Sold Out For Purpose
This week I would like to share a glimpse of a devotion written by a very dear person to me. Today’s blog post is a study on understanding the realities of what it means to live for Christ and how best to live out your godly given purpose effectively and truthfully.
Living for God-A Devotion by Harmony Malope
When God has called you and you respond accordingly, everything changes. We may have had an idea of who God is through the religious lens we grow up with, but when He calls you and you respond, you start to see Him experientially. Your desires change, the things that used to interest or appeal to you change. The things that used to matter don’t matter anymore- everything is different! Its different not because you are told or conditioned to be different but rather because the Holy Spirit that dwells in you, compels you to be different.
1 Peter 4: 1-19 tells us how this transformation will impact your perception or interaction with the world, and guides us in the understanding of our place as experiential Christians in a secular world.
Verse 1: Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
The conflict that we experience between our flesh and our spirit is real, more real in our new journey with Christ than it has ever been. It will be a difficult transition, Peter refers to it as suffering, because every day our flesh will call for us to choose it over the spirit. Just like Jesus we must suffer for our new identity in Christ.
Verse 2: That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
When we say yes to Christ, it is by default a no to anything else that contradicts Him. Our desires are no longer selfish, evil desires of the flesh but rather what the Spirit encourages us to do. What is important to remember is that people will not respond positively to you once you say yes to Christ. Humans are conditioned to be attracted to sin and be repelled by righteousness. So, when we start to act righteously it wont always be accepted by people.
Verse 7-11: But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We don’t know the hour or the time that Christ will return so we must always be ready. We must ensure that our intentions and actions are aligned with the purposes and will of God. We should ensure that we prioritize God’s mandate and not our own selfish ambitions. Most importantly remember His most valuable commandment “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” John 13:34
Verse 12- 19: Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
We must always be prepared to face persecution as followers of Christ. We need to understand that resistance and persecution will be what we face because of our desire to please God and not the world. Always be reminded that Christ did not come to be liked or validated. He came to carry out the purposes of His Father. He came to carry out His Kingdom mandate
It won’t always be easy but let us rest assured that if we follow in His footprints, the trouble we will undoubtedly face, will be worth it in eternity.
‘But take heart, I have overcome the world’.
