B Care | April ‘15
Made to thrive
People are designed to thrive—to flourish as individuals, and together as friends and
communities.
At Baptist Care we are seeking to promote individual and community thriving as we serve with
the churches to transform lives.
God wants us to be found in Christ, safe and sound - with a wonderful destiny ahead. God
wants us to be transformed through a lifelong apprenticeship with Jesus. But God wants so
much more for us as his loved children. God wants us to thrive - so that we know his life to the
full. That full life is a foretaste of the magnificent future we have as all things are restored in
Christ Jesus. In Christ, God gifts us, that abundant life right here and now, in all its joys and
possibilities.
God designed us to do far more than merely survive.
He intends for us to experience life to the absolute full. A great life is not some sort of
exception, rather it is the kind of life God planned for his people. This thriving life is what Jesus
meant when he said: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV). Thriving is the kind of life Jesus talked about when he said:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full” (John 15:11 KJV). Thriving is the kind of life the apostle Paul was talking about when he
said “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans
8:37). God wants us to thrive, not merely survive.
This is not a preoccupation with triumphalist upbeat living. We are very aware of our broken
human condition. Rather it is that power from God that is necessary to break through tough
times and thrive. We will challenged to thrive in the face of trouble, trial, trauma and terror.
We will be called to thrive when things look hopeless and grim. Many situations require God’s
capacity to raise us with his strength - so that instead of becoming a defeated victim of our
circumstances, we can shift to thrive and become a victor over our circumstances. As we trust
in God, we discover the reality of Paul’s words: “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). That’s thriving!
Serving to Transform Lives
www.baptistcaresa.org.au
B Care | April ‘15
There are other situations where Christians are called to bring about thriving in others. We are
called to challenge injustice and bring life and right conditions to those who are vulnerable,
exploited and abused. We can shift injustice to thriving by bringing compassionate care,
demonstrating love and mercy and standing up for justice, which often means going against the
tide of common public behaviour. Promoting thriving communities requires us to heed the
word of the prophets to “let justice roll down light a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). It is to heed
the words of Jesus in his mandate in Luke 4 to bring ‘Jubilee’ hope to our world to correct
injustice wherever we see it.
We will be called to promote thriving by honouring God in a world that is openly opposed and
rebellious about God’s word and denies his ways. This will take obedience to his purposes and
designs on our lives, submitting to him as the Lord of life. God’s “will be done on earth as it is
in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) will become the hallmark of the Christian who thrives in the midst
of confused morality and insipid ethics.
While these situations challenge us toward higher living, we are moved and motivated by the
ever-present promises and potential of life with God in all its rich blessings and unshakable
hope. When we abide in Christ, we gain the fruit of his Spirit and rise to life beyond the norm.
In such a life we thrive as we serve recognising that life is less about self-centred interests and
more about serving God and others in so doing we find our greatest peace and joy. In the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s great future of the restoration of all things has begun and we
are now walking in blessed hope to the glory of God.
The capacity to thrive begins with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as the one who came to
restore our broken humanity and our relationship to a holy God. Restoration and reconciliation
are God’s precious gift that he gives us freely. As we choose to agree with God that Jesus is the
rightful Lord of life, and the Saviour of the world, and we follow him as the only way of
salvation - we discover the only true way to thrive in the journey of life. Without such a
discovery we remain lost in sin and sorrow.
Our capacity to thrive continues as we embrace the word of God and becomes involved in his
body - the church. Within the faith community we are equipped and shaped to serve God and
his kingdom and the net result is a life that is thriving.
Pastor John Beasey, Enfield Baptist (adapted with permission for B Care newsletter)
Serving to Transform Lives
www.baptistcaresa.org.au