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We have been talking about three questions that a lot of people ask; questions that are that are related to destiny. They are:
We already looked at the first two in previous lessons, so let's tackle the last one.
Question 3: What Is My Purpose?
This is not a new question, is it? Other's have asked it throughout history. Even the heroes of our faith have asked this question. David did. David had a lot of good stuff to say, but he also had some bad things to say as well. He was a hero of the faith, but he was also a fallible human who had his moments of weakness. You can identify with that, can't you? And in those moment's of weakness, he asked himself questions about why God had created him and put him here on this earth. The reason for that is because we have to understand the purpose we were created for in order to fulfill it.
Let's step aside and look at that in the natural for a bit. For example, let me ask you a question. What is an automobile magnet? That is not something we use all of the time in our everyday lives, is it? If you saw one, you would probably have no clue what it was, and you would not know how to use it.
If you don't know why some things exist, or the purposes for some things, the odds are you might misuse it and abuse it. Have you ever seen a faucet wrench? For those of you who work under the sink, the things that tighten under the sink. But if you don't know what it is, you might try to use it as a hammer or something. If you don't know the purpose of a given item, you are likely to abuse it.
You might be asking yourself, "why would someone abuse or misuse it just because they don't know the purpose?" Let me give you an example. This comes from a humorous but true article about some interesting computer technical support calls. One of these calls came from an elderly gentleman who was inquiring about how he could order a replacement retractable coffee cup holder for his computer. The Tech Support representative never heard of a "coffee cup holder" accessory for desktop computers, and he told that to the man.
"Oh no, you are mistaken," the older man assured him. "It came with my computer and I have been using it for two months before it broke." So the Tech Support person asked him to better describe the unit. It turned out to be the CD ROM reader. The elderly man had no idea of what a CD was, so when he accidentally pushed the eject button on it, he thought he'd discovered a retractable coffee cup holder. It worked as one for him for a short while. But the weight of the coffee cup weakened the unit until the retractable CD tray snapped off.
If you don't know the purpose of something, there's several ways you could find out. The first thing you could do is go to the inventor or the creator of it. Secondly, you can read the owner's manual. If the elderly man had taken the time to read the manual that came with his computer, he probably would not have misinterpreted its function and broken it.
Ok, I think you are following me here. It makes sense read the owner's manual or find out from the inventor what he created it to do. Now, let's bring this back to our lives. Who is your creator? What is your owner's manual?
If you want to find out your purpose for being here, where do you go? You've got to go to God. The bible says this in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Note that it doesn't say 'you'...it says 'God.' In the beginning, there was God. If you're going to find out your purpose in life, you're going to have to get it from Him. Proverbs 9:10 says, "Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding."
Once you start with God, then you get to know God, you're talking to the creator. You're talking to the inventor--the one who wrote the owner's manual. If you're going to find your purpose, where are you going to find it? It's going to be found in God. You will find your purpose in getting to know God. It all starts with God and it all ends with God. There is no other place besides God. He is the beginning place, He is the ending place. Scripture says this in Colossians 1:16, "for everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." It only comes from Him.
Ephesians 1:11 says, "in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for." We are part of the overall purpose He, as God, is working out in everything, in everyone. If you're going to find your purpose in life, there's only one place that is. It's going to be Him. He's the one who created you, He's the one who wrote the owner's manual. It all comes down to Him.
Over the rest of this teaching series, I will be helping you to discover God's purpose for you. We're going to spend a lot of time in the owner's manual--the bible, His written word. You will do better in this course if you plan to spend a lot of time with Him, if you will just begin to develop the habit of a quiet time.
If you understand why God put you on this earth, and you are in your place fulfilling why God put you on this earth for, you're going to be doing great damage to the devil. And he doesn't like that. In fact, he doesn't like you. It may be news to you, but he doesn't. In fact, he hates you. He wants to destroy you. So he will do everything within his power to keep you off track from fulfilling this process. Now many of you may have been feeling the affects of spiritual warfare, and you've not recognized that's what it is.
The bible says we wage war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Some of you have forgotten that, and you're fighting on the wrong battle, and the enemy's just beating you up. If you fight back by fighting a person, then you're going to lose the war. You will get waylaid; beat up one side down the other. That is because you're like just beating the air, and all you're doing is you're slaughtering somebody else in the process. If you do that, all you are doing is letting the enemy win. God wants you to know today that you're not winning; you're cooperating with the enemy. It's time to fight the real enemy here.
People are never your enemy, right? You may not like some of them, or you may not like what they've done but your problem is not people. And if you spend your time fighting people, you will lose. What is the power that's manipulating that person? That's where you need to be focusing your energies, or the power that's manipulating you. Do you understand?
Many of you are under a cloud of depression. All of a sudden it's just kind of hit you in the last few weeks, and this is why--the devil knows you about to go into greater intimacy with God, and he is trying to stop you. You can't give up, and you can't quit, and you can't stop, and you can't let him win.
Some of you are taking "final exams" in areas that you've been tested in this last year. In other words, you have been taking the test all year long, but you've been taking the daily quizzes. Now it's time to take the finals, and in the midst of it, we're going to see whether or not you're going to pass the test or go have to re-take the grade. Understand?
Remember, you never fail one of God's tests. You just keep re-taking them until you pass. Are you passing? Some of you don't realize that some, okay, a lot of the struggles you're going through are because God is trying to bring you to the next level. He is trying to get you to the next grade. He's trying to move you up to the next step. And the very things that have taken you out in the past, the very things that have side swiped you, the very things that have knocked you down and nailed you, that pulled the feet out right from under your feet, that you've been going through in this last year, those very things you're getting hammered with in the last three to four weeks. He's doing that because, you think that it's the devil, but God saying you're going to pass the test because He is trying to bring you to the next level.
Are you going to let those things rule you and dictate, dominate your life, or are you going to let me do it? Or are you going to let man determine how you feel and how you think and how you react? Are you going to let man do that, or are you going to let God do that? Have you learned that your battle is never with people, it's always with spiritual demons, and principalities and powers and things like that? God wants to get you focused.
I'm going to pray for you. For those of you who need to recommit yourself, this would be a good time to do it. But I want to pray specifically for the people who simply have just been waylaid by the enemy. Let's pray.
In the name of Jesus, and the authority of Jesus Christ that You've given us as we stand with You. We stand crucified with You, buried with You, raised with You, resurrected with You, ascended with You into the heavenlies. We stand in Your name, and in Your authority. Lord Jesus, we stand together.We say the enemy will not win; he will not rule; he will not have a victory over my life. Man is not my enemy, the devil is my enemy, and I need to land punches that hit him in the face--through righteousness, obedience, and love ruling my heart.
Dear Jesus, we're choosing today to forgive and not retain offenses. We're choosing today to release those into the hands of Jesus, who hurt us, wounded us, smashed us, bashed us, knocked us down, and pulled the rug underneath our feet. We release them right now in the name of Jesus.
We place them in His hands, and we declare Your presence to come upon us. In Jesus' name, I come against depression, I come against darkness; I come against the onslaught of the enemy that would try to stop and try to hinder the work of God. I crush the power of darkness in Jesus' name, and I say you have no place in our lives. I speak hope, hope to come and to penetrate, Your hope to penetrate our heart Your hope to fill our heart. Your hope, Lord, Your hope.
Lord, we know the great passion in you, and , and I pray that You will give and create within us a passion for You; a love for You. Give us an increased desire for You, a wanting of You, that we'll see You. And let Your heart, and Your compassion rule in our lives.
Lord, in Your name, I come against every I come against every demon, against every spiritual force that would try to stop us from fulfilling Your purposes that You created us and designed in us. May we live this life fulfilling your purposes. We ask this in Your name, Lord. Amen.