Week 09

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

Scripture begins in a garden. Humanity walks with God and works the garden to cultivate it and care for the earth. Scripture also hints that our future is a return to a sort of garden. God intends to renew the earth and the heavens and bring humanity back to what it was like in the garden of Eden. With that comes vocation. Work is not a result of sin. There are hints in the scriptures that we will work in this future heaven and earth.

If work is not evil, and it is not going away, maybe we can learn to think of it differently than we often do. What if you had to do your job for the rest of eternity? How do you feel about that? Take a few moments to imagine what you would like to do if you had to do it forever. An interesting question, isn’t it? What does answering that question do to your perspective on vocation today? Deposited deep in the answer to these questions might be a hint about who God made you to be. After pondering that, ask yourself, “what can I do today to take one step closer to God’s design for me?”

By Aaron Bjorklund

 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. John 6:35-38

How do you think Jesus knew his personal calling? Often, I think we dismiss the process Jesus went through to discover his personal calling as the Saviour of the World. I’m not of the opinion Jesus knew who he was from birth, nor do I think the Father dropped this information into his subconscious one night in a dream. I believe Jesus went through a human process of discovering the will of God as he learned the way of his Father in Heaven and stepped into his purpose through obedience and empowerment by the Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus shows us the way of finding our personal calling.

With that in mind, reread today’s passage.

Perhaps Jesus discovered his personal calling from the story of his birth and the way his life matched up with all the prophecies in the Old Testament. Perhaps Jesus learned from his mother and father as they told him who he was and as he noticed his unique qualities starting to develop over time. Perhaps Jesus marvelled at the level of love and compassion he gained for every person on the face of the planet. Here, we see Jesus uncovered how his deep purpose was to submit himself to this world and offer his life for the benefit of others like bread.

We, like Jesus, can discover our personal calling by noticing some of the same things. We can map out our story and ponder the nuances that are uniquely characteristic of us. We can explore what makes us angry, breaks our heart, or moves us to action. We can layer our story over our passion over our talents (see yesterday’s Daily post) and we may be able to identify the area God can designed us to engage in for his Kingdom Renewal. Take a few minutes today to look at where your story, passion, and talents overlap by answering these questions:

1. What have you experienced in your life that has shaped who you are?
2. What makes you most angry, sad, disheartened about the world at large?
3. What talents do you have to offer in this area of passion?
4. How might you step into this space this week?

By Yvonne Biel

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this 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. Eph. 2:8-10 NIV

For 25 years I had one main job, being a mom to our 4 children. Our 4th child, Joshua, was born with moderately severe Cerebral Palsy. While my children were young, caring for all of their needs, teaching them, and helping them grow occupied all of my time. Because of the demands of my young family I couldn’t teach Sunday School or help with VBS. Later, I was unable to serve consistently because only a trusted nurse could take my place caring for Joshua’s many and complicated needs. I had many days with little sleep and my 18 hour day consisted of feeding, changing, repositioning, and assisting Joshua with breathing, with little time for anything else. Often I felt tired and useless in doing Kingdom work.

But, God had actually prepared me for this very important work of caring for Joshua. My mom was a nurse, my dad had worked with disabled adults, I had an elementary teaching degree, I have a stubborn streak that insists on rooting for the underdog, and I had loved and cared for babies and children since I was very young. My parent’s knowledge was invaluable in our journey with Joshua. My education and my personality helped us to advocate for Joshua in school and in life. When I was young, all I had ever wanted was to have babies so I could pour out all my love into their lives. Joshua lived to be 20, but his physical needs were much like a baby’s needs all of his life. God put me together exactly as I needed to be – so I could be the best mama for Joshua and for our other 3 children.

“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. I did not know we would have a disabled child, but God did. He prepared me, he gave me the best husband and support I could ever have. God showed me, in the midst of caring for Joshua, that my work was valuable, and caring for my family was exactly the Kingdom work God wanted me to be doing at that time. God has made each of us unique, “we are God’s workmanship.” How has God made you unique? What are your strengths, talents, abilities? Evaluate how the “unique you” can be used to serve God and others in your vocation.

By Grace Hunter

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. — 1 Corinthians 10:23-31

Several times, I’ve mentioned that my dad served in the US Navy. I remember times when dad spent weekends at his post, pulling watch duty and working on planes. Many times, my mom would drop my brother and I off at the base, and we’d spend the day with dad.It was always fun and very interesting. Dad let us play in the airplanes or he’d take us to various shops around base. Lunch by the end of the runway was the ultimate thrill as planes came and went.

When touring the hanger and workshops, we’d happen across tools used to repair airplanes or for loading bombs, rockets, and torpedos on planes. Some tools were easily recognizable, others were just too weird to describe. We’d ask dad what it was, he’d explain, and then end with his famous line: “Every tool or instrument has its purpose.” I remember that line even today, and can tell you it makes a huge difference when working on a car or around the house.

For me, I’ve often asked myself questions in relation to the Kingdom of God. What’s my purpose? What’s my role? Where do I fit? Review the scriptures above and I think our purpose is pretty evident: We’re here to glorify God in everything.

Easy to say, a little less easy to do. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” is what we read, and this pretty much means everything! So, to repeat, easy to say, hard to do. How do we glorify God in everything? We tell ourselves things like I work in the secular world. Or, I can’t talk things theological at work. Or, that guy just cut me off and I’m having a terrible day! The list could go on ad nauseum.

God’s created us to his glory. Living in this life can reflect glory towards God if we choose to do it. We’re not robots, we’re created with our own will. Whether we yield it to God is the choice we all make. Once we realize this, and surrender our will, the manifestation of that surrender will overflow into our daily life, causing renewal that will permeate all we are and do. But this begins with a personal choice to release and surrender. As you reflect on the scriptures above, maybe praying through the prayer below, you can begin the process of surrender and renewal.

Lord,

Your will is
My will.

Your desires are
My desires.

Your love is
My love.

Your vision is
My vision.

Your Kingdom is
My Kingdom.

Flood You into
Me.

I surrender
Me to
You.

By Rich Obrecht

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Genesis 2:15 

 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28

Genesis tells us God made men and women to take care of and subdue the earth. God designed people to work with the gifts, talents and passions he gave them. We were given work to bring greater good and renewal of all things. Work is not a consequence of the fall; it is part of God’s plan. Working is not evil; it has its God-ordained reasons. We are God’s beautiful people made to do God’s beautiful work!

Do you believe God’s work is beautiful? Do you like the work you do? We start doing work like chores as kids, then schoolwork, our first paid jobs, taking care of babies, traveling sales, taking care of grandma,etc. Let’s start this week by taking an inventory of what you do. Discovering what you do for work as well as how you regard it will give you valuable insight. Take ten minutes and make a list of everything you do, paid or not. Pick your own work timeframe whether it be a day, a year, your lifetime.

Take the list you made and use it to compose a Psalm (in the format of Psalm 136). After each phrase of what you do for work write, “I’m doing God’s beautiful work.” For example:

This morning I cooked breakfast,
I’m doing God’s beautiful work.
Today I led the Monday morning meeting.
I’m doing God’s beautiful work.
My friend met me for lunch.
I’m doing God’s beautiful work.
I helped a neighbor.
I’m doing God’s beautiful work.

By Donna Burns