"If we were more open to receive and implement into our lives the instructions of the word of God, we would not so often complain of the difficulty of the path we find ourselves upon."

"We all want to know what is our purpose in life, how do we walk with the Lord and know that we are in His will?"

So what is our purpose in life?

In John chapter 13 versus 33-35 Jesus says "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Christine and Lucy came to Guatemala for this reason. Christine specifically stated in her e-mail to me, "If ever you think that there might be a way that I could serve in this endeavor, I would be more than willing". To serve? That was her word. Jesus taught the lesson of serving by washing the disciples feet. Then He told them:

John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

As written in the Commentary Jamieson-Fausset-Brown: "not in the narrow sense of a literal washing, profanely caricatured by popes and emperors, but by the very humblest real services one to another." To serve.

Paul says in Galations 5:13 ¶ For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. To serve.

By LOVE, serve. I warned both Christine and Lucy about the possible dangers and difficulties here. But they both came to serve, God and the less fortunate here in Guatemala. And when they experienced both the dangers and subsequently the difficulties they decided to continue. To serve. Some may think their path difficult, others may think it foolish. Christine and Lucy seem to think God is in it, that this is His plan. We serve Him, and each other, and the people here. How? By letting God's love show to them, through us.

1 John 3:16-18 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

So it's all about love? That seems to be one of the big things Jesus talked about. Look at this example of a lawyer asking about eternal life:

Luke 10:25-28 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" [Jesus] replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

It goes without saying that our number one function in our life is to love God. We must do so every hour of every day. But what about that second commandment?

"Love your neighbor as yourself". We have heard this scores of times from many sources over many years. But wait, there's more to the story in Luke 10. The lawyer thinks he has fulfilled these requirements of loving God and his neighbors. Let's look and see what Jesus has to say about this:

Luke 10:28-37 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Note that the man who fell into the hands of robbers, a Jew, was in dire need of help. A priest and a Levite, both Jews, went out of their way not to help the man. The "neighbor" was a Samaritan, a Gentile, despised by the Jews. Even though the hurt man was his enemy, he provided assistance. But he didn't stop there, he even put him on his own donkey and sought shelter for him at an inn and cared for him overnight. And then, as if that wasn't enough, he paid the innkeeper and asked him to look after the man. Still not satisfied with all he had done, he told the innkeeper he would reimburse him for any extra expense he incurred.

The Jewish lawyer must have been shocked to hear that this was required of him. You see, he already knew that the law required him to love his neighbor and he was prepared to do so, until he found out that his neighbor was not necessarily his Jewish friends.

This parable tells us that our neighbors are not necessarily our friends, those who live next to us, or even those we work with. They may, however be these people or our relatives or those who attend our church. But they may also include others not within our circle of friends or economic status, and maybe even our enemies, as shown in the passage from Jesus below:

Matthew 5:27-31 But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

So, to sum up, we walk with the Lord by reading His word and being sensitive to His direction. Our purpose in life as followers of Christ is to love God with all of our being, and love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. But how do we know that we are in His will?

When we love God and read His word He speaks to us. He confirms and reveals things. He opens our eyes to new understanding. And He works in us (to change us by the renewing of our minds) and through us (by demonstrating His love to others). And then He allows us to receive the blessing! We are blessed as we allow Him to work through us! Fantastic! But be sure you don't misunderstand. Blessings are not necessarily gifts of a material nature or never having problems. What are blessings?

A blessing can be the joy of seeing someone who has been helped by (Christ in) you, it can be the joy of having been delivered by God from an insurmountable situation or it can be a simple experience that overwhelms you when God speaks something intimate to your heart. Or it can be suffering to a point of losing your "self" to God by coming to your end, then watching Him gently restore your joy. Blessings work hand in hand with submission; submit your life to God and He will surely repay your losses with blessing beyond your comprehension!

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Thank you for giving to the Lord...I am the life that was changed!