A God-Given Purpose

Jeremiah 1:4-5 ESV

 

“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

 

“’Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’”

 

In Psalms 139 we read that God knit us together in the wombs of our mothers, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by him, and that in his book were written all the days that were formed for us when as yet none of them had come into being. And then we read in the New Testament that those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, and that he called us to a holy calling before the ages began.

 

[Psalms 139:13-16; Romans 8:29; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-4]

 

So, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, please know that you were created by God with a purpose. God put you in that family you grew up in. In his sovereignty he allowed you to go through the things you have gone through in your life. All that we have gone through in our lives was in preparation for what God had planned for our lives. Now it was never his will that we should sin, so he didn’t make us to sin. We made us to sin. But he is still sovereign.

 

God knew all the choices that we were going to make in this life for good or for bad, and he knew all the things that we were going to experience in this life, but through them all, if his calling was upon our lives, he was preparing us for whatever it was that he had planned for our lives even before the ages began, and even before we were born into this world. So, we have a God-given purpose in being here which we need to learn and then do.

 

I believe, for my own life, that God had many different things he had me doing throughout my life which served his purposes (singing, teaching, parenting), but that ultimately all of my life was just leading up to this present calling on my life which is what I believe I was appointed by God to do even before I was born. I believe my first 54 years of life were all in preparation for what God called me to do at age 54 (18 years ago).

 

And what he called me to do then I have continued in which is to write down what he teaches me each day from my times with him in his word and to post it on the internet on various sites so that a runner (or a herald) can “run with it.” And then the Lord takes these writings wherever it is that he wants them to go and he uses them for his purposes. Most of them are my devotions but there are also songs and poems, too, he gave me to write.

 

Jeremiah 1:6-8,18-19 ESV

 

“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.’ But the Lord said to me,

 

“’Do not say, “I am only a youth”;

for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,

and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

declares the Lord.’”

 

“And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

 

I knew early on in my life that God had his hand on my life and that he had called me to his service and that I was to go to whomever he sent me and that I was to say to them whatever it was that he gave me to say. But I certainly felt ill-equipped, as well, and I faced a lot of opposition although I was not doing anything wrong at those times. I was obeying the Lord, and I was following his teachings, but still I got a lot of criticism and rejection.

 

I had one pastor tell me when I was 31 years old that I spoke with too much authority for a young person and that I needed to wait until I had gray hairs on my head and then people would listen to me. Well the authority I was speaking with was not my own but the authority of the Scriptures and not in any position of command or rule over anyone. I was just sharing what the Lord was teaching me from his word, but the pastor wasn’t used to that.

 

But because I faced so much opposition over the years, I dealt with a lot of fear, and I sometimes questioned God’s calling on my life, and I would cry it all out to him with tears streaming down my face time and time again. And he would encourage me to get back in there and to not give up. But I did give up at one point in my life because the opposition was so intense and non-stop and I crashed for a period of time.

 

But in all of this God was preparing me for this present ministry. He was getting me ready and he was training me to not give way to fear. He was teaching me perseverance and he was strengthening me and he was teaching me to set my face “like flint” (Isaiah 50:7) and to never again ever turn back. Even though a friend of ours stood in our living room and screamed at me and told me I needed to be with the majority, for the majority is right, he said, I stood my ground, and I did not back down.

 

A Word of Encouragement

 

And even though I have just shared with you some of my testimony, this isn’t just about me. All of us who have been chosen of God to be his, and who have been called to holy living, have a God-given purpose in this life. God has something he has chosen for each one of us to do even before we were ever born. He has gifted us all individually and he has assigned each of us our individual parts in the universal body of Christ.

 

So, this is to encourage you today to seek the Lord’s face regarding his purpose for your life and then to follow him in obedience in doing what he has called you to do. Now, if he is the one leading, you will not be called to do something contrary to his divine character and will and purpose for your life. He will not lead you to do something contrary to his word. But don’t let fear of what others think of you stand in the way of you obeying the Lord.

 

Step out in obedience to the Lord and answer his call on your life with a “Yes,” and then do what he has called you to do in his power. And we are not all going to be called to do the same thing, but this is not a competition, either. The body has different parts but we all form one body and we are to work together for our mutual encouragement and strengthening in our walks of faith so that we all reach maturity in Christ our Lord (Ephesians 4:1-16).

 

[Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:12-17; Heb 3:12-14; 1 Pet 2:9; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18]

 

For Our Nation  

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

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