Plentiful Purposes

Did you miss the "Painting with a Purpose" event? Then, you missed these wise words from our Women's Director, Jen Bryant.  Take a few minutes to read what Jen (and the Bible, of course!) has to say about our purpose.

“Painting with a Purpose” Women’s Event Devotional 10/20/2012

So, can anyone tell me the title of our event tonight?  That’s right - “Painting with a Purpose.”  What was your purpose in coming here tonight?  To eat some good Mexican food?  To meet new friends or hang out with old ones?  To have fun and paint something pretty in the process?  Or to just get out of the house and get a break from your kiddos?  All of those are certainly valid purposes for showing up tonight – but, regardless of why you came, we’re glad you’re here!

I wanted to talk with you a little bit tonight about this word -  “Purpose” – It’s an interesting word – one we hear quite a bit in the world around us – Maybe you’ve heard of a book called “The Purpose-Driven Life” that was a best-seller a few years ago.  Or, if you have young children like me, you might often hear a little tattle-tale say – “She did it on purpose!” around your house. 

            If you Google “Purpose” on the internet, you’ll get all kinds of hits, some are Christian-based, many are – uh – not so much.  When I Googled  the word “purpose” – I even discovered a  website boasting “How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes!”  by some guy named Steve.  (Not really a website I would recommend, by the way.)  Bottom line is:  People in our world are hungry for purpose, for meaning, in their lives.  

The Net Bible dictionary defines purpose as “the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists.”  Take this paintbrush for example – it was created for a purpose, right?  What is that purpose?  To paint, of course!  Now, that didn’t even take 20 minutes to determine, did it?  Steve on the internet would be impressed!  The reason this paintbrush was created or exists is to paint.  Our purpose may not be quite that simple, but God’s Word does lay it out pretty clearly that we were created for a specific purpose.  Now, I don’t really care much about what Steve on the internet has to say about my life purpose, but I definitely care about what God has to say about it.  How about you?

A God of Purpose:

You don’t have to look very far into God’s Word to discover that our God is a God of purpose. 

 Psalm 33:11 says:

¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  

I just love that God is a planner, because I am such a planner myself!  But, unlike me, the Lord always has a clear, unchanging purpose to His plans!  When the planner in me gets a little carried away with all of my own plans,  the Lord gently (or sometimes not so gently!) reminds me of one of my favorite Scriptures in Proverbs 19:21 -

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Our Ultimate Purpose – To Bring Glory to God:

Our God is definitely a God of purpose, and His Word is clear that he created us for a purpose.  God tells us in the book of Genesis tells that we, as humans, are the only creation He created in His image.  Just as a mirror reflects your image when you look into it, you were created to reflect God and His glory.  In Ephesians 1: 11-12, Paul tells us that:

we were chosen according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we… might be for the praise of His glory.  

You were created for the purpose of being “the praise of His glory”!  How amazing is that?  Oh, and how convicting is that?  Do you live your life in such a way, do you “rise up and walk” out your faith so that it causes others to take notice and praise God because of you?  But, before you get too stressed out or overwhelmed with that awesome responsibility, remember it’s not about you and what you can or cannot do – it’s all about Him and what His Holy Spirit can do through you – and He can do anything!   Remember our women’s ministry “Plugged Into Christ” theme verse Col. 1:29?  To this end I labor, struggling with all HIS energy, which so powerfully works in me. ??  -Sorry, I just couldn’t resist throwing that in there! ;)  

            So then, our ultimate purpose, the reason for which we were created, is to bring glory to our God.  But how can the Lord use you and me for the purpose of bringing Him glory?  If you take a quick look at your Bible concordance, you will see that the word “purpose” is used many, many times throughout Scripture.  The English word purpose is translated from a few different Hebrew and Greek words in the original Scriptures, but they all carry similar definitions like “plan, purpose, will.”  We will focus on just a few of these “purpose” Scriptures tonight and take note of four of the ways God created us to fulfill our ultimate purpose of bringing Him glory.

1.  Sharing the Word of Life:

One of my favorite “purpose” Scriptures is Philippians 2:13: 

…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.  ¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶ as you hold out the word of life… 

God created us to shine like stars for Him in this dark and depraved world – but did you notice what makes us shine like stars?  First, doing everything without complaining or arguing and secondly, holding out the word of life!  As we refuse to give in to the selfish, negative, “my way or the highway” attitude that so pervades our world today, as we hold out God’s Word and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, we will shine like stars! 

As Luke says in Acts 20:24,

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others about the wonderful grace of God! (NLT)

2.  Serving Others:

God not only created us to bring Him glory by sharing His Word with others, but he also created us to share His goodness and love by serving others.  Phil 2:1-4 says: 

 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Paul goes on to point out that the Jesus Himself did not come to be served, but to serve – to the point of willingly giving up His life for us!

3.  Becoming More Like Jesus:

That brings me to the 3rd way that God fulfills His purpose in us – by making us more like Jesus, our Savior:

Romans 8:28 says,   ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.

I don’t know about you, but I find so much comfort in God’s promise that He works in everything in our lives – the good, the bad, and the ugly - for our good.  And our ultimate “good” is to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.   It sure can be tough, and it can downright painful at times, but if we come out on the other side of a trial or struggle looking even a little bit more like Jesus, then it is more than worth it!  In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him - He can even turn our biggest mistakes, the messes we so often make of our own lives, into the biggest masterpieces if we let Him.    Our God is in the business of bringing beauty from ashes, remember?

4.  Living by Faith, Not by Sight:

Finally, we were created to bring God glory by living by faith, not by sight. 

2 Corinthians 5 says:
¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands…  ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling... ⁵ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ We live by faith, not by sight. -2Cor. 5:1, 4-7
This earth is not our home, ladies.  We were created to be free from these earthly tents we carry around and be at home in our heavenly dwelling with our Father God!  We bring God glory when we live by faith, knowing that our hope and our true home is in heaven with the Lord.  Therefore, as Colossians 3:2 says, we “set our mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

So, there you have it – just a little “crash course” about some of the things God has to say about your purpose and my purpose.  Sharing God’s Word, Serving Others, Becoming More Like Jesus, and Living By Faith are just a few of the ways God uses is to fulfill our ultimate purpose of bringing Him glory. 

But before I wrap things up, I must add a very important side note.  Your true purpose – to bring glory to God – is still your true purpose whether or not you have chosen to trust Jesus Christ and accept His free gifts of forgiveness and eternal life with Him.  It’s really very simple – Romans 10:9 tells us “if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Bottom line, God created you – and He created you for a specific purpose.  However, the BIG problem is, if you have not trusted and believed in Jesus, you have no hope of ever being able to fulfill the purpose for which you were created! 

You see, as I mentioned before, you were created in God’s image – just as this glove was created in the image of a hand.  It can’t do anything all by itself – it was created in the image of a hand and it cannot fulfill its purpose, what it was created for, without a hand in it.  I can try filling it with other things – I can stick this paintbrush in it or maybe fill it up with water or tortilla chips, but this glove is never going to be able to do what it was made to do until I put a hand in it.  It is the same way with you – you were created in God’s image, and without God, without His Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you, you cannot fulfill the purpose for which you were created.  As Jesus Himself said in John 15:5 – “apart from me you can do nothing.”

I leave you with one last Scripture of encouragement regarding your purpose –

Psalm 138:8 –

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Never forget that you are the work of God’s hands, just as the painting you create tonight will be the work of your hands.  Now, you may give your painting away as a gift, or your painting may eventually end up abandoned in an attic or garage, or even a trash can (gasp!), but God will never abandon the work of His hands.  And, in His unfailing love, He will fulfill His purpose for you!

Jen Bryant

Director of Women's Ministry

Circle of Love

A crash and a tumble are heard throughout my house.  Immediately after, the smallest munchkin comes screaming toward me needing some comfort.  I immediately put out my arms to hug him and offer a little momma-love.  He puts his head on my shoulder and calms to a sniffle.

He looks in my eyes with tears streaming down his face.  "It's like a circle, Mom."  My arms he means.  "Yeah, a circle of love".

What a clenching of the heart that boy can initiate.  He's right though.  It's amazing what a hug, a kind word, or a smile can do for us.  Calm our fears, soothe our hurts, dry our tears.  Sometimes those hugs come from our mommas or husbands.  Our sweet girlfriends or sisters.  A child can offer the tenderest of kid-love with their tiny arms squeezing your neck. 

Sometimes those hugs come in the form of a comment from a stranger in the check-out line at Target.  "What a blessing you are to those children! You are doing an amazing job as a mom."

Gulp. A huge lump lodges in my throat.  How did she know I needed an encouragement-hug? The Holy Spirit shows up in the most amazing places and faces.

Christ is like that too, you know.  Ever ready with His arms open; waiting to encircle each of us with a love greater than we've ever known.  His arms never tire of our hurts and fears.  His back never weakens under the strain of us and the baggage we carry.  His heart is never too full for one more burden or care.

Psalm 91:4 says "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart".

As believers, we have the awesome privilege to seek refuge and comfort in the covering of his wings.  The Creator of the Universe desires to shepherd us as His flock.  The Bible says in Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

His Word promises us that He will comfort us with His love.  Psalm 119:76 confirms this: "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant."

Our need for Him increases the more we come to know Him.  If you don't yet know the Jesus who is the giver of peace that surpasses all understanding - NOW is the time! Turn your heart toward Him, duck under the cover of His wings and surrender it all to Him.  Then you will know the life-changing comfort His arms provide.

Let us all rejoice in His circle of love.

Have a beautiful, love-filled evening.
Niki