Wash Your Windshield

This second birth is really just the beginning, not the end. The second stage consists of becoming the son God intends for you to be. We are told to no longer “be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” As Paul wrote in Galatians 4, Christ is to be fully formed in us. Even though we are to remain childlike in our trust towards Him, we are to leave childishness behind.

The only way you can grow in your understanding of how to be like Jesus is if you see Him as He is. He is the Light of the World. As He reveals His light, we see things differently. Jesus keeps revealing other facets of Himself. As your spiritual eyesight improves, you will continue to see some things differently than you did just a little while ago. According to Strong’s Greek Lexicon, repentance is a change of mind; turning away from sin and towards God. It’s more than just, say, changing your mind about going to the store. Repentance is not just changing your mind, but having your mind changed as a result of seeing things the way God does. Your mind will be incrementally and continually changed as you think more like He does and less like you do, and as you adjust your direction in order to follow Him as a mature son. Being saved requires constant growth and being in a constant state of repentance.

Keep in mind salvation and the whole Christian experience is an on-going process and not merely a one-time event. Even though we initially repented (saw the light and changed our minds) and were converted (turned) when we were initially saved, now we are in the process of being saved, and it is seldom pain-free. It will be a process of discovering just how awesome God is and becoming aware of just how much we don’t know. Our fulfillment and joy in life is not about how much we know, rather who we know, this one Jesus. We are in good shape as long as we are continually learning as much as we can about Jesus and His ways. Fulfillment comes from being fully engaged in the process.

P is for Purpose

If God esteems you valuable, then you are valuable no matter what. The fact God esteems you valuable implies purpose for your life. It means you have a place to function in His kingdom. There is a corporate purpose as well as a personal purpose. We dare not be afraid to go it alone and we dare not be afraid to be a functioning member of the family of God, joined at the hip with a local fellowship of believers. It all centers on strengthening the church and advancing the kingdom of God one heart at a time.

God has chosen to need us to usher in the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We know He has chosen to need us because He put us in charge over the earth. If God called us to do only the things we can do on our own, without Him, then we wouldn't need Him like we do now. We are far more important to the kingdom of God than our enemy would have us believe.

Herein your purpose is found: Him in you and you in Him. As a born again believer in Jesus Christ, He lives in you. Never forget —you are His temple; you are His holy place—where He takes up residence. Your purpose is not only to love Him the way He loves you, but to do whatever it is He wants to do through you. Your purpose is a living discovery of how He wants to uniquely express Himself through you. This purpose does require something; it requires you to be interactive and to search out what it is God wants—what His will is for you.

The Scriptures say, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” As serious as your purpose is, it is still something like an interactive game. It’s interactive because now He has what He has wanted all along; interaction with you, and a relationship with meaning and purpose. Part of the process is searching out who this Jesus is who lives in you, and discovering what He thinks. For you to be working out your purpose is to walk in the power of the age to come.