The Monday Memo from John Stanko

545: Training for Reigning

Greetings from Kenya!  The hotel Internet was down yesterday, so I could not send you this last installment from my series on Purpose in Revelation. It is back up now, so let’s finish up this topic and be ready to move on to something else next week.  If you missed the first six entries, you can read them here. This week we look at Revelation 3:21 and what Jesus promised the seventh church if they became overcomers: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

A MAN OF PURPOSE

Jesus was a man of purpose.  He came to earth on a specific mission, which perhaps is best summarized in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” The interesting thing is that Jesus has ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He continues to fulfill His purpose.  He is still seeking and still saving.

Heaven for Jesus is not a place of idleness or worship.  It is a place of purposeful work.  If that is the case for Jesus, then it will certainly be the same for you and me.  We will find our purpose here and will continue our purpose there.  I don't know exactly how that will happen, but in the new heaven and earth, you and I will still be people of purpose.

When Jesus returned from the dead, He had full memory of what had happened to Him.  In some sense, His years prior to His death were the foundation for His reign after His resurrection.  What you are going through now will serve as the same for you. That is why Jesus is working in your life now, to prepare you for your purpose work here and in the hereafter.  In other words, you are going through training now so you can be reigning both now and then.

PAY THE PRICE

What will it take for you to be victorious and earn the right to reign with Jesus?  What must you overcome?  There are certainly obstacles without and within, but the rewards for overcoming both are fantastic! I pray that God will strengthen you this week to set a course for reigning that will empower you to succeed. I went back to school at the age of 57 to earn another degree and saw it as part of my training for reigning.  I write every day because that is part of my training for reigning.  i am Kenya now with a team of others, because that is part of my training for reigning. I think you get the idea.

I want to pay the price to be a great leader, empowered by God's grace to reign now and later. I invite you to join me in this magnificent journey.  Jesus' throne is wide, there is plenty of room for everyone, so let's get on with the task of purpose and see where it takes us now and in the age to come.  Thank you, and have a great week!

*************

KENYA UPDATE:  There is still time to give to the Kenya project as you can read here.  You can also follow my travel blog while here in Kenya at this link.  Please follow along, pray, and then give to help the children. Pictured at left are the bosy of the Each One Touch One Orphanage that we visited last Saturday (with Pastor Jeremiah Thomas). Help me to help and feed them! 

Also I will be holding a Purpose Profiling Seminar here in Nairobi on Saturday, March 31 in partnership with Irene Mureithi of Royal and Rich.   I hope to see my Kenyan friends there.

540: Play Without Fear

Last week I started a seven-part series on Purpose in the book of Revelation.  Most people go to Revelation to look for the Antichrist; I go to find purpose.  I think I have a better chance of achieving my objective, but I will leave that for another time.  If you missed last week's first installment, you can find it here.

DEATH

Each one of the seven churches in Revelation was promised some reward if they were faithful to overcome and be victorious.  "What were they to overcome?" you may be thinking and that is a valid question. We aren't really told, but there are clues in the promised reward.  This week, we look at the second promise for overcomers found in Revelation 2:11: "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death."

The second death is the final judgment when everyone who has not put their faith in Jesus will receive their eternal reward. Now if you are free from fear of the second death, you have been set free from the ultimate fear - separation from God and judgment. That means you also don't have to fear the first death, which is your physical one when you cease from this life.  If you are free of fear, then you should be able to live your life in a manner that sets you apart from those who are not free from that fear:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15).

PLAY WITHOUT FEAR

When I played basketball years ago, the worst opponent to have was one who played without fear. They were not afraid of getting hurt, taking a risk or playing aggressively. They always seemed one step ahead because they flowed without thought to personal harm or failure. We would say they played big no matter how tall they were. May I suggest that this is how you and I should live our lives?

We should be able to live without fear, for the greatest enemy death has been defeated through the cross of Christ. Yet I find fear still the major debilitating factor for most as they pursue purpose.  I know it is for me. 

When I write, I have to fight fear that I won't finish or it won't be a quality work. When I speak, I have to press through fear that I won't make sense. When I am in a restaurant, I am fearful to send my bad food back because I don't want the people to think poorly of me.  You get the picture; fear is my enemy and it is yours, too.  Fear of death is the ultimate one we have to deal with. The good news is that it has been dealt with for us.

Are you playing the game of life without fear? I hope you are learning to do so.  If not, you will always be looking over your shoulder for the next bad thing that can happen and you will play small.  I urge you to learn to play big and do the work that God created you to do.  Have a great week!

*****************

FREE PURPOSE SEMINAR:  I am hosting a purpose seminar next Saturday, February 18, from noon to 4:30 here in Pittsburgh.  If you are interested in attending, please write and let me know.

KENYA HELP:  THE Kenya trip is fast approaching and I need your help.  Please make a contribution today to help feed orphans and widows, and to establish libraries and learning centers in Kenya.  You can give through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.  Thank you!

539: Your Garden Work

When I was in Zimbabwe last December, I taught on the topic of purpose in the book of Revelation. Now that's something I imagine you haven't heard anyone else try to do! Since I love risks, I thought I would take the next few weeks, seven to be exact, to share with you what I talked about there. If it doesn't work out, we can blame it on the Antichrist!

THE GARDEN

Jesus came to restore all things that were lost when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. Before they sinned, our parents freely ate of the tree of life.  They had fellowship with God, purpose, creativity and the ability to work together as a team.  When they fell, they lost all that, or at least it was marred by their sin.

The evangelical church has emphasized, rightly so, that Jesus came to offer us forgiveness for sin and to restore our fellowship with God. The problem is that the message has stopped there. The church has done little to tell people, "Once your sins are forgiven, your fellowship with God also enables you to have purpose, be creative and work in a team with others."  Therefore believers forfeit much of the finished work of Christ due to ignorance. Their sins are forgiven but they are cut off from "the tree of life," which in part is purposeful, joyful work.

That brings us to the book of Revelation and to what I call your Garden Work.

THE TREE OF LIFE

The book of Revelation contains many references to familiar symbols from Old Testament, like the Temple, tabernacle, and covenant. This is to indicate that what was begun in the Old Testament was finished in the New through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  There are two important passages that indicate Jesus restored what was lost:

1. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7). 
2. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambdown the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2). 

So if the tree of life is once again available to God's people, then that means the conditions of the Garden have been restored and you are now free to pursue what I call your Garden Work, or purpose, because of the finished work of the cross.  Since God paid such a high price to restore your ability to flow in purpose, don't you think you should urgently be about finding and fulfilling it?

The message of Revelation is not one of fear, but of liberation. The Lamb is on the throne and reigns, and that means that we reign too.  Part of our royal rule is to function in purpose and finish our Garden Work under God's direction with your gifts and creativity once again rightly related to God. I hope this series helps you live in the fullness of Christ's work for your life.  Have a great week!

 ************************

FOOD FOR MIND AND BODY:  Our supplies are heading over to Kenya, and I am getting ready to go over on March 15 - but I need your help!  $550 came in last week so we are on our way to raising the second half of The Big Blessing $25,000 goal.  Read the latest from Pastor Peter in Kenya here (the picture at left is of two young men who are waiting for the library) and then please do what you can to help me provide food for minds and bodies over there. You can give through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

WWJA: I started my latest daily devotional called What Would Jesus Ask? on January 1 and it is going well.  If you would like to check it out or subscribe to receive it every day, you can do either here.

MEMO INDEX:  Did you know that every Monday Memo I have ever written is on my website?  Did you also know that there is an index with the title, topic and biblical cross references for each Monday also on my site. To browse through any of the 538 prior Memos, you can go here.  Next month, the Memo turns 11 years old! 

ISRAEL 2013:  Just so you know, I have postponed my next trip to Israel until September, 2013. If you are interested in information when it is available, drop me a line and let me know.