God’s Purpose or Mine?

     “And straightway (immediately) He constrained His Disciples to get into the ship (they were reluctant to do so), and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while He sent away the people.” (but He sent them away healed, fed, and filled).  (Mark 6:45). 
      Listen: We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
     We must ask ourselves: What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. I don’t believe God is working toward a particular finish within itself but—His purpose is the process itself.      
     What He desires for you and I to see is “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (v. 49).
     Yes, it is the process, not the outcome that is glorifying to God. God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself? God’s purpose is to enable us to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

Afflictions Warning

Please note: Affliction is full of warnings. It has many voices and these of the most various kinds. It speaks counsel, it speaks rebuke, it speaks affection. ...

1. Affliction says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world [referring to the world system, not the people of the world] the love of the Father is not in him." (I John 2:15).

2. Affliction says, "Take heed and beware of covetousness" (Luke 12:15). Riches cannot help, neither earthly comfort avail us in the hour of grief. They cannot dry up tears, nor reunite broken bonds. ... It is then we find that we need a "treasure in the heaven that fails not."...

3. Affliction says, "abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thess. 5:22). "Hate even the garments spotted by the flesh."... It is not merely abstain from evil, but from all appearance of evil. Suffering teaches us to shrink from sin -- even from the remotest and most indirect connection with it. It says, "Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate!"

4 Affliction says, "Do not grumble against one another." (James 5:9). Let there be no halfhearted affection in the family of God. Let there be no envy, no jealousy, no misunderstandings among the brethren. Why should we be less than friends who are both fellow-sufferers and fellow-soldiers here? ... Yet oftentimes it needs affliction to teach us this, to remove our jealousies, and to draw us together as brethren in sympathy and love.

5. Affliction says, "Keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21). If there be one remaining idol, break it in pieces and spare it not. Nothing is so fruitful a cause of suffering as idolatry. Nothing so forcibly displays the vanity of our idols as suffering. ...

Church of the living God! Be warned. Please not yourself, even as Jesus pleased not Himself. Live for Him, not for yourself, for Him, not for the world. Walk worthy of your name and calling, worthy of Him who bought you as His bride, worthy of your everlasting inheritance.

The White Side of You

     My recent assertion of our US President: Sir, for the past 5 years we have heard from your Black Side espousing your liberal ideology, especially of late regarding the protests, outrages, accusations’ of racial profiling etc., stemming from the Zimmerman trial verdict. Which I personally believe has again been detrimental towards race relations.

 

     My recommendation with much compassion Mr. President: I’m confident that a serious one on one listening audience with Dr. Ben Carlson, if he’s agreeable would be most insightful for you in gaining much needed wisdom. Mainly, because; I believe Dr. Carlson would introduce you to the Lord Jesus and the Power of God’s Holy Spirit from which ALL WISDOM comes. It’s extremely evident that from the White House, down through all branches of government NO True Wisdom currently exists.  

 

Regarding your White Side?

 

Questions:

1. Why does your White Side seem so silent?

2. Is there multi-racial shadows within regarding your Black vs. White side?

3. Do you always think in Black Terms and never White?

4. Would the young 17 year old White side of you have felt safe walking through the majority of Chicago projects day or night?

 

Just wondering!