Your Life's Purpose by Ann Broughton

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV).

   

    Keeping the faith can be very difficult, especially if you are facing a difficult situation. I am currently reading a book that has really given me a challenge about keeping the faith and finding my purpose.  I highly recommend Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. There is a specific chapter in the book about setting your focus.

     

    The author quotes Jonathon Edwards, a minister in the 1700’s who made a life purpose statement. This is how it goes: “Resolved to live with all my might while I do live. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, to improve it in the most profitable way I can. Resolved, never to do anything I should despise or think meanly of in another. Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge. Resolved, never to do anything that I would be afraid to do in the last hour of my life” (Calm My Anxious Heart, pg. 103).

   

    Reading this life statement really challenged me to think of my own life statement. Lately, the following verse has been my life statement and my mantra: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV). It is so important for all of us to think about a life purpose statement and what we want to do for the Lord in our life.

   

    One lady mentioned in this book, made a statement where she offered all she was to God, which included all she had, all she suffered for now and forever. She divided these up onto papers and listed all the things in each category and offered it to God. It is something to ponder about your own life purpose and your relationship with God.

  

   This week think about what your life purpose is in regards to God.

Pray about this and ask God to impress upon you what your statement should be. When it comes to you, write it down and pray about it.

Then act upon it. You see when you come to your end of your life you will want to say that you fought the good fight and kept the faith. In order to do that, you must keep living a life that is pleasing to God and know what your purpose is.

Dear Lord,

We come to you as humble servants, asking that you reveal to us your life purpose for our lives. Help us to pray and believe that you will enlighten us with that purpose. Then help us to live with your purpose always in our hearts so at our last breath we can say we fought the good fight for you.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

God Has Given You Today by Ann Broughton

  

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

    Yesterday I got a lot of ambition, and decided to shovel the snow off of our driveway. I didn’t tell my husband because I knew he would insist that he do it with the snow blower. I love to be outside and it wasn’t that cold out, so I put on warm coat, gloves and earmuffs and grabbed the snow shovel. I pushed the snow to the edge and then went the other direction. After about 10 pushes I looked at the end of the driveway and thought to myself that this was going to be a bigger job than I thought. That is when I put up my gigantic hood. You see with that hood up all I could see is the path I was making and not the end of the driveway. I just concentrated on one lap at a time. I eventually got to the end of the driveway and was so proud I had made it. I was going to give up midway, until I put up my hood and only concentrated on one swath at a time.

   You see sometimes in life, it seems like we will never make it to our goal. The end seems far away, and dwelling on that can seem very daunting. For me it is retirement which is looming in the near future. For others it may be a college degree, paying off a mortgage, or maybe it is the end of chemo. The most important thing to remember is that all you have is today, and you must try with all your heart to use this day to honor God in all you do. It is this day that God has blessed you with, and He has a special plan for you. Make sure you pray and ask Him every morning what He wants you to do, and then act on it. You might have a name come to your mind or you might come in contact with someone who needs cheering up. Every day there are opportunities to make a difference in someone’s life, and it is up to you to recognize this and act on it. Don’t go through life moaning and groaning, but be on the outlook for the blessings God has for you. Everyday there will be some. Ask God to help you be aware of them.

Dear Lord,

All we have is today. Help us not to worry so much about the future, but take each day to do your will. Lead us to people who need to see your love through us, and then help us to be your hands to give them help.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen