Cultivating Community

Verse to Remember:

We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. - 1 John 3:16 (GWT)

If you are a member of a small group or class, I urge you to make a group covenant that includes the nine characteristics of biblical fellowship: We will share our true feelings (authenticity), encourage each other (maturity), support each other (sympathy), forgive each other (mercy), speak the truth in love (honesty), admit our weaknesses (humility), respect our differences (courtesy), not gossip (confidentiality), and make group a priority (frequency).

When you look at the list of characteristics, it is obvious why genuine fellowship is so rare. It means giving up our self-centeredness and independence in order to become interdependent. But the benefits of sharing life together far outweigh the cost, and it prepares us for heaven.

Experiencing Life Together

Verse to Remember:

Share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2 (NLT)

God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this shared experience fellowship. Today, however, the word has lost most of its biblical meaning. "Fellowship" now usually refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun. The question, "Where do you fellowship?" means "Where do you attend church?" "Stay after for fellowship" usually means "Wait for refreshments."

Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services. It is experiencing life together. It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other "one another" commands found in the New Testament.

A Place to Belong

Verse to Remember:

In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. - Romans 12:5 (NIV)

A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. I can't claim to be following Christ if I'm not committed to any specific group of disciples. Jesus said,"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:35 NLT).

When we come together in love as a church family from different backgrounds, race, and social status, it is a powerful witness to the world. You are not the Body of Christ on your own. You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we are his Body.

What Matters Most

Verse to Remember:

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." - Galatians 5:14 (LB)

Love should be your top priority, primary objective, and greatest ambition. Love is not a good part of your life; it's the most important part. The Bible says, "Let love be your greatest aim" (1 Corinthians 14:1a LB).

It's not enough to say, "One of the things I want in life is to be loving", as if it's in your top ten list. Relationship must have priority in your life above everything else. Why? Life without love is really worthless.

Formed for God's Family

Verse to Remember:

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! - 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

God wants a family, and he created you to be part of it. This is God's second purpose for your life, which he planned before you were born. The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. It says,"His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure" (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

When God Seems Distant

Verse to Remember:

For God had said,"I will never leave you; I will never abandon you." - Hebrews 13:5 (TEV)

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.

Worship That Pleases God

Verse to Remember:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. - Mark 12:30 (NIV)

God is pleased when our worship is authentic. When Jesus said you must "worship in spirit", he wasn't referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit. Made in God's image, you are a spirit that resides in a body, and God designed your spirit to communicate with him. Worship is your spirit responding to God's Spirit.

When Jesus said,"Love God with all your heart and soul" he meant that worship must be genuine and heartfelt. It is not just a matter of saying the right words; you must mean what you say. Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is worthless, an insult to God

Developing Your Friendship with God

Verse to Remember:

Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. - James 4:8 (NLT)

In the Bible, the friends of God were honest about their feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their Creator. God, however, didn't seem to be bothered by this frankness; in fact, he encouraged it.

Every time you trust God's wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don't understand it, you deepen your friendship with God. We don't normally think of obedience as a characteristic of friendship; that's reserved for relationship with a parent or the boss or a superior officer, not a friend. However, Jesus made it clear that obedience is a condition of intimacy with God. He said, "You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:14 NIV).

The truth is--you are as close to God as you chose to be. Intimate friendship with God is a choice, not an accident. You must intentionally seek it. Do you really want it--more than anything? What is it worth to you? Is it worth giving up other things? Is it worth the effort of developing the habits and skills required?

Becoming Best Friends with God

Verse to Remember:

Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. - Pslam 25:14a (LB)

You will never grow a close relationship with God by just attending church once a week or even having a daily quiet time. Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with him.

Of course, it is important to establish the habit of a daily devotional time with God, but he wants more than an appointment in your schedule. He wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought. You can carry on a continuous, open-minded conversation with him throughout your day, talking with him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment.

The Heart Of Worship

Verse to Remember:

Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. - Romans 6:13b (TEV)

Surrendering to God is not passive registration, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed. God often calls surrendered people to do battle on his behalf. Surrendering is not for cowards or doormats. likewise, it does not mean giving up rational thinking. God would not waste the mind he gave you! God does not want robots to serve him.

Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather than its being diminished, surrendering enhances it. C. S. Lewis observed, "The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become--because he made us. He invited all the different people that you and I were intended to be . . . It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

What Makes God smile?

Verse to Remember:

The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love. - Psalm 147:11 (CEV)

You may feel that the only time God is pleased with you is when you're doing "spiritual" activities--like reading the Bible, attending church, praying, or sharing your faith. And you may think God is unconcerned about the other parts of your life. Actually, God enjoys watching every detail of your life, whether you are working, playing, resting, or eating. He doesn't miss a single move you make. The Bible tells us, "The steps of godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives" (Psalm 37:23 NLT).

Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure if you do it with an attitude of praise. You can wash dishes, repair a machine, sell a product, write a computer program, grow a crop, and raise a family for the glory of God.

Like a proud parent, god especially enjoys watching you use the talents and abilities he has given you. God intentionally gifted us differently for his enjoyment. He has made some to be athletic and some to be analytical. you may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. all these abilities can bring a smile to God's face.

Planned for God's Pleasure

Verse to Remember:

The Lord takes pleasure in his people. - Psalm 129:4a (TEV)

You were planned for God's pleasure.

The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. He wanted you alive, and your arrival gave him great pleasure. God did not need to create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. You exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight.

Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first purpose of your life. When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant. It proves your worth. If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have? You are a child of God, and you bring pleasure to God like nothing else he has ever created.

The Reason For Everything

Verse to Remember:

Everything comes from God alone.

Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. - Romans 11:36 (LB)

Right now, God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling the purposes he made you for. It's really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing. Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe.
First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you're not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you.
Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior. Receive his spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: "Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you." Go ahead.

Life Is A Temporary Assignment

Verse to Remember:

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

In God's eyes the greatest heroes of faith are not those who achieve prosperity, success, and power in this life, but those who treat this life as a temporary assignment and serve faithfully, expecting their promised reward in eternity.
Your time on earth is not the complete story of your life. You must wait until heaven for the rest of the chapters. It takes faith to live on earth as a foreigner.

Seeing Life From God's View

Verse to Remember:

Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. - Luke 16:10a (NLT)

Life on earth is a Trust. This is a biblical metaphor of life. Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God that he has entrusted to our care and management. We are stewards of whatever God gives us. This concept of stewardship begins with the recognition that God is the owner of everything and everyone on earth. The Bible says, "The world and all that is in it belong to the LORD; the earth and all who live on it are his" (Pslam 24:1 TEV)

We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth. God just loans the earth to us while we're here. It was God's property before you arrived, and God will loan it to someone else after you die. You just get to enjoy it for a while.

Made To Last Forever

Verse To Remember:

This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. - 1 John 2:17 (NLT)

Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever. The deeds of this life are the destiny of the next. We should be "realising that every moment we spend in these earthli bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus" (2 Corinthians 5:6 LB).

What Drives Your Life?

Verse to Remember:

You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. - Isaiah 26:3 (TEV)

Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no sugnificance or hope.
We were made to have meaning. This is why people try dubious methods, like astrology or phychics, to discover it. When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is beareble.

You Are Not An Accident

Verse to Remember:

I am your Creator.
You were in my care even before you were born. - Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)

There is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives. The Message paraphase of Romans 12:3 says, "The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what be does for us."


This poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.
You look like you for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

It All Starts with God

Verse to Remember:

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. - Colossians 1:16 (Msg)

It's not about you.
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.