• God's purpose and calling for us is to be transformed and conformed into the image of His Son Jesus. Thus, who we are becoming is the most important aspect of our lives. Our ministry and leadership should only be the overflow and outflow of our spirituality in Christ. Becoming like Jesus can only come from being with Jesus and living, loving, and leading like Him in this world. That is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us together with others. Our spirituality must be relational, first with God and then with others.

    1. God's laws are good and holy. They promise blessings on those who would obey them. But, because of the weakness of our flesh, i.e., our natural powers and inclinations, we cannot obey them as much as we want to. Thus, instead of receiving God's blessings, we incur God's wrath. Our lives are now characterized by sin and death. We try to overcome these realities but we always fail because God is not in the picture. Such is the history of mankind. It takes wisdom and humility to admit that we cannot save ourselves apart from God. But we keep trying nevertheless. All the "do-it-yourself-and-try-harder" advice that we've been getting from the world's system only drives us away from the true source of peace - God. Only God can give us true peace in our lives. His "shalom" (i.e., His free gift of peace and total well-being) can only be experienced by His grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the righteousness of God.

      1. The life of a true believer in Christ is now energized by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now at work in our hearts to make us willing and able to do His will. It's now possible through the Holy Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirements and blessings of God's law. However, this is not automatic. We have to keep in step with the Spirit. This involves paying attention, discerning, and obeying the promptings of the Spirit. Over time, the fruit of the Holy Spirit will become evident in our lives, as we are transformed from glory to glory toward maturity in Christ. Let us then practice this spiritual discipline so that God will be glorified in and through us by grace through faith.

        1. Ultimately, God's plan is for His redeemed people to become conformed into the image of His Son so that they can inherit a new creation and take care of it as He originally planned from the very beginning. This is the "good" that He is aiming for and He is working in, with, and through us to accomplish it. The good news is that He will accomplish it in His own time. For now, we may have to endure all kinds of sufferings, trials, and setbacks. But it is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us together with creation on that Day. Lord Jesus, come!

          1. Suffering is one of the more important ways that God uses to form us into the image of Jesus. When we are going through suffering, it's important to listen to God. Complaining or being bitter and angry because we are suffering will not produce the righteousness that God desires for us. It would be better to pause and pray, and to listen to the still small voice of God. Paying attention and being aware of the movements in our soul will often reveal our false attachments and false selves. Desolation can be fertile ground for our transformation.

            1. People long for peace. We are weary of conflicts and wars. Ironically, we also lash out in anger toward those who are involved in such things, thus perpetuating more conflicts ad infinitum. In anger, we fight and hurt those we disagree with. We shake our fists and throw rocks at them. So, where does it end? Unless we surrender ourselves to God through faith in Jesus and submit to His ways can there be real peace. He alone is our peace. He is the only one who can turn our weapons of destruction into tools of love and brotherhood. Apart from Jesus, and His work of transformation in us through the Holy Spirit, we will always end up hurting each other.

              1. Let us be thankful to God for any achievements that we might accomplish in our ministry. Our work for God is truly by grace and there's nothing wrong in rejoicing in it. But there's something more important that we should rejoice in, the work of God in us. His work of transforming us into the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus, is the greatest and most wonderful work of all. This work is the foundation of all other work that we can do in His name and for His glory.

                1. In this world, we will have many troubles. This is to remind us that our hope must always be in the Lord. But some of us look at troubles as challenges that we must overcome. So we strive with all our might and wisdom to overcome them. Interestingly enough, we often succeed. This poisons our minds into thinking that we can manage life without God. This is one of the main reasons why self-control is needed in prayer. This is also one of the reasons why prayer is commanded, not suggested.

                  1. Even though Jesus preached to the crowds, and many of them became disciples in a general sense, His primary task was to raise up special disciples called apostles, whom He trained to become like Him. He focused on them, especially during the latter part of His life and ministry. He modeled for them the way of spiritual leadership, not the way of organizational leadership. They were not trained to occupy fixed leadership positions like that of the synagogue rulers or the Sanhedrin. They were trained to become like rabbis or teachers who walked around making other disciples just like He did. This is why He taught them to become servants first, just like He was. That's how spiritual leaders must lead.

                    1. Our salvation is for the sake of others, not just for ourselves. To see it otherwise is to miss the greatest adventure of all - to be used by God for His glory while we are here on earth in preparation for our future roles in the new heaven and new earth. Let us focus on the bigger picture so that we won't lose heart in the midst of temporary setbacks or sufferings. God is at work in us so that He can work through us. This is the purpose of our salvation.