Purpose?

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Today’s Reading: Matthew 10

When I think about Jesus calling his twelve disciples and instructing them on what they were to do, I think about what he has called me to do. It seems he has called me to be many things. He has called me to be a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, and a teacher, but the greatest thing that he has called me to do is to serve him. Am I answering the call? Am I doing all that I was called to do? Is there something else out there that he wants me to do? Without me following his call to service I cannot be the best daughter, wife, mother, sister or teacher that I can be. When I follow him with my whole heart and soul everything else just seems to fall in place, and isn’t that they way it was intended to be?

However, sometimes my life can seem to be so good at times and get so busy that I forget what his instructions were to the disciples and to me---go to the lost sheep. With everything we are in this world, with all that our life involves, we truly only have one purpose on this earth. To live for Jesus and to tell others about him! That is really all that is required of us, the rest is just bonus stuff. What a blessing it has been for me to be a daughter, wife, mother, sister, and teacher to all the people involved in my life, but none of that means anything if I haven’t shown them the Jesus that lives in me. Isn’t verse 8 so true, “freely ye have received; freely give”. When I think about all the blessings in my life, they were all free to me and I am continuously amazed at how much God has truly blessed my life---so going to the lost sheep and giving for God is the very least that I can do.

Jesus is so very honest in this chapter about what the disciples will have to face in order to serve Christ, but that is what makes him so real. He simply tells the truth and stands firm. With all that faces us as we walk this path with our Savior, he tells us not even to give thought for what we are to say, that he will give us the words when we need them. What love he has for us!

Verse 27 has got to be one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible because he says basically that what I tell you, you are to share it with others. It used to be very difficult for me to share messages, whether by speaking or through writing, with others, simply because I thought that God was just working on me and no one else would even understand if I told them. I had no confidence when it came to me sharing God with others. I worried about what people would think about what I had to say, not that I was embarrassed for serving Christ, but that I would not share a message that made sense to people. I gradually started sharing some things, and then I came across this scripture and it just all finally made sense to me. Yes, Jesus is working on me, but he does not tell me these things to keep to myself, they are for me, but they are for others as well. I began to think about others that have shared their testimony, their messages, or their music---what if they never shared with others what God gave them? I think about all the times that I have been lifted by a story or song, their sharing changed my life in some way. So now I not only listen to God, I share with others and I cannot tell you how much God has blessed my life through the words that I write. I am continuously amazed at how God works through these words, the words that he gives me.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (vs. 39). For a long time I never fully understood this verse and although I still have much more to learn, I am grasping the meaning more deeply now. It is all about my purpose in life. At one point in my life I had all these dreams of what I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to go, but then I sold out to Jesus Christ and my dreams changed. Not that I don’t have dreams anymore, but that I recognize my life is not about me, it is about Him. I trust Jesus to guide my steps and to accept where he leads me, whether it be what I wanted or not. Some would say that I am giving up on my dreams, I would say I am not giving them up, but exchanging them for better ones. The life I live can only come to its full potential by giving up what I want and receiving what Christ has for me. I never knew that I could calm my mind through writing until I let go and allowed God to give me the answer to my need. When I put pen to paper (or fingers to the keys) it not only calms me, but I have found a deeper relationship with Christ through writing. I would have never found that on my own---writing was never part of my dream before I allowed Jesus to take over my life, and now I could not imagine my life without writing. He will give you the desires of your heart, even when you don’t know the desires.

Sometimes I can’t seem to put into words exactly what I am feeling and tonight it seems that way. I have prayed all day for God to continue to humble me so that I can be aware of everyone around me and serve them. Well he did just what I asked him to do, but in an unbelievably powerful way and my heart feels as though it will explode from so much gratitude that is filling it. I hope and pray that you can feel this gratitude that I feel for our Father through the words that I put down tonight. I continue to be in awe of the grace, mercy, and love that he has shown and continues to show someone like me.

With Much Love and Blessings!