God Has A Purpose For You, Part 2

II. God’s Purposes And Plans Take Time

Wait patiently for the Lord.
    Be brave and courageous.
    Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

~Psalm 27:14

  

Ever wondered what your purpose for being on this Earth could possibly be and wish God would just go ahead and show it to you?

May I be honest with you?  Too bad, I'm going to be honest with you anyway.  If God had shown me at age 7 what I would be doing at age 54, I would have become catatonic!  I NEVER imagined that God's purpose for me would be to try to get to know some of the most suspicious people ever, ride with them as they deal with the worst incidents imaginable, attempt to help them realize that they do have love to share with others (especially their families), try to help them make some sense of what they deal with, and try to be God's representative of love and caring for them in the face of all that is portrayed in the media outlets.

What has God purposed you to do?  Maybe it is to show just one person that they are loved.  Perhaps it is to reach out to help someone who is struggling.  Could be that you get in the trenches with someone and walk with them through a tragedy.  But the one purpose we all have is to BE the reflection of Christ in an ever darkening world.

God Has A Purpose For You Part 1

I.  God Made Us With Purpose And A Plan

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

~ Psalm 139:13-16

Think about this, before you the God spoke creation into being, He had already looked down the plane of time and saw YOU.  Not only did He see you, but He loved YOU.  Not only did He love YOU, but He made a plan specifically for YOUR life!  As a matter of fact, before He gave you your first breath, your purpose was already being worked out.  

Now....consider this:  The same One who so carefully planned everything planned YOU for a specific purpose!  Everything in your life (good, bad, seemingly neutral) leads you toward your purpose.  And it all starts with "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself."

How can you care for others if you don't let them care about you? Just food for thought.

Are You Afraid?

He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

2 Chronicles 20:15 

Have you ever felt like you were being hammered with issues and problems and frustrations and irritations?  Have you ever felt as though you were in a boxing match and you were on the receiving end of the beating?  Have you ever felt like you are losing ground in this life?  When facing life's challenges, we can often feel overwhelmed!

 

The back story of today's passage is that King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah looked over the walls and saw what appeared to be an army so large they had no idea how they would survive.  Sound familiar?  Look at your bills and wonder how they will ever get paid; look at your refrigerator and wonder how you will ever find food to put in it; see someone needing help or caring (warning: cops are among the most prickly porcupine people ever, and aren't prone to let others get close to them) and you wonder how you can reach out to that person? 

 

I love the key part of verse 15: FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S.  When we try on our own, we will fail over and over, but let God fight the battles and we will see victory after victory.  Our enemy likes to stay in our face so we are too distracted to look to God, but when we are wise to his tricks, we are able to step aside and let God do His job!

Life is to be LIVED!

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

Deuteronomy 30:19 

 

Every single day, we have to decide to live or merely exist and our perspective will reflect out decision.  As believers, one of the best ways we can make positive decisions is to come together, if possible; to pray for and with each other daily; to encourage each other frequently. My own weakness is in believing that I have to be able to handle everything myself.  Were that true, I would not need a relationship with anyone else.  My own weakness in trying to do everything myself will reveal itself quite quickly as I become overwhelmed and the enemy will use that to generate negativity toward others.

 

Paul David Tripp wrote, "If sin is part of our nature, we will always be dealing not only with our history, but with how sin distorts the way we handle it. Help will only come as we deal with our past and our own sin.  This is essential because sinners tend to respond sinfully to being sinned against."

 

We are sinful people and we need to understand that we are to BE the iron that sharpens iron with each other, like it or not.  And in so doing, we will understand that Life is to be LIVED!

Woosah Comes When We Let God Do His Job!

WOOSAH RULE #3:

God is God and you are not!

Give all your worries and cares to God,

for he cares about you.

~1 Peter 5:7

Why do we worry?  Are we afraid that God is not really in control?  Are we worried that God might not be able to handle our burdens and cares?

Think about this: If God fails even once, then God is not God.  But God has never failed! EVER!  So what makes you think you’ll be the first time God fails?

God sent Jesus Christ to be the blood sacrifice God’s own law requires.  Jesus Christ not only died, but He defeated death by rising again. 

God does not fail!  We may not like the way He handles things, but God is always right and perfect!

God is God and I am glad, because I would not want His job!

Woosah Is Achievable!

WOOSAH RULE #2:

Let God Handle It!

Give your burdens to the Lord,
    and he will take care of you.
    He will not permit the godly

to slip and fall.

~ Psalm 55:22

We carry around burdens that we have no business carrying. We bear burdens we need to drop. We drag around baggage that needs to be left by the wayside.

But we carry it because we’ve had it so long we’d be lost without it.  We carry it because we think God has “more important” things to deal with.  We haul them around because the enemy keeps reminding us of them!

Point him to the Cross!

Give your burdens to God (which means let them go). 

Woosah IS Possible!

WOOSAH RULE #1: Remember that God is in control!

Don’t worry about anything;

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need,

and thank Him for all he has done.

~ Philippians 4:6

What do we do when we worry? We put our focus on ourselves instead of God.

Ask yourself: Do I REALLY trust God or do I “trust” Him as long as everything goes my way?

If you truly trust God, then you know God is in control of everything; you know that nothing surprises Him; you know that it is HIS job to fulfill His plan for your life.

The enemy will try to distract us, he will try to make us doubt, he will try anything and everything to make us ineffective and weak. Point him to the Cross! Remember that God is ALWAYS with us, loving us, protecting us. We have the freedom to go boldly to God’s Throne of Grace, so what’s stopping us?

Rules To Live By.....Rule#4

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

~ Jeremiah 29:11

God’s the one who has the best plans for us, it’s God’s job to get us there….whatever it takes.

Jesus said:

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” ~ Matthew 6:34 

Rules to Live By.....Rule #3

Rule # 3 - Letting Go Is Your Decision!

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

~Ephesians 4:31-32

If we are to truly let go of what weighs us down:

· “Get rid of all…” - Decide whether clinging to the burden is worth it. If not, dump it.

· “Be Kind” - Being angry and hurt is easy. Change that by deciding to be kind.

· “Forgiving” - Ask yourself, ‘what all has God through Christ forgiven in me?’ Forgiveness IS possible. It isn’t easy. But having that weight lifted will greatly help the healing process. 

If a truck parks on your foot, can your foot heal with the truck still on your foot? Yet we want to keep the very thing(s) that are hurting us keep right on hurting us.  Let them go and begin to heal!

Rules For Living.....Rule #2

Rule # 2 - BIBOMO

"But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you."

~Isaiah 42:1-2

God tells us:

· “Do not be afraid” - God is bigger than whatever we are dealing with.

· “I have called you by name” - God loves you enough to know your name!

· “You are mine” - God loves you so much that He claims you as His own.

· “I will be with you” - no matter what we may have done, experienced, endured...God is with us. Whatever we are facing, God is with us.  Whatever we will face, God is with us.

Rules for Living....Rule #1

Over the next few days we'll be looking at 4 rules to live by.

Rule #1 - You Can’t Run A Race Looking Backward

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.  ~ Philippians 3:13-14

Three things stick out in this verse:

· “Forgetting the past” - learn from it and let it stay in the past!

· “Looking forward to what lies ahead” - Hope lies forward!

· “Press On” - Keep going! Don’t Give Up!

²⁵ Look straight ahead,
    and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
²⁶ Mark out a straight path for your feet;
    stay on the safe path.
²⁷ Don’t get sidetracked;
    keep your feet from following evil.

~ Proverbs 4:25-27