November 16, 2019 TO THIS END
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 “To this end also we pray for you always that our God may account you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power; in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
If you are a believer, do you know that you are called by God? We are called from a life lived apart from God, a life of darkness, and a life lived according to our own ways and the ways of the world. We are called to live as new creations by the power and presence of Christ in us. Being called of God, we have a higher purpose in life; we are now His ambassadors; we can now reflect His glory in all we do; the old things have gone, new things have come. There is nothing greater than that of knowing God has called us; His calling us has huge implications and possibilities. Because being called by God is the highest calling we could ever receive, it should be our deepest desire to live in a way that is worthy of our calling. His calling is to be expressed and worked out in the ‘nitty-gritty’ of life-in the things we do every day. Philippians 1:27 tells us to conduct ourselves “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,” The things we do, the meditations of our hearts, and the things we think about should all be under the banner of His calling. Part of His calling is that we are to be about good works, as seen in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Because He is good, we are to be about goodness-not to earn His approval, but because that is who we are in Him. Because we come to know God through faith, we are to be a people who live day-by-day with faith in God; and faith that He is working out His purposes in us and in those around us. His calling includes us being adopted in to His family; we now live in this fallen world as sons and daughters of God with a new identity, a new purpose, and a new power to walk worthy of Him who called us. He did not call us and then say “Do your best to walk in My ways-good luck.” His calling includes equipping us, and He equips us by giving us His Holy Spirt who enables us to walk in His ways. Let us realize that we have the opportunity to walk worthy of our Father in all we do. Life does not have to be mundane; life is filled with opportunities to reflect the work of God in us.
Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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