What Drives Your Life?

What Drives Your Life? Guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, the need for approval...all these lead to are a dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life. We all need a purpose.

Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life...Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.

Jeremiah 29:11
I know what I am planning for you...I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.

Ephesians 3:20
God...is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of---infinitely beyond our highest prayer, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

Knowing your purpose simplifies your life...Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren't. If you can't get it all done, it means you're trying to do more than God intended for you to do. We can all use a lesson in living a simpler lifestyle...especially in today's world.

Isaiah 26:3
You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

Knowing your purpose focuses your life...It concentrates your effort and energy on what's important. You become effective by being selective. We need to focus.

Ephesians 5:17
Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

Paul encourages us...

Philippians 3:13
"I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead."

Philippians 3:15
"Let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us."

Knowing your purpose motivates your life...purpose always produces passion.

Knowing your purpose prepares your for eternity...what ultimately matters most will not be what others way about your life but what God says. You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.

Romans 14:10b
Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God...Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God.

Fortunately, God wants us to pass this test, so he has given us the questions in advance. First, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?" God won't ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?

John 14:6
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me."

Second, "What did you do with what I gave you?" What did you do with your life---all the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships, and resources God gave you? Did you spend them on yourself, or did you use them for the purposes God made you for?

What challenges...how will I answer these one day? Will I be prepared?

You Are Not an Accident

I'm not an accident. God didn't need to create me he created me so he could love me.

Psalm 139:15
You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

He described every single detail of my body...race, skin, hair, natural talents and the uniqueness of my personality. He planned when I would be born, how long I would live (Psalm 139:16), where I'd be born and where I'd live (Acts 17:26). He even decided how I would be born and to whom.

God is not haphazard; he planned it all with great precision...gives us pause to think about how we feel about ourselves and how we complain about the things we wish were different and yet we are exactly how we should be.

Isaiah 46:3-4
I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you.

It All Starts with God

It's not about me. This is were I started...reading "The Purpose Driven Life". We were born by His purpose and for His purpose.

Ephesians 1:11
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

3 things from this verse:
- your identity and purpose are discovered through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
- our purpose predates our conception - God planned it long ago...we can choose our spouse, career, hobbies, etc. but we can't chose our purpose.
- Our purpose gits into a much larger purpose that God has designed for eternity.