2 Timothy 1:8-12 English Standard Version
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to[a] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,[b] 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.[c]
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Grace is a gift most of us do not know how to receive.
We’ve been so inundated with our earthly systems of give-and-get and work-and-earn that grace is a concept few ever fully grasp.
Yet it’s grace alone that has the power to transform lives.
Grace alone has the power to bring freedom to the captives.
By grace alone we are saved.
There could be no better use of our time than consistently and passionately pursuing a greater revelation of God’s grace.
I remember becoming transfixed with the transforming power of grace while watching and then re-watching the movie Les Miserables.
Jean Valjean was arrested for stealing a simple loaf of bread.
Finally released after 19 years in prison, he could not find any place to stay until a Bishop graciously offered him lodging.
But then Valjean stole some silver from the Bishop’s home and fled.
Captured by the authorities next day, he was brought back to face the Bishop.
But instead of accusing him, the Bishop said he had given Valjean the silver, and then in addition to the silver, Bishop also gave Valjean two silver candlesticks.
Overwhelmed with the extravagance of grace, Valjean’s priorities changed.
He surrendered his life to God and worked to help others.
God’s extravagant grace was present before the beginning of time, has been revealed in Jesus, and continues unchanged and unchangeable for eternity.
Can we somehow, in someway, finally let God’s grace overwhelm us today?
Transformation-Extravagant Purposeful Grace
2 Timothy 1:8-12 The Message
8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.
One of the greatest gifts we have been given by God is purpose.
From the time of Adam, God has always made clear the purposes we were created for.
In Genesis 1:28 God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Throughout time our purposes have changed, but God has made it clear that we all are to have lives that are valuable and effective.
Have you lived days where you’re simply going through the motions?
Have you had days where you feel as if what you do doesn’t matter?
Those days in my life are my absolute worst.
It is clear I would rather go through trial and persecution with purpose than live a meaningless day.
It’s in purpose we find satisfaction.
In purpose we find out our lives matter.
And in purpose we discover the reason we were created.
2 Timothy 1:9 says, “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”
Because of God’s grace and purpose we have been called to a life of wonderful and satisfying works.
The Bible teaches us a truth in opposition to the teachings of the world.
The world says to work enough to live a life of comfort and ease.
Work is done for the purpose of relaxation and comfort.
God says that we are created for a life of eternal value in which everything we do is to have purpose higher than our own comfort and relaxation.
God has placed highest value and worth on our lives to an extent we have yet to discover.
He has a plan and purpose for your life that God’s assigned to no one else.
Our life is meant to make an eternal impact for his kingdom which will reign for all time.
But in his grace God has also given you control of your own life.
You can choose to live your life according to his purposes or your own.
And you can choose to pursue comfort and meaningless relaxation or a life of true rest and satisfaction that comes only from living entirely for God.
My fervent hope is that in looking at two purposes God has for our life, we will choose to live our lives completely with and only for our heavenly Father.
And in doing so, we will steadily discover the incredible joy and passion and the purpose the Holy Spirit longs to birth in you and bring to maturity for the Lord.
The first purpose for which we were created is abiding relationship with God.
Jesus says in Mark 12:30, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says it this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
Loving God is your highest calling, and in loving God we will experience the fullest joy and satisfaction available.
When you stand before God in judgment, God will not look for our possessions, promotions, or social status, but rather at the fervor with which you loved Him.
We will be rewarded for acts of love, not self-seeking glorification.
And this chief purpose of loving God is the only path to the abundant life he has in store for you here.
The second purpose for which we were created is loving others in response to your love for God. Mark 12:31 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Acts 26:16 says, “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.”
We are called to love others out of the amazing love we’ve been shown by God.
As our hearts and souls are filled with love for God through their encountering God in their secret places, we will be filled with a longing to see his desires for others around us come to fruition.
God’s greatest longing is for relationship with his crown of creation, and God wants to use us to guide others to himself.
In loving others we will discover the incredible satisfaction of seeing the lost and hurting be found and healed.
Incredible passion and irrepressible joy comes from seeing a life transformed through the Holy Spirit interceding, ministering, working in and within us.
How incredible is the grace of our God that his purposes would be entirely rooted in love.
We who are God’s Children are called to simply love him and others with the very first love we have been shown.
He’s like a father who gives his children money to buy him a present.
He fills us with the love and enjoyment he feels for us, and then in response we can love him and others.
He fills us with the breath of life and then patiently waits for us to live our life as a beautiful song of praise and worship unto him.
May we finally come to experience today all that God’s grace has afforded us.
May we finally choose drop all of our lame pretenses to imitate, choose to live our lives with purpose and passion that only comes from loving him and others.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on God’s desire to lead you to a life of abundant purpose.
“[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” 2 Timothy 1:9
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16
2. Reflect on your own life.
Where have we been living with the purposes of the world rather than God?
In what areas are you living for yourself rather than him and others?
And in what areas of your life do you feel meaningless and passionless?
3. Receive the rejuvenation that comes from living with his purposes as your chief goals.
Allow God to gradually but steadily revive relationships that seem to be tired, without purpose and without passion – feel empowered for God and neighbor.
Allow God to fill you with desire for your work, friendships, or marriage.
Ask for the Holy Spirit to reveal specific ways he desires to use you today.
Psalm 36:5-6 The Message
5-6 God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
The passion and purpose God has for us never ceases.
There will be days or seasons God leads us to rest for the purpose of renewing, loving, and filling us, for empowering us, for inspiring us, for transforming us.
There will be times of work and striving, of trials and of hardships in various and diverse manifestations, in which God purposes to mold, shape, and use us.
Psalm 138 English Standard Version
Give Thanks to the Lord
Of David.
138 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.[a]
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.[b]
4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Wherever God is leading any one of us today, choose to believe trust that God absolutely has only the very best best plan and purpose for you.
Come, Holy Spirit, breathe on me, that I may Choose to live your life with God’s purposes weaved deeply and intricately weaved within my heart and within my soul, and may I experience the passion that can only be found in living for God. Father, focus our eyes and our ears on your extravagant grace. May we become spellbound with the mercy of Jesus Christ so that we offer ourselves totally to your service. Amen.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 