Scripture. They are:

Allegorical View

Liberal View

Neo-Orthodox View

Devotional View

Grammatical, Historical View

The Allegorical view was used by many of the early church fathers. Everything they read was viewed from a mystical, spiritual platform. There was no literal, concrete understanding of Scripture applied from a known real world. Interpretation was solely a subjective understanding of a non-physical, super-natural dimension.

The Liberal view analyzed Scripture from a current, cultural worldview based on man’s reasoning capabilities. If science cannot justify it, it must not be true. If it is not rational, then there is some error. Scripture becomes a personal, subjective study of its contents.

The Neo-Orthodox view Scripture as God’s spoken word to specific people at specific times and not necessarily meant for everyone everywhere at all times. However, when God’s written Word becomes meaningful and purposeful to the individual is when then God speaks to the individual.   

The Devotional view simplifies Scripture to a “what’s in it for me” approach. It views the Bible as a self-help book extracting principles and values for personal enhancement. It at times focuses on the narrowest topic and excludes the global overview of the subject matter.

The Grammatical, Historical view looks at the context of the writings from the then culture when written and the known historical and literature data accumulated from then to arrive at its meaning and purpose at the then time. From there, Scripture is transferred to the present time under current conditions and made applicable and relevant in today’s culture.    

Most of us, depending on our upbringing, will initially start reading Scripture from one of these viewpoints. Slowly though over time, as we become more of an amateur theologian, we will eventually fall into the Grammar-Historical view. Though we will occasionally, depending on the context and subject matter, entertain the other viewpoints, our main emphasis will be to become more and more a historical student of the Bible.  

With the internet and libraries of stored reference, everyone who desires to know more about the Bible and its contents can become an avid student of Scripture. No one person on earth has the corner knowledge of Scripture. We are all studying and discovering more and more of Scripture’s practical implications for today. Yes, it takes time, but what you gain is a more confident reassurance of the Triune God’s involvement and love for you and humanity.

The bottom-line: no matter which viewpoint you use, the main focus is still Jesus Christ. When we realize HE is the centralized character of the entire Bible, then the various chapters and sections always seem to better align themselves built upon the foundation of the Incarnate Triune God. This is why we learn, integrate, and grow in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ through the application of Scripture in our everyday world. We discover more of who Jesus Christ IS and God’s overall purpose and plan for humanity.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-Present | Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved