Meaning of Life
The meaning of life lies in relationship.
Hosea 6:6 “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
*No amount of activity for God will ever take the place of a heart that is right with Him.
I share Hosea 6:6 in a few translations, only because I wanted to see what they
said (besides the KJV above),
* the Contemporary English version: “I’d rather for you to be faithful and to know me than to offer sacrifices” and
* The Message version: “I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings.”
What does the Lord want? Relationship!
*God wants our love and our devotion.
*God wants us to be pure and true to Him.
*God wants us to want Him like He wants us.
*God is seeking those that will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
**God wants a lasting relationship, not actions pretending to love. I feel like this kinda goes with 1 Corinthians 13 that with out love, all we have and all we do is nothing.
Hosea 4:6 You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me!
Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests.
*Luke 4:4 We cannot live without Gods word.
*Psalms 119:105 the word of God shows us the right path. A light in a dark place. *John 17:17 Gods word is truth.
We by nature are self-seeking, we want what we want for ourselves, for our families those in our immediate circle.
(I am not saying that there is anything wrong with wanting the best for yourself and your family), but we have
to look outside the box we live in sometime and see the hurt and the pain of others and be willing to reach out and touch them with the love of the Father, believe it or not this is the will of God.
*Psalms 119:165 the Word of God brings peace.
Faith, Hope and Love. The greatest of these is God’s Agape Love!
* “Let love be your highest goal.”
1 Corinthians 14:1
* Draw near to God and He will Draw near to you.
The meaning of life lies in relationship!!
*First and foremost is our relationship with God,
* and then our relationship with each other.
*We may each have these relationships or one more than the other, But let’s get a Balance of the Two for God’s Glory!
* “We love, because He first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
When we come to KNOW the Lord we will begin to see that He wants us to truly love our neighbor just as we love ourselves.
Mark 12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
* We are to cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, rejoice when they rejoice.
* When we really settle in our hearts that we are going to do everything in our power to get to know the Lord things really begin to happen in our lives, great things wonderful, miraculous things.
*Don’t let yourself think that everything has to be just right.
*Don’t allow your mind to tell you that as soon as I get this or that right then
I can really dig in and start praying like I should or start reading my bible like
I should or set aside time to really be in the presence of the Lord like I should.
If you wait for “the right time” or if you wait for “when I get things right” you
never will. Why do I say that?
* I say that because our enemy will see to it that you will always have something to be trying to “get right”.
It truly is time to seek the Lord while He may be found and really get
to know Him and know Him well.
“Lord, I despise myself.”(Job 42:4-6)
It looks as though God has humiliated Job and brought this poor, broken-hearted man down into the dust almost cruelly.
Yet it is not cruelty, it is love—because, at this point, when Job has finally given up trying to defend and justify himself, God begins to heal and pour into this man’s life blessings he never dreamed of.
This is the story of the whole of Scripture, isn’t it? Everywhere the Scriptures seek to tell us this.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,(Matthew 5) the men and women who are bankrupt in themselves, who stop counting on what they have to make it.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
God will begin to heal a life that repents before Him, and He will fill it with blessing and honor and glory and power.
None of the prideful things to which we cling will be worth the smallest portion of the glory and joy we have discovered in coming into a Relationship with God Himself. (To Know Him is Eternal Life…. JN. 17:3)
The Lord doesn’t choose the way man chooses. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
The whole Bible is summed up by the word “love”.
*”But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
(1 Timothy 1:5)
Refuse to allow presumption to cloud your discernment. You should never act, react, respond, or take your next step based on what you assume is truth. If you are uncertain about an issue or circumstance, take the time to investigate and discover the facts. Just because your conclusion seems reasonable does not make it true. And, presumption will plunge you into the darkness of deception. Stay in the light and truth, and maintain confidence in the word as you follow the Lord’s precepts.
* Psalms 19:13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
*David understood that we have faults that we don’t even know about. This section of this Psalm shows that when asking for forgiveness, we should pray for those things that are hidden in our hearts.
Thank You, Father, for this penetrating look at my own heart. How proud I have been, how filled with self-justification with complaints before You. Teach me to put my hand upon my mouth and admit to You that the problem lies so often with me so that You will heal and restore me. Father help me to put You first, again. Even ahead of the things I do for You….especially ahead of that. Help me to make time for those moments where You and I can connect. I need that more than I know. I need You more than I know. Thank You LORD for this reminder/warning. For Your Glory and my Joy. Amen
***Jan. 24 at Christ Church at 7PM will be an informational meeting to kick off our NEW Moving Forward Group. Come for a great night of testimonials of “what God is doing in and through individuals.
**Revelation Bible study starting Jan 26. Go to web address below and go to calendar-scroll down to Thurs. And open “Community Wide Bible Study”.