Purpose

I've been thinking about purpose lately.

Do I have one?

If I do, is it a good one?

Does it involve goals that are higher than my own well-being?

Goals are important.

Purpose is good.

Direction is profitable.

And, I can't help but turn to the Bible to read more about what Christ's purpose was on this earth.

If, as a Christian (follower of Christ), I want to live like Him, then I want to catch His vision.

In Luke 4, Jesus reveals that He is the Messiah, and what His purpose was on earth...

Beginning in verse 16,

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.

 And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

What a beautiful verse.

What a faithful promise.

And, what a meaningful purpose.

Today, and every day, I want to ask God how I can:

1. Have the Spirit of the Lord fall on me.
2.  Be anointed to proclaim good new to the poor (this isn't just the poor financially, by the way).

3. Proclaim liberty to the captives.

4. Proclaim sight for the blind.

5. Liberate those who are oppressed.

We can all have a part in each one of those things.

We can pray that God's Spirit would rest upon us.  We can ask Him to forgive us of any un-confessed sin in our lives.  We can repent of those sins and ask for His favor to rest upon us.

We can ask for His strength and anointing to give us the courage to proclaim His good news.

We are all sinners, in need of a Savior.  

We are one decision away from an eternity without God.

Christ is the answer to all of our questions, and asking Him to be Lord of our life brings peace.

We must be a part of bringing liberty to the captives.

There are slaves all around us...even in our country.

Pray that they will be released.

Act in whatever ways you can to bring freedom to those who are held captive.

There are excellent organizations that are bring hope to the hopeless...let us fight alongside them!

Tell those who can not see that there is a way their eyes can be opened.

And if they refuse to see it, then pray that God will open their eyes for them.

I heard an amazing story not long ago of a good friend of mine who came to understand what it meant to follow Jesus Christ.  She explained that she had been blind for so many years, and suddenly (after many faithful times of prayer by her friends and family), she said it felt like God had removed the blinders from her eyes.  Her eyes had literally been opened... sight had been declared for her.

We can all have a part in God's plan.

We can pray with conviction and faith.

We can plan with courage.

And, finally, we can act.

We act, knowing that God is on our side, and ultimately He will be the one to see His plans unfold. 

He is in control.

His purposes will prevail.

And, yet, He invites us to join Him on this journey of significance.

I choose to step into that today.

And, I am praying that you find this place of purpose for your life as well.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May He make His face shine upon you.

And, may He give you peace.

Jamie