PJ's Journal

 There is a lot of conversation around the question, "What is my purpose?"  As people,  most of us like to know the WHY behind our life.  Rick Warren wrote a best selling book called, "The Purpose Driven Life."  You may be familiar with it.  It became so popular because people want to know that their life counts.  As a believer in Jesus, I have settled that question long ago.  My purpose was spelled out for me in Ephesians 1 (and many other passages in the Scriptures).  God created me to live for the praise of His glory.  He chose me in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight and predestined me to be adopted as His child to the praise of His glorious grace.  Three times in one sentence the Apostle Paul reminds believers what their purpose is... that you and I might be for the praise of His glory.  Perhaps none more clear than verses 11 and 12... 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things

 As I read through the Old Testament this year, I am consistently amazed with how God challenges my thinking.  This year my focal point has been the theme of God's glory and our dependence upon Him in the battles we face daily.  Of course it should not surprise us to know that the Bible is about God and that He is the primary character throughout the narrative.  He is the creator and our covenant making God who makes it abundantly clear that His glory will not be shared.  He even calls Himself a jealous God.  Those two words don't seem to fit in the same sentence.  As a matter of fact, many have leveraged those words to paint God to be some petty being who is threatened by others.  When, in fact, the narrative uses these words to communicate that God is the only God and to glorify any other "god" or person is to commit idolatry.  And since God is God alone, He is the one for whom all glory is due.  So God is not threatened but rather offended.  This would be like my w

 One of the teachings from Scripture that has challenged me over the years relative to my own struggle with temptation and my relationships with others is Eph. 6:10-18.  This passage has many rich truths in it that orient my thinking as to the identity of the real enemy and to how to effectively navigate the spiritual battle that we are all in.  Paul begins by saying,  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." (Eph. 6:10) Right off the bat it is a reminder to me that my strength does not come from a strong will or a disciplined mind, my strength comes from the Lord.  I am strong in Him and in His mighty strength.  How often do we attempt to overcome temptations in our own strength?  We attempt to overcome the temptation to worry by trying to control everything around us.  We press on to overcome lust by just trying harder next time not to look or give our desires a foothold.  We attempt to overcome the temptation to gossip or slander someone by trying