God’s Plan - Our Purpose

The Holy Bible (The Message – Colossians 1:15-18): We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.


Thoughts: At times we might purchase something, use it for whatever we intended, or had in mind when we purchased it. After seeing it break down and fail so often, we might pull out the instruction book and discover that there were some important steps we were neglecting, that could easily have caused a failure in the expected life of the item. Now, re-read the scripture verses and see if it doesn't spell out for us why we fail individually, and especially why our churches are failing to reach the masses. Friends, it is obvious that all things were created by God and for Him. Being made by his power, we were made according to His pleasure, and for His praise and glory. He not only created us, but it is by the word of His power that we are sustained or upheld. Christ as Mediator is also Head of the body of believers, the church; all grace and strength are from him; and the church is His body. So who are we to interfere with God's plan – His purpose for us? I want to challenge you today to look inward at yourself (not your sister or your brother) and ask God to examine you and highlight the parts of your life that you have not totally surrendered to your Maker and Designer. There may be good reason why you are struggling with worshiping God or representing Him fully to your unsaved loved ones. If you truly belong to God, then according to these verses, I believe that you should be a miserable person anytime you are doing something other than worshiping or serving God. He made you to worship Him. Your very existence is purposed in Christ. The last part of these verses speak to unity in the church (the body of believers in Christ). Friends, if you are upside down in your relationship with God, don't you know that you will also have the same negative impact on anything that you take part in, even church leadership? Always remember and respect who the head of the church is. The last thing you want to be guilty of is having a negative impact on the work of God's church to reach, minister and glorify Him, through the ministry of Christ, to the folk that He died for. So I believe that the message in these verses today is that we reevaluate our relationship with the Lord. Are we glorifying Him in everything we do in or out of the church? Do we recognize the local church as God's body of believers that He put in place to glorify Him? Be sure not to place self in the middle of that friend!


Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for placing me here on this earth with such honorable purpose. Please reveal to me areas of my life that I must seek Your help on. Areas that I must reevaluate and allow You to change so that I might glorify You more completely. Please forgive me if I have allowed self to step in the way of Your work in and through Your local church. I beg Your guidance so that I might give glory to You for being head of any church that I become a part of and through which I seek to serve You. I know that You are head of the church, and I must therefore always seek Your will and Your guidance to be a part of it and it's ministry to my community. Thank You for the church in which I now serve! Thank You for all the churches represented by readers of this devotional. May we all take our rightful places and honor You with our praise and worship so that You might receive glory from us individual and corporately. For I believe it is then that You will have freedom to reach into our families and minister to the unsaved. I am seeking Your favor oh God, through asking all this in the precious name of Jesus, with thanksgiving, AMEN


 
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day's devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at my church home, Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!