My Viewpoint

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Woman of Grace Internet Magazine</B></FONT><B>     |   </B><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Woman of Grace Internet Magazine"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Feature Article"><U>Feature Article</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Women in Ministry"><U>Women in Ministry</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study "><U>Bible Study </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Graceful Parenting"><U>Graceful Parenting</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="From a Mans Perspective"><U>From a Man's Perspective</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Conferences"><U>Conferences</U></A>   |   <B>My Viewpoint</B>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guest Book"><U>Guest Book</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFF99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Jesus is the most precious person we know.  He deserves our time and love.  He has come to give us life.  His life.  </div> <bR> <div> We can live life from the inside out.  Jesus said, "Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.." </div> <bR> <div> God's life starts inside.  Then the rest of "life" gets figured out from the great new life directing us from within!</div> <bR> <div> Just trust Jesus!</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>My Viewpoint</I></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Bradley Hand ITC" ><B>What is my purpose?</B></FONT><B> </B> by Becky Elmore</div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >   I believe every human is faced with this question at some point in their life</FONT>.  It is a stop dead in your tracks question.. a ponder on for hours, days, years, or a lifetime question.  Why are we here?  Why did God create us?  What should I be doing with my time, thoughts , energy, and life?  We go through our whole life not really living with a purpose.</div> <bR> <div>       <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >God says we are full of purpose because of Him</FONT> (Colossians 1:16.)  We were created by Him and for Him on purpose.  If we were created on purpose, then we must have a purpose for continuing to live.</div> <bR> <div>       <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >As humans, we might think that our purpose in life has something to do with us and we look to ourselves for answers.</FONT>  Am I in the right job?  Did I marry the right man?  Am I the right kind of mother?  Did I do enough good deeds this week?  We put so much pressure on ourselves that we lose sight of the fact that God took that pressure from us at the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).</div> <bR> <div>       <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >When Christ's blood was shed at the cross </FONT>for our salvation and He rose again, He created a new race.  2 Corinthians 5:17 states "Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold, new things have come (NIV.)</div> <bR> <div> As new creatures we are:</div> <div> blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)</div> <div> seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6)</div> <div> hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3)</div> <div> sealed with His Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)</div> <div> reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 1:22)</div> <div> alive to God (Romans 6:11)</div> <div> at peace with God (Romans 5:1)</div> <div> never forsaken (Hebrews 13:5)</div> <div>     </div> <div>       All of God's promises are "yes and amen in Christ Jesus"<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> (2 Corinthians 1:20.)       Our purpose in life is not what we work towards or who we try to be, but it is what we believe.  Christ has given us promise after promise in His Word.  His very Word is His promise to us.</div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >    I hope that your purpose in life can be what God intended.. to rest in the work He has finished and to believe in the Truth of His Word.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Becky Elmore and her Husband Chuck minister the Gospel of Grace through Bible Study, Church teaching and ministry, conferences, with Chuck's music ministry accompanying their message.  Please contact them through the Woman of Grace e-mail address: tsg4@cox,net</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Archive Articles</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>The Store Room</B></div> <div> by Sherry Green</div> <div> A store room is a handy thing to have.   When I was a kid, my aunt had a great attic, and my grandma stored things in the storm cellar. These were very interesting, curious places to me.  I remember peeking into these rooms wondering, " what is all this stuff?"  Our house, when I was growing up, was not old fashioned so our storage space was unromantic.  We had a basement big enough for storage and riding tricycles in, which to "us kids" was more practical anyway.  I recall looking through a box of old books, once, but mostly we just played around the boxes and never cared what was stored.    I'm sure it was great through the years for my parents to be able to stuff things away and deal with it later when there was time. </div> <div> I bet if families were to compare, our store rooms would probably look similar.  Boxes are stacked, sacks of clothing await sorting.  There is an old rocker that needs fixing, knic-knacs, precious keepsakes, bed frames, baby toys - its all piled in there together, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Sometimes this cleaning and sorting of our stuff in storage gets put off for years. It becomes a dreaded task, overwhelming, which by the way is a common feeling amongst us "store it" people who attempt order out of chaos occasionally.  We stand there, if you could see it -all with the same look on our faces, scratching our heads, not knowing where to start.  There is no professional "sorting person" to call or pay to do this job.  You're stuck with the details -what to get rid of, what to keep, from baby toys to college text books. </div> <bR> <div> So here you are in the attic, or store room whatever the case may be... just sitting there.  In the quietness you think about how time went by, musing over bits of this and that, remembering.  Too sentimental to throw much away.  "Life is in such a big hurry...  every day is a race."   And here you sit on a box, surrounded by the physical proof of time passing, the rubbish and the treasure of it overflow together.  </div> <bR> <div> Life is ...well... just that way.  It happens fast.  You were so busy living there was no time for the rest.  And by now this old stuff in storage really brings back  memories.   You realize, poignantly, that you're sorting more than just the physical things of your past.  Every box speaks of a era in your life. What you were thinking then? ...what priorities -foolish or wise, ruled the day?  What happened to those youthful hopes and dreams, the person you wanted to become someday, the great adventures you wanted to set out on?  As the years passed you put childish dreams aside like old pajamas you grew out of.  You believed it would happen when you were grown up..  later on.  Then, life gets aggressive, and you tuck the tender hope of childhood back in the box it came in, safe from harsh reality.  Dreams are put away deep inside.. far out of sight. The store room of the heart gets cluttered. </div> <bR> <div> There is a real store room of your heart.  If you could walk inside your heart you'd see it.  On one side the room is empty except for  an unmarked cardboard box.  Very peculiar, you think, I don't remember what this box is.  But, on the other side of your heart, you turn to see the distracting mess; Oh, no ... memoirs you wished you hadn't kept, several stacks of outdated priorities, cares of life that should have been thrown away, cob webs of worry over the future, past relationships that didn't work out, and a few faded aspirations. On top is your old highschool book bag, still containing your life-time goals folded up inside, graded by your teachers and  peers.  Back in the corner is the old cedar chest of dreams you saved.  Overwhelmed you decide to put this project off.  Its too much to deal with. </div> <bR> <div> But, as you turn to go,too frustrated to sort it all out, and hoping to close the door of your heart once again, you see the mystery box off to the side by itself.  "Might as well open this one box... it can't hurt to at least take a look ...  can't recall what I stored in here.."   This is when you make your greatest re-discovery of something -someone precious from the past...</div> <div>        </div> <div>  "Wow, look what I found!!  My old friend Jesus! I forgot about Him! I left Him here in a box!  Kind of a dusty old box, too.  Amazing.. Jesus never changed.  He shines just as bright and radiant as ever.   .. Jesus, I'm so glad you're still here.  You are the best thing in my life... <I> You are my Life</I>! </div> <bR> <div> When you discover Jesus, the storage room of the heart is taken care of.  You can let everything else go.  Jesus fills everything, all in all. </div> <bR> <div> If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, He abides within your heart.  Nothing can alter His perfection and radiance -not time or life.  You cannot quench His Life within you, or His love for you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  </div> <bR> <div> No one can get life sorted out "right" without Jesus Christ.  Jesus would like to challenge you today as the Author, and Lord of your life to give all life's details past, present, and future to Him.  <I> Let Him possess you</I>.  He promises it won't be in a dusty box in the store room of His heart.</div> <bR> <div> ".... Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and <B>Let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith.. " </B> Hebrews 12:1-2 </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Woman of Grace Internet Magazine"><U>Back to home page</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>