Good morning! Today is the day!! May reading Words of Encouragement be another purposeful start to your day. A day in which you are seeking out God’s purpose for your life. Finding your strengths for God’s purpose. How exciting!
We’ve been talking about purpose. We looked at Paul’s life of passion in the purpose God had given to him. We looked at the heart of God and who He is, and that He passionately pursues us in desiring to have a personal/purposeful relationship with us. Finally, in general (what I mean by this is that this is true for all followers of Christ but there is a more specific purpose of what each of us are to do to accomplish this), our purpose is to know Christ and make Him known.
Today I want to very briefly share my story over the last year or two. Over the years, I have had light bulbs come on at various times, meaning that I finally got what God was trying to tell me. I’ll admit I am certainly slower than most, and have allowed myself to be jaded more than I should be. But when I get it, I get it! 😊
The following may sound familiar if you watched my Goal Setting Video.
So I got involved with CBMC (Christian Businessman’s Connection) after I moved to Florida. The Regional Director here in the Tampa area was leading a group of 6 businessmen in a one-year commitment of growth and outreach. The end of the year was approaching and he challenged us to put together our spiritual goals for the coming year. So I went through a similar process that most of you are familiar with in setting spiritual goals: Pray more, pray harder, read the Bible more, apply the Bible more, get more involved, pick a neighbor to reach, etc. Nothing wrong with any of those goals. But I wrestled with it until….
Finding your strengths for God’s purpose
This past year our corporate team had all gone through Clifton StrengthFinders assessment along with a certified StrengthFinders coach to help us unpack it. This is the second time I had done the assessment, but the first time was back in the 90’s and I learned and applied very little. This time the light bulb came on (slow learner). Along with the help of the coach, as well as a few others, I was finally able to be in my “zone.” That place where I am alive in pursuing my passion and purpose in life. Tomorrow I will share how I transformed my usual mundane (no offense meant here) spiritual goals into something I got excited about.
Is where I am exciting? Yes! Is what I am doing energizing? Yes! Is the future before me ‘there for the taking?’ Yes! Is doing all of this easy? NO!!! I want to wrap this up tomorrow morning by sharing how God did this. How I finally allowed God to break through in understanding the Purpose and Passion He has given me. Tomorrow we will get into how you can make this a shared experience, if you haven’t already.
Challenge for today – In prep for tomorrow, read about a man who lived a hard life, but found the secret. And at age 85, he was passionate about his purpose-driven life. (Joshua 14:6-14). So be it!
