Month: July 2018

Wow. This is such a good question: What drives your life?

Below are seventeen lines from Chapter 3 of Rick Warren’s, The Purpose Driven Life that jumped out at me, I hope you find meaning and insight in them too.

1. “Everyone’s life is driven by something.”
2. “What is the driving force in your life?”
3. “God specializes in giving people a fresh start.”
4. “Well-formed love banishes fear.”
5. “Self-worth and net worth are not the same.
6. “Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you—your relationship with God.”
7. “There are  other forces that can drive your life but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life.”
8. “Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life.”
9. “Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason.”
10. “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.”
11. “Hope is essential to your life as air and water.”
12. “Hope comes from having a purpose.”
13. “Knowing your purpose focuses your life.”
14. “Henry David Thoreau observed that people live lives of “quiet desperation“, but today a better description is aimless distraction.”
15. “There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose.”
16. “Purpose always produces passion.”
17. “It is usually meaningless work, not overwork, that wears us down, saps our strength, and robs our joy.”

 

Do you know your purpose? What would your family and friends say is the driving force in your life? 

It’s amazing to ponder how God had planned your life and the moment in time you would live long before you were born. Even before time. I have always been taken back when contemplating how God is above time, time is subject to him as he created it.

The cliche saying, “Everything happens for a Reason”, is true with God and the events in our lives. He allows all the circumstances of our lives to shape who we are. He created us for Love, to love and be loved.   In Rick Warren’s book the Purpose Driven Life he writes, “Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God.” “God’s motive for creating you was his love.”

Today’s chapter shares a poem by Russell Kelfer that sum’s up God’s love, purpose and intention in creating you:

“You are who you are for a reason. You’re part of an intricate plan. You’re a precious and perfect unique design, Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb, You’re just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose, And no matter how you may feel, They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind, And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into his likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason, You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod. You are who you are, beloved, Because there is a God!”

 

Have you ever struggled with where you are at in life? Wondering what your purpose is? This has been my greatest longing this last year. As my life changes, seasons pass and friends fade away, I am left with this question: “What is the purpose of Life?”,  I ponder on all the transition I have been through over the last three years and my heart weary at times, wonders, what’s next? It is easy for the days to pass in a blur and to be drained by the volume of responsibilities in contrast to the sheer pace of time.  This fleeting life calls to mind the bible verse, James 4:14. Our lives are really short and before you know it we are no longer here.

Our purpose is known by our creator. We must seek a personal relationship with God to find our purpose in him.  Your purpose in life, is not about YOU. A life of service and self sacrifice is a purpose that can impact others in a profound way. Jesus’s life is a great example of this.

In my journey, as I seek my purpose, I have found I gravitate toward solitude.  I have embraced the reality of being content alone. I have often felt a great peace and joy in being alone because I know God is always with me.

However, today I read words that countered my perspective on being alone. I received a gift in the mail from my mother, Madolyn. It was an unexpected surprise but God’s timing is always perfect. The gift a book, and the title: The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. As I opened the package I  Immediately poured into the words  and absorbed chapter one. I read some points that contradicted my “I can do it alone” attitude. The following are scripture and lines that struck me:

“Two are better off than one, because together they can work more efficiently. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up….Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV)

“A journey is always better when its shared.”

“Real spiritual growth is never an isolated, individualistic pursuit. Maturity is produced through relationships and community.”

All I know is God is faithful and we were made by God for God. I  invite you to join me on this journey of discovering God’s purpose for your life, for my life…Today is day one of a 40 day journey. The Point to Ponder is: “It’s not about me”.

The Verse to Remember : “Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” Colossians 1:16b (Msg)

How can you really live for God and not yourself in today’s environment of social media, advertising and culture of relativism?