Living with Purpose

As we've learned through-out this journey, living with purpose is the only way to really live - everything else is just existing! There are many "good" things we can do with our life, but God's purposes are five essentials we must do. Have you gained more insight into what your life of purpose looks like? Can you explain it to someone? Have you put it in writing?

Unfortunately, the enemy is out to distract and cause us to drift away from what matters most. By having a Life Purpose Statement, it helps keep you focused on the following:

1) It summarizes God's eternal purposes for your life - who you will worship, whose character you will emulate, who you'll minister to, what will be your mission and who you'll fellowship with.

2) It points the direction of your life - what you will and will not do with your life, time, money, etc. A life without direction is a life of aimless wandering and squandering.

3) It defines "success" - as you define and state what's truly important, not based on what the world says, but based on what God says. 

4) It expresses your roles in life and your shape - you will have different roles at different stages of life - but your purposes will never change. Your shape also reflects the unique ways God made you to serve Him.

Here's a couple examples of Life Purpose Statements from page 315:

"My life purpose is to be a member of Christ's family, a model of His character, a minister of His grace, a messenger of His Word and a magnifier of His glory."

"My life purpose is to love Christ, grow in Christ, share Christ and serve Christ and to lead my family and others to do the same."

What's yours? Take some time to write out your Life Purpose Statement. Refer to Day 40 in The Purpose Driven Life for more information, then we'd love for you to SHARE yours with us!

Download our final lesson!. You'll learn life's five greatest questions that you will have to answer to God one day. At the end of your life, it won't matter what other people say about you, the only thing that will matter is what God says!

David served God's purposes in his own generation (Acts 13:36a) - Will people be able to say that about you?

Mission Possible!

God wants you to have both a ministry in your service to believers and a mission in your service to unbelievers. Fulfilling your mission in the world is God's fifth purpose for us!

Our mission is to continue Jesus' mission - introducing people to God! Jesus calls us not only to come to Him, but to go for Him. "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."  Matthew 28:19-20a  This is known as the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion. To ignore it would be disobedience.

This week's lessons look at 1) the Importance of your Mission (Day 36)  and 2) Sharing your Life Message (Day 37). You may feel like you don't have anything to share with unbelievers - but that doubt is from the Enemy who will do whatever he can to keep you silent. You may be the only Christian a person will ever know! Can you really stay silent?

Your mission is POSSIBLE - if you choose to accept it!  Download the lesson handout and audio link here to learn with that mission looks like.

Next Week: Our final lesson - Living with Purpose (Day 40)

How's Your Serve?

Just as the servants in the PBS hit - Downton Abbey - serve with loyalty, dedication and pride, so we must ask ourselves if we are serving God with the same enthusiasm!

While knowing our shape is important for serving God, having the heart of a servant is even more important. God shaped us for service to others, not self-centeredness.

God often tests our hearts by asking us to serve in ways we're not shaped! Your shape reveals your ministry, but your heart reveals your maturity.

This week's lessons give us the opportunity to do a self-evaluation of our heart for ministry/service. We look at six actions that will determine if we have the heart of a servant.

Service starts in the mind - it requires a change of attitude. God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements.

Real servants serve God with a mind-set of five attitudes...find out what they are and how you're doing! Download the lesson handout and audio link here.

Share which of the characteristics of a real servant you struggle with most. Remember, we're here to encourage, not judge!

Understanding Your SHAPE

Each of us was uniquely designed, or shaped, to do certain things. Before God created you He decided what role He wanted you to play on earth. He planned exactly how He wanted you to serve Him and then shaped you for those tasks.

Understanding our SHAPE involves looking at five areas of our uniqueness....

1) Spiritual gifts - God-empowered abilities for serving Him and others.

2) Heart/passion - represents the source of all our motivation - what we love to do and whom we care about serving.

3) Abilities - the natural talents we were born with (and yes, you have talents!) What we're able to do, God wants us to do - no one else can play the same role!

4) Personality - It is obvious that God loves variety as He created us with a unique combination of personality traits! There is no "right" or "wrong" personality for service.

5) Experiences - there are many experiences that have shaped our lives and God has allowed them to mold our character. God often uses our painful experiences the most to prepare us for ministry. In fact, your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt. Don't ignore it.

Using your shape is the secret of both fruitfulness and fulfillment in ministry. You'll be most effective when you use your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of your heart's desire, and in the way that best expresses your personality and experiences. The better the fit, the more successful you will be!!

(From Days 30 & 31 - The Purpose Driven Life)

Download lesson handout and audio lesson here.

Accepting Your Assignment

You were put on this earth to make a contribution. You were created to add to life, not just take from it. This is called your service or ministry (those two words mean the same thing!) and this is our 4th purpose = Shaped to Serve God! From Day 29 of The Purpose Driven Life, we see that....

* You were created to serve God.
* You were saved to serve God.
* You are called to serve God.
* You are commanded to serve God.

A "non-serving" Christian is a contradiction in terms. We are meant to be serving others, not sitting around waiting for heaven. For Christians, service is not optional. Anytime we use our God- given abilities to serve others, we are serving God and fulfilling our calling!

One day we will all give an account of how much time and energy we spent on ourselves versus what we invested in serving others. If you aren't serving, you're just existing, because life is meant for ministry/service to others.

We all live our life for something - career, family, wealth, status, possessions, etc. But the pathway to real significance is service. For the millions who are searching for meaning and significance in their life, I wonder how many of them are serving others? We are a society that's more interested in "serve-us" than service!

God wants to use you to make a difference in His world. He wants to work through you and He will use you if you stop making excuses. Are there things that are keeping you back from accepting God's call to serve Him by serving others?

Download this week's handout and audio lesson here.

Share with us: Do you agree or disagree with the statements: "The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they put into practice. What they need are serving experiences in which they can exercise what they have learned."  (pg. 229)

Growing Through Temptation

Every temptation is an opportunity to do good; temptation simply provides the choice! Every time we choose to do good instead of sin, we are growing in the character of Christ. God often uses our temptations to develop us!

As we continue looking at our 3rd purpose - created to be like Christ - we see that temptations in our life are a normal part of living in a sinful world. Temptations are a sign that Satan hates us, not a sign of weakness on our part.

We will never outgrow temptations, but we can overcome them. This week's lesson looks at how we can defeat temptation in our life. We don't need to always give in to it. God will provide a way out - the question is - are we willing to take it?

God has promised never to allow more on us than He puts in us to handle. What temptations are you facing today? Do you know how to successfully defeat them? Take a minute to download the handout and listen to today's lesson.

Share: If we believe that God is waiting to help us defeat temptation, why don't we turn to Him more often?

Next Week: No Class

Transformed by Trouble

Do you believe God has a purpose behind every problem? Have you recognized that He uses  circumstances in your life to draw you closer to Himself? Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him instead of ourselves. You will never know God is all you need until God is all you have!

In this week's lesson, (Day 24 & 25) we take a closer look at one of the most misquoted and misunderstood verses in the Bible - Romans 8:28: 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.

As part of God's purpose to make us more like His Son, we have to see problems from His point of view. Taking this verse apart, phrase by phrase, helps us see that more clearly.

And we know: Our hope in difficult times is a certainty based on the truths that God is in complete control.

that in all things: God's plan for your life involves all that happens to you - the good and the bad. Nothing is independent or separate from God's purposes.

God works: Your life is not a result of random chance, fate or luck. There is a Master plan.

for the good: This doesn't mean everything in life is good. God's purpose (our character development) is greater than our problems or pain.

of those who love him, who have been called: This promise is only for God's children.

according to his purpose: What is that purpose? That we become like His Son (Romans 8:29a). Everything God allows to happen in your life is permitted for this purpose!

So when troubles come, and they will, what will your response be? Will you cling to the promises from Romans 8:28? Ask Why me God? or What do you want me to learn from this that will make me more like your Son?

Download the lesson handout and audio link here!

Here's my friend's blog from the Boston Marathon bombing. Anita and her family were in Boston for the race. http://nitasliferunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-aftermath-boston-bombings.html