On Purpose, For a Purpose, Because of a Purpose

You were created ON purpose, FOR a purpose, BECAUSE of a purpose.

That’s a whole lot of purpose!

You were first created on purpose.

God had a specific idea in mind when He created you. He’s given each of us special gifts, talents and personalities that are as unique as our own fingerprints.  The Bible says that God has gifted His people with different designs. In Romans 12:4-6, it says:

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well…”

What is it that YOU do well? What gifts do you have that come recognizably easy to you? Do you sing well? Paint beautiful pictures? Accurately crunch numbers? Cook some of the best food that keeps bringing people back for more? Design spaces that come to life from your imagination? Play sports well? Play an instrument well? Have a knack for mixing chemicals or maybe for making films? Do you always know what to say when a friend is down or know how to sell a product well?

What is it that makes you “tick”? What innate skills do you enjoy doing that you do well at or notice the potential to do well at? Answering this question will help to answer why you were created. It’s been said  { I do not know who said this } that there are two most important days of your life. The first is the day you were born and the second is the day that you discover WHY you were born. God has weaved the beautiful blend of who you on purpose. It wasn’t a random chance happening that you are the way that you are and that you have the gifts you have. He planned it. And as with everything that God has created, He says, “It is Good.”

You were secondly created for a purpose.

Okay, so God has given you certain gifts and abilities and a unique personality that’s one of a kind. But what good are those things if they can’t be applied? It’s like having a bag of tools to use, but no direction on what to do with those tools. But never fear! God is a master carpenter and He has provided a blueprint or a guideline of what you should be doing with those gifts and talents!

When you think back through your life, what are some repeating themes that stir your heart and your soul? Is it a desire to see justice in the world? Is it a burden for the sick? The poor? The lost? Have you always wanted to see people being the best “them” that they can be? Do you grieve when you hear about children bullied at school, kidnapped or hurt? Do you want to see other people succeed? Do you want to see the world put in order?

What is it that drives and motivates you? What stirs your heart? If you could define one word that identifies what message you want to bring to the word, what would it be? Would it be “inspire?” Would it be “comfort?” Perhaps, “Motivate,” “Entertain,” or “Protect” might be your 1 word? When you can take your life experiences and nail them down to 1 word, it will help you to identify HOW you can achieve your purpose. 

Remember: The gifts, talents, abilities, personality, etc. that God has given to you are TOOLS in your life, but they are not your calling. Your calling can best be defined where your talent and your passions intersect.

God created you because of a purpose:

When Jesus was here on earth, He lived out God’s purpose for His life—to live a sinless life and die on the cross and raise to life for the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of mankind. He knew that His purpose was to love and serve God with His life.

The Bible says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind……” –Matthew 22:36-39. It also says in verse 39-40, “And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

God’s main purpose for our life is to love and serve Him and the second is to love people. When we can understand that this is our main purpose in life, everything else starts to fall into place. We see that our main purpose in life is to love and serve God and we accomplish this by utilizing the gifts and talents { the tools } He gives to us and fueling them with the desires and passions He’s given { our calling or life message }. God gives us the strength to use these things in our lives and He gives them power to become useful.

He has a purpose for your life. Let Him use you in the way He created you. Worship, serve and honor Him with the gifts He’s given you as a gift back to Him.

If You're a Butterfly, You Can't Become a Caterpillar Again

A butterfly can not undo the process that made it a butterfly and it cannot become a chubby little caterpillar again. It's wings may get soiled. It may get mangled by other bugs. It may lose it's ability to fly. But it cannot undo what's been done. It cannot become a caterpillar again, no matter what it thinks about itself.
What about Christians? As a believer, have you ever struggled with where you stand with God?

As a Christian, I personally struggled for several years, wondering if I'd somehow out-sinned God's grace. I wondered if I had lost my salvation and wrestled very deeply with it to the point of deep depression.

I tried to do more things to assure me that I was saved. I tried to clean up my act on my own and felt that I was saved on the days I behaved and that I'd somehow lost salvation on the days that I had not behaved. I even wrote in my Bible years ago { several times of course, because I was going by feeling and not by faith }, "This is the day that I was TRULY saved. I really meant it this day."

But there is a problem with that way of thinking when I look at God's Word. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

Did you catch that? It says that grace is a gift.

When was the last time someone gave you a gift and you said, "Oh no....I had a bad day, so they're going to take that gift back from me." ? Probably never. They gave a gift in love. You accepted it. Now it's yours to keep.

God gives us the gift of salvation through faith when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We may lose some of His blessings when we sin, but we don't lose our salvation.

It's taken me a long time to learn, but when we accept Jesus, we are REDEEMED, meaning that we become a part of God's family, are forgiven of our sins and are saved from God's eternal punishment.

Then God's Spirit begins to activate His influence and work in us and we are SANCTIFIED.  He begins to transform the inner parts of us to become increasingly more and more like the character of God.

Redemption happens in a moment and Sanctification happens all throughout our lives until we meet Him.

So, if you're a butterfly--if you've already given your heart and life to the Lord, but you're fretting that you feel like a caterpillar again, take heart. The Lord doesn't take back His promises. He may remove some blessings from us in order to return us to Him, but we're not kicked out of the family. You can never become a caterpillar again once you've been given the wings of grace and accepted in faith what Jesus has already done for you.

{ Small Beginnings }

Thank you for visiting Wings of Purpose! This blog is something that I have felt God pressing on my heart for quite awhile now and I'm finally taking a leap of faith to write it. God has given me a heart for women and I deeply desire to see them grow in their relationships with Jesus. And that includes you. I want to see you become all that God has called you to be. I want you to be encouraged along the journey. This blog is for you!

You see, God has a plan for each of our lives. He's promised you that in Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

You may have not had the best upbringing or may feel like the best of life is behind you, but that's not true. God says that He has a future and a hope for you. I want that message to be the one that you walk away from here with--that despite any circumstance you go through, God has a good purpose for your life.

There is something so special about seeing a woman living out the calling that God has put on her life.......whatever it may be...God has a plan for your life and a purpose for you.

The butterfly is something that is really special to me because it represents change and that is why I've included it in the Wings of Purpose logo. A metamorphosis changes the chubby caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. The old body that held it down its entire life is suddenly shed and wings are given to replace the sticky legs and help the newly transformed butterfly fly up into the sky and rise above everything it's ever known.

That's my wish for you. That you will use the wings that God has given to you to rise up out of the old things that have held you back for years and to soar high into the light of the journey that He has for you. He's ready to lead you. Are you ready to be courageous and try out your wings and fly?