You Have a Purpose

 

Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash

God has a specific purpose for you.

Do you ever wonder who you are supposed to be? Or why you are here? I have wrestled with this a lot, and probably spent much unnecessary time worrying about it.

Once I was watching a cartoon with my children. I do that occasionally or I might not ever get to watch a show. The cartoon had different animals and they were having a sports "field day." It came time for the long jump event. There were several participants, including a frog. Naturally the frog won that event. She had long legs and was made to jump and could jump long distances.

Watching this made me start thinking about God's creation.

Everything He had created was fashioned with a purpose in mind. The frog was made to jump. The horse was made to run. The rooster was made to crow. Clouds are made to deliver rain. Snow is meant to blanket the earth in preparation for new life to grow.

If part of God's creation is fashioned with purpose, should we, men and women, created in His image and likeness be any different?

In the book of Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah:

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."-Jeremiah 1:5

So, we can infer from this passage that God is the one who forms us, and He has a plan when He does it. Not one person is a mistake. They are all created by a loving God with a special plan in mind.

Daily Devotion: The Lord is Gentle

Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash

The Lord is so gentle in the way He teaches us. I had a dream one night, and I could see a man sitting behind a potter's wheel. There was some clay on the wheel, and he would just take a little water, not too much, and put it on the clay to shape it. I woke up just being very aware of how gentle the Lord is.

He shapes us with His word and smooths out the rough places.

 
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."-Galatians 5:22

"But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand"-Isaiah 64:8

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,"-Ephesians 5:25-26

Five Minute Friday: Talent

Talent. We’ve all got talent. It is just easier to see in some people than in others.

In some people it is like a flower in full bloom; on display with a vast array of colors. But with others, it takes a little more work, like panning for gold, mining for diamonds.

Interestingly the flower will grow on its own, with no effort from the flower. The seed is planted and the flower sprouts.

Sure you need water and sunshine to make it grow. But even the earth does that.

But the gold and the diamonds are buried and you have to dig through dirt and rock to find them.

Writing is often a talent that is discovered while mining through some stuff. We dig through layers on the inside and pull out treasures God has placed in our hearts.

Talent.

Five Minute Friday: Adjust

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "adjust."

I think we all are always adjusting. Things change constantly. Kids grow. We change jobs. We move to new places. Adjusting is a major word in all our lives. It just usually happens at a slower pace than it is happening right now.

With these Five Minute Friday prompts, I usually take the word and find it in the Bible and write off that scripture as a prompt. But, when I looked up the word adjust on the Biblehub page, I couldn’t find it.

Does that mean that people in the scriptures never had to adjust? Definitely not!

I can think of a lot of situations where people had to adjust. When Noah and his family got on the ark, they had to adjust. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they had to adjust. When Rahab left Jericho, she had to adjust. When Mary and Joseph left Nazareth to go to Bethlehem, they had to adjust. When the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, they had to adjust.

Throughout all of this adjusting, there is one common factor. God.

God was present throughout all this adjusting. He was sheltering, leading, guiding, protecting, teaching, and delivering people into a new place, in all of those situations.

In the second half of the verse Hebrews 13: 5, the Lord tells us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I have this scripture on a big four foot sign I had made to hang on my wall. It was a very important verse for me during a challenging time that came with some big adjustments.

I am in the middle of another big adjustment right now. We just moved to a new city, and are still waiting to find a permanent place to live, but the pause button has been pushed on that. I so wish I had my sign with me to put on the wall.

But I still have it in my mind. He will never leave me, nor forsake me. He is always there leading, guiding, protecting, delivering, and teaching while I adjust.

If you are struggling with adjusting right now, just know you are not the only one.  I am too.  A lot of people are.  But God.

Nothing You Give to God is Ever Wasted

Nothing you ever give to God is wasted.

There was a lady whom God used greatly in my life when I first came back to the Lord in my early twenties. I would show up late to this little Baptist church in the foothills by myself for Sunday morning service and sit in the back. I don't know how many times I went to the altar during that time. (Only once was necessary.) I just felt so clean each time I went.

But there was a lady who sat on the opposite side of the church from me. I wonder how long it took her before she approached me. But she noticed me, by God's direction I am sure. And she became my friend. Even though she lived in the same town as me, she would mail me notes to encourage me. She would answer questions I had, and just loved on me. She gave me some Christian music one time. I don't even recall everything she did-I am sure there was more.

She was one of a list of people God used to keep me connected to Him. I was so fragile, I could still have gone either way at the time. And I actually did a few times. I didn't know who I was in Jesus. I was a new creation, but didn't know what that meant completely. I was in relationship with Him, but didn't understand how much He loved me yet. I am still growing in that.

That lady was pivotal in my life. She was so very important. Now, I endeavor to be that lady to others. And you can too. Never doubt the significance of the small seed you are planting in someone's life. You never know what they will become. But you can be sure of this, God is faithful to watch over that seed, and water it, and love it, so it grows into all that He meant it to be.

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept it growing."-1 Corinthians 3:6 (Berean Literal Bible)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,"-Matthew 28:19 (Berean Study Bible)

A Foundation of Grace: Grace in the Greek

You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.-2 Timothy 2:1 (World English Bible)

For the last few days in this series, I have been sharing stories about Jesus, and how there are pictures of the difference between law and grace in these stories. But, what is grace? I think we need to let the Bible define grace for us by looking at it in its original language.

There are words for grace in the Old Testament in the Hebrew Language. We might look at them later. But since the New Testament is what we have been primarily been studying in this series, I thought we would look there first. As Believers, we are part of the New Covenant. Jesus came to fulfill the Old and usher in the New.

The New Testament was originally written in Greek. So, we can also look at the definition in the Greek.

The Greek word for grace is "charis."

Looking up Greek words in the Bible is fun because we get a much broader picture of what the word is supposed to mean. And sometimes it redefines it for us, because we might have a smaller picture in our minds that what the word really means.

The Greek word for grace is "charis." There are 157 occurrences of this word in the New Testament Scriptures.

There are several different Bible study tools that can help define this word for us.

Strong's Concordance defines it as "grace, as a gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ, favor, gratitude, thanks, a favor, kindness.

Helps Word Studies defines it as "favor, disposed to, inclined, favorable towards, leaning towards to share benefit.

New American Standard Bible Exhaustive Concordance defines it as "grace, kindness" and translates it as "blessing, concession, credit, favor, gift, grace, graciousness, gracious work, gratitude, thank, thankfulness, thanks."

Thayer's Greek Lexicon contains some more lengthy, descriptive definitions, but in brief, it defines grace as:

1. sweetness, charm, loveliness

2. good-will, loving-kindness, favor; kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved

So, we can see that grace is something that is a free gift given to us, one we did not earn, or deserve, but based upon God's favor and goodness in our lives. And when Jesus came it brought it forever, eternally with Him.

To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

Five Minute Friday: Woman

*Occasionally I will participate in Five Minute Friday, a weekly linkup where we free write for five minutes flat about a specific topic. I veered a little from the no editing part this week, but I am pretty sure my actual writing was close to 5 minutes.  This week's topic is: Woman.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.-Genesis 1:26-27

In the very first chapter of Genesis, we see where God created woman.  If you go on to Genesis 2, you can see a more detailed explanation about how she was created.  But, in Genesis 1, we see that God created her in his image.  

Later, in Genesis 1, God gives both the man and the woman the same commands.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.-Genesis 1:28-30

Then at the end of Genesis 1, God calls everything he made good, including both the man and the woman.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.-Genesis 1:31

Woman is not this inferior, lesser creation, made of a different design than man.  She is equal in the way she was created, in her purpose, and in her quality.  God called her good.  This, in Genesis 1, is all of God's original intent for man and woman.

The woman was  good.  She was supposed to bear children and increase.  She was to have dominion over the creatures in the earth.  

After the fall, it seemed like her position changed. Pain came in.  But still we see women holding places of authority through the Old Testament.  When Jesus came, it seemed He restored the woman back to her place in the Kingdom.  To learn more about that, see my series, Women in the Life of Jesus.

Reba McEntire, Sing it Now: Songs of Faith and Hope

Country superstar Reba McEntire returns to her musical roots with a two-CD collection of cherished hymns and classic songs of faith. Sing It Now finds Reba in top form on twenty timeless favorites, including "Softly and Tenderly" (featuring Kelly Clarkson & Trisha Yearwood), "In The Garden/Wonderful Peace" (ft. The Isaacs), "Angels Singin'," and others.-Product Description, Christianbook.com

Reba McEntire's new CD project contain two CDs.  One is made up of old hymns, and the second is made up of more contemporary songs.  I was very familiar with the hymns.  They remind me of being a little girl, singing from a hymn book in church. My favorite is probably the song "Softly and Tenderly."  

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

• Refrain:
  Come home, come home,
  You who are weary, come home;
  Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
  Calling, O sinner, come home!

My favorite song  on the second CD is "God and My Girlfriends." It is very upbeat, fun song.  It is important for women to have friends they can turn to when experiencing happy moments as well as tough times and that is what this song is about.

I recommend this CD to anybody who likes Gospel music.  If you are a fan of old hymns or Reba McEntire, you will enjoy this CD!

Capitol Christian Music Group sent me two copies of this CD, one to review, and one to giveaway!

To enter to win a copy of this CD, simply comment below.  I will randomly choose a winner from the comments and announce the winner on the blog on Friday, March 10!

Many blessings on your journey with Jesus!

Beth

Congratulations Jen!  You are the winner of Reba McEntire's new CD!  Please message me your address to bethlisteningtohim@gmail.com.  Blessings!!!

To learn more about the artist, you can visit her website at reba.com.

To listen to songs from this album, go to Christianbook.com, or her YouTube channel.

Disclosure Statement:  I received the music free from Capitol Christian Music Group.  I was not required to give a positive review.  The thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.

The Garden by Kari Jobe

"Premiere worship leader and songwriter Kari Jobe follows her Majestic live performance with a fresh studio album of vibrant new worship offerings! Intertwining anthemic songs of praise with more reflective moments, The Garden includes lead single "The Cause of Christ" plus "Heal Our Land," "Fall Afresh," and more. Deluxe Edition includes 3 bonus songs."-Product Description, Christianbook.com

Today I am giving away a copy of Kari Jobe's new CD, The Garden!  I have listened to this worship CD for a few days and it is very moving and soulful. There are lots of beautiful lyrics.

One of the things I really like about the lyrics is that The Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are all mentioned in this CD.  They are all addressed and that is something that seems important to me.

The song list includes:

1.  The Garden

2.  Let Your Glory Fall

3.  Heal our Land

4.  Lover of My Soul

5.  Speak to Me

6.  Fall Afresh

7.  I Will Sing

8.  Miracles

9.  Closer to Your Heart

10.  Oh the Power

11.  The Cause of Christ

12   Here as in Heaven

13.  Come Alive

14.  On the Throne

The CD would be a good choice for your personal quiet time with God.  Two of my favorite songs are "Miracles" and "Here as in Heaven."  Below is a link to the video for "Miracles" from the new CD.

Capitol Christian Music Group sent me two copies of this CD, one to review, and one to giveaway!

To enter to win a copy of this CD, simply comment below.  I will randomly choose a winner from the comments and announce the winner on the blog on Saturday, February 11.

Many blessings on your journey with Jesus!

Beth

Congratulations Shawna!  You are the winner of Kari Jobe's new CD!  Please message me your address to bethlisteningtohim@gmail.com.  Blessings!!!

To learn more about the artist, visit her official website at http://karijobe.com/.

To hear a sample of songs on the album, visit Christianbook.com.  Or you can go to Kari Jobe's channel on YouTube.

Cleaning Off the Dead Stuff

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me and I will remain in you.-John 15:1-4

I used to work at a nursery, not a daycare, but a flower nursery. Two of my jobs were to water the flowers and to clean all the dead stuff off of the flowers. When you clean the dead stuff off, or prune the flowers, it helps them because all the nutrients will go into the parts that are alive to make them more beautiful and productive and vibrant.

In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples that He is the vine and His Father is the gardener.  God, the Father is the one who prunes or cleans off all the dead stuff in our lives so we, like the flowers, will be more fruitful.  

Many people equate this pruning to pain.  They think God causes pain when He prunes us, but according to that same passage of scripture, that is just not true. Jesus tells His disciples, 

You are already clean because of the WORD I have spoken to you.  

The Word of God is what prunes us or cleans us.  It takes away all the dead stuff.  And this takes time.

When we are born again, God gives us a new heart.  He promises in Ezekiel 36:26,

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

So, the inside has been taken care of.  You have a new heart and spirit from God.  You are a new creation.  But the outside still needs some work.

You still live in the same body, with the same soul, and you have to know what all has been done for you, through Jesus.  You have to know who you are, and what belongs to you. That's where the pruning comes in.  But God doesn't use pain to clean off that dead stuff.

He uses His Word, which is life giving.  Then the parts that were not bringing life, just fall off.

In order for this to happen, you have to remain in Jesus and He in you.  It's easy when you know He loves you.

It's a process, so just keep coming back to the Word of God, letting Him gently clean you, cleaning away all the dead stuff, and give life to the parts of you that are fruitful so you can grow into all that He has for you to become.

Grace and peace to you on this journey.

In Him,

Beth

Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me a Better Wife

"Though we at times feel alone, and utterly abandoned as if no one can understand, the Lord is trustworthy.  Dwell on that. He does not leave!  Though we may feel He is not listening, He is." 

-Hope N. Griffin, Finding Joy

Words that came to mind while reading Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me a Better Wife by Hope N. Griffin, were wrestling and honesty.  In this book, we get to see inside the heart of a woman, going through a challenge, and coming through on the other side with a different perspective.  It is a story of deployment, but it applies to so many life situations.

Finding Joy is Hope N. Griffin's story of a one year separation from her husband (due to war), the challenges she faced, God's faithfulness, and how she made it through.  This book is for the military wife, but other women will be able to connect in going through a challenge, and discovering your strengths and capabilities, where you need help, but most importantly, that God is in the middle of it all, helping you through.

Hope has taken the stories of Esther, Bathsheba, Sarah and Hagar, and Ruth, and drawn parallels to her own life during that season.  You will find how these women prospered in the midst of their life challenges, and what you can also do to be successful.  

A few topics Hope addresses include:

* The words we say to our spouse

* How to guard our heart and minds

* Finding God in the midst of our challenge

* Battling bitterness and self-pity

At the end of each chapter are questions for further reflection on what you have read.  This book would make a good Bible study for military wives, especially those going through a deployment. There are tips within the pages to help your story be one of success and not despair.

I learned some things while reading this book.  Books with lots of theology often push me deeper into my study of the Word of God and I so appreciate that.  One of my favorite things about this book was the analogy she made of The Parable of the Ten Virgins to waiting on one's spouse to return from deployment.  With the same anticipation and readiness a wife would prepare for the return of her husband from war, is the same anticipation and readiness we should employ for our soon coming King!  I loved that!  It totally implanted a huge truth inside my heart.

I recommend this book to any wife, military spouse or not, who needs some tips or wisdom on how to make it through life's challenges, come out on the other side, and find God there walking with you through it all.

Many blessings to you as you journey through life with Him,

Beth

To learn more about the author, visit her blog here at hopengriffin.com.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.  I was not required to give a positive review. The thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.

God Wants You Well

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
 3 John 2 (KJV)

3 John was written by the apostle John, one of the men who had been with Jesus.  Third John appears to be addressed to his friend Gaius, who is a Believer, or a Follower of Christ.


In this epistle, the very first thing that John tells him is that he hopes he is healthy.  Since, we know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, or is God-breathed, we can learn from this scripture, that if John's wish for his friend is that he be healthy, God wants him healthy too.  If He wants him healthy, He wants us healthy too.


It is always God's will that we be healthy.  There are many clues in the Bible that indicate that health and wholeness are one of God's desires for His children.


Let's look at a few scriptures to see if we can further come to understand that God wants us healed and whole. 

Old Testament


Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.- Jeremiah 33:6 (KJV)


For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.-Jeremiah 30:17 (KJV)


He sent out His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.-Psalm 107:20 (NIV)


Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.-Psalm 103:3


I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far," says the LORD, who heals them.- Isaiah 57:18-19 (NLT)

New Testament


Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!" And he was healed instantly.- Acts 9:34 (NLT)


...and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.- Luke 9:2 (NIV)


Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.- Mark 3:2 (NIV)


But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.- Luke 22:51 (NIV)


But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.-Acts 4:14 (NIV)


Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.-James 5:16 (ESV)


As you can see, healing is a prominent theme throughout the Old Testament and the New.  Now that we know that, what can we do with all of these scriptures on healing? 

We think about them.   We look at them.  We read them out loud, so we can hear them.  We get them into our hearts. 


Why?  We have to replace the thoughts that don't line up with scripture with ones that do.  Keeping God's Word ever before us will help us change our thoughts.  When we change our thoughts, we will be more able to receive what God has for us.  In this case, what we want to receive is healing.


There are many other things I want to talk about in the area of healing.  This is just the beginning, and a place to get started.  The scriptures I have shared are not all the scriptures about healing in the Bible.  I just wanted to share a few to lay a foundation for healing and for what we read at the beginning of this post.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
 3 John 2 (KJV)

The Holy Land Key: Unlocking End-Times Prophecy Through The Lives of God's People in Israel by Ray Bentley

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 1: 16, NIV)



Wow. This book was amazing. As I thought about writing this review, it was very hard for me to know where to start.

When I first received this book, I showed it to my husband. He read it in like a day and a half. He was so moved by the content that I asked him if he wanted to be the one to write the review. It took me a little longer than a day and a half to read.

Throughout my educational experiences in high school and college, I have always connected more with stories. History with its dates and facts are usually a little harder to wrap my brain around. This book is a combination of both, stories and fact. But I still enjoyed it so much.

In The Holy Land Key, Ray Bentley shares many journeys. He shares his journey, the journeys of many colleagues, but most importantly the journey of Israel in God's magnificent plan. Bentley takes us through the scriptures connecting them with things we can see with our own eyes, an reveals the part that Israel has played and will continue to play in the history of the world and God's plan of redemption for mankind. Along the way, he has developed friendships that God has used to increase his knowledge of things to come.

The Holy Land Key is divided into five parts, with each part containing 2+ chapters. Chapter titles include: "Partnering with Those Who Are Helping to Fulfill Prophecy, Learning from the Descendants of Ishmael, History's Most Persecuted People, Patterns and Predictions in Prophecy, The Zodiac and Christ's Second Coming, How Seasons and Feasts Reveal Christ's Second Coming, and God is Bringing His People Home."

I learned so many new things from this book, and I am pretty sure I am not finished learning. One of the greatest things I learned from the book, in my opinion, is found in Romans 11:17-18 and John 10:16.

"And if some of the branches were broken off, and you [Gentiles], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you."-Romans 10:17-18 (NKJV)

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."-John 10:16 (NKJV)

The Church has not replaced the Jews. We are the "wild olive tree" that has been grafted in! This revelation was very enlightening for me, because I have always felt we, as Believers inChrist, were separate. But that is not the case.

Another thing this book did for me was to open my heart to all the people groups in the Middle East. I love the story of Hagar and Ishmael in the Bible. I love that even though she was alone in the desert with her son, God still had his eye on her and was loving her, and caring for, and providing for her and her child. God is still doing that for Ishmael's sons and daughters. My heart has been opened more to that fact.

The book is about prophecy, and how it can be seen in the scriptures. It's about prophecy and how it can been seen in natural things we can see with our physical eyes. And its about prophecy in spiritual things that are eternal that is often revealed in the natural.

I love this book. I recommend it to anybody who wants to study about End Times, Biblical prophecy, or who wants to learn more about the Jewish people, the land of Israel, and what God is doing in the last days. He is amazing and loves us all.

Many blessings to you as you discover your part in His Story,

Beth

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Blogging For Books. I was not required to give a favorable review. The thoughts and opinions here are entirely my own.