The Life of Purpose Part 4

No 2. Live the Life You Were Meant to Live.
Once you determine to live according to God's plan, you have to start living according to God's plan. And that's done by taking these five principles and setting them as the foundation of your life. 

Sometimes God's timing is just remarkable. I sat down earlier this week to pray and study and beginning working on this mornings message. I knew what God wanted me to say, I just didn't know how to say. And so, it's been a little stressful this week with each day passing and me not getting any further with figuring out how to say all of this. And I've come to learn, though I still get stressed by it, that sometimes, God's not done relieving everything He wants to show me. And this week was one of those weeks.

At work, I was on work sites Monday and Tuesday, so I had to be at work earlier than normal. On my drive in, I usually listen to WordFM. Well, since I was heading in earlier, I listened to a different program than usually. And his teacher was starting a series with the premiss, that sometimes we have to blow things up in our lives before we can begin building. He cited Jeremiah 1:4-10. And when I heard what he said, I knew what God was waiting to show me.

Jeremiah1:4-10...
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 

7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

If you want to Live the Life You Were Meant to Live, You have to blow up the life you knew so you can start the life that God has called you to live.

God called Jeremiah to be a prophet for the people of Israel. God had a plan and a purpose for Jeremiah. Before he was in his mother womb, God knew Jeremiah and appointed him for a purpose. But Jeremiah questioned God's call because he could only see what he knew. That he was too young. He didn't know what he would say. And who would listen to him, anyway? He's just a kid!

God says, Jeremiah, don't worry. I have a plan. I will tell you where to go and what to say. And don't be afraid because I will be with you!

Then look at what God tells Jeremiah, in verse 10. "I have set you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Sometimes before God can do what he wants to do, he first has to breakdown the junk that we have build up. You see, we have become comfortable with life as we know it. We are the generations who have benefitted from the hard work of others. Life is good. I mean just look around. We have more today then the generations before us. And so it's easy to sit back and relax. But when we do that, we miss out on that we're being God to do.

So maybe it's time to evaluate how you live. The extra that we all enjoy and ask, is this really what I need to be living for?

The Higham's have been dealing with this and I don't even think we've be fully aware of it. You see it started in June. After spending a fortune to keep Amy's van on road, the inspection for my van ran out. So we went down to a one car family until we could afford to have it inspected. Really the only thing we need were tires.

After that the dryer went out and Amy was hanging clothes on a line in the yard. Then the AC started giving us trouble. Then the microwave broke. The mower deck cracked. Then we lost our landlines, cell phones, internet, and satellite TV. Now it's the fridge. Think about it. Luxuries. Extras. Things that make life easier. And you might say, Oh, I could never live with out a fridge. Guess what we are. And we are. And those who know of all of these mishaps ask us, how are you doing it? And all we can say is, God has a plan. 

God has a plan for us, and we are determined to live that plan. And if it takes us "suffering" through the loss of something that makes life more convenient so that God can do something in our lives than that is what we are going to do.

God is blowing things up around us so he and plant and build in us.

What does He want to see changed in your life? What needs to be blown up so that you can stop living in the comforts of what you know in order to live the life that He wants you to live?


- jay

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