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…

Understanding Purpose, Day 7 Making plans. Read Proverbs 19:21. This verse always hits hard for me. I am really good at planning. I make a lot of plans and often, my back-up plans have back-up plans. Yet God reminds me that I can’t out-plan him. Yes, I can make all my plans, but God is ultimately going to acheve his will. The question I have to ask is, are my plans lining up with God’s plans? That is the only way my plans will last. I must be constantly seeking God first and striving to understand his plans for me. Only by understanding God’s plans will my plans matter. My…

Understanding Purpose, Day 6 Defended and not alone. Read Psalm 138:8. This psalm is one of many that David writes to describe the protection and help of the Lord. David understood what it meant to be living for purpose. He had been told his purpose by God, and yet had to wait many years before it was realized. During that time, he knew that God would continue to defend him and God would never leave him alone or abandon him. When we think of our purpose, God does the same things for us. God defends us, and God does not leave us alone. God plans out our purpose as we…

Understanding Purpose, Day 5 God is a planner. Read Jeremiah 29:11. This is one of those verses where it really is important to read the entire chapter. This chapter is God telling the exiles of Israel that they will come back. He will restore them. And he reminds them that he has a plan for them. That plan includes prosperity, hope and a future. We can understand a lot of things about who God is from this chapter. While this verse wasn’t necessarily directed toward us and we need to be careful about making direct application to our lives based on the context, we can understand the character of who…

Understanding Purpose, Day 4 Go. Read Matthew 28:19. These verses are the last verses of the book of Matthew. We see Jesus giving his final commandments to the disciples. Before he ascends back into heaven, he tells him that he has all authority, and then he gives them purpose. They are to go and make disciples and baptize people. There is no question about what God’s expectation is for the remaining believers. Jesus is returning to heaven. But the believers are not going to heaven yet because they have purpose to fulfill here on earth. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have the same purpose. Our purpose is to go.…

Understanding Purpose, Day 2 It’s all working together. Read Romans 8:28. Paul is writing these verses to the church in Rome, and as he is explaining the Christian life, he makes the statement in this verse. “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God who are called according to his purpose.” We’re really think about understanding our purpose, we have to accept that God’s purpose is to be our purpose. These situations and circumstances that we go through life lead us to the place where we can accomplish the purposes of God. We may not understand why we are where we are, and…