Understanding Purpose, Day 17 Different tasks, one purpose. Read 1 Corinthians 3:8. As we look at purpose, Paul has a lot to say to the churches about purpose. Today, we read in first Corinthians, that Paul was helping the people understand individual purpose. You see, we are each created uniquely with different gifts and abilities. God has created us that way so that we can do different things than those people around us. We’re not meant to do the same exact tasks as everyone else. Yes, God has purpose for us and desires that each one of us commit to his purpose in our lives. But the tasks that we…

Understanding Purpose, Day 16 Be zealous. Read Galatians 4:18. As we look at understanding purpose today, we see an interesting take on it. In this chapter, Paul is writing to the Galatians and they have, unfortunately, been led astray in a couple of areas. They have a lot of passion and are very zealous for what they’re doing, but it’s not been the right thing. He reminds them that it’s great to be zealous, when you’re zealous about the right thing. When you’re spending time being excited and passionate about God’s purpose, then that is exactly how God wants us to be. However, we must make sure that we are…

Understanding Purpose, Day 15 God’s actions, not our actions. Read Philippians 2:13. How do we fulfill the purpose of God? We allow God to do it through us. It can sometimes be a harsh reality that we are not ever going to be able to do God’s work. We aren’t strong enough. We aren’t holy enough. We are not able to fulfill all that God has for us. The beautiful thing is that God knows this and has created a way that His work can still be done through us. God works through us as we surrender our lives to him. That allows him to be able to prompt us…

Understanding Purpose, Day 14 Just one part. Read 2 Timothy 3:10. As we read today’s verse, I look back through the chapter. We see Paul is writing instructions to Timothy. Paul is trying to help disciple this young follower of Christ. Paul has been instrumental in helping him understand leadership and discipleship. Paul is reminding Timothy of just how well Timothy knows, Paul. He knows Paul’s purpose, his love, his faith, his patience, his teaching. And Paul wants Timothy to understand that all of those things work together. You cannot have purpose that is apart from patience. You cannot have faith that is apart from love. We can never get…

Understanding Purpose, Day 12 Guaranteed. Read Job 42:2. God’s purposes are guaranteed. We know that when God purposes to do something, there is no doubt that it will come to pass. Because God can do all things and orchestrate everything, when he wants something to be, nothing can stand in the way of that happening. God has purpose for each and every one of us. As we have been learning through these lessons, we can find ourselves in that purpose. We are to commit ourselves to that purpose. The exciting piece of that is, God’s purposes are guaranteed to happen. If we commit ourselves to understanding and living out God’s…

Understanding Purpose, Day 11 First. Read Matthew 6:33. Order matters. When we think about our purpose and we think about what God is calling us to, we must understand that there is an order in which we are to pursue things. We must seek first him and his Kingdom. Understanding and attaining God’s righteousness should be the ultimate goal. After that, then we can seek the other things such as food, shelter, etc. These verses here explain the importance of ensuring that our order of seeking is correct. Are we making sure that we are following through on the correct desires that God has for us? Are we following through…

Understanding Purpose, Day 10 It can be hard to understand ourselves. Read Proverbs 20:5. This verse is a great look at how much there is to know within oneself. We can experience so many things, and yet it’s still truly hard to understand our own hearts and desires. We must have insight to understand even our own selves. When we take a look at what God has done and planned in our lives, we need to realize he is the one with the insight to draw out the purposes in our heart that align with his will for our lives. He is the one that gives us that ability to…

Understanding Purpose, Day 9 Must change. Read Romans 12:2. The entire chapter of Romans 12 is a phenomenal list of instructions and reminders to help us live the triumphant and victorious Christian life. This verse, verse two, helps us understand how we can know and do the will of God. We cannot do that in our current mindset. We must change our minds. We must be transformed. If we continue to maintain the same mindset, we will continue to do the same. God understands that we must change our mindset and be devoted to him in every way. The transforming of our mind allows us to understand God better and…

Understanding Purpose, Day 8 God’s glory. Read 1 Corinthians 10:31. This is another verse where it’s important to understand the context. This entire chapter, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and trying to help them settle a disagreement. Some people are doing one thing, and others are doing something else. Both groups are mad at each other. Paul walks through the controversy in the chapter and basically ends saying, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Don’t spend your time arguing and fussing about the specific details of this situation. Instead, get back to focusing on the glory of God. We can get so caught…