We Came With A Purpose: Chase After Him To Find You

I feel sad for anyone who doesn't believe that we are here for a purpose and a reason. Those people who believe that our lives are random happenings that blot the face of the planet for a while before we pass away from the world to go somewhere no one knows. It is my firm belief that the idea that we are rudderless and without direction leads to a point where people do not see the big picture and grand design of the world and end up living selfish, self-centred lives that add nothing to the world. However when we realise that we humans on this planet are all connected and we all have something to add to the lives we come in contact with, and we act on this, the world becomes a better place.

I believe that there is nothing on earth whether created, made or manufactured without a purpose on the face of this earth. We understand the issue of purpose when we understand that there is nothing whether animate or inanimate that does not have a purpose. From human beings to chairs, the air we breathe in to the clothes we wear, everything has a purpose. If inanimate objects without awareness have a purpose, how can we say that human beings, the greatest of the living species do not? Simply put, everything has a purpose for being, for existing. In fact, a purpose is first discovered and then a thing is made to fulfill that purpose. Therefore I believe that there was a purpose that God wanted man to fulfill collectively and individually when he made him. The purpose, then the thing to fulfill the purpose.

When God called Abraham (then Abram) in Genesis 12, he told him him what he wanted to do with him. When he called Jacob in Genesis 28, he revealed what he wanted to achieve in his life. The same thing when he called Joshua in Joshua 1. He followed the same pattern when he called Cyrus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elisha and Paul. Wherever in the Bible we are shown the moment God called one of the elders in the faith, we see a process where God calls them by name and reveals his plans and purposes to them and lets them know the part they have to play in the fulfillment of that plan. There is always a big picture and God tells us what he wants to achieve. He never tells us the processes we have to go through but at least he gives us an indication of the end so that we can press forward.

I am of the firm belief that God has created each and every one of us with a purpose and he has a plan for our lives. Our lives are not aimless and neither do they lack meaning. I believe that when God called us, he spoke on our lives the plans and the purposes he desires for us to achieve and fulfill. Whether or not we come to a full realisation of this plan, depends entirely on us. The Bible says that His word is forever settled in heaven. He cannot and will not change. Therefore there is a responsibility placed on each of us shoulders to seek his face and find it. For us to truly have a relationship with the world we live in, we need to have a relationship with him. If we pursue him, we will not only find him, we will also find ourselves.    

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Saint Know Thyself

3 John 1:1  The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, who I love in truth

At first reading, a man calling himself “the elder” seems quite pretentious. However, when I continued to look at this scripture it occurred to me that the words were not those of an ego driven man but those of a man who knew who he was, his position in the scheme of things and the responsibility that came with that position. At the point he wrote the letter, he was probably old and nearer the end of his life than near the beginning of his ministry. He could have called himself an apostle, the one whom Jesus loved the most when he was alive, anything. However he chose to refer to himself as an elder. This doesn’t even begin to describe who he was to the church and what he had done. By this time he and Peter had healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. He had done many things by this time although he had not received the revelations detailed in the book of Revelations. He had seen many things, he had experience. He knew the power there is in the name of Jesus.

A man came to Israel and said he was the Son of God. He impacted the life of a dozen men, eleven of whom went on to do great works in his name. People were impacted by the lives of these eleven men such that men in exponential amounts began to follow the Jesus that these men preached. These men made such an impact on the world that in one of the places where they went to, they were described as the people who were turning the world upside down. These were men who were beaten, went to jail, suffered all kinds of deprivation yet they never lost sight of what they were, men and women who had been privileged enough to be called and chosen by God for his purpose. Nothing was too much for them to suffer to bring glory and honour to God. Some of them were killed for the sake of the message they proclaimed.

In today’s era of social media and being concerned about what people think of us, the question I ask of myself is: what am I ready to give up to serve and honour Jesus? What do I think is too much to do for God? What am I ready to suffer for Christ? The apostles of old were totally aware of whom they were in Christ. Paul understood that his identity was to be found not in any thing he had achieved but his identity was to be found in a God who loved him enough to send Christ to die for him. I believe the there was a direct proportional relationship between the revelation  these man had of God to the understanding of who they were in him which was directly proportional to the exploits they did in his name.   

Every day, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not really about me, it’s about him and his purpose. Until I let go and stop struggling to find relevance for myself and realise that it’s about what he wants me to become, I will never truly find myself in him. I will continually struggle to live this life that he has given me. But like Paul, every day I press on that I may be found in him. Every day, I hope to grow in the knowledge in of God that I might truly fulfil the reason for the call on my life knowing that he who loves me and called me is cheering me on.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.