In the last post I made reference to finding purpose for a life. This sparked a great suggestion from a friend to begin a series of how to discover the purpose for our service to God. How can we know what God wants us to do? As God works in many and wondrous ways I would like to begin such a series. Over the next several weeks I hope to explore the ways and means to discovery.
The first thing I would like to explore is how exactly do we get in touch with God so that we may know what His purpose for our lives really is. While this is a personal issue it is still not about you. It is about what God made you to be and to do. It is about your personal relationship with the creator. If you don’t know Jesus as personal savior then the rest will not make sense to you.
With that said let me be clear on one very important point. Before we were conceived God had a plan and a purpose for each of us. He made each or us special with talents only we can use. He also gave each of free will to chose how we are to use what He gave us.
As I began to look into how a person was to get to know God it occurred to me some may not know how to get in touch with God. Maybe there needs to be instructions on just how to do that. Yes God has sent preachers and teachers and given us the Bible yet there are many who still cannot understand what God’s purpose and plan is for their life. So I asked myself just how do you get in touch with God. I first began to look into what makes a person and how we must relate to God and ourselves. To do that first we must look at who we are what we are and how we function. If you will accept for a minute that each of us is made up of three parts. We are body, soul and spirit. With the body we have the ability to relate to our environment. With the soul we have a consciousness that allows us to relate to other individuals. This gives us the ability to laugh smile, and cry, weep, think and make decisions. With our spirit God has given us the capacity to relate to Him, so that in our spirit we are God conscience. In our soul we are self-conscience, and in our body we are world conscience. God created each of us in this manner. None of us are just body, none are just soul and none are just spirit. God has created us as complete beings. Each was given special talents and skills to fulfill the planned mission. There is a principle found in the Bible in John chapter 12 which gives us a very clear picture of what must happen before any of us can get in touch with God. That principle is this and is found in verse 24. “Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringth much fruit.” In other words a seed must be planted and the outer shell must die so that the inner seed can grow and produce more fruit. The same holds true with each of us. We must bury the outer man, controlled by bad habits and worldly desires, and allow the inner man to begin to grow and produce a new person, a person who has a clear vision, and a clear mind. This process is very painful sometimes, as we do not want to let go of the old man and let the new man grow. If the new man is to prosper we must allow the old man to die and the new one to be fed and nourished. In nature once we bury the seed we must trust God to break open the outer shell and allow the new seedling to begin to grow. We cannot break the outer shell ourselves all we can do is plant it. The same holds true when we turn our inner being over to God, we have to trust God to break the outer shell and start the growing process. We then nourish the seed with positive thinking, support from others and the Word of God. If we hold on to the old outer shell little will happen to the seed. But once we put it in the ground and cover it over with dirt something truly wonderful begins to happen and a new life is born. It is nothing we created it is a gift from God. This thing we are going to do is done by faith and trust in God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) So when we plant the seed we hope it will grow and make more seed. It is our faith that gives us courage and knowledge that the seed will germinate and grow. The same holds true with our spirit. We have to give our being over to God trusting Him to make the changes and cause a new person to emerge. We cannot see how the changes will be made and we cannot make the changes ourselves. We must completely trust that the necessary changes will be made that will produce a new strong vibrant person. From that we see then that God has placed the design for each life within our inner man. He does the same thing when he creates the oak tree or an ear of corn. He puts the design for each within the seed. The mighty red wood trees started from a small seed. The plan and purpose or the design for each life was placed within each before we were born. As with a natural seed we need to have a relationship with the creator. It is true you can become successful as related to worldly standards and still not follow the design God made for you. We each must have a personal relationship with Jesus and be open to His leadership if we are to be able to discover our true calling or purpose. This is done when we accept Jesus and our personal savior. If you do not know Jesus then you may not have access to who and what your personal design really is. Once you accept Jesus as your savior you have access to God as never before. Just like a new born child a new Christian must be fed milk and not meat. You may have been saved for many years and yet are still a child in the Lord. There is a law in nature that states a plant will not produce fruit until it has matured. The same holds true for each of us. Once we get saved we are to learn and be fed from God’s Word, fellowship with others and trust me at some point God will show you what He wants you to do. This scares most people so they simply back away from God and stop growing. We each have a mission God wants us to fulfill, a calling for our life. I think the words calling and mission truly place fear in the hearts of men. Each one produces visions of some remote island or a far away spot on the globe where we are to go and do something. Yes God does have that in mind for some but not for all. You may be needed to cut the grass for a neighbor. Or how about sharing what God has given you with someone in need. Maybe your mission is to pray seeking God’s grace for an ill friend or family member. Then there may be a place in His church where you are needed. I am not one to tell you what your mission is that is between you and God. I will tell you this He does have a mission and purpose for you. Keep in mind He made you He gave you the skills and talents you will need all you have to do is ask Him how to use the things He gave you. He made each one unequaled and with special talents that only they possess. He then placed positions in the church that only that person could handle. Each and every person God made has a reason and a mission in life. He fully expected for us to use what He gave us in His service. Should we decide not to follow what God has planned for us to do then someone will miss out on a blessing and a very important area of God’s work will go undone. Let me make one thing clear. Traditionally we have been taught to be in God’s service we must be at work in the church house, on the mission field or secluded in a room praying. If that were true God would have provided each with the same talents and skills. God’s work is not confined to a building or to a particular location. God did not make pew warmers He made people with specialized talents to reach a lost and dying world for Jesus Christ.
I guess this whole thing could be summed up with the following illustration.
We want to get to the fifteenth floor. So we step into an elevator. Now as the doors close we must trust the cables, which support the car to raise us safely from the ground to the fifteenth floor?
We don’t know how all this is done but we have faith that it will be done and we will get off on the floor we want. The same faith must be used to reach out and touch God. Depending on Him to make all the necessary changes, which will make us whole again? As with the elevator we can’t get off the ground if we don’t step into the car. So it is with a personal relationship with God. You must get in the car. You must ask for His help. And know this He will never leave you nor forsake you.
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