“PURPOSEFUL LIVING”

Posted byDianne HornePosted inUncategorized

COMPASS THOUGHTS ON…….PURPOSEFUL LIVING

God has “gifted” every one of His kids here on earth, for heavenly purposes!  Have you found your gift (an area of ability that God has given you)?  If so, is it being employed somewhere?   I don’t mean just for a church service, but anywhere and everywhere?  In your neighborhood, at the grocery, post office, your job, your laundry room, kitchen or wherever you happen to be? 

Our abilities or giftedness from our Creator God is designed to “bring glory to God,” or the term I love to use, “making God look good.”  How has He been looking lately in our actions, attitudes and speech?   

A wonderful truth is that if we have given our life over to Jesus Christ, He lives within each of us!   That means we carry Him everywhere we are and in whatever we’re doing.

The concept of “God living within us” is a core belief & truth in Christianity suggesting that believers are not simply connected to God, but that God’s presence and Spirit dwell within them, enabling them to live a life of love and PURPOSE.

We believers today need to REALIZE this fact about ourselves.  Christ isn’t outside of us as some kind of Helper in our time of need; He actually LIVES IN US and is WITH US ALL THE TIME.

Romans 8:10 “But if Christ is IN YOU, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Galatians 1:15-16 “But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called by His grace, to reveal His Son in me.” 

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives IN ME; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”

This clearly shows us that Christ lives in His believers.  Because He lives in us, the Christian life is not a matter of trying to behave like Christ, but of allowing Him to live in and through us. 

Colossians 1:27 “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which his Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory.”

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us). 

There are many other Scriptures that point to this truth of the living God residing in His children.

Isn’t that THRILLING!!  We often look at verses without pondering their meaning and relevance in the shoe-leather of our living.   Yes, whatever we’re doing, He’s within, sharing and living our His life in us.

Have you consumed garlic lately?  If you have, you’ve not needed to share that with your friend, spouse or co-workers.  Believe me, it would be obvious to them if they were in close proximity of you.  Why?  Because the essence and aroma of garlic has so penetrated you…. that it’s presence within you just “oozes out of you!” 

HAD YOU THOUGHT THAT JESUS CHRIST YEARNS TO “OOZE OUT OF YOU AND I?”

We carry the presence of the Savior within us at all times…wherever we go and whatever we’re doing.  

We don’t need to announce that we’ve consumed garlic.  People will know because it “oozes from our pores…our very being.”     He wants to ooze from the pores of our lives…. influencing and affecting others in a winsome, truthful and loving way.  

When we demonstrate LOVE in the name of Jesus, we are showing Jesus to the world in front of us.   When we love like Jesus…. they need to see and feel the difference that Jesus Christ makes in our lives.

A verse that perhaps many of us have memorized is:  Prov 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.“

There’s so much in that verse.  But it’s about keeping our eyes on Him in whatever we’re doing or wherever we are, looking for His guidance.  It’s also pondering or thinking about what God might be teaching us in our life right now, and making course adjustments in our behavior or attitudes.

Just recently, God convicted me of an attitude within me that wasn’t right!  Ouch, that hurt.  But it was a “positive hurt.”   We sometimes squirm when we’re corrected, and we long for a Divine band-aid to cover over it; but some changes in our life need to be exposed to His Divine “air of truth” which brings change and healing.

We’re to live “in the present,” but there can be blessings in looking back over the rear-view mirror of our lives to see what God has done in and through our lives.  Remembering the specific areas of how God has provided in the past cultivates and encourages us for trusting Him in the future.

Why not pause for awhile and take a short journey back in time in our lives, and recall areas where God has worked and made Himself known to us!

It would be valuable to cultivate more stillness and silence in our lives….so we can know His presence and hear His voice!  He will not shout over our own agendas…. but waits on us until we’re ready to “listen” (with the intention of obeying Him).

ARE YOU LIVING OUT GOD’S PLANS AND PURPOSES IN YOUR LIFE?

A good question to ask God:  What is the purpose or sum of my life?

This type of question helps to make us STOP and THINK:  what was God’s purpose in creating/designing you and me?

If this question has stimulated your thinking, as it has mine, I’d love to hear from you!!!  If you’ve signed in to my blog, it will share my email address.

Published by Dianne Horne

I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others. I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is! I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived. God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others. The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life. In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty. My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives. Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life? I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace. My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ? The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.

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