Messages
For in hope we have been saved. We hope in things we do not see. We wait eagerly for the day when we will see Jesus face to face. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. His deepness calls to our deepness and in response our deepness calls to his. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
Romans 8:28
"and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those: Who love God. To those who are called according to his purpose."
You were called according to His purpose and you might not be able to see the whole picture of your life and purpose right now. It may seem that everything is wrong, but when you love God, He will cause all things, all circumstances to work together for GOOD, because He has a purpose for you. He has predestined you to become conformed to the image of his Son. He has a plan to change you day by day until you look and act just like Jesus, his Son.
Why? Because he has a purpose for you. And in his predestined plan that He has for you, He Called you. Justified you ( just as if you have never sinned. ) Sanctified you. God is for us!! It doesn’t matter who or what is against us. God is for us!!
Philippians 3:13 – 14
The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. There is one thing that he does in order to reach forward toward that prize. That prize of God’s upward calling on his life. That one thing that he does is this V 13. I forget what lies behind me and reach forward to what lies ahead of me."
God has a purpose for you!! It is not your purpose, it’s His purpose; He calls you. He called you! He justified you! He sanctified you for a purpose – for His purpose!
How many have misplaced your keys or lost important papers in your home. You know it’s there but you just can’t find them. Doesn’t that drive you nuts! Finally you get angry and frustrated and blow your stack. Still unable to locate them you give up temporarily. But there in the back of your mind is this thing “ where did I put them? Where did they go?” Life goes on but those misplaced items are and open wound to you, nagging at you.
And periodically you go searching for them again. Then one day as you are cleaning around the house, and you stumble across them in the most unusual place, what joy fills your heart. As you remember putting them there to begin with, another thought comes to your mind. What was I thinking when I misplaced them. Have you ever done that?
Some of us have misplaced our purpose that God called us for. Some have given up the search, some never began the search, some don’t know how to search, but God is calling out to his people whom He has chosen to be predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, to assume their proper position in his body.
Because He has begun the final phase of cleansing before the Lord’s return. It is time to assume our place in Him and in the body of Christ. And it is for that reason that we search for the purpose for which He called us for.
Mathew 13:3
“ and he spoke in parables, saying Behold, the sower went out to sow; and he sowed, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up – and others fell upon rocky places where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil, but when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.”
Psalm 42:7 says “ Deep calls to deep at the sound of thy water falls.” The sound of deep plunging into deep. The waterfall at the base of the fall responded to the plunging of water into the depths with a deep sound. Only the deep will respond to the deep.
In like manner, we respond to issues of life by what depth we have in the Lord. And we respond to the Lord by our own deepness. If our deepness is shallow, then the way we respond to God is in shallowness. Jesus, when he spoke on the seed that fell on rocky places, said that the roots had no depth.
Some Christians have no depth. When the heat of the day comes, they wither – Why? There is no depth to their lives. Shallow calls to depth and there is no answer. What is a root? It is growth that occurs beneath the soil. What are the leaves? That is growth that occurs above the soil. The roots are the hidden life we have in Christ and the leaves are our manifested life what people see. There could be a lot of growth about the ground, but if our roots are not deep in the soil of the Lord, when heat comes, when fiery trials come, and there is no depth to us, we wither and dry up. This is the time to put all things aside and return to the Lord. Put our roots deep into Jesus, our soil.
Luke 10:38 – 42
Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. She had a sister named Mary. More that likely Martha was the elder sister or else the word would have said Mary welcomed Jesus into her home and she had a sister named Martha. So Martha the older sister, is preparing dinner for the guest and gets upset. Why?
Because she is doing it all alone. Did you ever get mad when guests are coming and you are cleaning the house and doing the cooking and dishes, and none of your family is helping out? Hey, come in the kitchen and give me a hand!! No one comes to help and you are getting madder and madder by the minute. Anyone ever been there??? Martha leaves her work and goes up to Jesus and says – it’s not fair. Tell Mary to get up and help me. Jesus, don’t you care that I’m doing it all alone? Jesus responds 4:41 Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Jesus looks past the circumstances to expose the motives. Martha was serving the Lord by works but Mary was seated by his feet listening – she was digging her roots into the soil of the Lord. She was serving the Lord in Faith and building a hope in things she did not see yet. Martha sees serving the Lord by works. Mary sees serving the Lord by Faith. If Martha had the attitude of “ whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your heart and if you work, work as if it is unto the Lord,” she would have served the Lord with joy in the kitchen, because her labor would have been unto the Lord. Was Martha jealous of her younger sister? Perhaps. Was Martha trying to get into good standing with Jesus by good works? Perhaps. Have you ever done that? Perhaps. Were they both called according to the purpose of God? Yes. Was Mary deep? Yes.Was Martha shallow? Yes. Mary had roots and growth beneath the soil. Mary had lots of leaves and foliage or works above the soil.
And when the heat of the day comes to you, what will happen.?? Trying to please him that way?? Are you in the kitchen of works?? Trying to please him in that way?? If so, you may have lost or misplaced the purpose for which you were called. It’s time to come out of the works and find what is really pleasing to God. Sit at his feet. Deep calls to deep.
It is the hidden things below the surface that really matter to the Lord. Surface, superficial Christians cannot respond to the depths of the Lord, nor can they render spiritual help to others.
Have you misplaced your purpose? Have you lost your Depth? Has all your growth been upward on your branches and leaves, and not downward into the depth of the soil of the Lord. Are you in a dry place and find yourself withering?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus please help us to forget what lies behind And reach forward for the prize of our upward calling. Thank you for calling us Lord. Thank you for justifying us and sanctifying us for your purpose. Lord, Please bring me into a deep relationship with you. Amen!