Pathway to purpose. Part One.

god means for your life to have purpose…

read this verse with that in mind:

¨And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.1   We begin with these profound words that Paul wrote to the church at Rome; two thousand years later, we children of God still count on the hope and the promise of this verse!  Today I read ‘called according to His purpose’ with fresh eyes and look for new understanding as I ask, “God, show us what Paul meant by ‘your purpose’.  What purpose(s) do you have for your children?”

‘How far back shall I take you, Child?’ the Potter seems to ask this lump of clay.  ‘The start?  Shall I take you there?  Well, as you know, i was from the beginning—i have always been … i am. Just days after I created the heavens, the earth, the dry land, seas, animals and more… I saw that none of these would bring relationship.

Only a human being could afford the opportunity for relationship.  

Something else--notice with me that the pathway [to purpose] leads somewhere . . . notice that it has different sizes and shapes of stones; notice that what lies on either side of the path is rocky ... hmmm.  We are looking to find his purpose – our God-given purpose, not some New Age, feel-good, one-size-fits-all, worldly, money-making-gimmick purpose.

¨And so, because none of his creation brought communion or community, then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness…”2   (I hadn’t taken note of the “us” in this verse until now; who do you suppose the “us” referred to?  God the Father said to Jesus Christ)  “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”3  Stop.  What does it mean to you to know that you were created in the image of God?  Stop and consider—what are the implications of being created in the image of God?  How do those implications impact the potential for a life filled with purpose?  You did not evolve—you were created.  When?  At what time, was my life endowed with purpose?  When did God begin thinking of me?

¨For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.4  Before you were born, God knew you.  Before you spoke a word, God took great delight in you!  Rest in Him for he knows the length of your life; he is in control.  Nothing about you is accidental—no, it is by design, planned with great intention, and destined for a purpose.  How do I know?

¨For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.5  Have you been raised in a faith with a far-off God, or have you removed yourself from anything religious, thinking you would be connecting yourself to a curmudgeonly-type being in the sky?  Has the God of your childhood been remote or punishing or at best, disinterested?  Read the verse again—does that sound as though he is anything like that?  No, He has you in his mind; he has your name written on the palm of his hand.  Now that is sweet.

The first four stepping stones:

-God has a purpose

-God created us in his image

-Before we were even born, God knew us … God had a plan for us

-His plans for us include a hope and a future and even more

 Tomorrow . . .

Christine

podcast:

1   Romans 8.28

2  Genesis 1.26a

3  Genesis 1.27

4  Psalm 139.13,16

5  Jeremiah 29.