"What Drives your Life? Day 3 Continued
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You Because he trusts in You. NKJV
THE BENEFITS OF PURPOSE DRIVEN LIVING
Five benefits of living a purpose-driven life:
1) Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.
When life has a meaning you can bear almost anything, with it nothing is bearable. Without God life has no purpose and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope. Hope is as essential to your life as air and water. You need hope to cope. Hope comes from having a purpose. Got it?
2) Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. Knowing you purpose defines what you do and don't do. Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential by asking yourself if an activity helps me fulfill one of God's purpose for my life? It is impossible to do everything people want us to do. We have just enough time to do God's will. If you can't get it all done you may be trying to do more than God intended. (Too much TV, internet, games etc ) Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule.
3) Knowing your purpose focuses your life. Knowing your purpose concentrates your energy and effort. You become effective by being selective. Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships churches or other externals. Hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, " Maybe this time it will be different but it doesn't solve the problem. Lack of focus and purpose. If you want your life to have impact, focus it!
4) Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. When you lack a purpose, getting out of bed becomes a major chore. It is meaningless work that saps your energy and wears you down. George Bernard Shaw wrote:
This is the true joy of life: being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
5) Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. Yes, what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says. You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity. Earthly legacies are shortlived. A wiser use of time is to build an eternal legacy. One day God will do an audit of your life. He will first ask "What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ? Second, "What did you do with what I gave you". (talents, gifts, opportunities, energy, relationships and resources.) Did you use them for yourself or did you use them for the purpose God made you for?
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Proverbs 13:7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Philippians 3:13-15 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
NewKingJames Version
Point to remember: Living on purpose is the path to true peace
The journey continues...
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Thank you for this day and our daily bread. Forgive us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory. Forever Amen
