Introduction
I was introduced to Ravi Zacharias' talks and books about fifteen years ago. He has had a profound effect on how I communicate and defend the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The way that he always answered an intellectual question yet never forgets the desires, longings, and pains of the questioner in his answer has been inspiring. The pain and suffering of life cause many to question God's goodness and even His existence. One of my favorite books penned by Zacharias is "The Grand Weaver." Today, I bring you several of my favorite quotes from that book and a talk that Ravi presented in 2017 on God's purpose plan for your life.The Passing And The Abiding
"You have no idea how [God] can use you as salt and light in this world. Whether you realize it or not, you're an influence. You influence people, and He brought you from non-being into being...God has a specific purpose for you to fulfill. When you find that out, your last breath will be one of delight in saying, 'I'm waiting for the divine accolade 'Well done, well done.''""God takes you from mere existence to meaningful existence. He brings you into a new set of hungers, a new set of delights, a new set of wants, and new paradigms by which you measure you life. This is so unique in the Christian life. It almost can take place in a moment, but you know that it is spread across time...It is only this Judeo-Christian worldview that talks about a new birth and the new life...It is not only the greatest mystery, but it is the greatest astonishment when you realize you are not exactly who you used to be."
Quotes From "The Grand Weaver"
"Faith is a thing of the mind. If you do not believe that God is in control and has formed you for a purpose, then you will flounder on the high seas of purposelessness, drowning in the currents and drifting into nothingness."
"The moral law serves as a profound reminder that in God there is no contradiction. The moral law stands as a consistent, contradiction-free expression of God's character. if I violate this law, I bring contradiction into my own life, and my life begins to fall apart. This is why a humble spirit, as it honors God, realizes how near and yet how far it is from God."
"God reinforces his call as we respond to his nod. If we were to set the final design in prospect, we would find ourselves acting on the basis of self-love and pragmatism- and then, who would need faith? God often reinforces our faith after we trust him, not before."
"The Christian faith, simply stated, reminds us that our fundamental problem is not moral; rather, our fundamental problem is spiritual. It is not just that we are immoral, but that a moral life alone cannot bridge what separates us from God. Herein lies the cardinal difference between the moralizing religions and Jesus' offer to us. Jesus does not offer to make bad people good but to make dead people alive."
"More than anything else, prayer enables you to see your own heart and brings you into alignment with God's heart. Prayer is not a monologue in which we imagine ourselves to be communing with God. Rather, it is a dialogue through which God fashions your heart and makes his dream of you a reality. It is truly the treasured gift of the Christian that through direct answers and not-so-direct answers, the follower of Jesus begins to love God for who he is, not for what he may get out of him."
"Yesterday's victory doesn't guarantee tomorrow's. The relentlessness of the enemy of our souls demands that we remain ever watchful, and that's the hard part. We want results without effort. We want a lifestyle, but we don't really know what life is about. We want success without having to pay the price to get there. We want straight A's, but we don't want to study. We want a blessed marriage, but we don't want the effort and commitment that it takes."
"The major step of making a choice to follow God entails one nonnegotiable commitment: to recognize the mission of your life not so much as a profession but as a measuring stick by which you will gauge your progress for life itself. Out of this emerges a commitment that your life express total submission to God's will."
"A conviction is not merely an opinion. It is something rooted so deeply in the conscience that to change a conviction would be to change the very essence of who you are."
"If we walk in the known will of the Father, he reveals aspects of his will not so easily known. The hard part is to do that part of his will we already know."
"...how easily we take for granted the gist of being 'normal." Sometimes those of us who have been blessed the most seem to be the least capable of seeing God's gracious hand on us."
"No one is made righteous before God by keeping the law. It is only following redemption that we can truly understand the moral law for what it is- a mirror that indicts and calls the heart to seek God's help. This makes moral reasoning the fruit of spiritual understanding and not the cause of it."
"The ends can never justify the means. The means must justify themselves. This makes living as a Christian difficult because we often feel tempted to compromise our foundational beliefs in order to attain some pragmatic end."
"God can call us by slow, encouraging methods as well as by dramatic ones. The real challenge is to ponder how we come to terms with God's sovereign working and how we respond to his plan and calling."
"It is God's vital purpose in positioning you in life and giving you the vocation and context of your call to serve him with a total commitment to do the job well."
Conclusion
We all have the desire for purpose in our lives. We all want there to be a reason behind the sufferings we and our loved ones endure. We want to know that there will be justice service for the evil in this world. And we all want ultimate and final forgiveness for the wrongs that we have done. It is only at the Cross of Jesus Christ that we find fulfillment of these deepest desires.This is not just an argument from desire, this is a recognition that we have these desires. Jesus Christ makes a claim of what that purpose is, what the reason is, that justice will be served, and that forgiveness is available to all who sincerely ask. He proves that all His claims are true by resurrecting from the dead. I invite you to investigate the evidence for the answer to your deepest desires, to accept Jesus Christ, and to embrace God's plan for your life and the eternal joy and satisfaction that will result from that decision: Did The Historical Jesus Rise From The Dead?
It is by the grace of Jesus Christ that Ravi Zacharias leaves a tremendous legacy. For more resources by Ravi, please see these links:
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)
RZIM's YouTube Channel
Ravi Zacharias- Now With Jesus
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