Remembering Why We Are Doing What We Are Doing

I have recently felt led to pick up the book, “Eternity in Their Hearts” by Don Richardson. The title comes from the Bible verse, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Eccl 3:11) In his book, Richardson gives accounts of numerous secluded, remote peoples who were just waiting for someone to come to them with the Good News. I remember what Luke wrote in his Gospel, “[Jesus] sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” (Luke 10:1) He send us to the place where He Himself wants to go.

In the midst of this, we often find ourselves in circumstances and situations where we just might forget the mission that we are on, and see things only as a trial to be endured. We continue on doing what we do, but somehow we might forget why we are doing it. This can, and usually does, result in resentment, anger or even (God forbid!) bitterness that can be expressed to those we serve, those we serve with, or those serving us (office.) This not only can make for a miserable time for others, it doesn’t make a person in that state very content either.

Some of the hymns we used to sing are full of reflections upon difficult times endured by the author. But the hymns see the difficulties in the light of the mission on which we have been sent. We might sing, “It is well with my soul,” or “through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.” There is a lot under the surface of those words.

It’s not that difficult to remember the mission, but forget the purpose. We can stay in the work, but lose sight of why we are there. In Revelation, Jesus reminds the Ephesian church to return to their first love. This was not a “sinful” church, but apparently, a church with all programs working, things happening, busy doing the “work of God.” He said of them, “I know your works, your labor, your patience…Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Rev 2:2, 4) He told them to repent, or their lampstand would be removed.

In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he writes, “…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Thess. 1:3) Paul commends the church for their work, because it is work being done in faith, he commends them for their labor, because it is labor being done in love, and he commends them for patience, because their endurance is rooted in hope. The exact same three things that the Ephesian were doing, but they were only laboring, not laboring in love. They were working, but not in faith. They were exercising patience, but had lost a sense of hope and purpose. We can be so involved in the things of God, that we forget that it is God who has placed us.

Isn’t it exciting to know that He is sending you to the very place that He Himself is wanting to go? Isn’t it exciting to know that God has placed eternity into the very hearts of those to whom He intends to visit? You can work in faith, or just work. It’s your choice. You can labor in love, or just labor. You can endure, or you can endure with a vision of God’s eternal glory being revealed in the people to whom you are sent. These are our choices. May the Lord help each of us as we serve Him in faith, in love and in hope!

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Mark 4:24-25 - “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

I believe what Jesus is saying here is that as God reveals truth to us that we need to apply it to our lives. As we apply it to our lives, Jesus will give us more and greater truth. Yet, if we squander the truth He has imparted to us. Even the truth that has been revealed will die. Also, He is saying that we need to share the truth given to us and in turn He will impart more of His truths.

A pond with out an access point of entrance and outlet, the water will become stagnate, and in a drought dry up. The same way it is with our life. We need to be continually receiving from the Lord and giving out from the Lord. A believer who is constantly receiving, but not putting into practice what he knows as true is like a lake with out an outlet. A believer who knows the truth, but doesn't share the truth will become stagnate as well.

This principle of using it or losing it applies as well to all the promises and gifts God has given us. If we do not use them, we will lose them or more specifically they become as null and useless. Yet, when we use what God has given us, He will give us more: more gifts, more power, and more responsibility.

In the parable of the ten minas or coins that the master left his servants to care for while away (Luke 19:24-26) take it even a step further. The servant who is not faithful with what he has been given will be taken from him and given to the one who is faithful. This seems to fly in the face of Romans 11:29 that says God's gifts and calling is irrevocable. Yet, in context He is speaking of salvation.

God is not so concerned with what you know, how much you have, or your great abilities. He is seeking those who will use these things for His kingdom. He seeking those who will trust and obey.

Despising our Birthright

Genesis 25:29-34 - "Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. ³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom^.) ³¹ Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”³² “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”³³ But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright."

The oldest son's birthright made him priest of the home when his father passed away and would receive a double portion of the inheritance as the first son.

How many of us as children of God do the exact same thing?
What do we forfeit in Christ in order to take hold of some worldly gain?

As son's of God we have certain rights, privileges and a rich inheritance in Christ. 

Galatians 4:4-7 - "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Romans 8:17 - " Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

The birthright was not only future, but present. As first born son, he was given certain rights & privileges as the oldest son. After his father, he was head of the household.  Even while his father was alive, he enjoyed the riches and pleasures that his father offered. Although, his father's wealth was  not officially his, they were at hes disposal.

Even so, we as God's children have certain rights & privileges even now. God's riches, promises and blessings are at our disposal even now. We don't have to wait for heaven to enjoy the benefits of being His sons and daughters. Yet, their will be that day when we receive the full inheritance as co-heirs with Christ.

What rights do we have even now?
We have the right to call on the name of the Lord and be heard.
We have the right to son-ship.
We have the right to rule with Christ even now over the principalities and powers of darkness in this world and the spiritual realm.
We have the right to eternal life with Christ.
We have the right to every spiritual blessing (gifts) in the heavenly places.
We have the right to every need being met.

How do we give up our birthright(s)?

Romans 4:13 - " It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith."

We give up our birthright(s) through lack of faith. God has given us many glorious promises in His Word. It is through faith that we are able to take hold of these promises, both present and future promises.

Hebrews 12:16 - " See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son."

We give up our birthright(s) through disobedience when we do not understand and/or value God's inheritance.

What are you trading in for your God given birthright?
Are you trading it in for power and glory?
Are you trading it in for money or things?
Are you trading it in for sexual pleasures?
Are you trading it in for immediate gratification?
Are you trading it for your good desires and well intention? (your will, not His will)

I will never forget after the earthquake in Haiti, when we were distributing water in a tent city that when we got down to the last bottle an older girl knocked over a younger girl and grabbed her by the throat to get the last bottle of water from her.

Often it is the little things in life that creep into our lives and rob us of the rights we have as sons and daughters of God.

Esteemed by the World

Genesis 23:5-6 - "The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Listen to us, lord. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.” (HCSB)

Abraham was in a foreign land, the land of Canaan. He lived among the Hittites who were idol worshipers and served pagan God's. Yet, they held Abraham in high regard. The saw the hand of God on Abraham. Abraham stood out among the people as a righteous man and blessed by God. The considered it a privilege to have him among them. He was considered as one of the their princes.

How do people look at us in our work place, and in our community? Do they see the God in us and His mighty hand upon us? Are we held in high esteem?

Thoughts by Bob Sorge from the book of Job #1

The book of Job serves as a pattern to show us how God uses painful circumstances in the lives of His chosen ones - who have qualified for spiritual advancement because of their obedience and blamelessness - in order to bring them to a higher dimension of spiritual reality.  (See Hebrews 12:23)

Psalms 34:19 says that many are the afflictions of the but the Lord delivers them from them all.

Job had the hand of God on him, the hand of Satan on him and the hand of man on him and he couldn't distinguish between the two. Job is in the battle of his life, warring with God's sovereign purposes, Satan's evil enticements, peoples carnal approaches, and the imperfect realities of this world.

Job thought God was treating him like an enemy (19:11), but in fact God was counting Job as one of His friends. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." (Proverbs 27:6)

The Book of Job

Bob Sorge's Hermeneutical lens on the book of Job.

1. Job is a godly and blameless man.
2. His inexplicable calamity is the result of God's pleasure in his life.
3. The book is a primer on spiritual warfare, charting the perplexing territory between God's sovereign purposes, Satan's harassements, and people's opinions.
4. The purpose of the calamity is to glorify God by changing Job and bringing him to a higher spiritual inheritence.
5. The suffering of Job parallel Christ's cross in many ways.
6. Job's journey lays a pattern for God's dealings in our lives.
7. The book is a prophecy foretelling the nature of God's dealings in preparing the church for the end time harvest.

The Covenant of the Lord

When we study the covenant of God between Him and Abraham, we see a couple of important things. It is God who wrote and established the covenant. (Gen. 17:7) Also, God is the keeper of the covenant. Keeper in the sense that He will never break the covenant. It is an everlasting covenant. Keeper in the sense that we are unable to keep the covenant without his strength.

Yet, in order for Abraham to enter the covenant and keep his end of the covenant, he and all others who wanted to be a part of the covenant had one obligation which was to be circumcised. (Gen. 17:10) Yet, it was not to be only a circumcision of the foreskin, but a circumcision of the heart. He said to Abraham that you must live in my presence and be devout. (Gen. 17:1)

This is no different with the New Covenant that was established through Christ Jesus. It is only through God's strength that we are able to keep the covenant. To enter this covenant we must have a circumcised heart. A heart where the worldly thing and/or sinful things have been cut from our hearts. (Colossians 2:11) As children of God, we are to live in His presence a be devout. If we do not remain in God's presence and devoted to him, the covenant has been broken because of our uncircumcised hearts. (Gen. 17:14) This does not annul the covenant of God but annuls our partaking of His covenant.

Paul explains this in Romans 14:9-12 - "Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹⁰ How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; ¹¹ and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised."


We see that we enter the covenant of God by faith in Christ. It is not by works we enter into the covenant of salvation through Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:28-29 - " For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God."

Our salvation is dependent on Christ's work on the cross, our faith and a circumcised heart. This circumcision is not done with a knife in the the flesh, but by the Spirit of God. We can not circumcise ourselves. We are circumcised when we give place to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yet, different than natural circumcision in the flesh, we are circumcised by the Holy Spirit in salvation, but the flesh is not gone in a single moment. Therefore, we are still in the circumcising process. We are still under the knife so to speak. Yet, it is not us who cut the worldly things away in our lives, but the Holy Spirit as we remain yielded to him.

Laboring in Vain

Psalms 127:1-2 - "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

In vain you rise early and stay up late,toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

So often we wear ourselves out for nothing. We do things God has not asked us to do. We take burdens that God has not asked us to carry. We strive in our own wisdom and strength. We work with all we have, but void of the power of the Holy Spirit. We come up with our own solutions to the problem we face, and not even consult God.

I know that we have done this many times. I remember when we went through financial troubles, months on end. We tried to solve them in our own strength by launching different business endeavors in Haiti that each fell flat on its face. Then we heard the Word of the Lord. God said, did I send you to Haiti to make money? You need to trust me. I will meet your every need. We then stopped striving in our endeavors. Guess what, we lack not good thing.

The House of the Lord

Psalms 122:1 - "I rejoiced with those who said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

I love this verse. There is no greater place to be than with the saints in the presence of the Lord. Yet, I am afraid that many a Christian has lost their love of coming together with other believers and offering up sacrifices of thanksgiving, and worshiping the Lord our God.

We as individuals are God's house (temple), but are part of the greater house of believers. The doors of the church are less frequented in many developed countries because we are more focused on our busy lives than the life of the body of Christ.

Hebrews 10:25 - "not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

We need each other more than ever as the days are becoming more blatantly wicked and Christ return is more eminent.

We can meet together in small groups, but when we do this only, we miss out on greater body ministry.

When I speak of the greater body ministry that often is lacking in small groups, I speak of a lack of:

- the five fold ministry which God established for his church.

- local and world evangelism.

- solid Bible teaching.

- accountability to the larger body of Christ.

- rubbing shoulders with people who are different than you (iron sharpens iron)

- a full worship experience.

Don't get me wrong I am not opposed to cell groups/home groups, but I am opposed to home groups alone. Cell groups/home groups have many pluses. Yet, home groups should be connected to the greater body of Christ, the local church. In the same way, a local church should be connected to the universal body of Christ.

Many believers confuse a house church with a home group. A house church is biblical and healthy as long as it functions as God's church and fulfills the great commission.

Steadfast Heart

Psalms 112:6-8 - "Surely the righteous will never be shaken;they will be remembered forever.They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes."

The righteous will never be shaken, and have no fear.

Why?

It is because of their steadfast hearts,

Why do they have steadfast hearts?

They have steadfast hearts because they are righteous and trust in the Lord.

Two sources of fear is the fear of being found out, and the fear that comes from lack of trust in God.

Do you have a steadfast heart?

Beauty in Holiness

Today I was reflecting in my devotions on the holiness of God. It is this holiness that makes him beautiful.

Psalms 29:2 - "Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." (NKJV)

True beauty is not outward but inward. Yet, we spend so much time on the outward and neglect the inner beauty. True beauty is the holiness of God shining through us.

If you are wanting to attract others to you, they will be drawn to you by your holiness. Any who are attracted to you by your outward appearance alone, you don't want them. Then there will be those few who are repulsed by your holiness and you are better off without them.

Are people drawn to you because of your holiness? What kind of people are attracted to you?