WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? 1 Corinthians 14:26.

How many TV shows have made jokes out of this old question? It’s a cliché—yet it may be the most important question on the minds of people in a post-modern world. Why am I here? What should I do with my life? What is my PURPOSE?

Believers have answers. We believe in a God who made us, loves us, redeems us, and will welcome us to heaven. But what does He want for me right now? I can’t tell you His specific plan for each individual who might read these words—but there is a general answer that applies to all God’s children: We were made to give Him glory (“for His Renown”) and to use our gifts to BUILD UP THE CHURCH.

What does that mean— “to build up the church”? The Bible uses the term “edification” or “edify,” from which we get the word “edifice.” To edify or build up the church is to literally build–as though you were stacking bricks to build a wall. We are called to BUILD OTHERS. That means encouraging believers to walk with Jesus. We are all part of the Body of Christ and each of us has gifts we are to use to make the body stronger, healthier.

Here is one key answer to questions about your purpose:

GOD HAS GIVEN YOU GIFTS AND HE IS CALLING YOU TO USE THEM TO BLESS HIS PEOPLE.

To those wishing to speak in tongues, Paul writes: “Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, SEEK TO EXCEL IN BUILDING UP THE CHURCH” 1 Corinthians 14:12. Foreign tongues do not help the church without an interpreter. Otherwise, Paul says, “I would rather speak five words with my understanding in order to teach others, than 10,000 words in another language” 14:19. How’s this math: 5 > 10,000. Paul DOES speak in tongues, but he places such a high value on speaking words that will encourage other believers, that 5 words they understand are better than 10,000 in a foreign tongue. —BUILDING THE FAITH OF OTHER BELIEVERS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!

What can you do to encourage Christians around you? How are you helping believers know, obey, and love Jesus? That is your purpose.

“Let all things be done for edification” 1 Corinthians 14:26.

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GOD IS NOT A GOD OF CONFUSION BUT OF ORDER. 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Is your life orderly or a mess? Does it matter?

Is a messy life a godless life? Not exactly.

What one might consider unacceptable disorder another might consider a creative environment. I have lived both ways and believe a little disorder is acceptable. There is a line beyond which organization costs more than it’s worth—for example, alphabetizing your pantry arguably costs more energy than it saves, though my buddy Rick Bush swore by it.

Most of us are born disorganized—and creative people may thrive in a crazy environment. We like the cabinet doors open, paint colors visible, projects scattered everywhere, and Post-It notes festooned all over the office.

Nevertheless, as we grow in Christ, He gently helps us become organized.

We honor a schedule. We clean. We complete projects, we tie up loose ends. We give away things we might once have burned. And we never give up on friends.

Is your church ordered?

Paul encouraged believers to conduct ORDERLY worship. Why? Because “GOD IS NOT A GOD OF CONFUSION BUT OF ORDER,” 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Faith in an a God of Order created science.

When Sir Francis Bacon (1561 – 1627) and others realized GOD IS A GOD OF ORDER, they concluded that if God is ordered, His creation must be ordered. That is, creation must follow rules and we should be able to learn those rules through experimentation that yields repeatable results.

When Nehemiah oversaw the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, he was organized.

Many of the people rebuilding the broken walls were assigned sections opposite their homes. Nehemiah did not send them all over town in some arbitrary way. Instead, he made each man responsible for the areas that would impact his family the most—the area nearest his house.

Even Jesus was neat.

On the biggest morning of His life, Jesus folded His graveclothes. Can you imagine? He got up and made His bed! On the day of His resurrection!

God, help us to glorify You by living lives that reflect the Godly attribute of ORDER.

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FEAR CORRUPTS SOUND MINDS AND GOOD DECISIONS. 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Are you motivated by fear? Don’t say ‘No’ too quickly—MANY people are. In the flesh, people are motivated by fear or anger or pride or greed or ambition or appetites or some combination of the above.

Fear motivates SO MANY decisions.

The object of the fear is irrelevant: there is fear of illness, fear of sin, fear of poverty, fear of shame, fear of being embarrassed, fear of being on the wrong side of a controversy, fear of being deceived by journalists, politicians, or the elites in power, some fear secret, world-wide conspiracies. Fear can obsess over many objects and can take on many forms. But fear does not come from God.

GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF FEAR.

“FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER, LOVE, AND A SOUND MIND” 2 Timothy 1:7.

Even Jesus experienced fear. But fear did not control his decisions—not ever. He surrendered to the Father. He faced his fear head-on, and prayed “Not my will, but THINE be done.” Three times he faced overwhelming fear, blinking back sweat mixed with blood, and three times he surrendered, declaring: “NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE.” God gave him the answer—and God gave him amazing courage to face that answer.

When you surrender—truly surrender—God will give you answers and courage as well. But God will not give us a spirit of FEAR, but of POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND. Take your questions—your fears—to God. Surrender to him. He will give you answers and He will give you courage and peace. God will give you a good decision based on the power of a SOUND MIND.

“For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Never make decisions based on fear. Instead, lay your fears down at the altar, one-by-one. Surrender to His will. Tell him you are ready to accept ANY answer. And when he answers, he will give you peace and courage as well.

Thank Him.

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THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT. 1 Corinthians 13.

What is your greatest success? Your highest achievement? What is the highest achievement you dare dream of? History is filled with inspiring stories of inventors, writers, founding fathers, Olympic athletes, and record-holders, men who championed great causes, made great sacrifices, and changed the world: Luther, Shakespeare, Washington, Monroe, Franklin, Edison, George Washington Carver, Churchill, MLK, Jesse Owens, Henry Ford (affordable cars), Fleming (penicillin and antibiotics), Jenner and Salk (vaccines). So many amazing accomplishments!

But 2,000 years ago, Paul (a brilliant achiever himself, who wrote the most books of the Bible (14)) said LOVE is the highest achievement. In fact, nothing you will ever do even matters if you don’t do it with love:

“If I speak in tongues but do not have love, I might as well be an idol worshiper. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have great faith, so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my possessions to feed the poor, and surrender my body to be burned at the stake for a noble cause, but do not have love, I will receive no reward! 

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not make people look bad; it is not selfish, is not provoked, does not keep record of wrongs, does not laugh at unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“Love never fails; but in heaven gifts of prophecy will be done away; tongues will cease; gifts of knowledge will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfection of heaven comes, the partial will be done away…. In heaven only faith, hope, and love will remain. But the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

Dear God, may we work to be loving first, and may all our achievements be done with Your love. Keep us humble and helpful, loving and kind, to our family, friends, and strangers.

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ROLL CALL. Hebrews 11: 32-38.

A fun way to study the Bible is to learn the popular parts. What would you put on the list? Psalm 23 is huge: “The Lord is my shepherd….” And Genesis chapter 1:”In the beginning, God created….” John chapter 1: “In the beginning was the Word….” There’s 1 Corinthians 13—the “love” chapter. There’s Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “There is a time for everything under heaven….” Definitely Luke 2, the Christmas story. I also love the stories of Noah, Joseph, Moses, and David. Anything else?

I would add Hebrews 11. This chapter is called “the Roll Call of the Faithful.” It is a great reminder of heroes who have gone before. The writer (Paul, IMHO)** reports on all the saints who endured because their eyes were on the Messiah who was to come.

“By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice… By faith, Enoch did not experience death… By faith, Noah built an ark to deliver his family… By faith, Abraham journeyed… By faith, Sarah conceived… By faith, Abraham offered up Isaac… By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau… By faith Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph… By faith, Joseph predicted the exodus… By faith, Moses chose to suffer as a Hebrew rather than live as the prince of Egypt… By faith, he instituted the Passover… By faith, they crossed the Red Sea… By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down…” Hebrews 11:3-31.

The writer tries to conclude:

“What more can I say? Time will fail me if I try to tell about Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, … shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the sword, … women received loved ones back from the dead, some were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, MEN OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY….” Hebrews 11: 32-38.

Read and study Hebrews 11, THE ROLL CALL OF THE FAITHFUL. What an inspirational passage. Then look back at paragraph one above and read the other passages that you may not know.

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** The book of Hebrews does not include a byline. No one is certain who wrote it. But I side with those who believes it to have been written by the Apostle Paul.

TAKE HEED… 1 Corinthians 10:12.

Never congratulate yourself for being a great Christian. When you let spiritual pride creep in, you fail.

“Let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall” 1 Corinthians 10:12.

Consider the exodus. Israel has witnessed 10 incredible plagues. They have seen God rescue them from slavery in a miraculous fashion. God says, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I CARRIED YOU ON EAGLES’ WINGS” Exodus 19:4.

Then he reveals himself with a blast of heavenly trumpets, and a cloud of fire and smoke descends onto Mount Sinai, and God speaks for ALL to hear (not just Moses). But the booming voice of the Almighty God is terrifying, and the people beg Moses to ask God to STOP speaking:

“All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ‘You speak to us, and we will listen,’ they said to Moses, ‘but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die’” Exodus 20:18-19.

Then God told Moses to bring 70 elders to the mountain, “and THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself. God did not harm the nobles; they saw him, and they ate and drank” Exodus 24:10-11.

Yet, within a month—Israel betrayed God by worshipping an idol made of gold. Not only that, they donated their own gold jewelry to be melted down and fashioned into the calf idol. WHAT?! After the ten plagues? After the Red Sea? After God carried them on eagles’ wings, delivered them from generations of slavery, revealed Himself and His voice on the mountain, and showed himself to the 70 elders? (What more could he have done?)

How could that happen?

“Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.”

Take heed. Be humble. Never let yourself think you have arrived or that you are no longer subject to temptations. TAKE HEED.

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Can You Resist All Temptations? 1 Corinthians 10:13

Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist anything except temptation.” That’s funny. What a great line.

Have you ever faced a difficult temptation? (All temptations are difficult, aren’t they?) Do you make excuses? Do you give in because you had a bad day? Or because you are sick, or tired, or hungry? Do you tell yourself you can’t help it?

Don’t lie to yourself. You can ALWAYS help it.

Not only that, God promises to provide a way to escape the temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

What an amazing promise! No temptation is EVER too much for you. AND, God promises to provide an escape hatch.

Never tell yourself you can’t help it. And when you are tempted, start looking for the way out. If (when) you fail, look back and figure out where you went wrong. (Review the game film, so to speak.)

I strongly encourage you to memorize this powerful verse, so you can never again lie to yourself: the temptation is NOT too hard for you. You can ALWAYS resist. And God ALWAYS creates a way to escape, you simply have to look for it.

Pray that God will transform your thinking, so you can be honest with yourself: ‘I could have said no, but chose to rebel,’ is more honest than saying to yourself, ‘I was weak and couldn’t help it.’

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A VENN DIAGRAM. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

A Venn Diagram is two or more overlapping circles. One of the most memorable uses of a Venn Diagram involves communication. If my life is the circle on the right and yours is the circle on the left, the only experiences we will be able to talk about are those where our two circles overlap. In other words, people communicate best about things with which they are both familiar.

If my world and yours are completely different—alien—how will we find common ground?

The Apostle Paul understood this and used it in his preaching. He was intelligent enough to have insight into things he had not experienced and could speak to people with that kind of empathy.

“Although I am a free man and no one’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone in order to win more people. To the Jews, I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. To those outside the law, like one outside the law (though I am bound by the law of Christ)—to win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I might by all possible means win some. And I do this because of the gospel” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

The best use of your time is to spend it sharing the Good News about Jesus.

Talk about your faith the same way you discuss everything else in your life—faith IS part of your life, right? It makes sense to naturally bring it up sometimes. And when you talk about it, find ways to connect your faith to the circumstances of those around you: become “all things to all men.”

Dear God, give us opportunities to talk about our faith in You—and teach us how to make it relevant to those who listen. Use us.

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WHAT’S WRONG WITH COMMUNISM? 1 Corinthians 9:10.

Communism sounds good: workers pool resources, then divide things up so everyone gets what they need. Each player sitting at the poker table puts in what they have. Then the all-seeing government divides up the “kitty.” The man with eight kids gets eight shares more than the man with no children. The widow who lives alone gets a token to meet her needs. And the government takes only what it needs. Allegedly. There are those among us to whom Communism sounds ideal.

Here are the problems.

  1. “Humanism” says people are not sinful but good. The Bible says all men are sinners. America’s founders chose a wiser approach: capitalism understands that people are motivated by “enlightened self-interest” and the system works because each person works hard to provide for his own family.
  2. Workers bringing resources to the table in a Communist system will not turn everything over to the government but will hold some back.
  3. Remember “GROUP WORK” in school? That’s Communism in a nutshell.
  4. Workers who know their resources will be taken from them, will not work as hard, because there is no motivation to pour your life into a crop if you can’t keep your harvest. (Communism destroys INCENTIVE.) When the entire nation works with no incentive, the nation’s output is MUCH smaller—and there will not be enough to go around.
  5. No one’s needs will be met.
  6. A government that must collect 100% of the resources, then redistribute them to the people “according to their needs,” ends up being a MASSIVE and EXPENSIVE government. The government becomes the biggest, most wasteful drain on the nation’s economy.
  7. The government is NOT honest, but filled with corruption. Leaders skim money off the top every chance they get, leaving LESS to go around.**

Not only does the Bible warn that men are sinners, but the Bible also says that people work best when they get to keep what they harvest. The advantage of working alone, versus group work, is that you reap what you sow. If you work hard, you will be blessed by the results.

“When the plowman plows, and the harvester harvests, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest” 1 Corinthians 9:10.

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**By the way, this list only reports some of the problems with the lack of incentive created by Communism. The system’s other terrible features, such as Communism’s use of mass-murder and even genocide to achieve its aims are beyond the scope of 1 Corinthians 9:10.

Cherish the Opportunity of Your Youth. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.

Josiah was 8, David and Jeremiah were youths, John the Baptist and Jesus were young, John Calvin was 25, George Whitfield was 21, the “Jesus Movement” of the 1970s swept through American youth …

Every great movement of God began with YOUNG PEOPLE.

Yet Christian singles are usually more concerned about finding a spouse than growing closer to Jesus. (Do you know anyone looking for an M.R.S. degree? Not only does that miss the point of a university education, but it is an incredibly expensive dating service.)

Marriage will not make you happy. Real JOY comes from Jesus. Focus on Him. Focus on Him especially WHILE YOU ARE YOUNG.

“An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. I am saying this … so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction” 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.

Take advantage of single-ness while you can! It seems to drag on forever—but it won’t. You have limited time to dedicate yourself to Christ. Do it while you are single or it may never happen.

IT IS HARD TO BE SINGLE-MINDED WHEN YOU ARE NO LONGER SINGLE.

Paul is right: unmarried people have the freedom to be concerned only about the things of the Lord. Focus on Him alone while you have the chance! One day you will be married. One day your interests will be divided forever, and you will never again be able to devote yourself to Christ in quite the same way. Do it while you can.

Give Jesus your time and devotion. Do it while you are single. That door will close soon. NOW IS THE TIME.

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before hard times come…” Ecclesiastes 12:1.

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