God's Purpose for You

Proverbs 20:5

The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

As we consider this Proverb, I want to look at it in the context of this definition for purpose:

The reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc. (Dictionary.com)

This definition is what most people think of when we start to talk about purpose so it's a good place to focus.  This addresses the ultimate question:  Why do I exist?  Look at what Solomon says about that.  We have more than one purpose, our purposes are not always obvious, and our hearts can be a deep and mysterious place- even to ourselves.

I like how Solomon compares the purposes of  our heart to deep waters.  The other thing that can make detecting our purpose difficult is the fact that not only are those waters deep, they can also be quite muddy.  They can be muddied by any number of factors:  abuse, our own sinful lifestyle, a lifetime of failures, constant negative self-talk, etc.  Many times, the biggest challenge to understanding our life's purpose is ourselves.  We have put so much garbage into our own brains and hearts that it can be difficult to recognize what God's purpose is for us.  While this may be difficult to recognize, it seems that the Natural Knowledge of God also comes with the Natural Knowledge that He created each of us for a purpose.  Ask any child, "What are you going to do when you grow up?", and you will get any number of answers.  The one thing that every answer will have in common is that there is the underlying assumption that they are going to be great at it, and that they were born to do it.  St. Paul took upon himself to make sure that we know this, and that we don't forget it:

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So, if that is the case, then how do we find out what His purpose is for us and what are the good works that He has prepared for us? 

Solomon graciously answers this question for us:  a man of understanding draws them out.

Well, what does that mean?  Where do we get understanding?  What do we use to draw them out?

We get understanding from studying the Holy Scriptures.  The way that we draw out our purpose is by honing our thinking and behaviors against that stone of Scripture.  Once we have begun the process of being honed and shaped by God's Word, then we can use the intellect and reason that God has given each of us to assess ourselves and go to work at those good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In his book PAiLS, Chris Brady gives us some questions to ask ourselves to help make the specifics even clearer.

1. Do you have a special calling?
2. Do you have a yearning to contribute in a certain area?
3. What are your passions?
4. What things do you do that fulfill you?
5. What things do you show an amazing affinity for?
6. What are things that you do that people are constantly praising you for?
7. What types of occupations allow you to do the things that you are passionate about?

Another way to identify and understand your purpose is to mentor with a competent, experienced Christian pastor.  When you look for a mentor be picky.  Don't settle for the first person that comes along.  

There is one very important underlying factor here:  mentoring and utilizing secular teachings on this subject must come after you have begun to hone yourself with God's Word.  It is very easy to be led astray by this quest if you do not have a strong foundation of Scripture.  Remember what I said in the above paragraph:  We get understanding from studying the Holy Scriptures.  This is the key to everything and never goes away.  Your God-given purpose will never be anything that contradicts Scripture.

Since the purposes of your heart are deep waters, potentially muddy waters, don't expect this to all come together over night.  This is a process.  It takes time.  The most important thing is to get started.  Right now.  Today.  The longer you wait, the less time you will have left to invest into your God-given purpose.  Here's how I suggest you get started:

1. Begin a program of daily studying God's Word.
2. Take some time and write out the answers to the seven questions above from Chris Brady.
3. Find a mentor.
4. Fall in love with learning and make your lifelong education a priority, and a habit.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Fix Your Folly!

Proverbs 6:1-5

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another,

if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, 

then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:  Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!  

Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.

Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

In the NIV (1984), the title of this section is "Warnings Against Folly".  To start this section Solomon has made a list of bad choices that we are all susceptible to, and he warns against them.  He also graciously tells us how to fix the situation when we have wandered into one of these acts of folly.  Let's look at each one individually.

First, putting up security for your neighbor.  In our society this is commonplace.  People do this without even thinking about it.  This would be any variation of co-signing for a loan, or investing with someone where you could become financially liable for that business while having no oversight of that business.  When you do this you open yourself up to the repercussions of every bad decision that person makes. You can never be 100% certain of a person's character, or how they will respond if their plans fall apart.  When you put up security for someone you have just jeopardized your own financial security.  You have made yourself financially responsible for any, and every bad financial decision that they make.  If your neighbor defaults on that loan guess who the bank is coming after to get their money- the co-signer.  If your neighbor makes a bunch of bad business decisions and his business fails, guess who his creditors are coming after- every "investor" who took on any amount of liability.  In any relationship money changes things.

Second, striking hands in pledge for another.  This can be a tricky one.  This would be vouching for someone.  This is putting your character and reputation on the line to give someone else credibility and influence.  Have you ever given someone a reference or a referral?  The gamble with this is that you are putting your good name at the mercy of someone else's character and integrity.  Solomon says not to do it all!  At best, I would recommend being extremely cautious about whom you are vouching for.  I personally take it as an honor when someone will put their reputation on the line for me.  So I take that as a challenge to step up my game even more.  Unfortunately, not everybody takes that approach.  Too many people don't even think about how their performance reflects on every person who gave them a reference or referral.  That's why I said this is a tricky one.  You want to try to help people when you can by giving them a reference, but you also don't want to jeopardize your own reputation by endorsing someone who is prone to character failures.

Finally, if you have been trapped by what you have said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. This is the one that I have been most susceptible to much of my life.  This is speaking without thinking.  This is being so arrogant that you run your mouth about things that you don't have a clue about.  This is speaking without giving any thought at all to the feelings of the person with whom you are speaking to.  This is the folly that destroys relationships.  This is the best way that I know to get people to resent you and never want to be around you.

Here's how James, the brother of Jesus, explains it:

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:5-6)

So, if you find yourself caught in one these three follies, how do you fix it?

Then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:  Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!

You must recognize that you have made a mistake, or even sinned.  Then you must humbly approach your neighbor and work out how to rectify the situation.  If it's a contract that you need to get out of, then figure out how to get out of it legally.  If you've allowed someone to use you as a reference and you are no longer comfortable with that, go talk to him and explain why.  If your mouth has gotten you into trouble, apologize and beg for forgiveness.  

Press your plea!  Don't leave until you have come to a satisfactory solution or conclusion to the mess that you have created.  Solomon says to not even sleep until the matter has been resolved.  This is how you resolve conflict, or potential conflict, that you have created.  You have to take responsibility.  You have to address it head on.  Protecting yourself against the damage of folly is a High Importance, High Urgency task.  Nothing else matters until you have remedied the folly that you have fallen into.

This takes courage, but if you humble yourself and lead with God's Word you can fix your folly.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

The One Factor that Motivates True Justice

Proverbs 29:4

By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.

I love the format that Solomon uses for so many of the Proverbs:  contrasting the positive attribute against the negative one.  Here we have the just ruler versus the corrupt ruler.  Like many of the Proverbs, this one seems obvious.  This is something that we see right in front of our eyes everyday.  It would be a dangerous trap to oversimplify this, though.  We could falsely draw comparisons between different forms of government (i.e. republicanism v. socialism).  This would be a deceptive comparison because it would falsely presuppose that the form of government is what makes rulers just and honorable, or corrupt and despicable.  

Now, that's not to say that certain forms of governments are not more prone to corruption than others.  If you look at Socialism, for example, the whole philosophy of this political approach is built on corruption.  The whole purpose of socialism is to keep the masses enslaved to the government and the aristocracy.  What is the foundational flaw of socialism?

Socialists reject the the Word of God.  Socialists reject the One true God and set themselves up as gods of the world.  Socialists are generally not atheists.  They are humanists.  Socialism is actually a political philosophy birthed from Secular Humanism.  Once the socialist/humanist has anointed himself as god he can then impose his "omniscience" (moral and otherwise) on the rest of society.  If he is "smart enough", or at least charismatic enough, he can actually impose himself on the majority of the world.

As I said earlier, though, corruption is found in every political structure anywhere in the world.  The reason for this is sin.  Not matter what political philosophy you subscribe to, it has been marred by sin because it has been developed by sinful human beings.  The other problem is that it is also being carried out by sinful human beings.  The deciding factor in this matter has little to do with being a democrat or a republican; being a capitalist, socialist, communist, or anarchist.  The number one factor that determines which side of Solomon's line you're on comes down to just one question:  Are you a Christian?

This doesn't mean that Christians are perfectly just all of the time.  Christians are susceptible to sin and temptation.  Christians, and Christian rulers make mistakes.  Just read the Old Testament.  The difference is how Christians handle their mistakes as opposed to how non-Christians handle their mistakes.  Christian rulers are motivated by God's love.  Non-Christian rulers are motivated by worldly trappings:  morality for its own sake, greed, power, fame, hatred, ... this list could probably go on for a while.

I think this whole thing can be best summed up by St. Paul:

Romans 8:5-8

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

This is just as true for you and me as it is for every ruler that God has placed in power!

God bless

Jason Fredrick

God's Rich Rewards

Proverbs 22:4

Humility and fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

 This is not what the world teaches.  The world teaches the way to wealth and success is by arrogantly boasting about yourself.  Do whatever it takes to get to the top.  Win at all costs.

Of the three rewards that Solomon has listed, the world only really cares about wealth.  Honor and life are afterthoughts.  The closest the world comes to caring about honor is in the context of being honored with accolades and awards.  In too many circles, honor in the way that Solomon uses it here is not even a consideration.  It is looked at as an antiquated idea whose time has come and gone.  In most instances the world will actually attack and tear down honorable people.  

It is sad that so many people will sell their souls to Satan for their 15 minutes of fame and attention from the mainstream media.  Look at that kid who emerged from the school shooting in Florida.  For two weeks every media outlet in the world couldn't get enough of that kid.  Where is he now?  The media has moved on.  They just don't care.  As tools of Satan they make all kinds of promises.  Then once you have foolishly danced to their tune and accomplished, or at least further promoted their agenda, they drop you.  You are no longer useful to them.  They got what they wanted and that's all that they care about.  Satan and his servants are incapable of love. 

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

St. John is making the same point that Solomon made at our beginning:  Humble submission and the fear of God brings everything in life that people crave- wealth, honor, and life.  This is true, but there is a caveat here:  You cannot pay lip service to God, trying to fool Him into giving you these rewards.  These rewards are the by-product of a life lived in true "humility and fear of the LORD".  We live in humility and fear of the Lord because we love our heavenly Father, not because we are trying to earn these rewards that He has promised.  

This doesn't even make sense to the unbeliever because they don't understand the real meaning of each of those words.  Wealth here doesn't automatically mean financial wealth.  God doesn't promise to make you a millionaire if you humbly submit your life to Him and His will.  He does promise to bless you though.  Those blessings take on many forms:  a Godly wife and children, loyal and faithful friends, possibly financial blessings, food to eat, clothes to wear, and a warm home to live in.  Just because most people overlook these blessings as signs of wealth doesn't mean that they aren't.

What about honor?  When you submit your life to the Lord you will be honored in every area of your life.  Ultimately, people notice.  It doesn't take long for people to recognize that their is something different about you.  They don't know exactly what it is, or why you are different, but they will notice and they will respect you because of it.  When you have truly submitted your life to the Lord everything that you do, consciously or unconsciously, glorifies Him.  You will do things in a way and to a level that those around you can't even begin to approach.  You will stand out.

The last gift is life.  This does not necessarily mean a long life, although it certainly can.  This speaks just as much to quality of life.  How can we ever have a bad day if we are truly living for the Lord?  If you have submitted your life to God then everything that you do is to glorify Him, not self.  If you have submitted your life to the Lord, then everything that happens during the day is according to His plan.  It is all an opportunity to honor and glorify Him.  So if we are truly living our life to honor and glorify our heavenly Father, then how can we ever have a bad day?  We can live according to His will everyday.

Now we cannot do that by our own thinking and choosing.  It is only by His grace.  Only through the gift of faith that the Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts are we able to do any of this.  Jesus died to redeem us from our sins.  Through Holy Baptism we have received the gift of faith through, and from the Holy Spirit.  That faith is what empowers us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  We humbly submit to God's will out of love for the Him, and as a way of saying, "Thank you!" for forgiving us our sins and giving us the gift of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Ephesians 2:8-10

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

The Power of Words

Proverbs 15:4

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

In this Proverb, Solomon is stressing the power of words.  When you stop and think about it, it is kind of odd that something that seems so insignificant should have so much power.  Words are really just the verbalizing of our thoughts.  So why do they have such a tremendous impact?  Why do words have the ability to heal, as well as the ability to "crush the spirit"?

Stop and think about how the words of others affect you.  Try to think through the emotional rollercoaster that was your day today.  I bet your emotions rose and fell based on the words you were hearing, or thinking.  It is amazing how God has created language, and the power that He has given to it.  With words God spoke everything into existence- except man.  St. John calls Jesus the Word, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1-2)

This sheds a lot of light on the subject.  Since the beginning God has used His Word to demonstrate His power.  Not only does God's Word demonstrate His power; God's Word is power.

With this as the backdrop it really shouldn't surprise us that words have power.  Words heal and give life.  Think about how you feel when someone gives you a compliment or some encouragement.  Pay attention to your wife's face when you speak words of praise and love to her.  Watch all of the stress and anxiety leave a person as you speak words of forgiveness to them.  If you're still not convinced I will issue this challenge:  Every day this week give your spouse one sincere compliment.  At work, do the same for that person that you just can't stand.  Also, do this for each of you children.  Remember, this is every day this week.  If you miss one day your week starts all over.  You have to do it every day for an entire week.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the damage that deceit does.  Deceitful people cannot be trusted at all.  These people are constantly trying to manipulate people and situations to their advantage.  Deceitful people quickly gain a reputation for not being trustworthy.  Trust is something that is very easily destroyed, but very slowly restored.  Solomon said, "...a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."  If you have ever been betrayed or lied to you understand exactly what that feels like.  He certainly is not overstating the point.  Think of this in the context of marriage.  How much more devastating is deceit in that context?  Certainly to the married this is definitely not an overstatement.  Instead it is a vital reminder of the responsibility that we have to each other.  It is a wake up call to the supreme power of words.  Choose your words carefully and wisely.  Don't be sloppy and careless with them.  We have all been entrusted with a huge responsibility.  Take it seriously and use it well.

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

God bless

Jason Fredrick