GOD CREATED YOU FOR A PURPOSE

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There are purposes for which God created us all. As well, God has given each of us talents and gifts which equip us for specific works or tasks.

We were created for a very specific purpose and these top 7 Bible verses about purpose will show that to be true. Gal. 1;1, Coloss. 1:1, Isaiah 43:7, Prov.16:4, Ephes. 2:11-12, Psalms %7:2, 1 Corinth. 10:31

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to guide us to accomplish those works as long as we obey His commands – “not my will, but yours, be done” Luke 22:42.

To Glorify God

Everything was created for a purpose…including us. The Bible is clear about one of our purposes, and that is that we are to glorify God. For example, if we get into trouble, we are told to: 

“call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” Psalm 50:15.

The psalmist knew that it was: 

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Psalm 115:1.

Answered prayer gives God glory, so the Lord our God is to be praised and we should seek to glorify His name. We certainly have nothing to boast or brag about. The Lord says, 

“I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” Isaiah 42:8

If you look at the creation, you can see for yourself that 

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

So rightfully we should say:

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” Psalm 8:1

The first purpose for which we were created was to give God glory and make His glory known to others.

To Make Disciples

When Jesus gave the Great Commission, which in essence is an imperative command, He didn’t give them a second option or Plan B. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18b), and since God has given Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth, He is passing this authority on to them, which is why He can say, 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19.

That doesn’t mean everyone that they share Christ with will become disciples of Christ. They are only told to go and make disciples, but it is generally understood that God will use them as a means to make disciples (Acts 2:47), and He did. He sent them into different parts of the world to bring the gospel since they had God’s authority, but the Commission is not quite finished yet. Jesus commands them.

“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

So how does making disciples glorify God? The more there are to worship and praise God in the kingdom, the more glory He will receive. In a prophetic Scripture, the psalmist writes, “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name” (Psalm 86:9). In the kingdom, “they [will] sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3a), asking, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev. 15:4). That is one of our purposes. It is to bring as many to Christ as the Lord our God will save, knowing that He alone saves (Acts 4:12), but He is still pleased to use us as a means to save some.

Works for His Glory

God has prepared works for us to do after we are saved. The only question is, Will we walk in them? Jesus told His disciples, 

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:7-8

Fruit never glorifies us but it always glorifies God, because we can do nothing without Christ (John 15:5). We must remain in Him or abide or dwell in the Vine (Christ) or we will only bear wax fruit, and not genuine fruits of the Spirit, but we will also begin to bear good works as a by-product of our salvation, but even this is from the Spirit of God, therefore, all works we do give God glory. There is no good we can do in our own human strength (Isaiah 64:6).

RESPONSE TO PROPHESIED LAST DAYS PERSECUTION

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Juan Riesco and his brother, Jose, were heirs to a flourishing family business — Nini’s Deli — in downtown Chicago. But it all came crashing down in early June, when the beloved eatery, owned by their foreign-born parents, found itself in the crosshairs of the increasingly progressive Black Lives Matter movement.

Having since left Chicago in the wake of the restaurant’s forced, permanent closure, Riesco told Faithwire he and his brother are focusing on ministry.

“If they’re gonna protest,” he said, “we’re gonna preach.”

Riesco, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and Mexico, was once lauded by numerous publications as an up-and-coming entrepreneur with a knack for viral branding. He had enjoyed so much success with the deli and his personal business, Chicago Native, that brands like Nike and Adidas launched collaborations with him. But when Riesco refused to wholly endorse the official Black Lives Matter movement, he and his family were made villains on blogs and news outlets, many of which labeled them as “racist” and “homophobic.”

Photo of Nini's Deli - Chicago, IL, United States. Nini's!
NINI’S DELI BEFORE CLOSURE
Photo of Nini's Deli - Chicago, IL, United States. If there's a line.. must be good and worth waiting for
NINI’S DELI BEFORE CLOSURE WITH FIVE STAR RATING ON YELP
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NINI’S DELI AFTER CLOSURE
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Rather than kowtow to the demands of a movement with which they harbor many disagreements, the Riescos stood firmly by their convictions. In early June, after being asked if they “believe Black Lives Matter,” Riesco published an official statement on the deli’s since-shuttered Instagram account. In it, he wrote he and his family believe “all people were created equal in the image of God.” The lengthy statement continued, “We believe that all black lives matter and we know that only God can bring about justice that is deserved.”

Riesco told Faithwire that, because of the success of Nini’s Deli, which had a five star rating on Yelp, locals were eager to see the restaurant throw its weight behind the Black Lives Matter campaign. Rather than totally embrace the movement, though, Riesco said it was important to use his platform to share his faith.

“I had felt in my spirit that I needed to, yes, take a stand [against] injustice, but also take a stand, most importantly, for Christ,” Riesco explained. “Because my business was so successful, by God’s grace, we had a lot of eyes waiting on us to make a statement about what was happening.”

“We used that platform — all those eyes on us, waiting to make a statement — to say, ‘We believe black lives matter, but we believe that because they’re made in the image of God,” he added.

However, by distancing themselves from the overarching Black Lives Matter movement, as other Christians have done, the Riescos drew the ire of many progressive protesters. After posting a statement to the restaurant’s Instagram handle on June 3, Riesco said “all hell essentially broke loose.

The Christian entrepreneur recalled receiving an onslaught of threats and promises to protest his family’s restaurant as a result of his statement on racial injustice. On Friday, June 5, just two days after the initial post to Instagram, Nini’s Deli shut down permanently as liberal protesters descended on the once-popular eatery.

Tensions only rose when Riesco’s brother Jose began brashly preaching during the raucous protest outside the deli, calling out many of the protesters for their “wicked agenda.” With his at times confrontational style, he talked about how his brother once identified as gay but “Jesus fixed him, straightened him

He also spoke out against the Black Lives Matter campaign’s affiliations with Planned Parenthood, the LGBT movement, and calls to defund the police.

Ultimately, the social pressure proved to be too much: the constant protests, the endless stream of social media posts slandering the restaurant, and the cancelled partnerships with big-name brands resulted in Nini’s Deli having to permanently closed its doors after a decade of business.

The pain of what they’ve lost remains fresh. Through tears, Riesco said he and his family “poured our hearts into loving our community, despite gender, despite sex, despite whatever you want to identify as.”

Nevertheless, even though the family company is gone, the Riesco brothers — both of whom became Christians at the deli — said they are “blessed.”

“I was just sharing with our team yesterday that my circumstances have changed, but my identity in whom I trust hasn’t,” Riesco said, adding he is still in “a position of gratitude toward our God.”

Moving forward, Juan and Jose Riesco plan to dedicate themselves to ministry.

LAST DAYS CHURCH MOVEMENTS

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Listen to this important, if not way out, story from Kris Vallotton of Bethel Church, Redding, California on how God spoke to Bethel church through His creation.

Image result for picture of a road runner with a lizard in its mouth
Roadrunner with lizard in its mouth

“Here’s a wild story for you… One year, every time we would meet at Bethel Church to pray, a roadrunner would show up outside the glass door with a lizard in its mouth! This went on for months until we realised that the Lord was calling us to go out to the roads, the highways, and the byways and compel the lost to come in! One day the roadrunner managed to find his way inside the church. In a desperate attempt to get out of the building, he hit a window and died. The Lord showed us through this event that if we did not reach out to the lost, to “go outside of our fall walls” so to speak, that our church and movement would die.“

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.“ Revelation 3:14-19

WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE HERE FOR?

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Dave Benson gave this presentation “What on Earth are we here for?” at Movement Day in Sydney, a gathering of Christian leaders interested in impacting their community for Jesus Christ. Most people there recognised that institutional church for the most part is not equipping the saints to do the work Jesus commanded us all to do.

You will need 16 minutes to view the video and I would encourage you to share it with other church leaders. Time is short let’s make sure we are in the centre of God’s will for our lives. Start living eternal now.

ARE YOU IN A CHURCH LIKE THIS? IF NOT FIND ONE.

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I have across another great sermon from Francis Chan. He starts in Revelation and its importance for these “last days” including sound teaching on the “Mark of the Beast of Revelation 13:16-18, but he concludes with information on how they are doing church. It lines up with the church we read about in the Book of Acts: small groups that require all participants to use their Holy Spirit given gifts, no buildings, no paid pastors and those small groups giving rise to more small groups – disciples making disciples. The centrality and inerrancy of Scripture is KEY.

“THERE WILL BE FAMINES, PESTILENCES, AND EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES”

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Jesus answer to his disciples question, as to what would be the signs of his Second Coming to earth, included the quote above in Matthew 24:7.

Below, I have listed just a few of the current so called natural disasters that are swamping this planet like never before in their frequency and intensity. They will bring either worship and awe, or fear and dread.

“Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.” Psalm 34:9

Church are you prepared for His Second Coming, are you listening to God, what is He calling you to do now? One thing is for certain, He is calling us to fulfil the great commission, to make disciples.

Drought in Argentina and Uruguay, most expensive weather disaster of 2018

Drought in Argentina and Uruguay, the most expensive weather disaster of 2018 After a severe lack of rainfall during the summer of 2017/18, parts of Argentina and Uruguay are now suffering their worst drought in decades and the most expensive weather-related disaster on the planet so far this year. This is also the most expensive disaster in the history of both Argentina and Uruguay.

TIME TO BECOME DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

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Jesus has promised us:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12 

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:15-18

  1. Do you believe it is your Father’s will for you and the people around you to be healed? Seek His will and put your will in His hands. Luke 5:12-1
  2. In the light of John 14:12, do you question the availability of the power of Jesus and that He now commissions us to do likewise?

Need more Scriptures?

“And He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” Luke 9:1-2, 6

Image result for pictures of Torben Sondergaard healing the sick

Next Jesus sent out the seventy-two. “Go! I am sending you… Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Luke 10:3, 9

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.” Matthew 9:20-22. 

“But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him,” ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” …most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” Mark 9:22-24,26-27. 

Be blessed as you look to Jesus the Son of God –

  • Pray by faith for God’s healing power for you and those around you.
  • Discern God’s will and pray according to His will.
  • Pray for those the Spirit leads you to – those who need healing as a demonstration of God’s personal love for them – so they know the kingdom of heaven is real and near.

In these last days only disciples of Christ will bring His Kingdom to impact this increasingly dark world. Find a church that is raising up disciples who will then make more disciples.

THE REMNANT CHURCH IN THE LAST DAYS

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There is always a true remnant left during times of apostasy and persecution.  It is the surviving vestige of the body of Christ that remains true to biblical principles in spite of cultural opposition. Elijah the prophet found out that God always preserved a remnant, by His grace, that held true to the faith.  1 Kings 19:18 “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” and Romans 11:5 “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Characteristics of the “remnant church”:

1. More entrenched in the word of God as the world opposes them.

The more resistance they face, the remnant church will become more resolute in their faith. Instead of compromising the message of the Word, they may change their method of presenting the gospel but will never consider watering down biblical ethics, values and the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.

2. Vilified in society.

The remnant church was merely unpopular but has now reached the point of being hated. It is very apparent that Christian values are constantly mocked, such as by shows like The View, The Late Show With Steven Colbert, Real Time With Bill Maher and the like.

3. Preach counter-cultural biblical messages.

Remnant pastors will continue to preach the gospel of Christ, which always has vast implications related to human sexuality, the sanctity of human life, the definition of marriage and family and such, albeit they apply the gospel to cultural issues in a wiser, more winsome way. The remnant church will remain faithful in preaching the gospel in spite of the backlash they will receive from church attendees and the public.

4. Produce committed Christians and make disciples.

Liberal, progressive, compromising churches are shrinking, while conservative evangelical churches are still growing in numbers but the big growth is happening in “house churches” that are committed to growing disciples. It takes great sacrifice to believe in Jesus in the midst of hostile environments (consider the Christians still living under persecution in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Northern Nigeria, Sudan and similar regions.) Compromising churches produce wimpy believers and the remnant church produces committed disciples.

5. Experience the presence and power of God.

The first century church was a hated minority, yet great power and the presence of God accompanied its ministry! (Acts 3-5.) The more difficult it is to confess the truth of the gospel, the more God shows off His glory! Where sin abounds, grace does more abound (Rom. 5:20).

 

6. Excluded from mainstream secular evangelical churches and denominations.

Presently, it is still not as easy for the average person to discern between remnant and compromising churches. As the heat gets turned up more and more, compromising pastors and churches will choose to accommodate culture and compromise Scripture, thus making a clearer distinction between the remnant and mainstream church.

7. The remnant church will impact the world for Jesus Christ.

God allows difficult circumstances to weed out the un-committed followers from the committed followers (Gideon’s army of 300 in Judges 7.)

As it was during the days of Elijah, the early church period, and the time of the confessing remnant church in Nazi Germany, only the remnant has what it takes to bring about change! Only the remnant church has the conviction, the sacrifice, the devotion, the endurance, the message and the power to change the world. The compromising church will enjoy their temporary popularity in the present time, but those who are wise and turn many people unto righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:3).

8. The remnant church will endure, whilst the compromising church will experience the wrath of God.

In Malachi 3:16-18 God promises that He has written a book of remembrance for those who speak of Him and fear His Name. The reward for them (the remnant) is that He will spare them as a man spares his son. The implications of this are vast. Whilst the children of the compromising church will probably become agnostic, the children of the remnant will carry the torch of Christ to the next generation, which will increase in strength and do greater works (John 14:12). The remnant church goes from strength to strength and faith to faith (Rom. 1:17). Meanwhile, the compromising church goes from strength to weakness and from faith to apostasy and eventually into oblivion.

I pray God will help us remain faithful to the end and participate in the remnant church!

adapted from article by Joseph Mattera in Ministry To-day – Characteristics of the Modern-Day remnant Church.