Purpose, Connected to God

Whether you have been following Jesus for 4 months or 40 years, we never cease from needing to be reminded of God's constant grace and unwavering love. When we forgot those truths, we are tempted to deal with our issues in all sorts of unhealthy ways. We may suppress what's going on inside of us, become comfortable with dysfunction, seek to solve our problems ourselves, or believe that God will only love us after we get our lives figured out. Not only will these ways of trying to deal our issues not bring the transformation Jesus wants for us, but we may find that our unresolved issues leak out onto the people closest to us. Pastor Jon shared how this was the case for him throughout the week. He was feeling angry and unconsciously tried suppressing it. He also felt shame for not being able to change his emotions and embarrassment for even having these emotions as a Pastor and a longtime follower of Jesus. Freedom came when Pastor Jon spent some time alone with God in prayer. God reminded him that he couldn't be loved or forgiven any more than he already is. He also realized that he had been directing his anger toward Yolande. Pastor Jon confessed this to God and to Yolande and asked for forgiveness. He then asked Yolande to pray for him. Pastor Jon then shared a story from scripture of a community that had become comfortable with dysfunction and how Jesus brought freedom to a man possessed by a legion of demons, wholeness to a woman who needed healing, and life to a little girl. When the man possessed by a legion of demons begs to go with Jesus, Jesus sends him back to his town to share with his community what the Lord has done for him. The point Pastor Jon emphasized from this story is that the person's problem became his opportunity to discover his purpose.