Only Source

From @DailyKeller

He Will Fulfill His Purpose for Me

He is with the lowly, and He will fulfill His purpose for me.

One of my favorite Scripture passages.

What a Relief!

"When we see the grand story of God's mission to redeem, restore and heal humanity, it's a massive paradigm shift. We realize that life is not about us or what we want to do - and that's a relief because I'm already sick of myself. Life is about God and His glory and what he is doing. The more we get caught up in that reality, the more we are free to be what God is calling us to be.  The question 'What should I do?' becomes 'What is God doing?' When we view Scripture with an eye toward what God has done, is doing, and will do,all questions of 'What should I do now?' get answered."

      -Britt Merrick, Godspeed: Making Christ's Mission Your Own

Identity Statement

"The church is the people of God called to God sent by God for the glory of God to meet the needs of the world with God. That is our identity."

              -Britt Merrick, Godspeed: Making Christ's Mission Your Own

Jesus Did Not Come...

• Jesus did not come to make us happy. He came to make us holy.
• Jesus did not come to make good people better. He came to make dead people live.
• Jesus did not come to make your marriage happy. He came to transform two sinners into a picture of his self-giving love for us and of our proper response to him.
• Jesus did not come to give you your best life now. He came to bring you into his best life for eternity.
• Jesus did not come so you could ask him into your life. He came to call you into his life.
• Jesus did not come to improve your story. He came to bring you into his story.
• Jesus did not come to make your life into a comfortable cottage for your pleasure.  He came to make your life a majestic palace for his presence.

For All Us Losers

"The gospel is good news for losers, not winners.  It's for those who long to be freed from the slavery of believing that all of their significance, meaning, purpose and security depend on their ability to 'become a better you.'"

    - Tullian Tchvidjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, page 49

Lunatics Scribling the Word "Darkness"

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 46.

“You will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 111.

(I wish I had one tenth of the way with words that C.S. Lewis had on his worst day)

Hat Tip: The Objectivity of Glorifying God – Justin Taylor

No Other Purpose

"The Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men into Christ. . . If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other reason."

 -- C.S. Lewis

Hat Tip: Jared Wilson at The Gospel-Driven Church

Why the Cross Matters

It is always good to be reminded Why the Cross Matters:

"It is at the cross that we see God most clearly. If history were the vastness of space, the cross would be its brightest star. We see the fullness of God’s being most clearly at the cross. We see the fullness of His active purposes most clearly at the cross."

To Be Fully Human

“We will never understand what it is to be human and will never be fully human until we take seriously our purpose in being created for Christ.”

- Kirsten Birkett, “I Believe in Nature: An Exploration of Naturalism and the Biblical Worldview“

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Purpose Statement

“We are not called to build the kingdom of glory, but to carry a cross in the kingdom of grace. To forget the cause of missions is to forget the purpose of Christ in a world still spared from destruction. The purpose of your life must be the purpose of Christ’s death.”

- Edmund P. Clowney, Called to the Ministry

Hat Tip: Of First Importance