خدمة نور الحياة
Light Of Life Ministry

Have you ever wondered why you even exist? Do you feel that your life is just dragging on without any clear objective?
And if you have a clear objective that you are constantly working towards achieving and if you keep moving on from one achievement to the next; do you have that deep feeling of value and satisfaction?

The apostle Paul says: “ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10).
Not one person has been created by coincidence and none are mere ‘mistakes’ as some would put it.
God purposefully creates each person; He is never surprised or shocked when any one is born. David said: ‘For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb...... My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’ (Ps 139: 13,15, 16).
God Spoke to Jeremiah saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’
As such, there is a divine purpose for each of our lives, which we need to discover in order to attain, and only then would we experience our true value and our lives would not only be meaningful but also of benefit to us and to those around us.

Discovering that divine appointment is through an intimate and ongoing relationship with God, who reveals to you his purpose for your life. It is just the same as trying to operate a new machine or gadget without asking its manufacturer about how to do so, or without following the manual, you just wouldn’t be able to! That divine revelation is generally a gradual one, as is the case with most, if not all, the biblical characters. God leads us one step at a time so that we would not lose our way and that we would always stay close to him and not try to fulfil his plans and purposes through our own human strategies.

But first let us clarify what Paul says here: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The word ‘work’ in Greek is ‘poema’ from which originates the English word ‘poem’ meaning: creative artwork- a masterpiece. Each one of us is a masterpiece created by God with skill and mastery. A masterpiece can only be so called if it is not a replica of others.
That is how God created us, unique. No two people are entirely similar, not even identical twins; they each have their own set of fingerprints. God always leaves his mark in each of our lives.

Even when two people have a similar divine appointment on their lives; as Peter and Paul had (they were both called to evangelize in the name of Jesus. (Acts 2:40, 9:15), God still deals with each person individually to bring out a masterpiece of each ones life.

You may wonder whether all are created for ‘Good works’?
The answer is yes all are created for good works. There is however a very fundamental condition; which is to be in Christ Jesus. This means that we have to be united with Christ by accepting his atoning work on the cross, relaying only on his sacrificial death, without us offering anything in return for receiving eternal life and justification. Then only are we ready to receive those good deeds.

Those good deeds have already been prepared by God for each of us; the work is ready and waiting for us to perform. God is not surprised when someone accepts Jesus into their lives; he knows those who belong to him and has already prepared everything for their calling.
God has not only prepared a plan for our works, he prepares us for those works just like a potter would. He takes a piece of clay in his hands and places it on the wheel and shapes it by squeezing it gently at times or harshly at others. He continues to do so until he makes it into whatever he desires. After that he puts it in the furnace (life’s circumstances) until it solidifies and hardens, then he takes it out and starts to colour it brightly (the fruit of the spirit); next he places it back into the furnace where it now becomes ready as a vessel of honour, useful to the master (Ro 9:21, 2 Ti 2:21).
If any of the above steps are missed, the vessel would be ruined and would not be of any use but to be trodden under foot like any mud on the streets (Isa 10:6).

The Lord prepared Joseph, that spoiled child, when he was sold as a slave by his brothers, served in the house of Potiphar, was unjustly accused by Potiphar’s wife, was thrown into prison and forgotten by the cupbearer for 2 whole years. All of this only to let him come out of prison in God’s right timing when he had acquired all the skills needed for him to become the second person in authority over Egypt; and by that fulfilling God’s plan for him in saving not only his family and his father’s house but also the whole of humanity.
If Joseph had not gone through all of these stages, he would have remained a slave in the land of Egypt like all the other slaves.

Moses parents; who despite Pharaoh’s orders to drown all the male babies in the river (Ex 1:22), had the faith that saved him. They did not throw him into the river but hid him for three months because they saw that the baby was beautiful and were not scared of pharaoh’s orders (Heb 11:23). His mother got a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch and put him inside it. She left him at the edge of the river only for Pharaoh’s daughter to take him and bring him up in all the Egyptians’ wisdom all of which was most certainly for a divine purpose. Also his spending 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd had definitely played a part in developing his leadership and pastoral characters; so that he could lead a whole nation of around 2 million people from the land of slavery and into the Promised Land.

As for Bezalel, the Lord enabled him with all that he needed to make the tent of meeting. ‘ The Lord said to Moses, see, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, (Ex 31:1-4).
The Lord also prepared David who was a shepherd ever since he was young so he could shepherd God’s people in God’s appointed time. David experienced God’s protection and salvation and went through several new dimensions in his relationship with God so that he was a man after God’s own heart and was able to fulfil all God’s plans (good works) for him.
‘He testifies concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ (Acts 13:22).

If each of us then has a wonderful and divine plan, why are we still jealous and envious of the wicked like Asaph did when his feet nearly slipped? ‘But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant’ (Ps 73:2, 3)
Till he entered the sanctuary of God where he realized that God’s plan for him, even if it had some hardships that were necessary for his shaping and refinement, lead him (and us likewise) to glory. ‘… and afterward you will take me into glory’ (Ps 73:24)

At other times we are envious of other believers who seem to us to have a greater or a more important calling than ours. This seems to be Peter’s attitude when he questioned Jesus about John. ‘Lord, What about him?’ (Jn 21:21). Jesus answered, ‘… you must follow me.’ Meaning follow me whole heartedly and don’t busy your self with other’s affairs.
Every divine calling on each of our lives is wonderful and precious in God’s eyes. No one calling is greater or more valuable than another, because what matters is that it is divine and that it comes from a great God who gives each one ‘according to his ability.’( Matt 25:15). Since God made us, he is well aware of our capabilities and our potential which might be meagre but when united with Him can do wonders for his glory.

‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.’ (2 Cor 4:7).
‘Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.’
(1 Cor 1:26-29).

Jesus says: ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these,’ (Jn 14:12)
As such we are called to perform God’s mighty and extraordinary work. All we need is to believe in Him and in His might that is at work through our weak vessels preparing us for his glory, in the same way that his might worked in the bodies of Sarah and Abraham enabling them to reproduce after being barren, thus fulfilling God’s call on their lives by having Isaac.
(Heb. 11:11)

The Almighty God, who knows no impossible, calls me and you to do his mighty works. He has planned for these works and he equips us with all that is necessary for their completion, and he moulds us so that we can achieve his calling on our lives.
Therefore, all that we have to do is to accept his calling and to submit to his daily leadership in order to fulfil his calling through Him and for Him.

The clarity of one’s vision and purpose , the genuine desire to fulfil God’s work, the faith in his character and the ongoing submission to him will give the believer the power to walk on the heights like a skilled deer to reach the target and achieve amazing results.