40 Days of Purpose

A churh is a place of God, where followers of Christ come together. When the relationship between members become sour, the church itself stops functioning in the serving of God.

Many of the things today express certain things which apply to good relations in general.

Focusing on what we have in common keeps us moving together. There are always differences, but these differences are usually minor, differences of opinion and of style amongst other things. Keeping in mind that God is the head of the church, we should rely of Him to help us remain focused on His will, not our little issues.

It has been quite revealing for me, as well as people I have known in the past, that a church is a place where things are not perfect, but they never will be. That imperfection is part of life. Nothing and nobody is perfect, so get with the program. Striving for the best is not bad, as we seek to follow Jesus’ lead. But not being perfect is no shame, as none of us are, and by the grace of God we are forgiven for that.

No gossiping and direct conflict resolution show maturity of character. Talking behind others is absolutely not on. The effect of listening to gossip is that we become involved. Those bad habits rub off on us and distract us from the purpose of the church. Do not participate in gossip in any way. You reveal maturity of character when you say, “Just don’t tell me,” which may be hard to say, but is what is expected of us. This comes hand in hand with direct conflict resolution. Trying to solve a problem by gossiping fixes nothing, but a direct conflict, as uncomfortable as it may be, solves more than a lifetime of stone throwing ever will.

As Gods appointed leaders for us here in our churches, pastors require our respect and help. Their job is a tough one, but we should be there to help them, as they are always there to help us. Our leaders are a source of hope and inspiration in times of need, which is a huge blessing from God. Show that appreciation to God, by doing what you can for them.

Wow, Day 20 already, about halfway through the course. I encourage you to keep it up, you will be blessed in your efforts. And please add your comments sometimes if possible.

If love is so important then relationships are at the heart of that love. Our love is clearly expressed with how we deal with relationships.

There are always going to be things that people disagree about, that’s just the way it happens. If we trust God first and bring our issues before him, he can help to straighten things out. But we need to act to, we need to take action to fix broken relationships to restore that broken fellowship.

It’s not easy though. It has been a long process for me to learn some of the skills needed for conflict resolution. Keeping my mouth shut and ears open has been a key, which was also expressed in today’s reading. When you listen you get a chance to understand the other person’s problems. Before there is understanding there is no way to work things out as there is unexpressed anger, when you affirm someone else’s feelings there is a freedom to be felt by both of you.

Conflicts are not always going to end how you like them to. Sometimes the other person does not want to forgive, this is when you check you have acted appropriately and bring it before God. God knows the pains of you and others, he also has the power to bring about the change that is needed.

• Talk to God first – Because he is God
• Take the initiative – Wounds fester, fix them quick
• Sympathize with their feelings – Everyone has feelings (even if you don’t have the same ones)
• Confess your part – Because no one is perfect
• Attack the problem and not the person – Personal attacks are immature and inappropriate, love your neighbour
• Cooperate as much as possible

And a church that cooperates and a healing environment, as well as the blessings of God will be the result. Your efforts are a testimony to Gods love for you and your love for him, so use this opportunity, as a testing ground to refine you spirit.

“You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way.”

We are meant to build the community within the church.

These are not easy goals, but they are goals which God has set out for us. When I read this some of the first thoughts that come into my mind are, “But I’m quite busy,” or, “I’m kinda tired,” and other pretty lame excuses. But it is clear that we need to develop the habit of getting together and sharing honestly.

It says habit because habits don’t start easily, a new diet or new exercise plan is most likely to be given up on before it becomes habit, but once it does, the benefits are tangible and obvious. And so are the benefits of community.

Honesty, humility, courtesy, confidentiality and frequency.

Telling the truth to each other in a loving way. Not spreading gossip, but maturely dealing with matters that arise and doing it often. In essence, meet together and share your needs, help each other out, don’t hold back when something needs to be said. These are liberating, although not always easy, as they often go against our first instinct, but as we know, an instinct can be wrong, but God is “the way the truth and the light,” so follow his commands.

I would encourage those of you who are in small groups to continue to meet in them after the campaign is over. Perhaps not everyone will stay, but endevour to create that intimate small group. Your feelings of trust will come with time together. The action of meeting and sharing needs to be first, the feeling of community will grow.

Life is meant to be shared.

Jesus had only 12 disciples, but actually there were more than that many who followed him around during his time here on earth. But he kept these 12 close because he knew that the power of God is felt the most in small groups.

I can testify to how freeing a small group can be. When we are alone and just going life by ourselves pursuing whatever it is we are pursuing, things can get tough and lonely. The power of a small group can heal many wounds. It’s a place where we can share our innermost feelings. We were meant to share, because the process of sharing is revealing ourselves with all honesty.

We are told in the Bible to do this. In previous chapters we are encouraged to be honest with God, and we should be honest with others too. “Pain shared is pain halved, joy shared is joy doubled,” is a phrase I heard first from my friend Clint and more recently from Dave at church. We are commanded to do these things because it is how it is meant to be.

It’s not always easy. At the end of the chapter it talks about forgiveness and trust. Sometimes a group might not be completely honest or sympathetic, and can even betray your trust. So finding friends that you can trust is vital. In finding that you will find the power of God. Pray that God will help you to find a group of truly loving, sympathetic believers if you are not with one already.

But do it together, it’s the way it’s supposed to be.

We are members of God’s church.

We are not simply on a list, or attend a certain number of church services per month or year, it means that you serve as a vital part of the functioning of that body.

On Sunday, when pastor Dave mentioned how formal churches like the one we attend only came about later at the time of constantine, shows that I at least have a slightly distorted view of what the church really is. It’s the community of followers of Christ who serve the Lord together and support each other in a loving family. Not just the big building where we can go.

God expects us to be part of a church, a community of believers. He designed it so that it would operate that way. If I am not part of one then I am not doing it the way God wanted because we were designed for fellowship.

• A church family shows you are a genuine believer – Others can identify that we belong to something.
• A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation – You have to be part of the church, not operate alone.
• A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle – You cannot learn about love and community by simply being a loner, the church is the place to learn more about God.
• The body of Christ needs you – They need you because God made you with special talents and gifts that were designed to be used in the Church.
• You will share in Christ’s mission in the world – As God’s chosen vehicle to spread the word into the world, the church is vital for spreading the word of God to those who do not know.
• A church family will keep you from backsliding – Accountability, although not often liked in this modern world, keeps us in check, keeps us from falling into those temptations that are everywhere around us. It keeps us on track with God.

I think the 5 purposes of the church are good to mention here. Worship helps you focus on God, fellowship helps you to face life’s problems, discipleship helps fortify your faith, ministry helps find your talents, evangelism helps fulfill your mission.

So, does your level of involvement in the church show your love and commitment to God’s family?

I’ll leave that to you.

“The whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love others as you love yourself.’”

Love, love, love

Even the beatles sang of this with theire song, “All you need is love.” Loving God and loving others is our first priority in life. Showing love is so contrary to what the world shows or expects.

Love is our investment in eternity. While all the other things we may strive for will fade away and be left behind when we leave earth, its the love we show for others and the love we show for God that will continue forever. This also plays well with “the family of God.” Although our earthly families might have their problems, the ideal of a family is one where there is love, caring and close relationships.

Time is the deciding factor when it comes to importance of things in our lives. The things that takes the most time is our highest priority. But even if you are at work or at play, you can still love others, just keep the focus on God and that will help you to work on those relationships around you.

And of course, you never know when you are going to die, or someone else is going to. Often the opportunities to love other people are only there for an instant, so grab them, seize the opportunity and do good. With Jesus as our example, go and show love to others.

“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by fringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. and this gave him great pleasure.”

God wants us to be part of His family, and that gives Him great pleasure. We are so special to God, despite how flawed we are and how unfaithful we can be.

One thing that hit me during this reading was our goals. Personally I am sometimes a little shy to express my goals and dreams with other people because its an idea of the humble Christian. But is this a correct perception.

Without goals and dreams, we’re just living till we die. The reason why we all have hopes and dreams is because God wired us that way. We may hope for worldly things like money, perhaps fame, in fact anything that this world has to offer. God has promised us an inheritence in His kingdom, and there is no fame, money or anything that is worth more than that. And should we hope for that? Of course! I want that, and God has it for us, he promised it. He is our father and he wants us to share all he has.

We are the family of God, and that is a great privilege. Identification with that family is not something to be taken lightly and also puts responsibility on us as we are representatives of God here on earth. It also tells us that God is the head of that family, so His word is final.

We work together for what God has promised he has saved for us and because he created us and loves us, so work together towards that goal of loving Him “with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your heart and with all your strength.”

“For God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’” – Hebrews 13:5 (TEV)

It seems that God does not act in our best interests to leave us alone or remove himself from our presence. How can an all loving God leave us alone and not help us out.

Thanks goodness that God is a faithful God. If God always acts in our best interests then even if it appears he is not there, he MUST be because he has promised it.

My mother is a social worker, she specialises in counselling people on overcoming depression using cognitive therapy, which is looking at your thinking patterns. Sorting out your thinking patterns helps break the cycle that pulls you back into depression.

Now, one of the amazing things is that so many of the things which she told me about that have to do with people in depression come up in scripture. Today’s example of “When you can’t feel God, he’s still there and he still loves you,” is a common stonghold for people in depression. They feel as though when the feeling dies then all is lost, which is not true.

These same things have been known by God forever. He is teaching us something. He is always faithful, even though we may not always be.

The question of “How can I stay focused on God’s presence, especially when he feels distant?” makes me think a little.

How can we do that? Another of the things I learnt from my mom is that your feelings can be misleading and following principles and taking action, even when things seem bad, helps immensely. So when God feels distant, this is a time when you need to seek Him, worship Him and be in prayer even more fervently. Like Job in his time of trouble, did he just moan. No! Of course he didn’t like it, but he put it before God, and knew that God was not against Him.

So keep it up, knowing that God has great things planned for those who are faithful.

God wants all of me.

We need accurate worship. God is God, he tells us who he is. There is no second opinion. Althought there may be interpretations of scripture that are slightly different, the meaning is consistent.

Authentic worship is being honest. Like honesty was talked about yesterday, if its not honest, it’s a lie. Authentic worship is honesy with God, giving him full access to all our hurts and pains and hopes, like a genuine friend. Besides, he knows all anyway, but still wants us to truthful.

Thoughtful worship reminds me of school. When kids at school fight they are told to say, “I’m sorry,” but the best thing to say is, “I’m sorry because…” But putting specifics in they are forced to think about what they have done, rather than emit a certain phrase. It also allows me as a teacher to know for sure that they know, and are not just doing it from habit.

Practical things were done all through scripture. Jesus’ healings were practical, they were healed of many diseases. Use the vessel that God gave you while you are here on earth.

“Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.” – James 4:8 (NLT)

When thinking about the love relationship, one of the thoughts that comes to mind is something I got from “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman.

It is the false idea of love which says that if I feel it, it’s there, if I don’t, it’s not. But real love takes time, thought and energy. And just like in marriage, even if I don’t feel the “in love feeling,” it doesn’t mean there is no love, it just means it needs more focus to show it.

Honesty is something that flows through all genuine relationships, dishonesty or hiding the truth erodes even the best relationships.

Obeying God in faith reaquires that we trust him completely and this grows through our relationship with him.

If God is not the main priority in our life, something else will be. So make him your number 1.