Thoughts

Articles on this page:
Can the Church Contain God?
Intentional Investments
Faith and Truth
An Accommodating God????
The truth about ?Who You Are?
A Look at Jesus
A Personal Testimony
TRANSFORMATION
Scripture Message
The Fight
HE'S ALIVE
Are We Ready
God's Will
The Potential Bride
Marketplace Transformation
Just a Thought

Can the Church Contain God?

Does God live in the sanctuary? Does his Presence hover over the altar, as it did over the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, in Moses Tabernacle? Where can we find God?
Does He not live in his people? Are we not his vessels? Therefore when we go to work, don’t we bring his Presence with us? Didn’t Paul preach, “Christ in you, the Hope of glory?” Didn’t he also say, greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world? We’re called to be the “salt of the earth,” because the earth no longer tastes good. We’re called to be the light of the world, because in the world there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Your witness has greater impact than you realize. God wants to impact your work station. Pray that He will use you in a mighty way. Pray with me: “Father, open my eyes so I may see the opportunities around me. Give me wisdom and words to reveal Your Presence.” In Jesus Name, Amen.
Pastor Bjorn Lervik

Back to top

Intentional Investments

I sense this is the time when we, the church, need to be intentionally and wisely investing our time, talents and resources into His Kingdom work. As Paul explained, let us set our eyes upon God’s goal and run with perseverance the race set before us. Dare to put all you are and have into the hands of God who is able to do far greater things than one can imagine. Offer to give Him your “fish” and “bread” and watch Him transform them into a banquet for His Kingdom on earth.
The heart of Command Two is to reclaim for Christ through prayer evangelism all that was lost including people, cities and institutions. Jesus' work is finished, as He has reconciled all things (Col. 1:20) to Himself. We believe in God's desire to work through prayer so that every student, school, business, marriage, child, mother, father, brother, sister can be reclaimed. Let us deliberately invest ourselves and agree with God so that we can reclaim what He has redeemed. We need to be people who will use our energies to become reflections of Jesus in all that we do. Pray that we come together in one accord as we dare to believe God for transformation!
Mary Kelly
Back to top

Faith and Truth

I am sensing a real heavy spiritual attack. Please pray for people to hold on to their faith. Pray for all deceptions to be broken off and pray that we will hold on to truth. Let faith arise!!!! Believers need to examine what they believe and by faith seal it in their hearts and minds.
Faith in Jesus - He is not a rock, nor a wonderful set of rules, nor just a special man - Who was Jesus? Think. We need to know what we believe.
He fulfilled every prophetic word spoken concerning the messiah. He lived, he died, and he rose again. Over five hundred witnesses saw him after he had come back to life. By faith we believe. He either is the savior of man kind or he isn't. As for me, I choose by faith to believe that Jesus is the savior sent by God. Why, because sin is a real issue, and if there are consequences for sin - then we need a Savior. By Faith I believe he still lives and reigns and that He is coming back for us.
Faith in the Word - It is accurate. It has never been proved wrong. Archeologists are discovering that places which were recorded in scripture are actual places. The book of Daniel, which was once believed to be a history book because of its accuracy, was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The dating of these scrolls proved that the book of Daniel was written before the events took place and was thus a prophetic book. We can conclude along with many other facts that scripture must be trustworthy. In faith we believe it. In faith we stand upon the truths that are contained within its pages.

Satan wants to take us away from a foundational truth that God is an all-loving, all-trustworthy, and an all faithful God, who wants a real relationship with his creation. Our busyness, our desire to do more and more is like fuel that drives us and when ignited, burns us up.
Truth -
Jesus says - His yoke is easy.
Scripture says - God is able.
Pray that we hold on to truth and pray that every deception and every world view that is in us, will be broken off so that God's truth will stand. What we feel is real to us, but it may not be truth.
In this time, we need to trust God's truth not our feelings or emotions. We need to stand on truth. May we all take a long look at ourselves and examine the heaviness that is in our lives. May God deliver us from evil. The word says in John 8:31-32 "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." Truth does not set us free, it is the understanding or the knowing of truth that sets us free.
We need to stop, sit down, and know the truth.
God Bless Us All as we pray,
Back to top

An Accommodating God????

1 Samuel 8:18-22
?

18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
?19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
?21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

As we journey through the bible together we come upon a Godly man by the name of Samuel, which is found obviously, in 1 Samuel. All throughout the scriptures God shows what what can happen when just ONE godly man or women can have on a society. That is the case with Samuel. But what happens when the people do not want anything to do with God? Does He force His blessings on His loved ones? Unfortunately that's not how it works. Throughout my short walk with the Lord?I have found that I can not?ask God to bless me without first blessing Him. Look at this story in 1 Samuel. Here are? God's chosen people wanting to be just like everyone else.?All the other countries have a king why can't we? God Himself was reigning and behaving like a king for the Israelites, yet they wanted to be like someone else. Yet all the other countries did not have God. They did not have the favor of God. How are we like the Israelites during Samuel's time? Do you long to be just?like everyone else? Or do you want to be blessed by God? God is an accommodating God. Just like the people in 1 Samuel the people asked for a king, Samuel told them how badly the king would treat them, YET they still wanted a king! So God gave them a king, and guess how it all worked out for them? I'll let you read the rest of the story to figure that one out. But it's not good. And it's definitely not WHAT GOD WANTED! God wants to bless you. Do you want it? Are you willing to be different than the other "nations" around you? If so Thank God because God will accommodate your desire to be close to Him. Be blessed today. Be different!?

Back to top

The truth about ?Who You Are?

You are beautifully and wonderfully made. You are God?s finest masterpiece. You are unconditionally loved and blessed of God. He has your name engraved upon His hands and your name written upon His heart. He will never leave you nor forsake you and nothing will ever separate you from His love, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the past, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all of creation.
You are forgiven, healed and redeemed and have been crowned with His loving kindness and His tender mercies. You have a purpose, which He planned before the creation of time for you to do. You are free to do good and not evil.
He has filled with His Holy Spirit and you have been sealed for the day of your redemption. God created you in His own image to reflect Jesus. Because you have received Him, you have been given the right to be called son and daughter of God. You are precious in His sight and you are His.

Back to top

A Look at Jesus

This morning I was thinking about Jesus. I was reading Luke 8 and the story about Jesus and the storm. The disciples were actually fearing for their lives - that is why they awaken Jesus. Jesus asked them where their faith was.

If he is with us, then what storm came prevail against us? Can God be destroyed in a storm? If we are with him then aren't we safe? Look at Jesus:
Jesus came to this earth. He was real.
He came telling of a kingdom
He came teaching and speaking the very words of God.
He came and was a storyteller and a interpreter of stories
He came casting out demons
He came to heal
He came to forgive sins
He had a purpose.
He had a mission
He came to tell of Good News.
There is a kingdom where there is hope - Where you can be free from the things of this world.
He came as a willing sacrifice for all, and for all who believe; to them he gives eternal life with him in his kingdom.
How then Lord, do we live in the world but not be of it, I ask. - Take every thought captive.

Today I pray that I will float in the understanding that I am with the only one who can rebuke the storms. Who can stand against our God? Who could defeat the Alpha and the Omega? The mighty God we serve is for us and he is on our side.

Back to top

A Personal Testimony

This is our testimomy of how God touched my husband. Our Lord is ALIVE and is performing miracles today - For His Glory.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that prayer does not work. God is faithful to hear and to answer prayer. I want to share this with you our recent hand-print of God. May our Lord's tender mercies grace your lives.

Dick went into the hospital Monday March 28th. He has Congestive Heart Failure and was strongly advised to have a ICD (a pacemaker and defibrillator combo) put into his chest with connections into his heart. This devise would help to prevent sudden death and hopefully give strengthen his heart muscle.
He was taken to surgery around 1:00 PM that Monday and around 5:00 PM the doctor came out and told us that he had only been 2/3 successful. When the doctor had attempted to thread the third lead into Dick's vessel, he was unable to get through. The vessel was too frail and too narrow for passage. The vessel actually tore during the procedure, so Dr. Mohama stopped the surgery and closed him up. What to do next? We as a family had a decision to make. None of the options sounded good.
Needless to say, we had not wanted nor had prayed for this outcome. God was still in control, doing a greater work than we could have imagined. We prayed God would show us what to do. Dr. Jim Reynolds is a personal friend and is one of the finest heart surgeons in the US. Susan my friend and pastor advise me to call him. Monday evening I call him and he advised us to go into Dick's chest through the ribs and attach the third lead. Without this connection, sudden death was still very threatening. God is so faithful, if we pray and ask him, he will answer us. Our answer came to us by Dr. Reynolds when he advised us to do the surgery and said he would do it. My heart was immediately at peace. It was the right thing to do. He had told me that this was however one of the most painful surgeries there is, so we knew ahead of time that Dick had quite an ordeal still ahead of him.
Monday night Dick was in pain from the first surgery, but with medication was able to sleep. Around noon on Tuesday Dr. Reynolds walked into the room and told us that Dick would be going in at 1:00 PM. Just 24 hours after the first. Before taking him down, Mike, our oldest son, Dr. Reynolds, Dick and I all prayed together. The surgical team came and wheeled him away with a family tagging after. As we were giving our last kisses and goodbyes, the anesthesiologist asked us all to take hands and led the entire family in prayer.
Once again we found ourselves in the waiting room. Three hours later we were entering Dick's room where we found a very sick man. Everything had gone well and everything was attached and working, however he was waking up with every bit as much pain as we had been told. Horrible pain, so much so, that he could not lay down because the pressure of breathing was too heavy. All he wanted me to do was to pray. You know how sometimes you don't know how to pray so you just let the spirit pray through your heart. I found myself Tuesday night holding his head upon my chest while rubbing his back praying. The only position that was tolerable was sitting up. It was no more than one hour after that prayer that his nurse detected some strange noise in his chest and had talked to the doctor and had adjusted his meds. The pain became tolerable. Wednesday morning around 8:00 AM, thinking that healing had already come, I went home to shower and take a brief nap. Returning around 11:00 AM, I found that the pain had come back with a vengeance and Dick was in horrible pain once again. Wednesday was very long and very hard. He had not been able to lie down in bed. The chair had to be replaced with a recliner. We got him repositioned, but there was still little comfort. I laid in the bed right by his side trying to comfort him. At 2:00 AM I awoke the same instant Dick sat up in his chair proclaiming that his pain was gone. God's hand had touched Dick. I sensed the Lord saying "The tide has turned." I watched him get into bed, lay down and fall fast asleep. Dick was delivered from pain then and remains still to this day pain free. Thursday morning all his bodily functions began working. The hospital staff was able to get him up, walk him around, disconnect all the tubes and iv's. Instead of leaving Saturday or later, he was released Thursday afternoon and home for dinner. He remains weak and tired, but everyday he grows stronger.
God has been so close and so faithful. I have shared only some of the miracles that happened. How can I ever stop telling of the goodness of my God. He hears the prayers of the saints. He does not with hold his goodness from those he loves, His loving kindness and tender mercies do not cease because He is faithful. I am thankful that the outcome was good. I thank Him for giving Dick a testimony that defies human understanding. Only God can do such a thing. Only God.
Back to top

TRANSFORMATION

Transformation means to transform, to change. Believers are called to a higher standard. We are to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. What does that look like? Well, businesses would be thriving with fresh ideas and innovative thinking. Workers would be working harmoniously together and businesses would desire to generously give to the community and to the poor. Doing ones best every day would be the norm. People could meet for coffee to help one another and pray for each other. There would be no more destroying of one another to climb the imperial ladder of success. Success would be defined by how you have done your work in the eyes of God, rather than how much money you earned. Our community?s workers would not be lacking, stressed, underpaid or overworked. In a transformed community, the entire community is working together for good, love abounds, and mutual respect is exercised.
Will we ever see it; I dare to hope we can. Will it be universal in every city ? someday in God?s final plan. But I hope to believe that until that day, the church in every city can set our goals high and aim toward that higher standard. God is able to do anything through submitted and willing people.

It is our hopes that when we seek transformation for our communities,
God will:
** bring people together who will move into their neighborhoods and workplaces implementing and building relationships.
**put it in our hearts to increase prayer in their neighborhoods, schools, congregations and workplaces.
** show us that our communities are modern day mission fields where we have been called us to serve.
** marry our Christian?s walk with our daily life.
** teach us how to bring His light into an environment that is mostly hostile.
** teach us about the power of prayer

We hope that God?s people will see who they are in Christ and pray for God?s presence to come and transform our communities.
Back to top

Scripture Message

Today I was reading from The Living Bible Romans 2. I want to share this with you.
Romans Chapter 2
1?"Well," you may be saying, "what terrible people you have been talking about!" But wait a minute! You are just as bad. When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are talking about yourselves, for you do these very same things. 2?And we know that God, in justice, will punish anyone who does such things as these. 3?Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and overlook you when you do them, too? 4?Don't you realize how patient he is being with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.?
?????5?But no, you won't listen; and so you are saving up terrible punishment for yourselves because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin; for there is going to come a day of wrath when God will be the just Judge of all the world. 6?He will give each one whatever his deeds deserve. 7?He will give eternal life to those who patiently do the will of God, seeking for the unseen glory and honor and eternal life that he offers. 8?But he will terribly punish those who fight against the truth of God and walk in evil ways--God's anger will be poured out upon them. 9?There will be sorrow and suffering for Jews and Gentiles alike who keep on sinning. 10?But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who obey him, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 11?For God treats everyone the same. 12-15?He will punish sin wherever it is found. He will punish the heathen when they sin, even though they never had God's written laws, for down in their hearts they know right from wrong. God's laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or sometimes excuses them. And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have his written laws but don't obey them. They know what is right but don't do it. After all, salvation is not given to those who know what to do, unless they do it. 16?The day will surely come when at God's command Jesus Christ will judge the secret lives of everyone, their inmost thoughts and motives; this is all part of God's great plan, which I proclaim.?
?????17?You Jews think all is well between yourselves and God because he gave his laws to you; you brag that you are his special friends. 18?Yes, you know what he wants; you know right from wrong and favor the right because you have been taught his laws from earliest youth. 19?You are so sure of the way to God that you could point it out to a blind man. You think of yourselves as beacon lights, directing men who are lost in darkness to God. 20?You think that you can guide the simple and teach even children the affairs of God, for you really know his laws, which are full of all knowledge and truth.?
?????21?Yes, you teach others--then why don't you teach yourselves? You tell others not to steal--do you steal? 22?You say it is wrong to commit adultery--do you do it? You say "Don't pray to idols" and then make money your god instead.?
?????23?You are so proud of knowing God's laws, but you dishonor him by breaking them. 24?No wonder the Scriptures say that the world speaks evil of God because of you.?
?????25?Being a Jew is worth something if you obey God's laws; but if you don't, then you are no better off than the heathen. 26?And if the heathen obey God's laws, won't God give them all the rights and honors he planned to give the Jews? 27?In fact, those heathen will be much better off than you Jews who know so much about God and have his promises but don't obey his laws.?
?????28?For you are not real Jews just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision. 29?No, a real Jew is anyone whose heart is right with God. For God is not looking for those who cut their bodies in actual body circumcision, but he is looking for those with changed hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God, even if not from you.

Romans 2:1-29 (TLB)
Back to top

The Fight

Lord give us a kingdom mentality. Like soldiers fighting, we are fighting everyday against forces that are unseen. Those forces that come against God and His purposes. Like in Iraq there are many who are killed and wounded. Spiritual soldiers are the same - Lord heal us from our wounds and let us live to fight another day. Help us to move toward that finish line and see the glory of God to see Victory. Protect those on the front lines and let them understand that they are more than conquerors.
Some may say, ?Lord I don?t have time.? Some may say, ?oh Lord I can?t be affective,? and some may say, ?I may get hurt or killed.? Help us to see the troops in Iraq. Help us to see kingdom fighting as we look upon them. Do they say, General, I don?t really have time to fight today? Or do they say, ?General I can?t be affective?? Or do they say ?General if I go out there, I might get hurt or killed?? Praise God that He has raised up an army of committed men and women in the physical that have moved beyond the excuses and who are defending freedom. Help them God and protect them.
Give the spiritual army those same strengths. When busyness, false humility, or fear engages us, give us eyes to see and recognize it. Help us to fight excuses and to stand strong. To be the army of God advancing forward through the obstacles and through the futile attempts of Satan to exalt his evil. Instead of saying ?I can?t,? help us say, ?I can do all things through Christ who will strengthen me.? Lord, Let your kingdom Come, Let your will be done. Let us see on earth the glory of your son. Let your Kingdom Come
Child of God, you signed up for the army, you said ?here I am Lord, use me.? Stand and fight. Enter into that kingdom mentality that will open your eyes to see what God is doing. Do you see the legions of angels? Do you see the hand of God? Do you see victory? Do you know that God has everything under His control? Do you understand that you are submitting to God when you pray? You are humbling yourselves and doing what God is wanting you to do. The work is hard and may carry physical dangers, but the benefits of laboring with Christ are eternal and cannot be measured.

Back to top

HE'S ALIVE

My dear friends,
?
I can't imagine what it would have been like for the first disciples to have heard those words:? "He's alive!"
?
Their closest friend, their deliverer, their healer, their king...three days earlier hanging dead,?forsaken,?on a lonely cross...their hopes and dreams hanging with him.??
?
Fear.?Confusion.?Despair.? It couldn't have been worse.
?
But now those glorious words?that broke?across the landscape like the first rays of dawn, "He has risen!"?
?
EVERYTHING had changed.? There was now nothing that could keep back God's promises from being fulfilled...nothing that could keep His kingdom from coming!? Nothing that could seperate us from His forgiveness and love!?
?
He had defeated every downward pull...even death itself!
?
I pray today that this fact...in the midst of all the trouble and hardship in the world today...will break open afresh in each of our hearts--giving new heaven-sent hope and power to go forward to each one of us who believe those words:? "He's alive!"
?
With much love in Him,
Paul L.
Kyiv, UA

Back to top

Are We Ready

People are hurting all around us. Although some may go to a church or talk to a pastor, the vast majority will not. They are more apt to turn to a neighbor, a friend, or a coworker.
This really is a time for we who are Christians to be sensitive to the lost around us. I encourage you to encourage others to love their neighbors and co-workers, to pray and to be ready.

Galatians 5:14 "For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, You
Shall Love Your neighbor As Yourself"
Are you prepared to answer questions? Are we as the body of Christ in position?
Are we ready?

Back to top

God's Will

I was reading in Hebrews yesterday and this section (Heb 6:17-20) really spoke to me. God unchangeableness!!!! His purpose will happen. His will will be done. He is raising up a remnant people who are passionate to pray His perfect will in. I hold on to that. We are all really being hit. I expect that anyone of passion who is not being hit now is going to be shortly, but the attacks are upon us all. I rest inside the veil with Jesus. Holding on to the hope that His word is true. That His will will be done. I just close my eyes so I can see clearly what is actually true instead of looking at what is not real at all. Satan is so deceptive. The deeper I go with the Lord, the more evil I see satan to be.
Back to top

The Potential Bride

I often find that God speaks to me through the ordinary things that happen I experience in life. My oldest son is a wonderful young man, who works so hard and gives his best in everything he does. Everyone loves Rob and there isn?t anything he wouldn?t do for anybody. He shows genuine love, goodness, kindness, and mercy to people all the time. That is who he is. There has been a young lady that he has cared about for years and at thanksgiving time she showed signs of sharing her attracted ness to him. He wooed her with flowers, candle light dinners, and notes when they first went together and now with a renewed chance, great expectations along with joy were arising.
He is coming home for Christmas and flew into Minneapolis to see her before coming home to South Dakota. Last night I called his brother Richard who lives in Minneapolis to inquire when they were coming home and discovered that the young lady had not seen Rob. He had called and tried several times to see her or talk to her, but with not success. She absolutely was avoiding him.
As I listened to Richard, over the phone, telling me this, I found myself say ?SHE DOESN?T DESERVE MY SON? When those words rang out of my mouth and reached my ears, I in part felt God?s longing desire for mankind to know and love His son Jesus. He knows how wonderful Jesus is and He knows what a wonderful groom Jesus will be. He knows in full what this future bride would enjoy. He knows everything the groom has prepared for her and the immeasurable love the groom has to give her. What would the groom not give to His beautiful bride? What a wonderful son he is. How excellent he is in everything he does. How generally He cares and freely gives.
If only the bride could see Him as the father does. If only she would stop avoiding him and love him and experience love so deep, so long, so high, so wide. If only she would answer the phone, or open the door. The groom stands knocking and she is not answering the door. She avoids him. And at what point does the Father say ?SHE DOESN?T DESERVE MY SON.?

There is a world that doesn?t deserve Jesus. They are blind to how wonderful He is. But God gave us His beautiful son, not because we deserved Him but because of His incredible love for us. That none of us shall perish.
Is there ever a time, when God says enough? For those who are perishing, time is short. Let us live in such a way that the lost will see JESUS in us.
It is my prayer that this Christmas, there will be people who will accept Jesus as their Savior. They will stop avoiding Him, and answer the door.

Back to top

Marketplace Transformation

This was part of an article writen by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders/Int. Coalition of Wkplc Ministries. His ministry's mission is to help men and women see their work as a calling and ministry. Their goal is to encourage believers to move from a place of barely surviving on the job to transforming their workplace through an intimate walk with Jesus. Workplace is not just businesses, but constrution sites, hospitals, schools, homes etc.

We have their permission to pass this on to the Command Two reader.
To log in to Marketplace Leaders Web site, go to www.marketplaceleaders.org
They do offer a free tgif subscription

Article: MARKETPLACE TRANSFORMATION

"I believe one of the next great moves of God is going to be through the believers in the workplace". Dr. Billy Graham

"God is marshalling his people in the workplace as never before in
history. God is up to something." Dr. Henry Blackaby

The above quotes from Dr. Billy Graham and Dr. Henry Blackaby say it
best. There is a move of God officially taking place in the workplace
today! There is excitement in the air. God is moving among believers
who have never considered the workplace as a place of ministry. As
Fortune magazine puts it, ". Now they are getting organized and going
public to agitate for change."

A Movement about Transformation

What is this faith and work movement about? It's about changing the
20/80 rule in the body of Christ - to 80% of the people doing the work
of ministry. It's about reaching Christians in the "9 to 5 window" who
have been sitting on the sidelines and believe they are less than
equal to those in vocational ministry. It's about the transformation
of lives, workplaces, cities and nations!

Dr. Peter Wagner, church growth expert and observer of trends in the
body of Christ, recently said he finally realized why all of our
efforts to transform a city have failed. "We have attempted to
transform our cities for years without success. I now believe the
reason is because pastors and church leaders do not have the authority
to do so. That authority lies within those leaders in the workplace.
When we recognize and affirm the apostles in the marketplace we will
begin to see the transformation of cities."

Marketplace Leaders is Addressing the Greatest Need in the Movement.

Whenever I speak to a group I usually ask, "How many of you have been
intentionally trained by your church to apply Biblical faith where you
work?" In a group of 100 the number of hands that go up are between
five and seven. This confirms Your Work Matters to God author Doug
Sherman's research that revealed that 90-97% of Christians have never
been intentionally trained to apply their faith at work by their
church. The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity found that
47% of people they surveyed felt that sermons are irrelevant to the
world they live in daily. Additionally, surveys revealed that 50% of
Christians are dissatisfied with their work life. In other words, we
are not being equipped to see our work as a calling and a place to
experience the love and power of Jesus Christ.

Back to top

Just a Thought

Dear Readers,

So many times, the Lord will give me something wonderful to meditate upon. Tonight as I was coming home, the thought came to me ?Why did Jesus save me?? As I thought about it, it occurred to me that one of the reasons He saved me was because He wanted me to co-labor with Him. He wants laborers. Then I thought how awesome is it when we actually submit to Him completely and submit to His will so he can accomplish his will on earth through us. How wonderful to think that we can co-labor with the King of Kings. How blessed He must be, when the desire in our hearts are His desires and His purposes. He sees how He created me and He sees what I can accomplish through Christ?s strength when I submit. He sees all of us this way.

But what about people who are so caught up with their own misfortunes and struggles? And what if I am not thinking of his desires but thinking about my own desires. Christ saved them to co-labor with Him too. The misfortunes and struggles are realities that distract us and get us off course. The word says to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus. When irritations and stresses come my way, I need to take them captive, because they are diverting my eyes away from Christ and focusing them on myself. So, what do I do when stress and life?s troubles come my way? Trust Him and let faith arise in His abilities. ?Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.? Philippians 4: 6-7

It sounds so simple. ?Could it be that easy?? If my eyes are on Jesus, and if I trust Him daily and am obeying His commands - ?Can I actually accomplish what God destined for me?? Absolutely. I believe that He desire everyone to achieve certain things on earth. Maybe it is something big, maybe it is something small, maybe it is befriending a neighbor, or running a business, or teaching a class, or preaching a sermon, or helping a friend, or taking care of the elderly, or medically treating a patient, or interceding for a nation. All are important to God. Every job needs to be done. He saved you for a reason. Our lives have purpose. He loves you and wants you in relationship with Him. There is work to be done on planet earth. If not, He wouldn't have asked us to pray for laborers.

There are many people who are lost out there. The word says, ?The fields are white unto harvest.? There are many who are trapped in sin, and Jesus died to set them all free. He wills that none shall perish, and for all to have eternal life.
We can choose to labor with him, or labor for ourselves. To labor with Him brings blessings too numerous to count. Laboring for ourselves brings stress, anxiety, and momentary satisfaction. I would rather co-labor with Christ than to center my focus on myself and all that brings.

So in answer to the question ?Why did Jesus save me,? I might conclude that the main reason He saved me was just because he loves me. But another reason is because He sees beyond all my weaknesses and frailties and sees someone who He has beautifully and wonderfully made who will co-labor with Him on earth to accomplish His will. Isn?t it awesome to realize that we are actually tools in the hands of the master carpenter.

Back to top