The Jesus Driven Life

The biggest questions of all time certainly have to be, “Why am I here” or “What is my purpose in life?” On the surface, they do not seem like such bad questions, after all, the Bible does tell us that God has a plan for everyone's life (e.g. Jeremiah 29:11). But what is our purpose? Through this topic I am going to uncover what, or rather, who is meant to be driving our lives.


The modern trend
A cursory glance at the books on shop bookshelves and programmes on so-called Christian TV channels, reveal a trend in the church that is not only scary, but extremely dangerous. A trend that I call the Feel Good Faith. The main focus of this trend is self-help. It is designed to help people find themselves, their purpose, and to enjoy everyday life at the expense of righteousness.
There are 4 basic tenets evident in these teachings:

1. Happiness has taken the place of holiness
2. Prosperity the place of providence
3. Feelings in place of faith
4. Me, myself and I in place of the Holy Trinity

We are taught first to be lovers of ourselves, then others, then the world, and only then, if there is room left, whatever your concept of God is. In fact, we are taught that we are little gods ourselves, and will eventually become rulers of our own worlds.

These may seem to be a rather obvious perversions of the truth of the Bible, however, they have infiltrated the church with such subtlety that we have not recognised them for what they truly are, lies of the devil. I am not saying that their teachings are 100% false, but if you make a cake with the best quality ingredients available, mix in some of the best quality cyanide, it does not make the cake any more safe than if you used rotten ingredients. The cyanide in there is still going to kill you. The same is true of the teachings in the church. The fact that some of the best ingredients are there, does not negate the damaging effects of the cyanide that they contain. They will still affect you, and you will not realise it until it is too late.

To be perfectly honest, many of the teachings are not based in scripture, no matter what they try and tell you. They come from New Age, Buddhism, and the business world. Yes, they may quote Bible verses, but these verses have been found to support their teachings (called proof texts) and are taken out of context. Many times they are even misquoted, and also taken from paraphrase versions of the Bible that are 90% of the time out of context with the original text and meaning of the passage anyway (e.g. The Message). Some even go so far as to rewrite the verses to say what the preacher wants them to say.

Paul talks about these kind of people in the book of Philippians: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” (3:19). This verse is quite self-explanatory. Their desires are solely driven by their human desires and hunger. They do not seek after the things of God, they are wanting only what can satisfy them there and then. They are not concerned with righteousness or their eternity.

Being driven by Jesus
So what then is our purpose in life? What or who should be driving us? Quite simply, Jesus should be driving us. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. If we first look after ourselves, we will in fact lose ourselves (Matthew 16:24-25). But if we seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, we will find life. We will find our purpose, our supply of the things we need in life, and true peace, to name but a few (cf. Matthew 6:25-34). The things that God desires of us will become our desires, and not the other way around as is taught by today's false doctrines.

We need to be like Christ in all aspects of our lives. Putting aside the desires of the flesh, not trying to live an enjoyable life without the hassles we are told will come as children of God. We are not called to live our best life now, but rather a life dedicated to God, filled with the trials and tribulations that dedication brings, and then when Christ comes again we will be called to live with him forever. Living a life that will be better than we could ever hope to imagine. The things of this world are a poor reflection of the things of God, but when we join Christ in heaven, all will be revealed to us and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Conclusion
The things that we are being taught from the pulpit in many of the mega-churches, and on the TV, come from the devil, and not from God. DO NOT try to sift the wheat from the chaff of these teachers, for their poison is so subtle it will easily slip through the holes. Rather, avoid them altogether. If you are following any of the teachings I am talking about here, and I am sure I do not need to mention them by name, repent and turn back to the God of the Bible. By living a Jesus driven life God will give you the best life you could ever wish for, with much joy that nobody can steal from you.

NOTE: If you would like to know more about the teachings I am talking about here, please e-mail me and I will send you more specific information about them.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW