Purpose - Keeping the main thing the main thing

Vision-where am I going – outcomes
Direction – signposts along the way –staying on track
Purpose – Keeping the main thing the main thing

What is our main purpose?
Our main purpose is to glorify God. In everything we do, this is our main purpose. This is worth thinking about and asking ourselves -Does everything I do bring glory to God?

We can’t do everything but we can do something. There is something that God has called us to do. There are ways and means to finding our purpose. We can ask questions:
What am I passionate about?
What would I do if money were no limit? A thought here– maybe we should be getting on and doing what we would do, as if money were no limit?

Know that our core purpose is found in seeking God and in seeking his purpose for us, and not our own. Knowing all this, having our vision and direction set – how do we keep the main thing the main thing?
What then distracts us from the purpose that we are called to live? There are many things, but let me offer three.

1. Busyness – trying to do too much
One of the main things that stop us from fulfilling our purpose – that side-track us is busyness and distractions. There is the right kind of busy and the wrong kind of busy. We can be busy with the wrong things.

Ps 39:6
We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
    not knowing who will spend it.

Busyness that ends in nothing is not fulfilling for anyone – achieves nothing and is not kingdom productive.

Haggai 1:9
You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.

This is the wrong kind of busyness. They had been given a task by God to rebuild the Temple – but they were busy with the wrong things – only looking after self and without maintaining a kingdoms focus. They had allowed the busyness of lif to distract them.

Prov 31:19
Her hands are busy spinning thread,
    her fingers twisting fibre.

The woman of noble character had a kingdom focus. She is a picture of a woman in charge of a household and a woman of business – but she had her priorities right – doing what God called her to do.

Ecc 11:6
Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Here we have good advice – work on what is important and don’t get side-tracked.

How do we know the difference between the two? The answer I believe is found in how productive our busyness actually is.

Is our “busy” Kingdom focussed? What do I mean? Simply – is it directed at what you are actually called to do (wherever that may be)?

Are we actually doing what we are meant to be doing and not being distracted by other things that take up time – the time wasters? We have lots of distractions and time wasters – social media is great, but it’s also a great time waster if you let it.

For example: you start doing something – notice your friend is on chat – chat a bit – discover that time has gone  by and now what you were doing needs to be squished into the remaining time.

There are many things that will vie for our attention, and they are not necessarily bad in themselves. Social media is not inherently bad and at times is incredibly useful and can be productive – provided we use it the right way.

We can overcome this by taking a good look at how we spend our time and setting boundaries around how and when we will use social media. We can look at the time wastets snd make changes.

What takes up the bulk of our time?

In what way is it adding to or distracting from our purpose each day?

What boundaries will I put in place to keep busy with the right things?

2. Envy
Envy is wanting what other people have rather than being thankful for what we have. We know we are made in God’s image – we know we are blessed by God with different gifts and talents, but we still have a strong tendency to think we have been short changed and someone else has something better than us.

This is really about focus and motivation. Are we thankful for what we do have or always wishing we had something else? Are we always comparing ourselves to what others have, instead of being thankful?

Gal 6:4

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Stay focussed on what your part is and do that well – not forever comparing ourselves with others, either positively or negatively to them.

Ps 37:1
Don’t worry about the wicked
    or envy those who do wrong

It’s easy to be envious of those who seem to have everything and yet are not following God's ways. God says don’t be envious – just trust him – he will give you your heart’s desire. As we wrap ourself up in God, we can focus on what he has for us and not envy others.

Envy is debilitating because it places our focus on the wrong things, and distracts us from our purpose.

Ecc 4:4
Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbours. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind

Envy is a motivation of the heart. The word means envy, jealousy and zealously desiring. In this context it is zealously desiring something that someone else has.

Jesus says that what is inside us is what defiles us and that all kinds of things such as greed and envy and idolatry come from there. When we are seeking to fulfil God’s purpose, there is no place for envy and desiring what others have.

Valerie Burton had a good blog on this recently – and it talked about being thankful for what you do have. If you are not happy – find something in what you do that you like and be happy about it.

What is she saying? She is saying look for the positive and start there and then the things we desire, when we have the right heart motivation will begin to fall into place.

What motivates me?

Is it a good motive or a negative one?

What will I do to change this? –e.g  start a gratitude book etc.

3. Other good things
This can be one of the biggest distractions.

There are so many good things we can be involved with and do, and we can get so busy doing them, that we are not doing what we actually need to do and are called to do.

You can’t do everything but you can do something. Find your something and do it well.

When we try to do too many things we don’t achieve much at all but we can feel good because we are doing stuff, but we are distracted from purpose and not giving our best. Give your best – to God and to others.

Ps 32:8
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.

God shows us what is best for us – to guide and lead us in the things he has for us to do. What we produce is meant to give honour to God.

Prov 3:9
Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the best part of everything you produce.

This is talking about bringing offerings to God and making sure what we bring is the very best. It’s also true of our purpose – we are to bring God the very best. Doing good things is not giving God the best

There are many great causes in the world and so many things in the world that we can be involved in. Choose prayerfully what you will do, because you are not called to do everything and support every cause.

It is better to give our attention to one or two things than to try to give it to everything.

Jesus knew his purpose and knew that it was better for everyone involved if he stuck with it. God’s purpose is fulfilled when we stick with what he has given us to do.

John 16:7
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.

It seemed good to the disciples to keep Jesus around them but Jesus knew it was better for him to fulfil his purpose and allow a bigger purpose – the out pouring of the Spirit to be able to happen.

Good things can actually get in the way of God’s best for us – and in the way of us giving our best to Him.

What “good” things am I doing that are stopping me doing what is best?

What “good” things has God called me to do?

Conclusion
There is a call and a purpose for each of us. Will we pursue God’s best for us?

Learn to avoid the distractions of busyness, envy and other good things.

Focus on the best God has for us.

Direction -Staying on track

Vision sets direction, something to aim for to head towards. You may know what the end looks like (Vision) but what about the direction? Vision sets direction because it gives us the way forward.

But - Which way are we going? How do we stay on track?

When we are walking we may know where we are headed but we may not know how to get there. Direction enables us to get where we are going.

Abram set out with a vision to follow, but he had to head in a direction to make it happen. The vision was that he would be the Father of a nation and that God would give him the land that he was going to. He had to set out from where he was so that he could get to where he was going. How did he know where he was supposed to go?

We can’t say for sure, but he certainly took his direction from God. Directions along the way mark the path for us to follow. Sometimes there are multiple paths to follow which would seem to lead to the same outcome, so which do we follow, does it really matter?

1. Know your starting point
This is the key to knowing the direction to take.

If I’m travelling and I want to go to a certain place.
I need to find out where I am right now, because I need to know the options I have to follow to get to where I need to be.

Many years ago when Liz and I travelled, we needed to know where we were, before we could decide how to get where we needed to go.The “You are Here” arrows on maps help us know where we are.

Google Maps has a function where you can track where you want to go. The first question it asks is: Where are you now? It needs to know where it is starting from so that it can tell you how to get to where you want to go. The train apps are the same. They want the destination, but it can’t do anything unless it has where you are starting from.

These things tell us where we are and sometimes what route we need to take to get there. I love maps. I love not only looking at where I am but visualising it, keeping it in my head. It helps me know where I’m going.

Abram set out from Haran and went to Canaan. To get to Canaan, he had to know that he was in Haran. In Gen 12 Abram is told to leave what he is doing – so he departed and took his household with him.

Gen 12:1-8
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram travelled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants. And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram travelled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord.

He wasn’t a lone ranger wandering around. He had his directions and he followed them. How did he know to go to Canaan? Gen 11 may supply the answer. His Father Terah set out for Canaan, but only got as far as Haran and stayed there.  I think that Abram knew that he had to complete the journey. Terah had set out with a vision, but had stopped along the way. He hadn’t completed the journey.

We also need to look out for sign posts on the way that mark the stages of the journey. These may be aspects of the vision or goals that we have set. Sometimes we think, why bother with goals, but they are indicators along the way that help us to move further on. They are the update of "where am I now?"

When I travel I look for landmarks that help me. I use my map to set a route if I need to, but it’s the land marks on the way that really help me know where I’m at, and how far I’ve come or still have to go. This is why goals are helpful; they are the landmarks on the way.

When Abram arrived in Canaan God appeared to him and told him he would give him the land but a famine caused him to go to Egypt. So God sent him back to Canaan.

Egypt was not the land promised to Abram and his descendants. God brought him back from Egypt, and renewed the promise, the vision and direction. He was to walk through the land.

Gen 13:14-18
After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west.  I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.  And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”

So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord.

Abram was told to walk through the land, to get a feel for what it looked like. He needed to know the landmarks on the way. As we seek God for vision and direction, he will also give you goals, land marks on the way. There arevsome useful questions we can ask ourselves.

Where am I now?

Where am I going? Am I listening to him and seeking his direction?

What goals or signposts will help me know I’m sticking to the right path?

2. Don’t travel alone
God never calls us to do any journey alone. This is true of life in families, in business, in ministry and with friends. That’s why networking and the like are so important. Whilst they can help us get more customers, it’s also about not going it alone. It’s why there are interagencies for so many things. Organisations realise that together we are better.

Jesus went everywhere with his disciples – and he sent them out in twos. Paul always went with someone else. Barnabas and Silas were his main travelling companions but he had other people.

When we are working together and heading in the same direction we can achieve a great deal and encourage one another to stay on track.

Amos 3:3
Can two people walk together without agreeing the direction.

God says don’t do it alone, but if you are working together you better know where you are going and stay walking in the same direction – otherwise you end up with a tug of war.

We all need people who will encourage us to keep walking, to get to that next signpost, achieve that next goal. Even if they are not in the same business, if they have the same heart they will help you on your way.

Ecc 4:7-9
I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.  This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

When we “walk” together we can help one another out. Life’s difficulties will come, and struggles will happen. We will “fall down” so to speak. Those who do the journey with us, help us stay on track, help us through the tough times and encourage us to get to where we are going, to win the battle and not be defeated.

God is always with us. If we will allow him to be part of the equation, we will be strong and not lose direction. A three strand cord is incredibly strong. We often talk about this in the context of the marriage relationship, and it’s true, a marriage with God in the equation is strong, has vision and direction.

But it’s true of anything we do in life. God gives vision and he gives direction. Let’s follow his guiding and his leading. He provides the map and the signposts for us to follow. Some questions we can ask ourselves?

Who is encouraging me on my journey?

Most importantly, am I walking this journey with God?

What guidance and direction is God giving me, and what am I doing about it?

3. Plan well, but be flexible
Staying on track – keeping direction – develop a plan. It doesn’t have to be anything grand – but something that reminds you of what your dreams and visions really are all about.

That’s why we did the life plan at the beginning of the year. It’s a reminder of where we are and where we want to go. You have your goals – so plan to carry them out and do what needs to be done.

When we are coaching, we develop goals and an action plan. Having an action plan helps us to stay on track and to know what we have to do and by when.

Good planning leads to success.

Prov 21:5
Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
but hasty short cuts lead to poverty.

Proverbs 21:5
The Message (MSG)
Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;
    hurry and scurry puts you further behind.

Good planning is essential to staying on track. Sometimes planning can seem like a waste of time – we’d rather be out there doing. But planning is important. We need to plan the way forward, to know what we want to take.

When we head out on a track, or a walk or a holiday, we not only need to know where we are starting from and where we are going to, but we need to make plans about what to take, how we will get there, what wecwill need.

But we also need to be flexible. Sometimes God will nudge us about doing something a bit differently, making adjustments and we need to be ready to listen and act.

Proverbs 16:1-3
We can make our own plans,
    but the Lord gives the right answer.
People may be pure in their own eyes,
    but the Lord examines their motives.
Commit your actions to the Lord,
    and your plans will succeed.

God has plans for our life – we can get on board with his plan and work the plan.

Ps 40:5
O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
    Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
    You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
    I would never come to the end of them

When I plan a day out, I think about transport, what to take and so on. But I need to be flexible. There may be an unforseen problem, and I may have to get a bus, go by car, make some changes to the plans. It doesn’t mean we don’t keep going with the journey, we just make some adjustments and keep going.

Paul had to make adjustments. In Acts 16 we read of Paul’s second missionary journey. They intended to continue working in the province of Asia, that is what they had planned, but God adjusted their plans. They ended up going to Macedonia. But the plans for Asia were not lost. It just happened a bit differently.

We make plans, but God can change them. It doesn’t usually mean a complete change in direction – if we are clearly listening to God. Paul and Silas had a different physical outcome but the direction to preach to the gentiles remained the same.

Good planning leads to success.

Do I have a plan? How well have I planned?

How flexible am I?

So to conclude
-Know your starting point.
-Don’t travel alone
-Plan well but be flexible

Vision

Forward Facing
Vision Direction Purpose in a busy world

Ecc 3:11
Yet God made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

We often look at this verse and think about it in the context of eternity and salvation. That is true, there is a part of us that will never be satisfied without God. But this verse speaks of God’s kingdom purpose, his eternal purpose that is so hard for us to grasp. Yet God has placed eternity in our hearts.

There is a desire for a greater purpose, planted by God. It’s a kingdom purpose. We may not understand the whole purpose, the whole scope of what God is doing, but we can get God’s perspective for our part, for his purpose for us.

It begins with vision and the vision that we have for our life.

Dr Leaf
“Are you so busy twittering the moment that you forget about enjoying the moment”

We live in a world full of social media, with lots of options and opportunities, there are lots of ideas and lots of possibilities. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. Sometimes we are so caught up in the day to day necessities of life, getting up, going to work, getting kids to school, picking kids up, helping with homework etc. that we can lose sight of where we are meant to be headed. We can lose sight of God's kingdom purpose for us.

Having a vision for our life helps us to stay on track.

What is vision anyway?

The dictionary describes vision as :
Sensing with the eyes – sight
Anticipating what will or may come
Something that appears vividly or credibly in the mind – though not actually present
A vivid or imaginative conception or anticipation

The Bible describes it as divine communication from God, vision, or a vision from God especially respecting future events.

Maybe we don’t even have a vision, or we did, and it got side tracked by life’s circumstances. So which way do we go? How do we develop vision?

Abram was told to go to the land that God would show him. The magi followed a star. They had something to watch, something in front of them that guided them on their way. They had a vision of something to guide them. Abram had God’s word and direction, even though he didn’t know the final destination for quite some time.

So often we wonder which way we are going. Where are we headed? What are we doing, who are we following?

Prov 29:18
Without a vision, people perish NKJV

Without a revelation, people cast off restraint. NIV

A nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order. GNT

If people can’t see what God is doing they stumble all over themselves. But when they attend to what he is doing they are most blessed. MSG

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. Lack of vision causes us to “run wild” to be all over the place instead of moving forward, we are everywhere, often unaware of where we are really supposed to be. Vision is important to a productive future. It gives us a direction to follow.

Divine guidance is available, but people do not accept the guidance that is available for them. God promised the pouring out of his spirit (Joel) on all people. Part of that would be divine visions. Visions are both things that we see with the inner eye, and God given visions.

1. Vision is about perspective
What is our perspective?

Churches, Companies etc. have a vision. Why? Because they know that to move forward it’s important to have something to aim for and to look forward to.  Its crucial to know what you are doing something for. Its the perspective they have, that drives what they do. They don’t just have a vision because it’s a nice thing to have – or if they do, they won’t be too effective. 

Our perspective can hinder or help our vision. A small perspective hinders vision. I believe we need to enlarge our perspective. What are you looking at? Both Abram and the magi (Matt 2) had a bigger perspective. They were looking up. A star appears in the sky and you have to look up and see it. We need to look up and see a larger perspective and a larger vision. It’s about having a bigger perspective on life, focussing on where we are headed rather than the immediate circumstance.

In life we all have limiting beliefs that can stop us moving forward in a productive way. A limiting belief can hinder vision, because it’s a limited perspective. For example if you are standing right next to an ocean liner, it seems huge, and it is. But once you get a different view, a different perspective it changes how you see things. If you move away and get a bigger picture, you can see more, and see where ypu are going.

When I’m on the ground, the liner blocks all in front of me and obscures my vision. When I’m on a hill, I see past the liner and to the possibilities beyond. Moving forward in the busy life requires us to look past the busyness that blocks our perspective and to see a larger picture. In fact the greater the perspective, the more you see.

Choosing a bigger perspective, being deliberate about looking at a bigger picture helps us create a bigger vision. Flying home from Port Macquarie recently and coming in over Sydney, the ocean liners that had looked so large when I was standing next to them the week before, looked like toy boats. The only difference was that my perspective had changed. I had greater vision, and what seemed like an obstacle became insignificant.

Are we looking at the obstacles and the things that obscure the vision or are we raising our eyes, looking up and gaining a different perspective.

Prov 3:21 My child don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment.

Its possible to lose sight of something because we are looking at the wrong thing. God promised Abraham he would be the father of a nation, of millions of people. That was the vision. But he lost sight of the vision and began to look at the circumstance and God had to remind him about the vision – to look up – to see God’s perspective. (Genesis 15)

When we look past the everyday and we look at the bigger picture, we can see what is possible. Vision requires looking at the big picture and having a larger perspective.

What are you looking at?

What is your perspective?

What limiting beliefs do you have?

What do you personally need to do to enlarge your perspective?

2. Vision sets direction
The way we face is the way we go.

Vision is not about our past, its about our future and where we are going. When we have vision, we have a direction that we move in, towards the fulfilment of the vision, if we keep the vision in front of us. Vision gives us something to aim for.

God gives revelation, understanding, and vision. We can askourselves: What is my vision, what is God’s vision, for my life, my family, and my friends? You don't have to have it all right yet. We are a work in progress.

Phil 3:12
Forgetting what is past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

If we want to move forward, we have to look forward to where we are going and not where we have been. Having a vision for our life is about the future and not about the past. It does not matter what your past has been, because it does not determine your future.

When we constantly focus on the past we are not looking in the right direction, and our vision becomes blocked and we stumble. The decisions you make today, to look up, to look forward, to look ahead will determine the future.

What are you looking at?

Where are you facing?

What will you do to change the focus of your life?

3. God restores vision
Sometimes vision has got lost in the day to day life circumstances.

Maybe things did not go according to plan, or something happened and we feel we have lost the chance or the opportunity.

Psalm 6:7
My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out by all my enemies.

This may be about physical vision, but it’s true of vision in general. Grief and disappointments can blur the vision and obscure it. The good news is that God restores our vision. Jesus restored physical vision, but he also helped people to regain inner vision.

Luke 7:21
At that time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind.

John 9:39
I entered the world to render judgement – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they can see that they are blind!

Jesus understood that sight was not just physical sight and vision, but that inner sight, the mind’s eye, the things we see, can be restored. When people realise they cannot see, God restores vision.

God poured out his spirit, so we would see visions, and have dreams. (Joel 2:28) When we seek God, he will show us his vision for our life. The vision that God restores to us is not second rate, but is divine vision.

Ps 40:5
You Lord have done many marvellous things and you have planned marvellous things for us.

When we seek God, he will show us marvellous things. Things that are amazing.

2Cor 2:9 
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
    and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
    for those who love him.”

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

God will show us his vision for our lives if we will let him.

John 10:10
My purpose is to give life in all its fulness

Jesus restores to us the visions we have lost and gives us new revelation of his plans and purposes for us, for our families, for our work, for our life.