Emerging Generation

📖 On Philippians 2:5-11…

Often people excuse selfishness, pride, or evil by claiming their rights. They think, “I can cheat on this test; after all, I deserve to pass this class,” or “I can spend all this money on myself— I worked hard for it,” or “I can get an abortion; I have a right to control my own body.” But as believers, we should have a different attitude, one that enables us to lay aside our rights in order to serve others. If we say we follow Christ, we must also say we want to live as he lived. We should develop his attitude of humility as we serve, even when we are not likely to get recognition for our efforts. Are you selfishly clinging to your rights, or are you willing to serve?

Credit: Life Application Study Bible

Have you ever heard two different people tell the same story? It’s amazing how their experiences can be the exact same, but their perspective can be completely different. A perfect example is a couple during a breakup. They shared the same conversation but had dramatically different reactions. One of them says, “It was mutual,” and the other says, “He’s a monster!” The incident was identical, but their interpretation was incompatible.

READ: Colossians 3:2
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

Paul is urging his friends to actively set their minds on what’s above them, not just what’s around them. He is not telling them to ignore their surroundings. Rather, he’s urging them to
conceptualize what they see with what they believe. You can see that he is setting up two concepts to consider: the present and our perspective. Focusing on one doesn’t make the other vanish; adversely, it’s a call to to uncover the harmony of the two. When you blend them together, it’s life-changing. This passage encourages us to perceive life on Earth through the lens of heaven by letting God’s truth permeate your perspective.

Looking around can be pretty intimidating right now. The local news now looks like a scene out from thriller movie. The economy is shifting as quickly as a family game of Monopoly. All the plans you made for the upcoming year are being questioned or cancelled. Looking around is frightening but looking up is faith-building. Set your mind on things above. Instead of looking at what’s being taken away, look at what’s being given to you.

God wants to give you the gift of a fresh perspective. Perhaps this pandemic can bring your family closer together. Maybe it can help you evaluate what’s really important in life. Maybe
God wants to spark a virtual revival. Maybe all of this free time will allow you to pursue new passions or cultivate your creative side. Whatever God wants to give you, it will require you to “set your mind on things above” and see your psychical surroundings with spiritual eyes.

Reflection Question:
Where in your life do you need to seek fresh perspective?

📖 On Malachi 1:6-8...

God's law requested that only perfect animals be offered to God (see, for example, Leviticus 1:3). But these priests were allowing the people to offer blind, crippled, and diseased animals to God. God accused them of dishonouring him by offering imperfect sacrifices, and he was greatly displeased. The New Testament says that our lives should be living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1). If we give God only our leftover time, money, and energy, we repeat the same sin as these worshipers who didn’t want to bring anything of value to God. What we give God reflects our true attitude toward him.



Credit: Life Application Study Bible

1️⃣ God goes with you.
“It is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

2️⃣ God will accomplish his will.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. (Psalm 138:8)

3️⃣ God gives wisdom.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

4️⃣ God will meet you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

5️⃣ God works where you cannot see.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)


Credit: desiringgod,org article by Stacey Pardoe

Hi EG, I'm starting a new series here where we read together Bible commentaries on specific passages in the Bible. May you find these bite-sized words of wisdom encouraging for your everyday!

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📖 On Exodus 5:22-23...

Pharaoh had just increased the Hebrews’ workload, and Moses protested that God had not rescued his people. Moses expected faster results and fewer problems. When God is at work, suffering, setbacks, and hardship may still occur. In James 1:2-4, we are encouraged to be happy when difficulties come our way. Problems develop our patience and character by teaching us to:
(1) trust God to do what is best for us
(2) look for ways to honour God in our present situation
(3) remember that God will not abandon us, and
(4) watch for God’s plan for us.


Credit: Life Application Study Bible

"Fear is the belief that God is not with you."
— "Be Still" Spoken Word by Gloria Umanah

https://youtu.be/WuJ7m-mnixc

"Be Still" Spoken Word | Live at Youth America Camp This video or segments of this video content (including words and/or audio) may not be repurposed, reproduced, or shared as an opener or creative element at ...

We're watching history unfold before our eyes. This unprecedented situation will be in textbooks for the rest of human history. There will be movies about it. There will be documentaries about it. And we are living through it right now. This leads us to a blunt question. Why does living through history have to be so...stressful? It’s stressful to feel isolated. It’s stressful to miss your senior prom. It’s stressful to see such long lines at the unemployment office. It’s stressful to have to graduate on a Zoom call.

When this pandemic is over, it will be a story we tell for the rest of our lives. We want to help make sure your story is worth telling. That is why we want to process the pandemic together. Yes, it’s frightening. Yes, it’s frustrating. However, it’s possible to flourish despite all the fear.

READ: Esther 4:13
“And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

People in church circles throw out the phrase “for such a time as this” like it’s candy at a parade. I've seen this passage plastered on posters and coffee mugs, but what does it really mean? In context, this verse serves as a correction from a prophet to a princess. An ancient preacher named Mordecai called out a ruler named Esther for living a self-focused life instead of stepping into the calling God had for her. It’s a reminder that we are put on Earth to serve someone greater than ourselves.

It’s possible that God is calling you “for such a time as this” too. God has given you specific skills and a concise calling to accomplish. Sure, you aren’t the queen of a war-torn country, but you certainly carry influence in your social circles. God didn’t place you in this era of human history by accident. God wants to bring something great out of these grim circumstances, and you get to play a part in that purpose.

What does God want to do through you?

You don’t just want to go through this pandemic; you want to grow through it. That’s why it’s pivotal that you learn how to fix your perspective, process your pain, and uncover your purpose during the pandemic.

Reflection Question: How have you been feeling during this pandemic?

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."
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The historical demonstration that in everything God works for good is the cross.

If we had been present the day of Jesus’ death, would we have seen anything other than an act of gratuitous violence? If we had been followers of Jesus, would we have walked away in despair saying, “What was the purpose of that? Why did he have to die?” At best we might have concluded that the cross served to unmask the evil that lurks in the human heart. But evil triumphed. What else could one conclude?

Yet to quote Joseph in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Joseph had been left by his brothers for dead, yet God preserved him to become second in command to Pharaoh to further the purposes of God’s chosen people. The cross, that which was intended for evil was—in the plan and foreknowledge of God—the means to redeem lost humanity. If God can bring good out of the crucifixion of his Son, then he can bring good from any horror that befalls his children.

J.I.Packer brings the implication of the cross home:
As believers we find in the cross of Christ assurance that we, as individuals, are beloved of God; the Son of God loves me and gave himself for me. Knowing this we are able to apply to ourselves the promise that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Not just some things but all things! Every single thing that happens to us expresses God’s love for us, and comes to us for the furthering of God’s purpose for us. Thus so far as we are concerned, God is love to us—holy, omnipotent love—at every moment and in every event of every day’s life. Even when we cannot see the why and the wherefore of God’s dealing, we know there is love in and behind them; and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. We know that the true story of our life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, “mercy from first to last, and we are content.”
📝 Excerpt from 'Discipleship Essentials' by Greg Ogden

The power of sin is broken
Jesus overcame it all
He has won our freedom
Jesus has won it all
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me
Death could not hold You down, You are the risen King
Seated in majesty, You are the risen King 🧡

Tetelestai (It is finished).

“With one word, Jesus marked a turning point in history of humanity and the fulfillment of the long-awaited, desperately-needed promise (John 19:30). Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, endured enormous pain, shame, torture, and humiliation for you and for me. ✝️ Because of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice required by God was given on the cross. Because of his perfect sacrifice, the debt we owed was paid in full. And because our debt is paid, we are forever reconciled to God. We are able to live —and act— from a place of power and victory through Jesus Christ.

Today as we reflect upon Good Friday, I encourage you to hold on to the assurance of God’s complete forgiveness and full restoration of your life. A life fully loved, fully forgiven, fully redeemed, and fully freed from sin. The most horrific death is a stunning picture of God’s love, grace, and faithfulness to us.”
📝 Written by Christine Caine

🎵 The Happy Song, Delirious

📖 Psalm 43:4 “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.”

📝 The final goal of life is not forgiveness or any of God’s good gifts. The final goal of life is God himself, experienced as your exceeding joy. Or very literally from the Hebrew, “God, the gladness of my rejoicing.” That is, God, who in all my rejoicing over all the good things that he had made, is himself, in all my rejoicing, the heart of my joy, the gladness of my joy. Every joy that does not have God as the central gladness of the joy is a hollow joy and in the end will burst like a bubble.

Isn’t this amazing! Here is man [David] threatened by enemies and feeling danger from his adversaries, and yet he knows that the ultimate battle of his life is not the defeat of his enemies, it is not escaping natural catastrophe, it is not being healed from cancer. [*The author at the time of writing this article had been diagnosed with cancer]. The ultimate battle is: Will God be his exceeding joy? Will God be the gladness at the heart of all his joys?

And the final stage of his prayer is that this light and truth would lead him to express this joy that he feels in God. Verse 4 at the end: “And I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” Authentic joy in God will overflow with praises. In fact, as C.S. Lewis says in his book Reflections on the Psalms, “we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” It’s not wrong to say, “We were made for God.” It’s not wrong to say, “We were made for joy.” It’s not wrong to say, “We were made to praise.” But it is more fully true to say, “We were made to enjoy God with overflowing praise.” This is the ultimate goal of life.

✏️ Written by John Piper, excerpt from “I Will Go to God, My Exceeding Joy” desiringgod.org

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