Good morning!
All of us have had thoughts about purpose - specifically our purpose. As believers and followers of Jesus, we see the source of our purpose being from God and that we find some direction on this front from God's Word.
Purpose. What a wonderful word. Or is it? If I do not know my purpose I may feel lost. Without purpose, what do we have that frames our lives, families, the work we do and the relationships we have? Where does purpose come from?
Some time ago a word popped into my mind as I closed out my evening prayer and reflection time before bed. And questions about this word "purpose". And an equation (sort of). Before I get to that, I think looking to God’s word about purpose helps. We see two pieces of scripture above. Some things about purpose that come from His word:
Do you believe we have a God given, chosen, created purpose? As you reflect on your work or your time in retirement, do you hear God affirming that He called you to this work?
So here is the equation I wrote down last night (maybe not even an equation but rather a way to tie some thoughts together):
Accepting my purpose (as God called me) = Surrendering to God (giving yourself to Christ) = Trusting God
Trusting God = Accepting my purpose = Surrendering to God
Surrendering to God = Accepting my purpose = Trusting God
Trusting God = Surrendering to God = Accepting my purpose
…and so on…
You get the idea.
A point I think I am trying to make is that God’s purpose for us, is fully bound up in having a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and the gift of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit. The deeper are personal relationship is with Jesus Christ, the more we are accepting God’s purpose, the more we understand what that purpose is…
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we open ourselves up to hear God share with us our purpose as He has it planned, putting aside what we came up with for our purpose outside of Him. Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
All of us have had thoughts about purpose - specifically our purpose. As believers and followers of Jesus, we see the source of our purpose being from God and that we find some direction on this front from God's Word.
- Ephesians 1:11-14 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
- Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Purpose. What a wonderful word. Or is it? If I do not know my purpose I may feel lost. Without purpose, what do we have that frames our lives, families, the work we do and the relationships we have? Where does purpose come from?
Some time ago a word popped into my mind as I closed out my evening prayer and reflection time before bed. And questions about this word "purpose". And an equation (sort of). Before I get to that, I think looking to God’s word about purpose helps. We see two pieces of scripture above. Some things about purpose that come from His word:
- (Ephesians) We were chosen – God chose us…wow
- (Ephesians) He has a purpose for us – His plan, His will, His purpose
- (Ephesians) When we put our hope in Christ, we are accepting God’s will for us, His purpose for us. This glorifies God.
- (Romans) Again, we are chosen – here it shares we have been / are called
- (Romans) If we answer this call, this choosing, it is interesting to see what that means – we become brothers, sisters of Christ, we become justified and God glories us (in eternity)
Do you believe we have a God given, chosen, created purpose? As you reflect on your work or your time in retirement, do you hear God affirming that He called you to this work?
So here is the equation I wrote down last night (maybe not even an equation but rather a way to tie some thoughts together):
Accepting my purpose (as God called me) = Surrendering to God (giving yourself to Christ) = Trusting God
Trusting God = Accepting my purpose = Surrendering to God
Surrendering to God = Accepting my purpose = Trusting God
Trusting God = Surrendering to God = Accepting my purpose
…and so on…
You get the idea.
A point I think I am trying to make is that God’s purpose for us, is fully bound up in having a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and the gift of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit. The deeper are personal relationship is with Jesus Christ, the more we are accepting God’s purpose, the more we understand what that purpose is…
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that we open ourselves up to hear God share with us our purpose as He has it planned, putting aside what we came up with for our purpose outside of Him. Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
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