YOUR “TO DO” LIST

If you’re someone who likes to get things done, you may be a “task-oriented” person.  While completing tasks is essential it can fuel an underlying belief that God’s approval is related to our accomplishments.  And that’s another way of saying we believe God’s love is conditional and He accepts us based on our performance.  How do we adjust our belief to the truth about God’s unconditional love for us?  When we simply take the time to be alone with God, without tasks or an agenda (such as research, lesson preparation, or Scripture memory), we affirm our faith in God’s unconditional love.  You need to ask yourself, “Does God really love me when I’m not doing something for Him?”  The only way to find out and to really know His deep unconditional love for you is to stop doing for Him for a while.  Take some time to just be with God and know Him.  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10).

TO BE

Whether you know it or not “Someone”, i.e. God, thought you up, and there is a reason why you are alive in the universe.

That’s so important that the Bible has a word for it: “Calling.” A calling is not something that is reserved for special people like a Mother Teresa or a Billy Graham. You have a calling.  You have a life purpose.

The first part of your life purpose has to do with who you are.  Before God calls you to do, He “calls you to become”.  You are “called to become somebody”.  God’s calling doesn’t start with a task to accomplish; it starts with a person God wants you and me to be—a Jesus kind of person. Your calling is to be joyful and loving and honest, to put aside sin, and to grow in the character that God is forming in you.  And He wants you to do that in a way that reflects the absolute uniqueness of you.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth:  To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy (1 Cor. 1:2).  Then he writes to the church in Rome:  To all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his holy people (Rom. 1:7 NCV).   Notice they are not called to do anything, but to be something.

To the church in Thessalonica he wrote:  For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (1 Thes. 4:7).  And then to the church at Galatia he wrote:  For you have been called to live in freedom (Gal. 5:13 NLT).  That’s good news!  Your calling starts with the person God had in mind when He thought you up.

·         You cannot succeed in what you do if you fail in who you are.

So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.  Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy (Eph. 4:22-24 GNT).

BELIEVING THROUGH EVERYDAY

You connect with God by faith.  It’s a matter of belief.  Jesus said, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent” (John 6:29 GNB).  You believe Jesus for eternal life, trusting that what He did for you on the cross was sufficient to forgive you of all your sins.  Your “new life” in Christ begins with faith.  And you are “sealed”, “guaranteed” eternity in Heaven by His Holy Spirit Who immediately comes to live within you the moment you place your belief in Jesus.

You may mostly think about believing in Jesus for “eternal life in Heaven.”  But believing in Jesus also includes believing in Him for your “everyday life on earth.”  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). 

It’s all about believing in Jesus.  It’s a about faith in God.  God wants us to connect with Him by faith because He knows that’s the only way we’re going to discover real and lasting life, and it’s the only way we’re going to live life to the fullest.

Believing in Jesus for your “everyday life” is the only way you’re going to find “The Way” to go through the ups and downs of your life.  It’s the only way you’re going to know “The Truth” when you’re hit with all kinds of distractions and temptations and "expert" opinions.  And it’s the only way you’re going to live “The Life” that is meaningful, whole, and rewarding. 

Think with me for a moment about what it means to believe in Jesus for our everyday living.

To believe in Jesus is to invest in Him, and in what He teaches and promises. To believe in Jesus is to place your trust in Him, in what He has said and done, and in what He says He will do in the future. 

To believe in Jesus is to believe He is enough.  Who He is and what He has done and what He will do encompasses everything of you.  To believe in Him is to immerse yourself in Him, in His presence, in His commandments, in His interests, and in His way of living.

To believe in Jesus is to believe in His authority.  Following His resurrection from the dead He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mat. 28:18).  To believe in Him is to believe in His authority over everything.  Believe in His authority over your past, your present, your future, your whole life.  You can trust Him with your future because of what He’s done in the past, namely, His death on the cross for you because He loves you so much.

To believe in Jesus is to believe He cares for you.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).  Believe in Him by resting in His care.  Count the many ways He cares for you.  Pause and think on His love for you.  Believe in Him through everyday of your life.