WHAT'S YOUR PURPOSE?

God knows your purpose, do you? I don't remember where I read this but it's a good one..."It's never to late to be what you were meant to be."

I've always heard that every person has something in life they are here for. A reason for being born. Some people try to figure it out their whole lives and never do. There was a movie a few years ago called, City Slickers II. The character that Jack Palance played, Curly, had the key phrase in the movie. There was a conversation between Curly and Mitch. It was..."Do you know what the "secret" of life is?...What?...Just one thing...What is it?...What's the one thing?...That's for you to figure out....Once you figure it out, then nothing else means *@#%&..." Through out the rest of the movie Mitch was trying to find "his secret." This quote has always stuck with me because I have always wanted to know what that one thing in life was for me. So...I guess we all have to figure out what that one thing is. What the "Secret of life" is for ourselves. We have to find our secret...What we were meant to be. What we were born into this life for.

On more than one occasion I've been told that I'm very analytical. LOL I'm always searching and studying for answers to the many questions I have about things. Since becoming a Christian I am mostly searching for answers pertaining to God and faith based issues. I do this by reading the Bible, different Christian books, and talking to people that have been Christians for a long time. I ask lots of questions when I don't know the answers. I like to know what opinions others have and how their opinions relate to God's Word. Sometimes I don't get the answer I'm looking for. What I want the answer to be, and what it actually is, sometimes are not the same thing. There are some questions that you never do find the answer for. I do believe that if your question is something you "really" need to know that God will let you find the answer. That's what brought about this Post.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord..."plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That is one of my favorite scriptures. The scripture means to me that GOD knows my purpose. It doesn't matter what I've done with my life up to this point, or whether or not I know what my purpose for being here is, GOD knows! Before we were even formed God had a purpose for us. Each one of us has always been a part of HIS plan. Since we know that God only has love for us, then we know that if we follow HIS plan, our life will be good.

Up until I became a Christian I didn't think I had a reason for being here. That may be the same with you. But...once you give your life to the Lord you have to find it, that one thing...Your secret, or your purpose. Every Christians ultimate purpose is to live for the Lord and help other people to find HIM. But the question remains...How do you do that? What avenues are you going to pursue to accomplish that goal? God calls some to become preachers others singers some to pray some to cook...there are lots of different things HE can call you too. Whatever it is...whether you think so or not, it's important or God wouldn't have you doing it. Sometimes, we're not sure what it is that we can do to help others find HIM. I believe that if God has not given you a specific thing that you need to keep searching, praying about it, until HE does. If you are serious about it HE will. Personally, I have found that God gives me opportunities to share about HIM most everyday. Sometimes I don't take those opportunities. I become fearful that My friends won't accept what I have to say. That they might think I'm a little too much "over the edge" for God. We have to remember, when we have those thoughts, satan is probably the one putting them there. If God gives you an opportunity you need to take it. That might be the last time in that person's life that they have the chance to hear about HIM. Or...it could be "your" last chance to talk to them about God. If HE is giving you the opportunity, it's probably because they are willing to accept what you have to say at that time, or they just need to hear it. Still...sharing with people in that way may not be the "one thing" that is my purpose in life, although we all need to witness for HIM when we can. I believe that for right now my main purpose is to write this Blog. When I started this I never thought it was possible that I could do it. It's God that gives me the words to say and actually a real desire to do this. God may have me do something else at a later time. You just need to remember that, whatever it is, God is in charge of it. Whatever God gives you to do HE will confirm it to you in some way. HE will somehow speak to you...through HIS word a thought or sometimes other people. Then you will just know that it's the right thing for you to do.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."
It doesn't matter where you are, or what you have been, as long as you keep praying and seeking with your whole heart, you will find God. Sometimes you just have to listen. Then HE will direct your paths and show you what that "one thing" for your life is.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Remember...If you're a Christian, Love the Lord with all you have and help others to find HIM. When HE comes back He wants everyone to be ready. It's our job to help HIM. We are the tool HE uses to help accomplish HIS goal.

Matthew 22:37 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. If you do these three things He will let you know what "that one thing" is for you. We all have a purpose and we need to pray and ask HIM to help us to discover what it is.

After living my whole life I finally know what the "secret of life" is for me. That one thing that matters more than anything. Do you know what it is for YOU??

THE BIGGEST WINNER

Have you ever watched "The Biggest Loser" on T.V.? It's a show about two teams of overweight people, all trying to lose the most weight each week, so they can stay at "The Ranch". The Ranch being where they all live, eat and workout for the length of their stay on the show. They try out for the show because for many of them it seems to be their last hope to lose weight. They all say they have done everything possible but they just can't do it on their own. They have trainers that work them eight hours a day, eat very little food, compete against each other in activities and have food temptations. Then to top it all off, at the end of each segment, the men have to strip down to a pair of gym shorts, and the women, gym shorts and a sports bra and then get weighed on national T.V. Most of these people weigh anywhere from 250 to over 400 pounds! After all of that is said and done...one of them gets voted off every week. But...for those who manage to stay, they get rewards. The biggest one being...if you adapt to your new way of eating and exercising you lose all that extra weight you have had and become a healthy individual. The trick is...you have to change your "Old Habits" and live a "New Lifestyle"!

So why did I go into all of that about "The Biggest Loser"? So I can explain to you how to become "The Biggest Winner"!! There are some similarities to becoming a "Loser" and becoming a "Christian".

To start off with...until you become a Christian, you are a loser. Everyday that you don't know JESUS as your SAVIOR you "lose" a little bit more of yourself to sin. That's what all of that heaviness you feel, that keeps dragging you down is.You carry around all kinds of extra weight with you in the form of sin. Just like when your overweight, no matter what you do, you just can't get rid of all that sin on your own. After a while it becomes a large burden you carry around with you everywhere you go. It drags you down and makes you tired. You try running to get out from under it, but it just doesn't work. Like fat, it hangs on. On the show they have trainers to whip them into shape. For those of you that aren't Christians, you have satan. The problem is...he isn't whipping you into shape, he's just pushing you further down. Down into addictions, despair, depression and sometimes if you let him rule you long enough...suicide! You just plain lose hope! You want to quit sinning but satan just keeps throwing all those "fun" temptations at you, one after the other. After awhile...they aren't fun anymore. You can drink until you passout or get high until you can't even think anymore. But...nothing ever changes. Basically...your life still sucks. Then comes the stripping down. The people on "The Biggest Loser" are stripping down to see how much weight they've lost. For the sinner...you're being stripped of your health, your self worth and most importantly...maybe even your life. You start to realize that all this sinning isn't worth everything your being stripped of. On the T.V. show someone gets voted off every week. In real life you simply might check out...mentally, emotionally or even physically. That sounds harsh, but if you go down far enough it could happen. But...there is still hope for you as long as you have breath.

On the show, the person that loses the most weight, and manages to avoid being voted off, wins a big reward. To get that far they have to work hard. They exercise everyday and change the foods they eat and how much they eat. Break their destructive "Old Habits" and start "New Habits". By doing this they start a new "healthy" way of living. In life, you have to decide to turn your back on satan and ask JESUS to forgive you. You have to change your "Old Habits" and make "New Habits". You have to let JESUS help you create a whole "New Lifestyle". That starts you on your new "healthy" way of living.

It won't always be easy and sometimes you'll want to quit. You'll be tempted to go back to your old way of life. On T.V., they used food as the "temptations" to try to trip them up. In life, satan uses your old vices to try to trip you up. Don't listen to him. In the Bible scripture says that satan is a deceiver, a liar. All he wants is to destroy you. To eventually kill you so you will end up in hell with him. JESUS can make it so when those temptations come you can turn them away. JESUS is the "only" answer to your life. He can make you "The Biggest Winner" if you'll let HIM. JESUS is the answer to all your life's problems. HE can turn it all around for you. HE wants to save you from destruction and heal you. I don't mean physical healing. It's spiritual and emotional healing that you need the most. It can be a long road to complete healing or HE may do it as soon as you ask HIM to forgive you and come into your life. Whichever way HE chooses will be all right. The main thing is that you pray and ask HIM to forgive you. Then live for HIM. Get a Bible and read it a lot, daily. Talk to HIM all the time. Find a church where you can worship HIM. Let HIM give you a "New Life" and become "THE BIGGEST WINNER".

Scriptures to read

Revelation 12:9

This great dragon..the ancient serpent called the devil, or satan, the one deceiving the whole world..was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

2 Corinthians 6:2

For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you. Indeed, the "Right Time" is now. Today is the day of salvation."

James 4:7-8

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

John 14:6

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 8:44

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

DISCONNECTED EMOTIONS

I didn't want to write about this topic but for some reason I know I need to. When I heard this story I immediately knew this was the time. So here it is...

While listening to the radio I heard that scientists are wiping fear memories from mice. I thought this was a bit odd so I looked it up. Sure enough, researchers in Canada, neuroscientists, have learned how to disconnect the "emotional memory" of mice. They are thinking that eventually it may be possible to do this in humans. Of course, they say, they would use it only for "debilitating fears". With humans they think they could use drugs. They want to use it on people that are so fearful that they have difficulty just leaving their homes. Whether that ever happens or not...who knows. What really caught my attention was the fact that they are disconnecting emotional memory.

Passion is another word for emotion. Emotion is what gives us the power to do things that we might not ordinarily do. It also gives us the power to achieve things. Artists, writers and people that play sports are said to have a "passion" for what they do. All people have a passion for something. Even if they aren't very good at whatever it is, it still drives them to succeed in that field. Without that passion, or emotion, we wouldn't care if we did those things or not.

GOD gave us emotions for a reason. If passion and emotion are what drives you, then the lack of them have the opposite effect. Without emotion you can't live a normal life. Sometimes as you go through life you just turn off your emotions because it's easier to live that way. You don't have to feel all the pain and hurt that can sometimes encompass you. Sometimes it's just plain fear that made you decide not to have emotions any longer. And like I said before...without emotion you don't have passion for anything. When a person doesn't have emotion they really are just existing from day to day. You just have to get in a mind set, everyday, that you are going to survive no matter what. You live day to day on sheer will. There are probably people around all of us that are surviving like that. Just getting up, going through their day, hoping to make it. You already feel as if your emotional memory has been disconnected.When you are like that you feel as if there is no hope for you. You can't imagine things ever getting any better. Many times I believe that is what makes us do crazy things to ourselves. Because we are trying to feel something, we drink or get wasted. It's called a self destruct mode.

I was like that for a lot of my life. And then something happened that changed me. There's two words that I here preachers say all the time and I love the phrase...BUT GOD!!!!

If this could be you I'm describing, GOD can change it all around for you. Or, maybe you have friends or family that are like this. You need to tell them two words....BUT GOD....He can do anything. Believe me, I never used to think it was true. That HE would do it for me. But...HE did. Was it instantaneous? NO. Far from it. I know that HE can do things instantly when HE wants to. But, I believe in my case that HE hasn't because I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. Imagine if most of your life you couldn't even tell your family that you loved them. And...when they said it to you, you thought you might get sick. Or, that hugging them was completely out of the question. Well...that was me. When people other than family wanted to hug me, sometimes I would let them and with some people I just said "NO". It's not a good way to live. But GOD can change all that. Like I have said in past blogs...Ask HIM into your life and let HIM start healing you. Pray and read the Bible a lot. Get whatever help you need.

Has GOD completely healed my emotions? Not yet. But HE is working on me. HE will do whatever it takes to make me whole. Once I became a believer HE started changing me. It seems to be a slow process but that's okay. At times I find myself slipping back to my old way of thinking. If this happens don't worry, take it for what it is and start again. I've learned that you have to help yourself with these things too. It's kind of like an interactive process. Instead of going the other way when "Hugs" are being passed out you just hug back. You may find that you actually enjoy getting a hug. And...even though I feel love for friends and family it is often still a hard thing for me to say, or even to write. So, since healing is an interactive process, sometimes I tell them, I love you. I'm finding that the more I say it, the easier it is. So...whenever I get the chance, I do.

You don't want to be like the "lab mice" and not feel. You just want to ask GOD to heal your emotions and let them function normally. HE will help you with all of this, you just have to ask HIM too. Don't live another day without asking for HIS help. Because you're really not living. Once the healing starts you won't believe the difference it makes in your life. It's a hard thing to change but I'm finding that it is worth it. Just remember...GOD will be with you.

Romans 12: 2
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Isaiah 43:2
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Ephesians 4:22-24
23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Colossians 3:2
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

RUN TO HIM

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New King James Version)

¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

In this verse God is telling us something very important. All we as Christians have to do is three things. If we get rid of our pride and submit to God's will and confess our need for Him...pray and seek the Lord with all our heart, repent...turn from our sinful ways and come back to God...then God will do three things for us. He will listen to us...forgive us...heal us. He will always be there to take care of us. What I have found out is this: God doesn't leave us, we leave Him. Another word for leaving is forsaking or abandoning. There's a great verse in Psalms;

Psalm 9:10 (New Living Translation)

¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

Since the Lord is God He will not ever abandon you. It is not in His nature. He is faithful to us and will never, ever, give up on us. No matter what we do He will be there for us. He will protect us and cover us.

Psalm 91:4 (New Living Translation)

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Sometimes we know all of these things but we still go our own way. When we have problems we try to fix them ourselves instead of turning to God and asking for His help. Unfortunately I am very good at trying to take care of myself without His help. Recently I have had things going on in my life that have been a little stressful. Instead of turning to God and talking to Him about these things I chose to go the other way. I stopped reading my Bible and praying which were the worst things I could have done. Because of that action I started having doubts about different things. Then I could tell I was starting to get very negative and basically I just gave up on doing anything concerned with God. I was leaving Him, abandoning Him. He was waiting for me to come to Him and I was doing just the opposite. All I needed to do was turn and run towards Him but I was running the other way. Thankfully God is faithful. He will keep at you, through whatever way He has to, to turn you back to Him. Satan is always there too. Trying his best to discourage you. He will use whatever he can to pull you away from God. He can be very subtle in his attacks. Once you know that he is the cause of your problems...Run towards God as fast as you can. Confess to God your need for Him. Ask for forgiveness for not doing the things you know to do. Pray and turn from your sin. Get into the word. Get any help you need. Just get back on track. The things causing you stress may still be there. Mine are. But since I did those things it doesn't matter what my life situations are. God is there for me. He listened to me, forgave me and the healing process starts. Search Him out and He will prove His faithfulness. He never gave up on me. God was there all the time wanting to take me under His wings. To shelter me from everything that was going on.

I think for me, just learning to trust God, all the time, is hard. I think if you don't learn how to trust you will be in a constant battle. For some of us, trusting people that we know and can physically see is hard. So putting our full trust in someone we can't see is really hard...even if it is God.There's a great verse for that too;

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

I'm going to end this with one of my favorite verses;

Philippians 4:13 (New Living Translation)

¹³ For I can do everything through Christ,^a]">[a] who gives me strength.

Footnotes:

1. Philippians 4:13 Greek through the one.

WHO'S YOUR OWNER?

Recently I read an article about a guitar. It was old and showed the signs of aging. There were dents, scratches, cracks and it was even starting to get discolored. But there was one thing they said about that guitar that really struck me. The quote was, "As a guitar ages and is played, they achieve a richer tone. It's an ongoing process that the guitar and the owner go through together." He said they hadn't been together since the beginning, but since they met up they have aged and improved together. To me it means that the owner built a relationship with the guitar. Since the guitar is not a living thing it was up to the owner to spend time with and learn to play the guitar.

So it is as we go through life. Like the old guitar I had numerous dents, scratches and cracks. Most people couldn't see them because I had become very good at covering them up. My life was discolored by all the sin. Unlike the guitar, my life was not becoming richer. The owner that was playing me was satan and the longer I let him continue to play me the more dull and lifeless my tone became. The dents, scratches and cracks were becoming larger and harder to hide. One thing I learned was...if you continue letting the wrong owner play you, the music of your life will soon die. You will just play out.

But...unlike the guitar I am a living thing and I have free will. The first thing I had to do was choose who my owner would be. Then how much time I would spend with Him and what I would let Him teach me. In essence...how much of a relationship you build with your owner is up to you! It's always your choice. I chose God. I still have dents, scratches, cracks and discoloration. But...they aren't as bad as they were before. If you let God have control of your life, overtime, they will get better. I still mess up, let satan back in a little sometimes. What I have to learn is...when he knocks...do not to open the door. For me, a lot of the time, it's the door of my mind. I let him bring back all the old fears of my past. When I start believing the things he tells me it starts to break open some of those cracks that God has started closing up.

Like me, I'm sure there are people reading this that do the same thing. What we have to remember is...the goal is to get to the end with God. The way there...is an on going process. We have to let our owner, GOD, be the one that we build a relationship with. We haven't all been with Him since the beginning. But, it doesn't matter how long it's been as long as you keep going the right direction. As long as you let God be the one you age with. Spend time with Him. Read His word and talk to Him. Work on your relationship with Him. It's not always easy. Sometimes...I don't want to. Sometimes...when I let satan in too far, I give up. I can tell you from experience that is the wrong thing to do. Stick with God. You will find that the aging process you go through with God is a lot less painful than the one you go through with satan.

I guess one of the things it comes down to for me is...To submit to God, and draw near to Him. To submit you have to get rid of your pride and place your faith in God. I think if you do that it is easier to build a relationship with Him. Then you and God together can work on healing all those dents and cracks. Take it from me...it's not easy. But...if you do, when it's all over, you will have achieved the ultimate. Eternity with God!

Verses to read

1 Peter 5:6-7 (New Living Translation)

⁶ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

James 4:7-8 (New Living Translation)

⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.