DRIVEN BY PURPOSE

Fred is born, Fred grows up, Fred gets a good education, Fred gets a good job, Fred advances in his career, Fred accumulates wealth and possessions, Fred becomes important in his field. Fred dies.

T or F: Fred’s life has been well lived….Fred has grabbed the gold ring? Fred has lived the “good life”? Maybe.. maybe not!

Quote from sermon one in this series:

You can set goals for your life… and if you put your mind to them, and all your energies into them you can reach those goals! But… You can be hugely successful at achieving your life goals and never achieve the “life purpose” for which God placed you on this earth!

Like Fred… any of us can get a good education, get a good job, advance in our career, accumulate wealth and possessions, become important in our field…….die…. But if we miss out on the transformation into Christ-likeness, the reflecting God’s image, being re-created into the likeness of God in preparation for an eternity spend with Him….. we have sold ourselves dreadfully short.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with good education, good job, career advancement, accumulating wealth, even becoming important… as long as those things are put into the perspective of eternity!

I spent a little time watching TV Friday evening… directed at people in their twenties and teens and what I heard was a constant, recurring theme. I actually heard it said of someone; that they literally had it all… then they went on to define what all was. It seems that “all” consists of three things; 1) Good looks; 2) talent; 3) and money!

That drumbeat just kept beating.. they added the essential elements of fine clothes and a hot cars v… and, I thought, pretty well wrapped up the big five reasons for being alive.

That theme has been beat into the skulls of everyone here… particularly if you are under 30 years of age.

The first sentence, in the first chapter, in the PDL book is this phrase!

It’s not about you!

The constant drumbeat I heard Friday evening was:

It’s all about you!

That theme has been played until it has become part of the fabric of our society. It’s part of every commercial, It’s emphasized to our youth in a thousand ways a day; … If you want to find true fulfillment in life… Grab the brass ring… take life by the horns, drain every drop of opportunity from every experience…. I’m not against adventure-some living. I always loved to go places I’ve never been before and do things I’ve never done… but there is an essential element to life that we must not miss!

You weren’t designed, by your creator, to be a taker… the image of God in you, was supposed to fashion you into a giver.

Somewhere in the midst of getting all you can out of life, you have to become aware that real life meaning isn’t centered there.

You weren’t put on this earth to take all you can from life… but to give all you can to life!

It was mankind’s sin that inserted the “take” mentality into life. Sin… the fall of Adam and Eve, ripped out of us the “giving” image of Creator God and inserted the “taking” mentality of the evil one. God’s transforming process of sanctification (Wed Eve) is supposed to remove the “grab it” mentality and replace it with a “give it” mentality.

You were planted on this earth to do something! What!…….

That’s what the real adventure in life is supposed to be… finding out!….finding out what the eternal reason for your being on this earth is supposed to be. Imagine when you get to heaven two great swimmers from earth. One set a world record for speed and one saved the lives of twelve drowning people……think about it…were all in heaven and some dude is bragging about setting a world record for speed and the rest of us are going to say… OK, OK, OK, what did you really do with your life on earth.

So familiar:

This doesn’t just apply to the attitudes coming out of your heart but the outward actions those attitudes produce.

It’s hard to associate the phrase “give your body as a living sacrifice” with the question: “Who’s going to meet my needs?”

This is an insistent theme throughout the New Testament and yet one that is so hard to fit into our daily lives…. We are all slam busy! I understand, with all of you, what is to have so much that we have to do, that there is simply no time left for meeting the needs of anyone other than ourselves. When we do get some down time we are just so tired that any thought of sharing ourselves with others is overwhelming.

I’ve heard it so, so many times; people have to find some room in their schedule, and the only variable they can find to remove from their schedule is their ministry in their local church…. I completely understand the dilemma…..

Yet, it is my God-given task to remind us all, that it is that very service;… It is all those times, when we give ourselves away for the benefit of others, whether as mothers, or bosses, or friends; when we give our time, not to benefit ourselves, but to bring benefit into the lives of our fellowman;…… it is that presenting of ourselves as “living sacrifices” and it is only that presenting of ourselves as “living sacrifices” that will matter when we end our time on this earth and start the first billion years of eternity!

God gives, absolutely, no “brownie points” to those who are good at controlling others, manipulating others. We spend so much effort in our lives doing things that will impress other people, we are thrilled when our name is mentioned in the news, as a mover or shaker…. Often the God of heaven, the one we should be trying to impress, is yawning in total boredom.

God is immensely interested in the lives of those who follow the example of Jesus and give themselves away as living sacrifices…. In fact He’s insistent that we understand the difference between what He sees as just existing… and what He sees as really living:

Mark 8:35 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. (NLT)

In fact, Jesus example was so clear: You often find Him doing menial tasks that others would have considered unimportant. The examples in Scripture of Jesus helping children, fixing breakfast, serving lepers, washing feet, were not just put into the Bible as examples of how an important person can humble himself when necessary….

Jesus didn’t preach his great Sermon on the Mount, then go lower himself to washing feet, or caring for children. He understood that when he was caring for a child he was doing something just as eternally weighty as preaching a great sermon.

I understand, I think, that when we get to heaven there are people in this church like Elizabeth Kirst who faithfully and quietly ministers to so many people during each week who God will usher right on past me to a much greater reward. When we get to heaven, most of us are going to be stunned at which people are lauded as the truly great “warrior of the cross” here on earth. They will probably all be people we never heard of.

If your service to God is hidden, yet faithful, you are probably going to be shocked at how much significance God places on you when you get to heaven. Can’t you just picture some TV preacher grumbling at the back of the line in heaven, as thousands of widows, who never did send him any money but prayed for and served others in hidden-ness, are led to the front of the line.

Jesus tried to teach us that…. Nothing was beneath his position…

It wasn’t in spite of his greatness that he washed the disciples feet… It was because of his greatness! PDL

Jesus could have come to this earth as an earthly ruler and still managed to die for the sins of mankind… He could have left heaven as King of the universe.. Incarnated into King of some powerful empire here on earth… then lowered himself to die for man-kinds sins.

Just because He came as a working man and gave himself away right up until he gave us the ultimate sacrifice of his life doesn’t mean that’s the way it had to happen. So why did he choose to make himself nothing; take the humble position of a slave and appear in human form?

Giving himself away in not something God does… it who God is.

When Jesus came and began to naturally serve his disciples instead of asking them to serve Him… He didn’t do that because it was part of some great object lesson… He was just being himself!

If you’re going to be reshaped into the image of Christ then you better get rid of any ideas of living to control others. If you’re going to be Christ-like, you must embrace finding your identity in Jesus. If you’re secure in your relationship with Christ then you have little problem giving away your time, talents, and treasure in the service of others… If you are insecure in that relationship it will show up in your service… or lack thereof.

It’s only when we forget ourselves that we do things that deserve to be remembered.

Before an architect designs a building he has to know what it will be used for.

Function determines Form

So it is with you… before God planned you, he formed you into a very specific person designed to accomplish a very specific function, while on this earth. Then he shaped all your characteristics around the plan for which he created you.

This is such an important verse:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

THIS POEM SAYS IT ALL

http://http://http://http://http://http://www.somebodycares4u.com/masterpiece.htm