My Determined Purpose

Sometimes we get disappointed with ourselves because we’re believers but our actions (or maybe reactions) aren’t what we want them to be in certain situations. Sometimes we get disheartened because we know God could change some things in us, but He hasn’t yet.  Sometimes the battle is an old one-- that “thorn in the flesh.”  Sometimes we don’t feel like “more than conquerors”, and yet, we know we have a Champion for whom nothing is impossible and Who is “for” us, not “against” us. Sometimes trying to walk like Jesus walked seems too hard, and it’s easier to say, “I give up” instead of looking up and trying one more time. 

Negative thoughts and feelings can really discourage us, paralyze us, and drag us into despair. We need to take them captive and bring them to Christ. We are not perfect human beings. We need to confess our sins and shortcomings. We need to accept hardship as the Lord’s discipline, knowing that we’re being changed for the better. Our hearts and our faith are being purified. In the meantime,  Jesus says His grace is sufficient for us. God’s Word tells us that He is indeed working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. We’re encouraged to stand firm and to put on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. And in order to think like Christ, we need to meditate on God's Word which contains whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, noteworthy, excellent. (We're told to think on these things in Phil. 4:8) Then we can trust God to take care of our concerns and problems that we’ve laid out before Him in prayer. We can cast all our anxieties on Jesus because He cares for us. We can trust Jesus. But it’s hard to trust Him if you don’t know Him.

Almost a year ago, I placed a card on my refrigerator that had this verse on it: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.” (Phil. 3:10; Amp)

“For my determined purpose” caught my attention when I read it again recently. If I’m going to continue this spiritual walk I’m on, I’ve got to be determined and turn away from anything that would keep me from knowing Jesus my Lord deeply and intimately, as well as knowing His spiritual power. I can’t imagine a better example of someone more determined than Paul, the writer of Phil 3:10 and Phil. 4:8. Beaten, flogged, jailed, chained, chased, surviving shipwrecks, ridiculed, rejected. He must have been determined since he never gave up. It inspires me and convicts me to make knowing Jesus my determined purpose because Jesus went through much worse for me. Beaten, flogged, ridiculed, rejected, spit upon, crucified, pierced. But that wasn’t the end. He had to endure the cup of God’s wrath for the sins of the world in addition to the physical suffering. I can’t even imagine what all He went through for me and for you. And then, victory—just as He promised. Resurrection. Hope. Eternal life.

Paul says something else about his trials as he continued in his determined purpose—“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength….”  (2 Tim. 4:17, NIV)  We can count on the Lord standing by us. As soon as we cry out, He strengthens us. Jesus loves us with an unfailing, unending, unconditional love. He is worthy of our love, our devotion, our determined purpose to know Him.

A Prayer

Prayer from Richard Foster's book, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. Picture from  (http://www.incourage.me/2013/03/53649.html)

Focusing on Jesus in the Midst of Difficulties

How do we keep our minds on Christ in the midst of difficulties? For anxiety-prone people like me, the answer to this question is extremely important. John Ortberg talked about this in If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. He reaffirmed what I’d learned from one of Beth Moore's studies: whatever we focus our minds on, whatever we meditate on continually, determines the way we think. I love this excerpt from Ortberg’s book: “Psychologist Archibald Hart writes, ‘Research has shown that one's thought life influences every aspect of one's being.’ Whether we are filled with confidence or fear depends on the kind of thoughts that habitually occupy our minds. The way you think creates your attitudes; the way you think shapes your emotions; the way you think governs your behavior; the way you think deeply influences your immune system and vulnerability to illness. Everything about you flows out of the way you think. I believe this is one of those cases where we are simply coming to confirm what the writers of Scriptures knew quite clearly all along. Paul said, 'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.'

The law of exposure is as inviolable as the law of gravity. No one is surprised by the law of gravity. No one says, 'Hey, I dropped this priceless antique crystal vase on cement and it broke. What are the odds of that?' But amazingly enough, people react to the law of exposure in total shock. People are surprised that what their minds are constantly exposed to, attend to, and dwell on eventually comes out in how they feel and what they do.

The events you attend, the material you read (or don't), the music you hear, the images you watch, the conversations you hold, the daydreams you entertain-all are shaping your mind and, ultimately, your character and destiny. This is supremely true when it comes to hope.

Is. 26:3 says, 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.' It all depends on where your mind stays. The good news is that you can put these laws to work for you. If you really want to become a certain kind of person--a hopeful person focused on Christ--you must begin to think thoughts that will produce those characteristics. So we understand why Paul said, 'Think about these things.' When you focus on Christ, these are the kinds of thoughts he will inspire you to think. Therefore you must put your mind in a place that will lead you to think hope-producing thoughts. You need to expose your mind to those resources, books, tapes, people, and conversations that will incline you toward confidence in God. Your mind will think most about what it is most exposed to.”

So true!  When I begin the day by praying to God and then reading His Word, and when I sit in silence and listen with my heart to what He’s saying to me, or while I’m engaged in memorizing a few verses, or singing praises to Him, or meditating on a psalm, there is a marked difference in the peace and joy that I have and in my awareness of God's faithfulness and love for me. My blood pressure goes down, and so does my heart rate. My thoughts are pleasant and faith-filled. I feel the peace of God and His Presence. John Ortberg has much more to say about feeding your mind and soul in his book.