Well, Day 1/40.
Before that, would like to talk about the introduction, I really did not notice that so many events went through 40 days of process and was transformed. Jesus however was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
Day 1: It All Starts with God
"For everything, absolutely everything,
above and below, visible and invisible,...
everything got started in him and
finds its purpose in him."
Colossians 1:16
From here we can know everything was created by him, so to find our purpose we have to find our creator that is God. But we must have faith that God exist and He has his purpose for us.
"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless"
Bertrand Russell, atheist
If you want to know why we were placed on this planet, God is the one we must begin with because we are born by his purpose and for his purpose. I'm sure God has a plan for everyone just that maybe some of us haven't discovered God's plan yet.
Peoples get puzzled about the search for their purpose in life since the beginning of time.
This search is this here, because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We always ask questions centered about us. There is where the problem is because by only focusing on ourselves, life's purpose cannot be found.
The Bible tells us:
"It is God directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power."
Job 12:10
Rick Warren tells us:
"Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose"
One think for sure is that we won't discover our life's purpose by looking within yourself like those said in many books.
For example, a new invention was invented but yet we won't know how to use it without the manual or the creator telling us how. No one except the creator can tell you you purpose.
"We were made by God and for God"
Until you understand the above statement, life will never make sense.
Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but this reversal of nature will bring us no where but failure.
Remember, we were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use us for his purpose and not use using him for our own purpose.
"Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."
Romans 8:6
Self-help books offer predictable steps in finding life's purpose- consider your dream, clarify your values, set goals... well, ya all these often lead to great success. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the issue.
Yes, you can be successful in the world but yet still miss the true purpose God created you for.
"Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."
Matthew 16:25
Finding your purpose is not about cramming more activities into your daily overloaded schedule, it actually teaches us to do less in life-by focusing on what matters most, becoming what God created you to be. Many people I assume have overloaded schedule doing things that has no connection with their purpose.
There are two options to find out about the purpose of your life.
Your first option-speculation. This is what people often choose. They conjecture, they guess, they theorize. But when its comes to finding the purpose of life, even the wisest are only just guessing. There is less conclusion that can be made by speculation.
Fortunately, there is another way- revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word- the Bible. The Bible is our Owner's Manual. God created us, therefore he is our creator and to know our purpose we have to ask the one who first created us. God has revealed his purpose for us in the Bible, because the contains in the Bible are His words. It explains what no other self-help book could know.
"God's wisdom... goes deep into the interior of his purpose.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest-what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us."
1 Corinthians 2:7
God is not the starting point of our life; he is the source of it.
"It's in Christ that we find our who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."
Ephesians 1:11
The above verse gives us three insights into our purpose:
- You discover your indentity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
- God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him. His purpose for your life predates your conception. He planned it before you existed, without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get t0 choose your purpose.
- The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.
In finding our purpose, it is not about us, its all about God, its starts with God and it last with God.
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