PURPOSE and PLEASURE – WHERE IS OUR STRUGGLE  by Tim Spencer ...October 14, 2008

Victor Frankl, survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, had everything and almost everyone taken from him and destroyed.  From his experiences and studies he made every effort to teach others how to find meaning in all forms of existence.  From his book Man’s Search for Meaning he quotes:

“Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain, but rather to see a meaning in his life.  That is why man is even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure, that his suffering has meaning.”

Do you ever find it difficult to motivate yourself, or do what you know you should do, maybe blame others or your circumstances for what you lack, or simply be happy?  Do you see happiness and pleasure become more elusive the more you pursue them?  It seems that in our society we have more “toys” and opportunities for fun than ever before.  So why aren’t we fulfilled?

FREEDOM!!!!! by Dave Stubblefield ...April 1, 2008

Our church has a special ministry named the Freedom Group. This ministry has had an incredible impact on my life.

Sin is powerful and can weaken and destroy us. Sin that involves deceit is especially dangerous because the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. To my shame the ugliest sin came after I became a Christian. I engaged in deliberate sin. The wages of my sin brought me to death and destroyed my marriage. My children lost and I was beyond help. I stood at the gates of hell toeing the line.

In desperation I cried out to God, “Why do I suffer from this?” “God build in me a new heart.” I knew God wanted my heart but I deliberately kept on sinning. I opened myself and my family to the power of evil. The root of my sin was idolatry. God’s punishment for idolatry is death.

The first thing that jumps out from this passage is that Jesus’ brothers want to consult him on how to market himself as a celebrity.  They tell him to go where the people are, show yourself to the world, let them see what’s special about you, dazzle them with your miracles, give the fans what they want.  (Paraphrasing, of course)  It sounds like good advice for anyone seeking followers.  And from their perspective, they may know better.  Verse one says people wanted to kill him.  It also says “after this.”  After what, you might ask?  That’s referring back to John 6.  At the end of that chapter many people turned away from Jesus and stopped following him.  Does any of this sound right?  Aren’t we supposed to get more and more people to follow Jesus?  I think the answer from scripture is “yes,” but not always in the way we think.

Jesus, when confronted with the advice of his brothers, answers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.” 

Why can’t the world hate his brothers?  First things first, they are in the world.  The scripture says that they, at this time, are unbelievers.  Praise God that we see in later parts of the Bible that some,  if not all of his brothers become followers.  But at this time, they are giving him the advice of the world.

I think this is a serious temptation for all of us who are believers.  We want to make Jesus attractive to the world.  We follow Jesus, and we want everyone else to follow him.  We can be tempted to want to be Jesus’ publicist.  We want to apologize for the uncomfortable places he puts people and point out his best features to the world.  But what does Jesus want? 

In Luke 19:10, Jesus states that his purpose is to “seek and save what is lost.”  But part of that plan is testifying that what the world does is evil.   
Like me, before Jesus sought me and save me from my self, I was in the audience for the gospel, and that audience was “lost!”  We aren’t looking for a tune-up we don’t need to hear the right spin to get us to join a church and get on God’s team.  We need saving, not a life coach.

Let’s listen to more of what Jesus tells us on this topic reported in John 3, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Listen to the authority in Jesus’ words “this is the verdict,” you and I hate the light.  We don’t want it shining on the hearts we make for ourselves when we follow our own desires.  We don’t want our deeds exposed.  As I’m writing I can hear a mouse doing his best to make a nest under my kitchen sink.  It’s disgusting hearing him shredding things under there and wriggling in the darkness that is the world under my sink.  When I start to walk toward the cabnet door to throw it open and shed some light on his work, he gets really quiet.  Because when the door opens and the light is shining, there are only two directions: into the light or scurrying back to his dark little hole.  Friends, we’re that mouse.

So what do we do with this?  If you are in God today, we know this to be true, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  God has gotten the credit for saving you.  He has shined his light of truth spoken in love into your lives, the sin in your life has been confronted, you have and continue to repent of your sins and by faith in Jesus have been baptized, trusting in the blood of Jesus to cover over your sin and now you follow him.  Following means for us that we must shine that light into the darkness all around us.  God’s word must be shared with love and conviction with those in your path that are in darkness.  If people are simply acquainted or comfortable with an image of Jesus that isn’t filled with the light of truth, it hasn’t saved them because that’s not the true Jesus who lives.  Further more, that doesn’t give God the glory he deserves.  We must proclaim truth.  This isn’t letting your little light shine.  It’s Jesus shining through you his blinding white-hot light that transforms or sends them scurrying.  We can’t be afraid of what this might mean we must stand for truth with no compromise.  Yes, it convicts me as I write it.  But it’s true, so let’s not waste our time fighting it.

If you aren’t a believer by Jesus’ standard: your real self known, your real deeds uncovered, living in the light and forgiven, not seeing him just as your savior but your Lord, pray you will let God shine his light into your life.  Open up the Bible with someone who is living in the light.  Don’t hide in the dark any longer.  We all were with you in that dark place and only by His powerful grace have we found a life in the light.  Whether you’re in the light or dark, make a decision to follow Jesus’ example today.  Let’s stop marketing and mousing around and let God use us to have an impact that echoes in eternity to his glory.

Though sold into slavery, conditions for Joseph began looking up.  He found Pharaoh's favor and worked inside his home.  But Potiphar, Pharaoh’s wife had other plans – plans of adultery, disloyalty to her husband and revenge on Joseph. Because Joseph fled the sin of adultery, honoring God and remaining loyal to Pharaoh – Potiphar was offended.  She felt ridiculed by Joseph’s rejection of her lustful advances.  As a result, she requested that he be banished to prison.  Again, Joseph was mistreated because someone was offended. 

Perhaps Joseph wondered, “Did God abandon me?” or “Why have I fallen from my seat of honor?”  In prison he began to interpret dreams.  His two cellmates were disturbed by their own dreams, and one was subsequently restored to his position according to Joseph’s interpretation.  Though restored, he failed to remember Joseph. Forgotten, left to die in Pharaoh’s dark dungeon, Joseph must have despaired of life.  Eating the bread and drinking the water of affliction (1 Kings 22:27) - Joseph continued to suffer alone for two more years.

Is God in Control?
Perhaps when Joseph was a young boy he saw his dreams as confirmation of God’s favor. While in prison, the reality of those dreams must have seemed so distant and foolish. However, God was totally in control of it all. It was through all those offenses that God was able to accomplish his overall purpose for Joseph. God used him to save his family and save his nation. 

 In my life, I look at Joseph’s story as an example that NOTHING can change God’s will for our lives...except OUR response to life’s circumstances.  Will I allow the offenses of others to cloud God’s plan for me?  Or will I remain focused on God and trust him no matter what may arise?

When things in life don’t go as I plan, it’s easy for me to blame myself, my family, my co-workers, my boss, other church members, or even God.  I sometimes think “God could have prevented this whole mess”.  However, Joseph’s story reminds me that absolutely no man, child or even the devil can ever get me out of the will of God!  Joseph’s brothers tried to destroy him, but God’s plan still succeeded. Indeed, God was working through the offenses of his brothers the entire time. 

God demonstrated the story of Joseph in my life.  As a single woman my dream is to get married and have a family.  In pursuit of this dream I dated for four and a half years in a relationship that God knew was destined to fail. Certainly the relationship started strong and encouraging, but it began to fall apart. I went through two years of challenges and one year of complete despair. At times I blamed the brother and was offended by him, his family and their traditions.  I was yelled at by his family, ridiculed, taken advantage of, and was misunderstood by my own family as well.   It seemed like the more I tried to love, remain humble and forgive, the more hurt I became.  I began avoiding his family and started fighting back – my sinful nature was slowly taking over.  As the months of our engagement passed, my fiancé's disloyalty hurt and offended me even more deeply.  Toward the end, I wondered why I was going through all of the pain.  I was miserable during a time that should have been joyful– and discouraged because my dream seemed unattainable.

Now, as I look back on that time, I can see God’s hand in it all.  He had a different plan for me.  His plan was for me to return to my home town, and to use me there to support and serve others in the church there.  There, He also introduced me to a faithful brother in the church, to serve beside and draw encouragement from. In recent months, our relationship has become very close and special. Though I was not even looking at the time, God has blessed me with new hope.  God has an amazing way of making our dreams a reality.  It happens as we trust in Him, remain clean, pure of heart – and avoid reacting out of offense, no matter what.
God’s will does not always unfold for us in the exact way we plan or hope, but if we trust in Him, it will lead to great blessings (Gen 28:15).

About the Author

Larnise Johnson is a married professional in the Greater St. Louis Church.  She was baptized into Christ 8 years ago, and currently supports the Single’s ministry as a Family Group Leader.  Larnise is also a small business owner and Management Consultant.