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.

Women of Romans 16

Photo courtesy of Kevin Carden at Lighstock

I have spent a lot of time on the women in the Gospels and a little on some in the Old Testament. I thought I would move forward a little and start talking about the women in Acts and the Epistles. I already have a teeny bit of research about the women listed in Romans 16. I am going to share some of that with you. The first two mentioned are the ones we know the most about.

The epistle to the Romans was written to all Believers in Rome, though it appears according to the list in Romans 16 that there were many house churches that existed there. There are ten women listed in the passage of Scripture in Romans 16. They are:

1. Phoebe

2. Prisca

3. Mary

4. Junia

5. Tryphena

6. Tryphosa

7. Persis

8.. Rufus’ mother

9. Julia

10. Nereus’ sister

The first woman mentioned was Phoebe. It is believed that she was the one who actually carried the letter of Romans to the Church at Rome. I have written about her in more detail in a post in relation to 1 Timothy 3. Click here to read that post.

The second woman mentioned was Prisca or Priscilla. She was the wife of Aquila, and they are mentioned throughout the New Testament. Luke mentions them in Acts, and Paul mentions them in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy. Click here to read a little more about Priscilla.

There are 8 more I have yet to explore. When Paul mentions some of them, he says they "laboured much for us" or "laboured much in the Lord." What does in mean to "labour in the Lord?" Where else is that phrase found in the New Testament? They must have held some significance to be among those mentioned in this passage of Scripture.
More to come...

From Darkness to Light

In Matthew's genealogy of Jesus there are four women mentioned, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, all with seedy pasts. Yes,  even Ruth. She was a Moabite. They sacrificed babies to their gods and their people was a product of Lot and one of his daughters, an incestuous relationship.

Today, I heard a minister, (someone I love), say that if he were writing the genealogy, he would have thought Sarah or Rebecca would have been more appealing to include. But they both were sinners too.

Sarah had her husband sleep with their slave, Hagar. And that created a huge division and strife in people groups. Rebecca conspired with Jacob to deceive her husband, Isaac, and steal the blessing that was supposed to belong to his brother Esau.

Those girls were no better than the list in Matthew's genealogy.

We are all in one of two places. We are either in Adam, or in Christ. We either belong to darkness or light.

And, truth be known, Jesus has already (past tense) reconciled you to God. You might just be finding out about it right now, in this moment. And that is so you can receive his payment and become part of the light, part of the Kingdom of God, part of Christ.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,- 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NKJV)

No other human is better than you. You were the same before Jesus, and you are still on the same level playing field with the rest of the Body of Christ, when you step out of the dark and over into the Kingdom of Light.

All it takes is a moment of faith.

to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.-Acts 26:18 (NKJV)

Bold Women in the Bible

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.

-Acts 4:13 (Berean Study Bible)

Boldness. The word in the Greek is “parresia.” It means freedom of speech or confidence. So, the word has to do with confidence in what we say.

There were many bold women in the Bible. I put together a short list that I thought would encourage some of us when we speak. Some of these women were bold in their actions as well. If her name is highlighted, you can click on it and go read where I have written more about her story in another post.

Tamar -Genesis 38

Tamar's story is found in the book of Genesis. While we might not agree with her actions, nevertheless she was bold in securing her rights that were actually set in place by the law. She is also the first woman listed in the genealogy of Jesus. (See the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1.)

Deborah-Judges 4

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.-Judges 4:4

Deborah led men in the book of Judges. She was the only female judge in Israel that is listed. To lead an army and be a judge would require some boldness.

Rahab-Joshua 2Rahab was a prostitute that hid the two spies when they came to spy out Jericho. She helped them escape and her family were the only ones who were saved when Jericho was destroyed.

Jael-Judges 4
Jael was also included in the same story of Deborah. She risked her life and is the heroine of the story. When the enemy invaded her house, she used a hammer and tent peg to end his reign as an adversary.

Naaman’s servant girl-2 Kings 5

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

-2 Kings 5:1-4


Phoebe-Romans 16Phoebe is one of the women listed in Romans chapter 16. Paul said she was a deacon at the church of Cenchrea. It is widely held by many scholars that Phoebe was the one who delivered the epistle to the Romans to the Church at Rome. Not only would that have been a dangerous journey during the time, but it was a very important letter!

Mary of BethanyMary is found in all four Gospels, always sitting at Jesus’ feet. She was ridiculed on multiple occasions, first by her sister and then by other disciples for her actions. She was brave and set a precedent for what women in the Church should be like now.

Martha-Luke 10, John 11
Martha was brave in her outspokenness in her conversations with the Lord. In Luke 10, she refers to him as Lord, but in an extremely exasperated and sassy way. Jesus answers her statement but does not rebuke her boldness. In John 11, we see her have a monumental theological conversation with Jesus that is pivotal in our understanding of Jesus and who He is.

Women in Luke 8
There is a list of women in Luke 8 that supported the ministry of Jesus out of their own financial means.

Priscilla -Acts 18
Priscilla and her husband were both companions of Paul. She is said to have “risked her life for the church” and on one occaision corrected another male believer in his theology, albeit privately.

Lydia-Acts 16
Lydia was the first European convert in the book of Acts that we know about. After her conversion, she boldy invites Paul and his team to come and stay at her house, if they consider her a Believer in the Lord.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul writes to Timothy,


For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

That is the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who lives inside all Believers. He gives us boldness, just like he did Peter and John.


The book of Acts is still being written. The Holy Spirit wants us to continue to proclaim Jesus with boldness, as women, as men, as the Church.



May you continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus,
Beth