Tag Archives: Purpose

Love on Purpose

08 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in Love, Purpose

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God is love. God so loved the world. God so loved you. God gave Himself. God loves on purpose.  John 3:16, 1 John 4

God’s love for you:

  • Is patient and long suffering.
  • Is kind and abounds with acts of goodness that are useful.
  • Does what is best for you.
  • Isn’t conceited and boastful.
  • Doesn’t keep score, especially of your offenses.
  • Rejoices with the truth.
  • Bears all things.
  • Believes all things.
  • Hopes all things.
  • Endures all things.
  • Never fails.

There is one way and only one way to love as God loves.  And that is to allow God to love you as only He can.  As you genuinely experience His love, you will find yourself responding in love.  You will come to believe you are worthy of His love – not because you have earned it but because He has chosen you. His love will fill the gaping holes in your heart.

As you become rooted and grounded in His love for you, you will start to see others as worthy of His love, too – not because they have earned it but because He has loved them, too.  And this changes everything.  Loving for the sake of loving.  Loving on purpose.

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I want you to love on purpose.  The first thing you must do if you want to love on purpose is to be honest with yourself about your current love life.

A few years ago, I got brutally honest with myself.  I said I loved God, yet I wasn’t even spending time with Him in His Word every day.  I wasn’t passionate about doing life with Him.  Yes, I was going to church and doing what Christians do. My goodness, I was the pastor’s wife. Yet my heart was not hot for God.

I prayed, “Father, I know you love me. Your love for me has never changed. I love you, too. But I want to love you more. I want to need you like a plant needs water.”

All I can say is be careful what you pray.  LOL  The Lord brought a series of circumstances my way that caused me to rely on Him for love more than I ever had before. Although the pain was deep, I wouldn’t go back and unpray my prayer.  Today, I spend time with Him in His Word just about every day – not because I should but because I need to.  I like the me doing life with Him much more than the me doing life on my own.

I choose to be loved on purpose so that I can love on purpose.  I dare you to pray the same prayer.

 

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Live on Purpose

06 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Plans, Purpose, Reflection

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I thank God for you and I pray for you.  I want you to live life on purpose.  I want you to live life in such a way that it pleases God and pleases you.

Yet when I look around, I seldom see this type of living.

I see women jumping from one seemingly urgent task to the next.  I see women exhausted and spent.  I see women barely keeping it all together.  I see women trying to do and be everything.  I see women who feel like they have to justify why it is okay to sit down for a few minutes and do nothing.  I see women doing life but not living life on purpose.

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I want to encourage you to do life on purpose.  Why are you here?  What are you suppose to be doing?  What is your purpose?  If you can’t do it all, what should you do?  What should you let go?   How do you make your choices?  What guides you?  Do you feel like you are enough?  Who do you go to when you have a tough decision to make?  Do you feel like you are living your life in a way that pleases God?  How do you know?  What are you basing your opinions on?

The first step to living life on purpose is to acknowledge that you were made by God for God.

All things  have been created through Him (God) and for Him (God).  Colossians 1:16

That includes you.  Have you ever thought about God’s purpose for you?  He has one specifically designed for you – it even includes the number of days you will live.  If you find this hard to  believe, read Psalm 139:1-18.  It will delight your heart.

 

A Needless Death

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in Faith, Meaning of Life, Need

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Needless_Alley_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1282956August already!  How is your summer going?  Have you been doing life with Jesus?

When you hear that question, what do you think about?

When you hear that question, how do you feel about yourself?

Do you understand what it means to do life with Jesus?  Perhaps it is a new thought for you.  Perhaps you have questions about it.  Perhaps you carry a lot of baggage about it.

One of the very first things we need to realize about doing life with Jesus, is that it is about believing.  It is about faith.  If we get faith right, we get life right.

The Christian life is lived the very way it begins.  It starts with faith and it is lived by faith.

We begin the Christian life when we hear the gospel truth about Christ and believe it.  The moment we believe, we receive the Spirit of Christ.  We have new life by faith.

We live the Christian life the very same way.  We hear God’s truth about some area of our life and we believe it.  The moment we believe the truth, we receive the enabling work of His Spirit.  We are able to live in a new way by faith.

Just as we cannot earn our own way to heaven, neither can we live the Christian life on our own. To think we can is pure arrogance.  It suggests that Christ died needlessly. Galatians 2:21

When we live as though it all depends on us, we are declaring that Christ died needlessly.

We begin the Christian life when we rely on the work of Christ to save us.

We continue the Christian life when we rely on the working of Christ and His Spirit within us to transform us.

Declare your need of Christ – not just for salvation but for all of life.  Depend on Him. Do life with Him.

 

It’s Not about You!

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Faith, Meaning of Life, Plans, Purpose

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My life is not turning out the way I thought it was going to.  Is yours?

Yes, I make choices that impact my life.  But as an almost ’60something’, I realize so much of this crazy thing called ‘life’ is beyond my control.  Sometimes things turn out the way I expect and other times, I’m completely baffled.

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Psalm 139 clearly states that God has a specific plan for my life. He knows my beginning, my ending and everything in between.  He knows my thoughts and my words even before I say them.  He knows where I am going and what I am doing.  He knows what I am planning to do today and He knows what He has planned for me today.  And somehow in His Godness, He takes my choices and writes the story of my life – the very life He designed for me even before I was born.

We see this same principle in the life of so many Bible characters.  They made choices. Others made choices that impacted them.  And God used it all to write His story!

  • Joseph and his brothers
  • Moses and his parents
  • Rahab and the spies
  • Esther and her people

And the list could go on and on.

God is writing His own story!  He is the main character in each and every story!

It’s not about me.  It’s not about you. It’s about Him!

Some might say this diminishes our life story.  I would argue that it elevates it. We are all part of something bigger and grander than ourselves. We are part of His amazing story. The more we embrace this truth, the more we experience rich meaning and lasting purpose in life.

So when my life doesn’t turn out the way I thought it was going to, I remember I am part of His story.  He is the Author.  He is writing His story and I’m honored to be part of it.

 

What is that smell??

14 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Gospel, Grace, Purpose, Witness

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Did you know a bad smell can wake you up out of a sound sleep?  I can tell you from personal experience that it can.  One night our entire family had gone to bed and everyone was sound asleep.  Suddenly, all of us – but one-  found ourselves in the hallway asking each other, “Ugh!  What is that disgusting smell?”  Our family still laughs about that night to this day. But we weren’t laughing that night!  LOL

Just as a bad smell can send you running, a good smell can draw you in.  The smell of freshly baked cookies, the smell of lilacs, the smell of homemade bread, the smell of a roast in the oven, the smell of a freshly cut tree…

How about the ‘smell of Christ’?  Are you spreading the fragrant aroma of Christ everywhere you go?  Does your smell draw people to Christ or send them running in the opposite direction?  Is your smell sweet? Is your smell inviting?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  2 Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:5-12

When I think about being a fragrant aroma for Christ, I feel inadequate.  Paul felt that way, too.  He actually asked, “And who is adequate for these things?”  Thankfully, our adequacy is from God.  He has made us new.  He has placed us in Christ.  He has given us His Spirit.

Be a fragrance of Christ today – everywhere you go!

 

 

Another Church Day!

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Church, Love, Purpose

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Another Sunday! Another chance to go to church!

The Corinthians had a big problem at their church.  It was ripe with division and strife.  It was so bad that when they had the Lord’s Supper, they didn’t even view it as a group activity but as a chance to individually get their own belly full.

They forgot the purpose of the Lord’s Supper was to proclaim Christ.   Christ should have been the focus – not them!

They forgot to be givers.   Others should have been the focus – not them!

They forgot God places each individual in His church just as He desires to accomplish His purposes. God’s work should have been the focus – not  them!

Today as you head out to church, remember why you are going!

Go to proclaim Christ!

Go to give!

Go to further the work of God!

1 Corinthians 11-13