When you ask, “Why is this happening to me?”, who is the centre of your universe?

When Jesus was dying on the cross at the hands of brutal people, was the question from the cross, “Why me?” or a plea to “Pay them Back?”?

No. Jesus did not die for self. Jesus died for others, even as they sinned and abused and mocked the Saviour Who died to save them.

If anyone loves God with heart, soul and might (Deuteronomy 6:5), and others at least as much as they love themselves (Leviticus 19:18), Jesus would be the centre of their universe, in good times and disasters.

Would such a person not come to realize that the question is not, “Why me?”, but “How can God save or strengthen those around me?”

Life from The Spirit is not for what I can get out of it, but how I can, in all things, shed the Light of Christ into a dark and broken world.

As a disciple of Jesus I already have the ultimate reward, salvation in this world and eternal peace and life in the next. What more do I need?

Why do I want a life that feeds my temporary ego/flesh instead of bringing hope and healing to people at the working of The Spirit?

Jesus came into the world to bring eternal life to all who believe, not temporary personal pleasures.

A soldier concerned only with personal pleasures and ego-stroking would be useless. So with us.

“The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act” (2 Peter 3:9 God’s Word Translation©).

Does this verse also describe your life goal?

That’s a good question.

The Bible is about God.

Yet people read it for political proofs, religious ideology, for use as a weapon against those with whom they disagree or find unacceptable and as a verification for their own heresies or adrenaline to feed their “I’m-right” ego.

The Bible is about being on God’s Team (with God as the highest honcho) and non-debatable love for each and every one of God’s creations.

If your reading gives you permission to judge and condemn anyone of any time or place, prideful assurance that your doctrine or culture is superior to others, or seems useful as an excuse to abuse or hold power over others, you are not reading The Bible God commissioned, but a social distortion for human justification for wrongdoing.

“The tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise [“like a god” Genesis 3:5]” Genesis 3:6.

From the beginning people chose whatever satisfied their personal consumption, titillated them in their vision and set them up to play god.

The Divine Plan was for people to serve in creation, walk with God and nurture each other.

I plan, God being my helper, to follow the Plan and benefit the Community, not my little self-centred, self-created universe. Yes, the price is high, but it is better than the religious vandalism that allows people to mutilate creation and destroy other people.

In the God’s Word Translation the word “wait” occurs 162 times in the Bible! Why?

Because people, wanting to be like God, want to do when God wants to do it for us and through us. We are constantly forced to review the Garden of Eden sin, lusting “to be like God” (Genesis 3:4).

Today is the anniversary of Pentecost, the day the Body of Christ (Church) was truly born.

In a spectacular way God demonstrated that God can do it, and people can join in.

“Once, while [Jesus] was meeting with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for what the Father had promised. Jesus said to them, ‘I’ve told you what the Father promises: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’|” (Acts 2:4-5 God’s Word Translation©)

The Church (not congregations) exists because God is at work, NOT because people are smart, skilled, or simply sensational.

Wait for God to lead, call and do. Serve God. Do not chase your need to be a famed or noticed champion deserving accolades and honour!

The story is told that a desert brother told Abba Poemen (Egypt approximately AD340-450) he had heard something distressing about one of the others. Poemen asked, “Is it true?”

The brother answered that the source was trustworthy. The Abba did not agree. “The one who told you is not reliable. If he were, he would never have passed it on to you. When God heard cries from Sodom, he did not believe it until he had gone down and seen it with his own eyes.”

Then the brother confirmed that he had seen it with his own eyes also, to which Poemen referred to a parable Jesus told.

“Stop judging so that you will not be judged. Otherwise, you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. The standards you use for others will be applied to you. So why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer’s eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to another believer, ‘Let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you have a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5 God’s Word Translation©).

Abba Macarius (Egypt AD300-390) lived by the mercy of God with such integrity that he ignored the faults of others as though blind and was deaf when someone slandered another.

Defamation is obviously delicious to swallow, but it rots the hearer from the inside out. So the example of these two great teachers should show us to zip our lips when anyone would cast aspersions and refuse to swallow slander or talk about tittle-tattle.

You called?

People choose a career based on the pay. They stick with a job they don’t like because of the attached status. Others become jealous because a friend has a fancy house and car (and boat…).

But in the end, doing what you were meant to do gives a deep peace, no matter what the related trappings may be, big or small.

All our daughters make far more money than I ever did. I am honestly pleased for them, but I do not regret what I did. God, for divine reasons, called me to a work life that was close to hellish at times. It also had moments when I was honoured beyond words for being able to be where I was, doing what I needed to do. The summary is, I did (usually, I’m sure I fell short at times) what I was called of God to be.

In eternity I would rather know I was faithful to the Saviour than successful according to social culture.

Now time is not the end; forever is the goal. “This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 God’s Word Translation©).