I Am His Purpose

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Thank You, Lord, for making my life a part of Your reason and purpose even though I fall short all the time.

Pleasing God vs. People

[S] Acts 24:23 --
27 But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.

[O] Felix, under the pressure of trying to favor the Jews imprisoned him and then left him in there fully knowing Paul did not deserve to be in there.  There is a picture of someone trying to please others resulting in decisions to persecute the innocent (and in this case godly) people.  I get wrapped up in other people's opinions that I paralyze myself from making the right decisions or at least the ones from the bottom of my heart.  But then, it was God's purpose and will for Paul's being left in prison which leads me to two takeaways: 1) When doing God's ministry, don't try to please other people but God; 2) God is bigger than any bad decisions I make to bring forth His plans.

[A] God has been working in my heart on the topic of trying to please others a little too much which may hinder God's timing and this passage was a good re-enforcement for that.

[P] Dear Jesus, thank You for working in my heart always to be more aligned with Your purpose and plan for and through my life.  May my heart be like the iron being hardened and sharpened as I go through the trainings You're putting me through.  In Your name.  Amen.

Ministry is Hard Work

[S] 2 Timothy 4:5 --
5  But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

[O] In contrast to those who are merely interested in listening to good words according to their own desires, Paul preaches to those followers of Christ to be sober, endure, work, and fulfill their ministries.  Following Christ's ways is not a walk in a park but demands a dedicated effort with proper goals to move forward.

[A] As we embark on the new level of our small group ministry, I am convicted by this passage that we have to endure some hardships, do the work of evangelists, in order to fulfill our ministry.  We just had the Upward, Inward, Outward, and Forward seminar where we were to draw out 4 month plans for each group.  I'd like to follow up and support each group to set some goals to follow through in the upcoming months for expanding our ministry.

[P] Dear Father, grant us the victory from the complacency into hard-working to pursue Your ministry that you entrusted to us.  May our small group ministry move onward through our dedicated hearts working together in Your name.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Don't Forget the Original Calling

[S] Genesis 9:1; 11:8 --
¹And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
⁸So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

[O] Despite God's charge of filling the earth (Genesis 9:1) the people decided to build a city and stay put in that one location.  God was not pleased with that and by confusing them with different languages, He dispersed the people from there over the face of the whole earth.  God's commands for us are not just for fun but for real and when we align our lives accordingly, God's wonderful plan will come true; if not, He will find a way for us to follow in the end.  Building up of the city itself was not the issue here but their intention of going against God's directions of filling the earth and staying there.  They lost the original purpose and took their own paths along the way.  When I am doing God's ministry, the task of building up a community (or church) itself is not necessarily the focus but with what purpose I am serving in His ministry.  Am I serving blindly so engulfed into building the ministry (or the "city") and losing the focus of Jesus' commands of spreading His goodnews?  I constantly need to remind myself of the original purpose for the ministry He's put me in.

[A] I need to be very careful about serving in church ministry in order not to fall into the trap of running programs and forgetting why we're running them for.  Daily reading of His word and asking Him to guide my 24 hours/day will be a requirement for me to stay on track without falling into these traps.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to lead my heart such that I will not lose focus of your original purpose for the ministries You put me in charge of, big or small.  May I not be like these people who are so involved in building up the city that they lost Your callings.  May Your will be done through my obedience and faithfully serving You daily.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Had To Pass Through Samaria

[S] John 4:4,6 --
 ⁴And He had to pass through Samaria.
 ⁶and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

[O] As you know, Jesus didn't have to do anything but He chose to pass through Samaria with a purpose -- to meet this Samaritan woman at the well.  He didn't have to be born into this world just to die on the Cross but He chose to do just that.  Because He was a full human, his body was wearied from the long journey He took to meet this woman; and for the same reason He was physically broke down when he took the path of the Cross.  Why all this for?  Because He had the purpose of being the pure sacrifice to wipe away clean our sins.  To the last breath He took, He chose to live out a purpose-driven life here on earth.

[A] Being wearied cannot be an excuse for not choosing to live out God's purpose for my life.  I am physically beaten lately due to many things going on and tendency is to put my life on neutral and just coat along for a while but Jesus' model here encourages me to switch my focus on how I may live out an intentionally driven life for God's purpose for me.  This means even if I may slow down a little to give some breathing space, I must go to God with urgency to find out His calling for me so I may live it out intentionally.

[P] Dear Father, continue to show me Your ways and purpose for my life.  I want to overcome the weariness by going all out to live out Your purpose for me almost like a good offense is good defense.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Let's Not Be Speechless

[S] Matthew 22:12 --
 ¹²and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.

[O] The man ended up in the marriage banquet and enjoying the feast with others but when he was asked how he came in there without the proper clothes, he could not answer, meaning he didn't know how that happened either -- i.e., who gave him permission to join the banquet.  Before he was asked this question, he did not think about why he was enjoying the feast.  This is one of the traps we must avoid where we just do things without really knowing why.  It could be just going with the flow or peer pressure, but in the end it's I need to know what I am doing rather than mindlessly going along so that when I am asked this type of a question, I would have a clear response back.

[A] Today on the Thanksgiving Day, I'm inviting some guests over for a dinner time together for a fellowship.  I am preparing my heart so that there may be a time to share about how we need to guide our lives with a clear purpose so that we won't be "speechless" when asked of how we got where we are headed.

[P] Dear Father, please grant through the working of Your Spirit today to have a wonderful time with guest and may Your love and presence fill this place.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Got Purpose?

[S] John 20:31 --
 ³¹but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

[O] The Book of John starts out with a bold statement of the Word is God and also became flesh (Jesus).  He also recorded many signs of Jesus from water turning into the finest wine and raising Lazarus from the tomb.  The book is filled with lots of exciting stories and a very personal perspective of all that went on with Jesus as one of the disciples closest to Him.  But in the end, John leaves this verse as the ultimate purpose of why he had recorded this book -- that we may believe in God and have life in His name.  Many times, when I'm so busy with activities in a project, I may forget the end goal and get lost in the details of the process along the way.  Same is true when I'm delve into the ministry at church where there are so many components to juggle and refine, I lost the ultimate focus of why I started it in the first place.  As John closes his book here, I, too, must remember and remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing.  Is it for the sake of people drawing closer to God and eventually enjoying the fullness of life in Him?

[A] Each morning when I wake up, recite myself the purpose of my living another day in the Lord's leadership.  Remind myself it is not to make a name for myself, or for greatest gain materially, but to be conduit of the Love and Life of Jesus to many others I come in contact with.  Remind myself every morning.

[P] Dear God, I want to live purpose-driven day.s every day.  Please lead me with Your Spirit such that I may synchronize my heart each morning by reciting my purpose for that day.  This way, when I have lived a whole year of 365 days, I would have lived a year with a clear purpose.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Hidden In His Quiver

[S] Isaiah 49:1-2 --
    ¹Listen to Me, O islands,
         And pay attention, you peoples from afar
         The LORD called Me from the womb;
         From the body of My mother He named Me.
    ²He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
         In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
         And He has also made Me a select arrow,
         He has hidden Me in His quiver.

[O] God has indeed created me from the beginning (womb) and He desires to keep me until the right moment arrives to use me in the way best suited for my purpose.  In His quiver, I am one of the sharp arrows ready to be launched into the ministry God intended for me and until then, He is going to conceal me until the right moment.  The big question is will  I be ready when He calls my number?  I sure hope so but that's a scary question.

[A] Through this passage's picture I just described, I am more than ever challenged to keep up my daily lessons with Jesus through the personal devotional time because I believe I am formed into that arrow prepared for the right timing through a daily process of learning from the Master Himself.  The weekend's have been toughest for me to consistently do the Life Journaling with so many activities going on but I need to start the weekends with the devotional time regardless.

[P] Dear Father, what an amazing picture you gave me through this arrow being hidden and protected until ready for your purpose.  I am the extension of the Israel your Servant and I, too, have been created and named by You.  That's a privilege I need not forget and with it my heart races faster to serve You more and more as I commit my life to You.  Please keep me closest to Your heart.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Who Has the Bird Brain?

[S] 1 Kings 17:4,6 -- 
⁴"It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."
 ⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

[O] God commanded the ravens to provide food for Elijah, and they indeed obeyed these commands.  It is truly amazing to think that even the bird recognizes God's commands and obeys exactly -- for breakfast and dinner.  Their obedience was used to achieve God's purpose of keeping alive Elijah in order for him to carry out a greater task for God.  I don't know why God chose ravens to do this job, but I would associate ravens with dirty scavengers unsuitable for carrying out a good cause.  But even such a bird adhering to God's commands is used to take part in God's assignments.  So, if more of us understand God's commands and obey to the fullest, we just may witness more of God's plans unfolding around us.

[A] If the bird-brain can be used to do God's tasks, then shouldn't my human/intelligent brain be able to do much more?  That's what I aim to do -- seek His commands for me and simply obey them completely.  Not just when I feel like it or when I have time for it.

[P] Dear God, may my faith and obedience increase beyond the capacity of the raven's life.  I want to take part in Your wonderful purposes here and I realize that is going to start by my obedience.  Please continue to teach me to hear and obey Your commands.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Find Purpose and then Stick To It 100%

[S] 1 Chronicles 22:9 --
Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.

[O] God instills a clear purpose for each life that He brings into this world. Discovering that should be the most important task we can carry out because then we can live aligned according to His plans. Here we see that God tells David the purpose of his son along with his name. God says He will give Solomon "rest from all his enemies on every side." Solomon may have been the instrument but ultimately it is God who is in control and Solomon was used when he was obedient to His calling. At times I think I am going to prepare myself through training and experiences to great works for God. While this is a good motivation, I must first learn to hear what God's calling for my life is and then avail myself to obey that to the fullest.

[A] As I raise my children, I also need to pray and guide them to find out God's calling for them more so than to walk the path I want them to follow.

[P] Dear God, I bow down before You for Your greatness; how wonderful it is to know that You care for each one of us by name and by our special callings while we live on earth. Please reveal in me, my wife, and my children's hearts the purposes You desire in each of us as well as in our family as a whole. We desire to follow that wholeherrtedly. In Jesus' name. Amen.