40 Days of Purpose

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – John 13:17 (NIV)

It’s time to get on track and put focus on those things which will have everlasting significance.

Writing things down solidifies them in our minds and gives us a concrete reference.

Your life statement should:

• Summarize God’s purposes for you life
• Point the direction of your life
• Define “success” for you
• Clarify your roles
• Express your shape

As in the book the 5 questions to answer are…

Worship: What will be the center of my life?
Without God at the center you will never find your real purpose. God should be in everything you do, and everything you, for God.

Discipleship: What will be the character of my life?
Develop those character traits that reflect God in you life.

Service: What will be the contribution of my life?
Describe what service you can perform in your church.

Mission: What will be the communication of my life?
Your passions for others and experiences you can share.

Fellowship: What will be the community of my life?
Your relationship with other believers.

Aim everything for the pleasure and glory of God. Make sure he will be pleased with you and, “serve the purpose of God in your generation.”

“Live fife with a due sense of repsonsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life, but as those who do.” – Eph 5:15 (Ph)

We need to diligently keep track of or spiritual life, to make sure we are keeping on the right path.

It takes a conscious decision and practical steps to honestly evaluate how you are doing and then to take steps to correct and adjust where needed.

The five purposes give us 5 areas that we can evaluate ourselves on. As these encompass what we need to do, they give us a good reference piont for our spiritual health.

To keep these in check, 4 activities are proposed.

Talk it through with our spiritual partner of small group. “As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other,” and “Encourage each other and give each other strength.” When done together with someone else, you learn more and can encourage each other.

Give yourself a regular spiritual check-up. By checking, you can pinpoint those areas where you have gotten better and what still needs improving.

Write down your progress in a journal. We are quick to forget the lessons of life and the blessings we have received.

Pass on what you know to others. “The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.” It is our responsibility to pass on what we know.

We do all these things as we give glory to God and show it to others through these things.

Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.” – Mark 16:15 (NCV)

God’s plan for us is to go into the world and share the Good News about him. His plan is not for us to sit back and take it easy and just enjoy the blessings I receive. I need to get out there and tell people.

Eventually everyone will be told of the Good News, we need to be a part of the completion of that task. We need to shift our perpectives from self-centered to God-centered. We need to go ahead and serve others, and part of that is telling them about the truth and what God has done for us personally.

Going into the world to share the message means the whole world, perhaps for some people it may mean overseas travel but for others it may be sharing locally to people who need our help, right within our community. Needs are everywhere, just keeping your spiritual eyes and ears open you help you see them.

Pray for all those you come into contact with and those you don’t. Prayer can overcome anything, not everyone will like what you have to say, but when God works in their heart, they won’t be able to resist.

“Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.” So put your eyes on the eternal, that which matters for all eternity. Invest in eternity by doing your part in the mission that God has sent you on. Stuff that happens from day to day only matters now, once you pass on to eternal life in heaven it won’t matter at all.

Changing our thinking to a mindset of thinking of ways to share the gospel is an important step. How many ways have you thought of to bring God into your conversations and interactions with others. If you’re like most people, we just tend to get on with things and sometimes hope God steps in. But we need to initiate things, make those efforts to share, make an action plan of how you will share with others, after you have done that, sharing will become much easier, it’s just something new we need to learn.

All of our excuses come to nothing in the end. When we come before God, are you going to justify non-action? God will not like that. So shift your focus to where it needs to be and do it with urgency, because time is running out.

We only have this time here on earth to bring people to God.

Sharing about God in not a pain in the butt experience, something like doing the laundry or washing dishes. It is an experience in sharing the hope and joy that you have because of the love of God.

The four aspects mentioned are your testimony, life lessons, Godly passions and the Good News.

Your testimony is your story of how God has helped you and made difference for you. The example of the courtroom is a nice one, as it makes it clear that we are not to argue to case for Christ, but simply share our own experience. This is a far more effective strategy as people don’t put up walls of defence like they do if you just preach the right way to them. God draws people to himself, you just need to give evidence of how you have experienced it. Your life before meeting Jesus, your realization of your need for him, your commitment to him and what difference he has made in your life make up this testimony.

Lessons we learn in life are part of our life message. If we don’t learn anything from life then we are not mature enough to see those lessons. Life is full of lessons, we just need to keep our eyes open to learn them, and then change our ways.

Your passions show much about yourself, and sharing your Godly passions shows much about your commitment to God. They show how you have used God’s gifts for the benefit of others and spreading his kingdom. They show where your true allegience lies.

Finally our life message includes the news of what Jesus has done for us. He stopped our sins blocking us from God. We have been forgiven, and forgiven by the highest authority on love. That is something you have to share with others. It is your responsibility to share that with everyone around you who does not know. It is the loving and faithful thing to do.

Spread the news with the urgency it deserves because the time is coming when you can no longer do that.

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of this age.” Matt 28:19-20 (NIV)

Just like the early Christians, we have the responsibility of telling others the good news and sharing about Christ. This is our mission to unbelievers. And as its given to us by God, our mission is of utmost importance in our lives.

Jesus gave us a perfect example of how to carry out that mission. Just as he came and fulfilled his purpose and spread good news, so we must do the same. We are blessed to have this priviledge.

We have the solution to life, the key to forgiveness, purpose, peace and etermal life. People are lost without God and he is the only answer. Everyone who does not know God is lost, remember that.

Helping others come to God will make a difference for all eternity. What you build on this earth will remain here when you leave, but someone brought to the Lord is a reward forever. You are investing in your future beyond this life.

So be prepared to do whatever God needs you to do. Follow his commands no matter the cost.

“I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” 2 Cor 12:9a (LB)

God works through us, especially our weaknesses, if we let him.

I personally have this thought come to mind, “I cant’ do that because I don’t have… OR I am not…” But God uses our weaknesses to reveal his glory and power. God works through those weaknesses because we don’t have pride in the way, as we do with our strengths. We also can’t claim to having done it through our own strength.

You need to admit your weaknesses. We are all human, with flaws and weaknesses. Be content with them. They keep you humble, encourage fellowship and increase our capacity for sympathy and ministry.

Share your weaknesses. It’s very dificult to expose those things well hidden inside you. When you reveal those weaknesses they are transformed from stumbling blocks into something God can use.

Through your weaknesses God’s light can shine through, cause it shows what God can accomplish despite ourselves.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

Becoming a servant is not natural. It goes against our nature of simply wanting to serve our own needs and interests. You need to dedicate each and every day to the Lord and put things in focus.

Think more about others than yourself. Your purpose is to serve others. First, “Love the Lord your God,” second, “love you neighbour as yourself.” God sees your attitude as more important than what you do.

You are in care of God’s stuff. So take care of it and know that you are serving him. You are have been trusted to take care of things here. And remember, money will not follow you to heaven, so don’t let it rule you. Money was a problem back when Jesus was here and its still a temptation today, just look around you and its easy to see.

Focus on your work. What I mean is focus on your work for God. Stop looking at what others are doing and picking faults. God has given you a task, so get on with it, what they are doing is for God, so let him do the evaluating.

We base our identity in Christ. Follow him as the ultimate example of a true servant, even though he was clearly a king.

Ministry is an opportunity, it is a priviledge. If you do it out of obligation, God sees that. You may keep others impressed, but that won’t make a difference when you come before God as he saw your true intentions.

So slip on the servants hat and serve others wherever and whenever you can.

“If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:42 (NLT)

Jesus was the ultimate servant. He was a leader, but by his example he was a servant to all. He was called “friend of sinners,” because no-one was too low for him to serve, or too unworthy.

Although our SHAPE will affect our ministry, we are also caled to do things that are not in our SHAPE, that we were not shaped for. To do those things requires character, the kind of character that Jesus had. There are no good excuses here, if you want to serve, you need to serve whether it is convenient or not.

There are 6 characteristics of a real servant.

Real servants make themselves available to serve. If you are involved in your own personal pursuits all the time, then you are serving yourself, whereas a servant serves others. Remember that all things pass away, and at the end of life you can’t take anything with you so watch how you spend your time.

Real servants pay attention to needs. This requires putting the focus on others rather than focusing on yourself. Keep alert, and whenever you see a need, fill it. You are there, don’t wait for someone else to do it, you do it.

Real servants do the best with what they have. Perfection is not a requirement, just do it. Doing things masterfully is a lie of the world, you don’t have to be perfect, no of us is anyway.

Real servants do every task with equal dedication. Keep yourself focused on what you are serving in. Do it with the heart of a servant. Any task where you serve pleases God, do it like you know you are doing it for Him, because you are.

Real servants are faithful to their ministry. Be dedicated and stick to what you have said you will do. Be a person of your word, so when you make a commitment, you stick to it.

Real servants maintain a low profile. You may not be rewarded here on earth, but God promises that rewards wait for you in heaven.

So serve, serve, serve. Commit yourself to tasks that will win rewards from the father. You were made to serve others, now go ahead and start doing it. Keep your eyes open and serve wherever you can.

Use your talents.

Serving in areas that you are not comfortable serving in is more difficult and serving in areas that are your strengths make serving a pleasure. That’s not to say that we can’t develop other areas, but in those areas where God has given us something, put all your effort into serving him through those ministries.

We are not always sure of our gifts and talents. In a world that aims at conformity, we often lack the experience to know what our talents may be. So we need to find them. We find them by getting involved. You cannot go to a textbook to study what kind of service you need to be in, first get the ball rolling, and then see what is happening. Get confirmation from other people on what they thing your talents are, or if they have been blessed by the ministry you are involved in or have started.

As we are all unique, what makes it as your talents will not always be what makes someone elses. When finding your area, look back on past experiences to confirm that what you are doing is effective or not. Learn from your experiences and adjust accordingly. Do not be afraid of what other people may think, look for more confirmation than just the feelings and opinions of others.

Serve in your area faithfully and enjoy the gifts that God has given you. But continue to experiment with other gifts and other areas, for you may find that you have missed the best part, but thank the Lord, it’s never too late.