Purpose part 4
Our purpose is to be loved and to love. Period. To let God love us and let that love (that He has put in us) come out of us. To fill ourselves to overflowing with His love. To receive it and release. We get so twisted around so often though. We get caught up in things. We wreck ourselves instead of checking ourselves. We walk by sight and not by faith. We "trust," in a sense, what is happening in the moment instead of trusting God's master plan. Because we KNOW that all things work together for good for those who love God and walk according to His purpose. But we sometimes seem to forget this glorious truth. That brings me to my memory verse for today. "Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23). It is the GOODNESS of God that leads men to repentance. It is His grace, and the gladness that comes with that grace, that equips and empowers us to cleave to Him with purpose of heart. It has to come from the heart. And it has to be purposeful. You can't live your best life unless you are focused on what matters. That's why SETTING your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, is so important. We can choose what we allow in our lives. And that's vitally important. Because what you allow is what will continue. If there's something in your life that doesn't belong there, the best way to deal with it is to starve it. To deny it your attention, or affection. What you feed is what will grow. But if you don't feed it, it will whither and die. You don't have to fight. I believe the only Biblical fight there is, is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of the gift you've been given. Believing that what God says is true. So you don't have to fight the darkness. You can simply let your light shine and watch the darkness disappear. You can just walk away from things, instead of thinking, "Its more noble to make this better by fighting and conquering it." Some things can't be conquered in that manner. Some things just need to be excused. "You're gonna do what you're gonna do but I'm not going to be involved in it." Sometimes that's all you can do. And cutting that cancer out of your life, if I can say it that way, allows you to give your three T's (time, talent, treasure) to the things you CAN affect. Rather than banging your head against the wall (and only getting a headache for your troubles), you can simply walk away from the wall. Not everything is for you. Not everything deserves, or needs, to be in your life. Its ok to say no. Its ok to stop putting yourself in a bad position. I don't think "turn the other cheek" means stand there and let someone keep slapping you. Your purpose is to enjoy the gift you've been given--Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life--not to suffer abuse from people. So, like I always say, give it everything you've got. And let that either be enough... or not. And if its not... its not. That's ok. If its not enough, and its a bad situation, you can (and should) walk away.