For our final day looking at purpose, we turn to the New Testament and a story that Jesus gave to the people. Read Matthew 25:14-30. This parable, often called the Parable of the Talents has several applications to our lives, but one of the main ones relates to what are we doing with the gifts that God has given us. Each and every one of us have been given talents and abilities that God Himself has shaped and developed. Additionally, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we also received the Holy Spirit and the gifts that He bestows. When it comes to our purpose and making…

Have you been afraid? What about a situation where you really wanted to know the answer to something, but you were afraid to ask? Maybe others didn’t want you to know. Maybe you weren’t sure you could handle the answer. Either way, it presents a difficult situation. That’s how Nicodemus must have felt. Read his story in John 3:1-21. He was a high ranking religious official and he had spent years studying the law and living by the rules that were set forth in that. Now there is this person, Jesus, who is teaching something similar, but different. He didn’t understand it and he had questions, but the other religious…

Over the past several days we’ve learned several things about purpose and God’s purpose in our lives. So why do we not just jump up and do the purpose that God has for us? Why aren’t we busy fulfilling all of God’s purpose in our lives? Read Romans chapter 7. There are so many things that push and pull for our attention and often, we don’t even realize the war that is going on inside of us. We say we want to please God and do the things that He asks of us, but then we end up doing the exact opposite. We want to do good, but we fail.…

Several of the people in the Bible had great purpose, but few were more clearly spelled out than John the Baptist. His coming and the work that he would be doing was prophesied about in the old testament. His birth was foretold by angels and was a miraculous birth. He had a following of people who would hang on every word that he said. You can read about him in many places of the New Testament, but we’re going to look at him from Joihn 3:22-36. As you read through this, you see John giving an overview of his purpose to other people. Interestingly, even though he had all those…

Read Job chapter 16 VERSE: Job 16:12–All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target. TRUTH: Job is speaking here and he is giving his perspective on what happened and how he feels God has responded to him. Job feels like everything was going well in his life, but then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, God took him and broke him. Everything that he had was shattered and crushed. Job doesn’t understand why these things happened to him. Anyone who has been in a position to lose the things they hold most dear…