On Purpose and Service: Doing the Father's Business
Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?
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The purpose is to arm you with all that you need to discover your purpose, build capacity for it, and accomplish what God has created you to do.
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Read On
One visible indicator of the humility of Jesus.
He was washing the feet of his disciples.
I used the word “ visible” and not “big” because as humans we have yet to fully come to grasp the level of His humility.
Being the Son of God had amazing privileges, He had the power to choose anything but to come to earth.
But he chose to come.
It’s a strong reminder to us that no status or position is greater than the will of the Father.
The purpose of this post is to take a deep dive into what prevents us as Christians from living a life of purpose.
Even after discovering and loving what God has called us to do.
It is very clear that not everyone who failed to achieve the purpose intended to.
Some of those people genuinely loved God and wanted to obey Him
But found themselves unable to do his will.
My prayer for you is that by the time you are done reading this post,
You will be armed with what it takes to prevent common pitfalls.
Amen.
First of All
You might read this post and say to yourself.
I don’t know my purpose yet.
Discovering purpose is not as hard as you think
Here is a simple formula that has been working for thousands of years.
Join a department in your church and serve there faithfully
With time God’s purpose for you here on Earth will become clear.
God is your creator, you can’t discover your purpose outside him.
So, serve until you discover, and also know that service is how you discover.
He who is faithful in little will be trusted with more.
Also, buy and read Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren.
It will help you a lot.
With that said, let’s continue.
Unto Us, a Son is Given
For to us, a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6 NIVProphecies about the coming of Jesus were all over the New Testament.
God the Father gave the first prophecy after the fall of man.
When telling the Devil the consequences of his role in the fall of Man, He said this:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:15
4000 years later,
This prophecy was fulfilled on the cross when Jesus died and he descended into Hell and conquered the Devil.
But it was not the prophecies that ensured that Jesus achieved purpose.
Prophecies are powerful,
But there is something greater than prophecy and that is principles.
For example, the law of gravity applies to everything on Earth.
If God said that you would live to the age of 100 and you intentionally climb to the top of a building today and jump.
You will fall to your death.
Gravity won’t seize because God said you will live to the age of 100.
So what are the principles that you need to pay attention to when it comes to purpose?
They are
Patience
Service
Honor
Principle of Patience
Jesus came to this earth filled with the power of God.
By the age of twelve, he already knew what He was on Earth for.
He was already teaching in the temple and was so engrossed that he lost track of time
But it was not time to start His ministry.
When his parents corrected Him,
He humbled himself and subjected himself to their authority.
Are you doing that right now?
Subjecting yourself to both your natural and spiritual parents or have you let your skills and gifts get into your head?
It is very easy to draw a line from your gifts to the solution that it can provide.
But timing is a very important factor.
Imagine Jesus started ministry at the age of 12.
Who would have baptized him?
John the Baptist was still a child.
Also, how would he have managed the relationship with his disciples?
There are a lot of things that would have gone wrong.
This should help you understand that it goes beyond gifts and talent.
You also need to mature and build capacity and until you have that,
there is not much difference that you can make with your gift.
Principle of Service
Service is one of the things that the Bible stresses deeply.
The greatest among you must be a servant - Matthew 23:11 (NLT)There is no iota of optionality in that statement.
Service is something anyone who wants to be great needs to be involved in.
It is one concept that is hard to grasp in a world where anyone serving the most is seen as the least great person.
But like Jesus showed us.
Greatness is found and established in living a life that goes beyond thinking about yourself.
The biggest people we know and celebrate today did this
They dedicated their lives to building and doing things that served the needs of society.
And service is not easy.
It will involve denying yourself so many things.
Apostle Paul was talking about people seeking earthly prizes and the amount of work they put in.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. - 1st Corinthians 9:25While you can use our achievements here on Earth to draw the attention of people to Jesus,
Don’t lose track of what matters the most.
Principle of Honour
Out of the ten commandments given to us by God.
The one of honor is the only one that has a promise attached to it.
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12 ERV)That means the spiritual secret to living long is to honor your parents.
Starting from your natural all the way to your spiritual parents.
I also believe that Honour is not reserved for a few people.
Build a lifestyle of Honour. Appreciate everyone around you.
This is because as you go on the journey of purpose, there are several people God will send your way to guide you in one or two things.
It is important that you honor them also.
There are some decisions that you can’t make without the counsel and approval of your parents.
For example, the person that you are going to marry needs to be approved by your parents.
There is no way around this.
When it comes to your journey of purpose, the counsel and directions from your spiritual parents matter a lot.
Don’t take off on your own because “ you heard from God”
You still need training and the right timing.
The fact that God told you to do something does not mean it will automatically be easy.
You need to build capacity.
I believe that you might have read Exodus.
God told Moses to go and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
Was it an easy task?
You can also see the same from the story of Jesus.
Was dying on the cross an easy task?
Even if God appears to you in your room and hands you a plan for something.
You will still need to build the capacity to carry that thing.
Don’t resist training and timing because “God said”
That would take you down the path of pride.
Conclusion
There are more things that go into a life of purpose.
Two things that would help you greatly are
Building a habit of studying God’s word
Taking your relationship with the Holy Spirit seriously
Recommended Books
Purpose Drive Life - Pst. Rick Warren
Building a Word Foundation - Dr David Ogbueli
Good Morning Holy Spirit - Pst Benny Hinn
God bless you for this wonderful piece🙌🙏
Thanks for the insights more to come
Great read! Thank you for the insights. Patience. Service. Honor.