Purpose Driven Life Day 32

Day 32, June 1st, "Using What God Gave You"

    - "What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God." (Rick Warren).  God deserves our very best. He deserves 110%. We need to make the most of what God has given us. We should not worry about the abilities we don't have and focus on the abilities we do have. "When you attempt to serve God in ways you're not shaped to serve, it feels like forcing a square peg into a round hole." (Rick Warren). I experienced this when I was a teacher. Teaching is not what I am called to do, at least not at the high school level. I was forcing myself into a position that did not fit. We have to develop our shape to its full potential but first you have to understand what your shape is.

DISCOVER YOUR SHAPE
    - Ephesians 5:17 says, "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do." Never accept a position without first praying to God about it. I have learned from experience on this and for my next job after I graduate, I will be praying and fasting for guidance from God. God will guide you and show you where he wants you.
*Begin by assessing your gifts and abilities*

     - Start by making a list of your abilities. Then ask other people what they think you are good at. Tell them to be honest with you and not try and tell you what you want to hear. "Spiritual gifts and natural abilities are always confirmed by others." (Rick Warren). Ask the people who are close to you what they think you are good at, they know you better than yourself sometimes. Look at areas of your life where you have been successful at in the past. The best way to discover your gifts and abilities is to experiment in different areas of service. What better way then to experiment then at your local church. You can discover what you like and do not like by serving in different areas of ministry around the church. We all have dozens of hidden abilities and gifts we haven't discovered because we haven't tried. It is important to volunteer in an area you are interested to understand if you enjoy that area or not. If it doesn't work out its not a failure, its an experiment. Just like with me and teaching. I now know I don't want to teach, its not a failure, it was an experiment. By teaching I discovered I wanted to be a physical therapist assistant.
*Consider your heart and your personality*
     - It is important to get feedback from those that know us best. Ask yourself, when do you feel fully alive? What do you enjoy doing? When does the time fly by? For me the time flies by at clinical's for physical therapy. I enjoy myself. Time flew by when I was with my ex. Time flew by when I hung out with his niece and nephew. What does this tell me, this tells me I will enjoy being a wife, I will enjoy having kids, and physical therapy is the career field I'm designed for.
*Examine your experiences and extract lessons you have learned*
     - "Forgotten experiences are worthless; that's a good reason to keep a spiritual journal." (Rick Warren). Having a spiritual journal has been so beneficial to me but I'm going to be honest I need to review it more so that I learn from my mistakes. We rarely see God's purpose in our pain. How often does this happen to you? I know for me it happens a lot. I rarely see God's purpose in my pain but I know there is a purpose. Pastor Brent Purvis at Cascade Hills Church in Columbus, GA said, the answer to prayer is often found in a problem. Often times the problem gets bigger but God is a never changing God. Somethings are answered differently, He may send us on a different route but we need to continue to ask God for what we want. His methods are not up to us. Sometimes God feeds us the same thing over and over until we are fully dependent on him. In my life I see this often. I have been praying for a spouse sense before I can remember. I'm almost 28 and have no one even on the horizon. I thought I was with the guy I was going to marry and then bam, God took him away from me. God answered my prayers with a problem but there is still a purpose in the pain. John 13:7 says, "Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.'"

ACCEPTING AND ENJOYING YOUR SHAPE

   - We need to celebrate and accept the shape that God has given us. We also need to recognize our limitations. "When we try to overextend our ministry and reach beyond what God shaped us for, we experience stress." (Rick Warren). Teaching caused me the most stress I've ever had in my life. I had stress headaches constantly. Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God set before us." Satan will try to steal the joy of service from us in two ways:
   1. By tempting you to compare your ministry with others
   2. By tempting you to conform your ministry to the expectations of others
It is so important that we not compare ourselves to others. It's so hard to accomplish this with social media. Galatians 6:4 says, "Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else." When we compare ourselves to others we will always be able to find someone who seems to be doing a better job than us and we will become discouraged. We will so always be able to find someone who doesn't seem as effective as us and we will become full of pride. People who do not understand your shape will criticize you and try to get you to conform to what they think you should be doing. We need to avoid comparisons, resist exaggeration, and seek only God's commendation. If you are having trouble with comparing yourself to others, get off social media.

KEEP DEVELOPING YOUR SHAPE 
    - It is important that we cultivate our gifts and abilities, keep our heart aflame, grow our character and personality, and broaden our experiences so we our more effective in our service. If we don't use our skills we will lose them. We need to use the ability we have and God will continue to increase it. We need to stretch ourselves and learn all we can. We need to take advantage of every training opportunity. Go to that leadership conference. Volunteer at that soup kitchen. Read the personal growth books. Develop yourself to be the best shape God has given you.

Point to Ponder: God deserves my best.
Verse to Remember: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
Question to Consider: How can I make the best use of what God has given me?

Purpose Driven Life Day 8-9

Day 8, May 8th, "You were planned for God's Pleasure"
 

   - When you were born God was there smiling in delight. He didn't need to create you, he chose to create you for his pleasure and enjoyment. Bringing pleasure to God is our #1 purpose! Rick Warren says, "When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant." This is an area I need to work on. Often times I feel insignificant, past relationships endings have made me feel this way. This "singleness" time in my life, I need to work on myself and develop a deeper relationship with God that is going to give God more pleasure. We are wired with 5 senses and emotions to experience pleasure. Rick Warren says, "The reason you are able to enjoy life is because God made you in his image." We are all made in God's image. God feels emotions just like we do. "Anything that we do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship." Rick Warren. This may be going to church, singing, dancing, laughing. Worship is more then just music. Every part of a church service is worship and you don't have to be in a church to worship God. "If we fail to worship God we will always find a substitute." Rick Warren. This is so true, I see this in myself at times and in others. Yes, I worship God and I attend church but when I get into a relationship my worshipping of God lessens. In this season of being single, I am beginning to realize that. Before I met my ex-boyfriend, I attended bible study every Wednesday and of course church on Sunday's. Once we met I stopped going to bible study on Wednesday because I wanted to spend more time with him. That is not right at all, I should never put a guy before God and my time of worship and praise with him. We all make mistakes and we either repeat them or learn from them and move forward.

    - Worship is not for our benefit it's for God's. The goal of worship is to bring pleasure to God not ourselves. Saying you didn't get anything out of worship/church service is wrong and it means you did it for the wrong reason. I am a victim of this. Sometimes I will go to church and be like I really didn't get anything from that, it happens less and less now but I used to say it a lot more. Worship should not be a part of your life; it is your life! The first thing you should do when you wake ups is worship and the last thing you should do before you go to bed is worship. This could me prayer, singing, reading your bible, etc. We should have continual conversation with God all day everyday. Lately I've been waking up with christian lyrics in my head and its nice because it reminds me to praise God each morning I wake up.

    - Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,as working for the Lord, not for human masters." We should always do things at 100% effort for the glory of God. Whether this be in our work, recreation, or relationships. Give everything 100% effort.

    - Our relationship with God should be like a new relationship you get into. You know what I'm talking about, where you are constantly thinking of that person, you can't get them out of your mind. We need to fall in love with Jesus like we fall in love with people.

Day 9, May 9th, "What Makes God Smile?" 
     - Do you every wonder what makes God smile? The goal of our lives should be to make God smile. There are 5 acts of worship that make God smile:
  1. God Smiles when we LOVE HIM SUPREMELY

   - God wants a relationship with each and every one of us. He wants us to get to know him, spend time with him, and love him. Our main objective in life should be learning to love God and be loved by him. Matthew 22:37-38 says, Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your should and with all your mind' This is the first and greatest commandment. We should never love anyone or anything more then God. Yes for all you mothers and fathers out there that includes your children. God should always come first.

  2. God Smiles when we TRUST HIM COMPLETELY

              - This is an area for me that I make God frown a lot. I am working on it but often times I fail. I need to fully surrender to him and his will. "Trusting God completely means having faith that he knows what is best for your life." Rick Warren. Man oh man do I struggle with this and God constantly puts me through a test to see if I am trusting him completely. Again, why am I in Northeast Ohio? There is a reason, I need to stop questioning him and trust him. Why did I go through heartbreaks and have cancer? TRUST HIM, SURRENDER! This is my most difficult area.

      3. God Smiles when we OBEY HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY
          - This again comes with trust. We need to do whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. We shouldn't say let me pray about it more. We don't need to procrastinate, we need to just obey him wholeheartedly and just do it! Rick Warren says, "We will never understand some commands until we obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding." We can't pick and choose what commands God gives us that we are going to obey. Partial obedience is the same as disobedience. God commands us to tithe, give 10% to the church, we shouldn't just ignore this and say well I'm attending church thats good enough. We shouldn't just say I'm going to read my bible but I'm not going to forgive those who hurt me. It doesn't work that way. We need to obey all the commands God has laid out for us.

      4. God Smiles when we PRAISE AND THANK HIM CONTINUALLY 
          - We should continually offer God praise and thanksgiving to God. We should wake up and go to sleep thanking God. Rick Warren says, "When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy!" Continually giving God praise and thanking him puts joy in your heart as well.

     5. God Smiles when we USE OUR ABILITIES 

        - "Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure if you do it with an attitude of praise." Rick Warren. God gave each of use unique abilities and personalities. We should use our abilities to bring glory to God. We should never hide out abilities. We need to be OURSELVES! Anyone that makes you hide who you are or hide your abilities is not right for you. Rick Warren says, "Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating you." Don't hide your abilities use them. God gave them to you for a reason.

Pondering the question of the day I need to trust God more in my romantic relationships and I need to trust God more in my finances. To be honest I really just need to fully surrender and trust God wholeheartedly in all areas of my life. What areas do you need to trust God more in?

Point to Ponder: God smiles when I trust him.
Verse to Remember: "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love." Psalm 147:11
Question to Consider: Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him more?