Purpose

We have looked at Worth Strength and Purpose
Worth:- Who We really are: valuable and of great worth in God's sight. We have intrinsic worth.
Strength:- We have the ability to choose, to think, to manage emotions and to find our strength in God.
Purpose:- God's purpose for us; our dreams and vision for the future, answering the question "What am I here for?"

Purpose can be defined as "the reason for which something exists, a desired end or result, an aim or an intention. To do something on purpose, by design and intentionally". We live for a purpose and we do things on purpose - being deliberate and intentional in how we live, not just letting things happen but having a deliberate plan of action.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
"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.
In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me."

God has a good plan and purpose. His desire is that we have something purposeful to do and to live for. Notice that if we want to find God's purpose, we need to listen to him, and to seek him with all our heart. I believe the mistake we make is to want God's purpose, but without seeking him wholeheartedly. We want God to solve our problems, but we want it on our terms instead of his. God says if we seek him wholeheartedly, he will hear us, listen to us and we will have an incredible purpose.

God's purpose is good, and gives us a hope and a future. Hope is important. We all function best when we have hope. Not just a wishful thinking, but true hope, based on the truth of God's word. We also have a future. Something that is positive and adds value not just to us, but to the families and communities in which we live.

1. I have a dream
Purpose involves us having a dream, believing that there is something that we are meant to do, and someone we are meant to be. I'm not talking about weird and strange dreams that come in the night, but of the dreams and vision you have for your life. This may be from an actual dream, or from an inner sense that there must be more. This sense can find itself outworked in the things we are passionate about. The things we dream about for our future, the things we focus on, are what we will end up living out.

Martin Luther King had a dream - a vision for the future, something that propelled him to live with purpose, to be deliberate and to serve something bigger than himself. His focus, his purpose was his dream and he lived and breathed it.

Genesis 37-50 is the story of Joseph. Its an amazing story. Joseph was a visionary and a dreamer. His life did not always go to plan, but he had a sense of purpose in his heart and a vision to live by. He walked through rejection by his brothers, sold into slavery and servitude in a foreign country, being falsly accused and thrown into prison and forgotten by those whom he helped. During it all, he never lost sight of the plan and purpose he had been shown and knew to be his purpose. He knew God was with him.

He lived each day, looking ahead, fully believing God had a good plan and purpose for him. I'm sure that some days it was difficult to see the dream being fulfilled, but he went on. His situation changed literally overnight. When it seemed he was completely forgotten, God used the king of a foreign country to bring Joseph into his true calling and purpose. He became the greatest administrator in the land of Egypt, carrying out God's plan and purpose. In the process he saved his family, a people group, from starvation. This people group became the Hebrew nation, that many thousands of years later would usher in the birth of the Messiah.

Genesis 45:8
So it was God who sent me here, not you. And he is the one who made me advisor to Pharaoh - the manager of his palace and the governor of all Egypt.
God's dream and vision for your life is bigger than your own.

Joseph had a dream that involved leading a family, God had a dream for him that involved eternity, and the entire world. God has a vision and dream for your life that is greater than your own. The things God places in our hearts, the desires, the things that stirr us are small compared to the entirety of what God has planned for you.

Eph 3:20
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

We often talk of this in relation to personal things that are going on in our lives. It is true and definitely speaks to us in these things, but I believe that this verse speaks so much more about God's amazing plan and purpose for your life; a purpose that is far greater than the paltry things we think are important.

How large is your dream?

What is God saying to you about his dreams and purpose for your life?

This might be dreams for your ministry, your family life, your education, your work, your community service and volunteering. I believe God is saying to us we need to enlarge the vision, enlarge the dream. What we are dreaming is too small. He has something much bigger in mind for us.

2. I have a place
God places us where he knows we will function best. He places us in church, in family, in teams etc. When we have place, we have the vehicle through which our purpose will be best fulfilled. God never does things in isolation. Our purpose is always connected to other people. Having a place is important to having purpose. Our purpose is never fulfilled in the imagination, but on the ground with real people in real situations.

We live in community with others, and God has placed people in our lives for a reason. Knowing where we belong is as important to our purpose as the vision we have. Humans are created to be part of families and to be planted firmly in family. I believe that knowing where you belong is crucial to how you serve and where you serve. We will best fulfill our purpose serving where God has called us to serve, where God wants us to be planted.

Ps 93:12-14
But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon,
For they are transplanted to the Lords own house, they flourish in the courts of our God.
Even in old age they will still produce fruit, they will remain vital and green.

This is why its important to sow into the life of the church where God has placed you. It may not be a perfect family, but it is God's family and his purpose for us is best fulfilled in that environment. I'm not just talking about within the church. Church is our home and church is within the community, our community, where God has placed us.

How well are you planted and connected within the church community?
What attitides might need to change to build stronger connections and a deeper planting?
What are you passionate about?
What purpose is God calling you to with in the church and your community?

3. I serve a larger vision
This is about living on purpose, for a greater purpose than our own. It's an irony of life, and a spiritual truth, that when I choose to live for a vision and a purpose larger than my own, I discover that my own vision, my own dream is fulfilled and I find true purpose. When its all about me, myself and I, we miss the point of purpose. It's about God's greater plan and purpose, serving and  living for the bigger vision.

Poem
I had a little Tea Party
This afternoon at three
Was very small
Three guests in all
Just I, Myself and Me
Myself ate up the sandwiches
I drank up all the tea
Twas also I who ate the pie
And passed the cake to me.

This is a quaint little rhyme but it sums up how most of us see life. Its all about me. This is not God's way. He says that life is not just about me. Life is actually about others and the well being of others. There is a world that is dying and God's salvation is for all. Our purpose is to serve the larger purpose of taking God's good news of love and grace to the world. This is not a haphaxard thing. If we are to do anything, we need to be deliberate.

When we serve a greater purpose, a larger vision, we will discover, that in doing so, our own vision and purpose is fulfilled. We begin to see life from a different perspective and we understand that purpose requires us to be deliberate. It doesn't just happen. The apostle Paul says to the church in Corinth, that we live this life as though in a race that we run to win. He is determined to make his life count, to fulfil God's purpose.

1 Cor 9:26
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadow boxing.

Paul is living life with purpose, and on purpose. He is doing what it takes, being deliberate in every action, for a greater purpose than his own. Most of the world is living day to day. To a certain extent, we do to. But we must live day to day with eternity in mind. As we live each day, we are to be deliberate in living out God's purpose. This means that we don't just let life happen, but we are actively engaged with life.

It means we are actively engaged in serving and deliberate in our friendships and relationships. Not for our sake, but for the sake of others. This seems a paradox - but when we live this way, we find greater fulfillment, because we are actually engaging in something that is bigger than us and worthwhile.

Prov 16:3
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

Prov 16:9
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Prov 19:21
You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail

As we serve God's greater purpose, as we are deliberate about life, doing life on purpose, then we will make plans according to God's purpose.

Whose vision am I serving?
What greater purpose is God calling me to serve?

Conclusion
Purpose - visons and dreams, a hope for the future, a place to serve and a greater purpose to serve. As we grab hold of thses, we will find God's purpose for our life and discover that we are living a purposeful life greater than we could ever imagine.