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Living On Purpose

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8.

The late famed Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger once gave advice to his friend Warren Buffett: “Live your life according to how you would like your obituary written, then live backwards.”

How Do You Want To Be Remembered?

I hope one day that it is said of me that I laughed easily and freely loved others as I loved the Lord. It’s never too late to start your own journey of remembrance. Decide how you want to be remembered, then live every day on purpose.

Our Wealthy Father

/ James Penner

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

The question of the day, is it foolish to fear the future when we live in the care of our Heavenly Father? Jesus said many times in scripture ‘do not fear’, so why do we do so? I’ve often asked myself that question. Then I read 2 Corinthians 9:8 and am instantly reminded that my Heavenly Father is wealthy beyond imagination. He alone holds the power of life and death, and owns the cattle on a thousand hills. This same God calls us His children, His beloved – His thoughts toward us are precious.

What Have I To Fear?

As it turns out, absolutely nothing! Now, I’ve not perfectly mastered giving up fear, but let’s just say it’s a work in progress and I get better at it every day. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…and he will make your path straight”. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Something New

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God said, “See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19

Do you find yourself longing for the past, or even a bygone era? C.S. Lewis once said, “One prayer that God almost never grants is “encore”.”

Change Is Inevitable.

Spend anytime reading scripture and one thing becomes clear, the only thing that God repeats is His call for us to return to Him. Our job is to put our faith and trust in God alone to lead us through times of change. That journey beings with prayer.

Lift

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“Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you.” Psalm 55:22

I cannot remove the image from my mind of my grandmother kneeling beside her bed at night and giving her burdens to God. If one of her children was going through a very difficult time, she gave it to the Lord. If a friend was stricken with a life threatening illness, she gave it to the Lord. When her arthritic bones created more aches and pains than any human being should have to endure, there she was, kneeling on a hard floor,

Lifting Her Burdens To God

I will also never forget waking up the next morning only to hear her singing, “Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life.” As she worked in the kitchen her burdens were gone, placed before the Lord in a simple act of faith. Grandma Inez may have been a simple farmers wife but she was wealthier than any oil baron or captain of industry, for she did not rely on a laurels of education, nor a bank account full of money. Inez relied on God! God has given you a promise in Psalm 55:22. As you seek after God, and His will, and rely on Him alone, He will sustain you. Your burdens are only burdens if you choose carry them. Lift your burdens to the Lord. 

Accentuate The Positive

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“If God be for us, who can be against us.” Romans 8:31

In 1945 Johnny Mercer was nominated for an Oscar for a little song he wrote for a film staring Bing Crosby called “Here Comes The Waves.” The song said, “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-between!” I think we can all agree that one small positive thought can make a dramatic difference in our day, and is really a perfect prescription for

A Faith Filled Life!

After all, Romans 8:31 tells us that “if God is for us, who can be against us”. Just think, the creator of the heavens and the earth is on your side. With that outlook, you should indeed accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-between.

New

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“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

Change is a word we simply do not like. Oh we will speak glowingly about it when the change that is happening is exactly what we want, but if you really stop to think about it, how often is that really the case? Nothing changes exactly like we wanted, or planned, or hoped for. However, what if we began to think of change in a new way?

What If We Trusted God?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:10 that we should pray, “Thy will be done”, meaning ‘God, have it Your way’. What would happen if we trusted God with our daily needs, our future, our jobs, our living conditions, our health, our relationships and so forth ? Do you really think that the same God who created the heavens and the earth and daisies and roses and puppies and pandas would choose to respond to your trust by bringing you strife and turmoil? We already do that to ourselves. Why not let God have His way with your life. I’m believing the “new” He brings to you will be breathtaking.

Covering

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“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Picture a day in your life. You feel as through you are standing in a field while rocks and boulders are being hurled in your direction. As you fight them off, a second and third line of attack comes at you from your left and from your right. There is just seemingly no way to fend off the all-consuming onslaught.

Enter The Secret Place

Psalm 91 makes us a promise. If we dwell with God, entering His presence in prayer, praying and then trusting His protection over our lives, we shall then find rest simply being in His shadow. When God provides cover for you, the problems you face soon begin to pale in comparison. This is not theoretical, this is a commanded blessing directly from scripture that you can receive each and every day of your life. Life works when you place your trust in Almighty God.

The Optimist

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“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

We all know that in this world there are optimists and pessimists. The late President Ronald Reagan once told a story of optimists and pessimists. He said, there were parents who had two children. One child was always optimistic, the other pessimistic. One Christmas the parents decided to see if it was possible to change each one’s outlook, so they filled the pessimists room with all kinds of wonderful toys. In the optimists room they filled it with horse manure. An hour later they went to the pessimist child’s room and found them sulking in the middle of the floor. They asked what was wrong and the child said, “this toy will break, this one the battery will eventually die, this one will get stolen….” The child a negative thing to say about every single toy. Then they went to the optimist child’s room, and the child was having a ball, laughing and throwing horse manure everywhere. The parents asked him what he was doing and the boy said, “I’m looking for my pony! He’s got to be in here somewhere!” Reagan then said, “I’m always looking for the pony!”

You Can Choose To Be An Optimist

In Psalm 27 David says he lives his life with confidence that he will see the goodness of the Lord in his life. David was an optimist, even though as we know from the story of David’s life that there were many times he was dealing with horse manure. David chose to be an optimist, anyway. So can we. Faith moves mountains!

Time Flies

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“He (God) makes everything beautiful in its time” Ecclesiastes 3:11

My dearly beloved brother-in-law (also named Jim) and I were having a conversation the other day about how the years seem to just fly by. That’s when he hit me with a quote that I will never forget: “Life is like a roll of toilet paper…the closer you get to the end the faster it goes!” Once you stop laughing you’ll see the truth in this statement.

Our Lives Go By Quickly

The beautiful sentiment in our scripture verse today is that no matter what age you find yourself, God can do beautiful and wonderful things for you, and through you. There are no wasted days, not with God, not when we place our faith and trust in Him. Indeed, He makes everything beautiful in its time.

Winnie The Pooh

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“Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…” Isaiah 40:31

Winnie the Pooh said, “sometimes when I do nothing, it leads to the very best somethings”. This very wise quote bring us to the heart of Isaiah 40:31. So many times we worry ourselves weary over our circumstances when all we really need to do is

Hand The Issue To God.

Then, wait upon Him. When God is ready the answer will come. Who would have ever thought that Winnie, a silly old bear, could be so wise!