I promised to stick all of the things I was looking over on my "what is the reason?" binge up here, so I'm going to do that.

First off, I think that just believing there is a reason for you out there is half the battle. That's right, faith. It keeps us breathin'. Okay, so obviously your faith has to be in the right place. Goes without my saying. Me, I feel like all I'm really doing right now is making sure I'm available, and trying to get ready. For whatever. And that seems pretty clear-cut to me, because what else matters in this world besides fullfilling your purpose? That's what everybody wants to do; people just want to feel useful.

I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God, 1 Corinthians 1:17-31, As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas." [Isaiah 29:14] So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense.

Smile, you're on Godcam.

It makes me feel all mushy when I see this word in the Bible: predestined. That's the absolute only place I wouldn't laugh outright at the word being seriously used, for obvious reasons. Read Ephesians 1:3-4. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure... God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure... Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. Lovely scripture.

And that's the whole deal, the ultimate "paid-in-full" contract. It also negates the idea that God gets off on being mysterious with His people. God knows perfectly well how important communication is, ya know? He's obviously into words; the Bible must be the most perfectly-written book ever.

John 14 & 16, Jesus said He must leave in order for another Counselor to come and be with us always. "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you."

1 Corinthians 2:9-16. Best. Scripture. Ever. I've just got to put it all here. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all. How could they? For, "Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?" But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Okay, so feeling The Love in that is easy enough; feeling The Reason not so much. I hate going into the whole "renewing the mind" and thinking on "good things" sermon, so I won't, but... Your desires follow after where you put your attention. A scripture I find really interesting on this topic is one that isn't pulled out all that often. 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 and gosh I love Paul. Very thought-provoking right here. Anything is lawful unto me, but not everything is beneficial. Anybody that knows me at all knows I'm very anti-legalism. Motto-scripture material.

2 Corinthians 1:17-22 says It is God who gives us, along with you, the ability to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us. I really don't understand how anyone can read the Bible and not see the important role the Holy Spirit plays in the life of a true Christian.

Okay. So. There's that.

[Bible used: New Living Translation]