forget it! And we break up and go our own
ways.
Born Again
Heaven
doesn’t run on the same wave-length as this fallen world. In Heaven,
self is not the king. God, a being with perfect love and
unselfishness, is the King. He rules, not so much by command, as by
example, and all the unfallen universe delights in following His
gentle direction with perfect happiness and peace as the final result.
When
we are truly converted and Born Again of the Spirit, suddenly we find
we have a whole different set of purposes. Our purpose becomes that
which Christ demonstrated when He lived among us. To bring honour and
glory to God by reflecting His Character, which is His Glory. Blessing
others and living for their good is the very heart of the Law of God.
Ultimate purpose
Jesus
never lost sight of His ultimate purpose and His mission to accomplish
for the glory of His Father in Heaven. What were His purposes? To show
God’s Glory to the world, (God’s character is His glory!) and to
redeem man from sin.
He
never got so caught up in fulfilling His mission that He began to
loose His cool with His disciples. He never began to yell at them
saying “Here I am doing all this for you and you just don’t catch
on—you are so stupid!”
No,
day after day, month in and month out, His patience remained
‘renewed every morning’ just like His Father’s. He never let the
emergency or difficulty of the moment cause Him to forget the aim and
purpose of His life. He had many trials, more than we can ever fully
understand, but you never see Him frustrated. No, He remained calm and
continued kind, patient, and loving to those He had come to save.
He
knew the people were what mattered—not just the performance of a
given task. He had come to minister to them, and He did just that.
When you read the life of Jesus, you can see many places where we,
with our selfish hearts, would have figured He had every right to get
angry, tell them off, or even just turn around and walk away saying,
“If you guys can’t do better than that, just get out of my
face!”
Look
at the feast at Simon the Pharisee’s house. Here Mary brings a sweet
gift and presents it lovingly to the Lord, and what happens? The
disciples are jealous. They, especially Judas, decide they should have
had that gift; it shouldn’t have been wasted on Jesus.
Here
He was nearing the end of 3 ½ years of putting up with them,
patiently teaching and ministering to them, and still could not see
much results from it all. Never had any one of them ever came along
and brought Him a gift and said, “Here, this is because I love
You.”
We
would have considered Him justified to blow up and chew their ears
right off. But all He did was gently rebuke, and that in defense of
the woman, not Himself. No—He never forgot His purpose in living.
When
we are born again, we have a purpose in living that we never had
before. It is the same purpose that Jesus had—to obey and glorify the
Father in Heaven by service to Him and our fellow beings. If we keep
that purpose always before us, we will live very different lives than
the unconverted, selfish ways of the world.
A few examples
If
I am a wife with a carnal heart, I will clean my house and do the
necessary work and then I will say, “See, look at all what I did for
you guys, you better appreciate it and do something back for me or
there is going to be trouble! And you better not mess it up again
either.”
This
tends to make the family feel that they are a bother and that
work is something to use to put others under some kind of obligation.
But
the truly born again wife thinks, ‘Is my family’s purpose to serve
my house? Or is my house to serve my family?’ She will do her tasks
with a different attitude, thinking of the honor a well ordered home
brings to God, and how much she contributes to the joy of her family
in these tasks, small and great that go into running a home.
Her
family will catch this unselfish spirit and will also delight to do
their part, as they are able, to contribute to the home firm.
Here’s
another example; the Carnal heart sees the job as most important, the
born again heart sees why the job is important, not for itself, but
for the honor of God and the happiness and comfort of others.
There
is a saying that most people ‘love things and use people’ instead
of ‘loving people and using things’.
I
have to clean up the house because I have someone coming that I want
to impress and so I am bustling about cleaning and tidying. Little
Johnny comes along and asked, “Mom, I want to help.”
Do I yell, “Just get out of the way, I can do it better
without you.” OR do I remember that the training of my children is in the
sight of God far more important, than even a clean house to impress a
guest, and patiently guide him thus allowing him to feel the
satisfaction that comes with honest labor.
What is the Purpose?
If
you find yourself rushing about, impatient, frustrated, irritable, too
busy; STOP and think about what is the purpose? Compare that purpose
to God’s eternal purposes.
What
is the good of a clean house; if all in it are hurt and unhappy,
feeling that they are just an irritant to you, and somehow they are
imposing on you?
What
is the good of a fancy meal, taking hours of work to prepare; if your
family sits down to it sullenly and resentful of the way you’ve been
yelling and irritable all the time you were preparing it.
What
is the good of working to support a family; if they dread your very
footsteps on the porch because you are always so cross and irritable
when you come home.
What
is the good of a family treat or outing; if everyone is rushed and
yelled at to get ready and then made to feel obligated to you for
going so far out of your way for them? “I did this for you, and
you’d better enjoy yourself if you know what’s good for ya!”
Heavenly
purposes compared to earthly:
Which
is greater; the house, or the family that dwells there?
Which
is greater; the job, or those who the job helps and provides for?
Which
is greater; your 'ministry', or the souls you are ministering to?
When we are truly converted, and Christ
reigns within through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we will have
the same purposes Jesus had. When our purposes line up with God’s
purposes, we will experience a vast difference in our daily attitudes
and behavior; a difference that will affect those around us in a
positive way.
