On Purpose - A Devotion

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NLT)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

As a young person, I desired the Will of God for my life. Early adulthood resulted in many bad choices. I was left feeling as though by leaving the pathway of His Plan that I could never fully have His Very Best no matter what I did. I was right, but not entirely. Religion has long taught people that if you walk away from God although you come back you can never have all that God has promised. I believed that for many, many years until now. God knows the plans that He has for you. His plans are good with a future and hope. By praying with all of heart intent on finding the Lord, He will listen and you will find Him. But why look for God if you think there is nothing to gain? Many people feel undeserving of God’s Grace, Mercy and Love. Truth is that we are not worthy of it at all. But God created us to be loved by Him. It is His Purpose. Sin separates us from the Lord so we are unable to experience His Goodness because we cannot find Him in the darkness. God promises to be found by His People and says, “I will end your captivity (freedom) and RESTORE your fortunes. I memorized Jeremiah 29:11 in my teenage years but never spent time reading beyond the memory verse card to see that God has already provided a way to have all that He promised in spite of my inability to remain faithful, loving and committed to His Way. But if I return to the Lord wholeheartedly wrestling my mind, soul and body away from sin and handing it all over to God repenting and turning from it, I can have everything that He promised from the very beginning. I haven’t missed a thing…yet.

Psalm 139:15-16 (NLT)
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Your life began before you were born. As God created you, He watched over you and decided the course of your life. God decided to give you a free will to choose who you would love and serve then wrote out every day of your life with the sole purpose of a reunion. If God knows every single day of a person’s life before they come screaming out of the womb, then it would be safe to assume that He knows the good and the bad. So I believe God carefully constructs the moments of our life strategically so that we have the opportunity to encounter His Love and have His Very Best continuously throughout our life so our freedom will lead us back home. God’s Purpose is for you to be His Precious Child. No one has a child hoping they will fail, mess up or fall on hard times. We want the very best for our precious baby. However, the reality is they will fail, mess up and fall on hard times so as a parent it is our responsibility to nurture, instruct and discipline all in love so they will be successful. God loves us more than we love our children. He loves us perfectly and completely and unlike you and me can see the end from the beginning therefore He is able to make a complete plan leading us to repentance and redemption leaving out not one detail and promises to make everything work out for His Good which is His Very Best no matter when we decide wholeheartedly to follow Him. It happens the moment that we do!

Proverbs 16:3-4 (NLT)
Commit your actions to the LORD and your plans will succeed. The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster.

Consider this “the Lord has made EVERYHING for His Own Purposes.” Even the wicked for a day of disaster as God continues to direct us back into His Will His Way. Now that does not mean that the Lord creates disease, disaster or destruction for His Beloved, but what it does mean is that when evil prevails, Jesus overcomes. We are created with purpose. We are born into that purpose. We live to discover and fulfill that purpose. We die to receive the reward of such faithful diligence as we intentionally seek God’s Very Best and live to have it. When hard times come it is not because God intended it for you but He knew that it would come and has already provided healing, restoration and a reward for faithful endurance. Every detail of your life has a positive outcome and blessing attached when your life is committed to the Lord. His Plan will always succeed even in your darkest hour. It is this very thought that has walked our family through a year and a half of not one but two cancer diagnoses. How can God have anything to do with it? Well, let me assure you God did not give anyone cancer nor does He allow it. Remember, it was humanity who chose sin and all its dreadful consequences. It is through Jesus Christ that we overcome such devastating conditions. When disaster strikes it is our faith that allows us to have confident hope that the Lord is indeed working out EVERY detail for His Own Purpose which is always our own good. However, most people catch the adrenaline rush of fight or flee and runoff fearing the worst never realizing that confident hope provides God’s Very Best! By standing on faith and refusing to leave this position, we allow God’s Plan to fully unfold in trusting the Lord and His Way. Turning away from God means that we become subject to the conditions and consequences of our sin once again. If we remain faithful to the Lord, every detail of our life will result in His Purpose.

Proverbs 19:20-21 (NLT)
Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Welcome to the life of most believers who turn to the Lord but never intend to follow Him. Grace is not an excuse to sin or exemption from judgment. (Acts 17:27-31) God does not turn a blind eye to sinful behavior because of the Blood of Jesus Christ. If anything the torturous and brutal death of His Precious Son only intensifies His Hatred for it. So many people run to the Lord but do not remain faithful to Him. They have no intention of turning from their sin and avoiding evil but just don’t want to be punished for it. This is intentional sin and God has no tolerance for it. Praying for God’s Best and living this way is insanity. But those who turn from their sin and seek the Lord wholeheartedly every single day of their life will experience God’s Very Best no matter where you came from. God’s Purpose is revealed in the Law of Moses. (Matthew 5:17-18) Not one detail is abolished by the arrival of Jesus Christ. He enables us to fulfill God’s Purpose. God has not changed His Expectations of mankind just enables us to come into His Presence even though we have sinned and fallen short of His Glory. Just because you are covered by the Blood of Jesus – you still must seek the Lord body, mind and spirit! We no longer have an excuse for ignorance because He has given us the Holy Spirit which lives on the inside to guide and direct. If you would like to get off the merry-go-round of insanity that causes ongoing disappointment and dissatisfaction, then you must change your intentions and choose to live life on purpose – following God’s Purpose.

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15 (NLT)
And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

As we read the words of Solomon inspired by the Lord, let us delve a bit into philosophy. If God has a plan and purpose for the life of every man and woman ever created and if it is final as Solomon has said, then it would seem that every road in life for every person leads back to repentance and God. So to escape this cycle of continually returning to God and step into the future, we must purpose in our heart to follow the Lord to find freedom otherwise we will continually find ourselves at His Feet again. God’s Purpose is for people to fear Him. Fear means two things. In sin, we fear God due to judgment as we are clearly at odds with Him. This emotion brings about dismay, dread, pain, trepidation, insecurity and fright. We cannot face Him because we are scared of His Response. But when we learn to seek God’s Purpose and intentionally turn from evil to pursue His Goodness, such fear turns into reverential awe in the Light of His Love, Mercy and Grace that keeps us chasing after the One we once ran from. Now the Goodness of God is revealed to His People and His Perfect Will comes full circle in our life. Otherwise we are caught in a vicious cycle that never allows us to experience the freedom promised in His Word. God wants us to freely love Him and come to Him.

John 10:9-10 (NLT)
Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The gateway to freedom has a name, His Name is Jesus Christ. Jesus provides believers with access to God which our sin once did not permit. “They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” We have the ability to walk in God’s Will and right back out of it. We are responsible in maintaining our freedom. Jesus provided it, but it is up to each individual to remain in it. You “will find good pastures” in obedience, righteousness and faithfulness. But if you are not living in the abundance of God – it may be time to check your position. The thief has one purpose and it is to destroy you. Once you step out of the Grace and Love of Jesus and leave His Covering, you become fair game. The enemy knows you can retreat and return so now he releases a full assault on your life to take as much as he can and destroy you while he has the chance. Jesus Christ has one purpose concerning you – to give you a rich and satisfying life. If you are not experiencing such benefits, it may be time to check your position and reposition your life under the Blood once again. (Romans 14:8-9) Jesus has made us right with God. Are you willing to live righteously?

Jeremiah 32:38-41 (NLT)
They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.

This is God’s Purpose for your life. Every detail of your life has been planned to culminate into this moment. No matter where you are or what you are doing or how you are living? God loves you and has a purpose for your life. It has not changed in any way, shape or form. You have not lost a thing in your rebellion, disobedience, willfulness or stubbornness. God has it all waiting for your return. God will never stop trying to do good for you! He is just waiting for you to return to Him. Seek Him wholeheartedly and intentionally never turning back to the life left behind to be rebound in the shackles of sin. God has created you with great purpose. Where are you right now?

Romans 8:27-29 (NLT)
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Today I choose to live my life on purpose in harmony with God’s Will for my life. I choose to enter the gate of salvation through repentance and to remain there safe and secure. I choose to remind my heart, soul and body to listen to His Spirit and all His Discipline and Wisdom to stifle its rebellion as I surrender my whole life to the Lord. I intend to be a follower of Jesus Christ and a witness of God’s Glory. (Isaiah 44:8) I will not be afraid of God but fear the Lord for the rest of my life honoring Him the way that I live. I am committed to remain free. My life verse is now – I “know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His Purpose.” I have decided to make the commitment to discover EVERYTHING God has intended for my good by intentionally living for Him. He has called me with purpose and so today I am answering His Call. I will leave no opportunity behind to see the Goodness of God. I place expectation on my past only to see God’s Glory sprouting where sin and consequences once prevailed. I can have God’s Very Best. I have not missed a thing. I am right on track because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ so I intend to honor that sacrifice and have all that it paid for me to have. God knew me in advance and not one of my mistakes surprised Him. With that in mind, He chose me to be His Child. I have purpose because God has a comprehensive plan for my life is from beginning to end. From now on, I will live purposely for God.

Psalm 57:2 (NLT) I cry out to God Most High to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.