WALKING IN YOUR ORDAINED PURPOSE

Why were “you” created? What did the Potter have in mind when He decided to create you, His vessel?  Millions of possibilities travelled between your parents and all of them died except for you…why?

Everything God does is strategic and purposeful.  Know that you were created by God for a specific purpose.  We were created to walk in the likeness of Him and to bear fruit.  Genesis 1:28 reads, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth”.  We are all called to bear fruit, but how we bear this fruit is specific to the call that God has placed on our lives.  This calling is our God-ordained purpose!

How often do we take on jobs, both in and outside of the church, simply because the task comes easy for us, it pays well, the skills come to us naturally, someone tells us that it is the job we are supposed to do, or someone that we respect expects us to do it? So, we take on these roles and find ourselves getting very busy being busy.

There are some that are just busybodies walking about and causing confusion and believing that they are doing a service unto God. Some get on the phone to stir up confusion from many miles away and believe that they are assisting God. While the church is falling apart for lack of direction.

But is this the lifestyle for which God is calling? But is this the lifestyle for which God is calling? Living a life performing tasks “just because” creates a life of living beneath God’s fullest potential for our lives.  God created you for a pre-ordained, specific purpose.  God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).  Before your parents considered you, God already knew you and your purpose for existence.

So you might say…I sing in the choir, I travel with the pastor. I am doing a lot in my church!  While there is nothing wrong with performing these tasks, you must ask yourself, “Is this what God has created, empowered and appointed me to do?” We sometimes confuse church work with the work of the church.

In Matthew 21, we find the story of Jesus cursing the unfruitful fig tree.  It reads: “Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.  Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered.”  Some ask, why did Jesus feel the need to curse the tree when clearly the tree could not have been totally unproductive?  Was Jesus being a bit harsh?

Fig trees can grow as tall as 50 ft and they can grow just as wide as they are tall.  When a fig tree is covered with leaves, it shades everything under it.  It would have been a great place for a traveller to stop and rest in the shade of this fig tree.  Countless bugs and insects are known to eat and thrive off of the leaves of the fig tree.  Wild animals and birds would undoubtedly find the limbs of that fig tree a great place to build a home.  So the tree was doing many jobs! However, perhaps Jesus thought, “You, fig tree, are doing a lot of tasks but the purpose for which you were created by my Father was TO PRODUCE FIGS! You have been found outside of your purpose and therefore are of no use to me.” We are commanded by God to be fruitful.

…until we tap into what the Father has created us to do, according to the Kingdom, we are spiritually barren or fruitless. And so it is with us.  We can do all of the jobs that we want and even do them successfully.  But until we tap into what the Father has created us to do, according to the Kingdom, we are spiritually barren or fruitless.  Matthew 7:16-23 declares, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits, you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”  This is why it is important to operate within your God-ordained purpose and to operate in God’s timing.  When He is ready to use us for the purpose we were created, we don’t want to be found ill-equipped.

So how do we tap into our purpose?  Get in His presence!  The Father wants nothing more than for His children to operate at their fullest potential within His divine will.  He wants to tell you exactly what He created you to do. Ephesians 1:18 reads, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people.”  We must become in tune with our Creator through prayer, reading His word, applying faith and walking in the spirit, allowing Him to lead us in all things. We must shut off our natural ears and open our spiritual ears.  When it becomes a daily habit for us to get in His presence and walk in His spirit, we develop a relationship with God, which positions us to birth that which He has put in us from the foundation of the world.  When we get in His presence, we get our purpose!  When we get our purpose, we get new focus! When we get a new focus, we become more Kingdom-minded.  Roman 12:2 reads, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Then you will be able to test and prove that which is God’s will —His good, pleasing and perfect will.

However, be mindful of this…you will not operate within your God-ordained purpose without opposition.  Because your purpose will be something bigger than you…

• You will not be able to accomplish it without the hand of God (Philippians 2:13).
• It will take you out of your comfort zone (1Chronicle 28:20).
• It will require faith (Romans 4:20-21).
• It will require discipline (Proverbs 5:23) (Roman 12:1).
• It will require work (Nehemiah 6:1-3).

1Corinthians 15:58 reads, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  Do not give up!  The last thing the enemy wants is for you to decide that you want the more of God and His perfect will for your life. He knows that God will underwrite, co-sign and sanction your actions.  This means you will be empowered by the unstoppable, omnipotent God!  Because of this, the enemy will try everything in his power to stop you from moving into your purpose.

• When God told Jeremiah that He called him to be a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah’s initial response was, “I am too young” (Jeremiah1:5-6).
• When God called Moses to appear before Pharaoh for the deliverance of the children of Israel, Moses said: “I have a speech problem” (Exodus 3:1-4:10).
• When God called Jonah to cry out against the wickedness of Nineveh, Jonah ran in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:1-3).

Thankfully, these great men of God regrouped and fulfilled God’s purpose for their lives.  Their decisions to move into God’s purpose totally changed the course of history for several nations.

As we begin to operate within our purpose, we must remain focused and understand that it is God who is operating “through” us and not we ourselves.  We must remain humble so that God may continue to use us for His glory. Ephesians 4:1-3 reads, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.”

Whose destiny is connected to your decision to move into your God-ordained purpose?  How might you affect the next generation to come with your “total yes” to God? What generational curse might you cancel by operating within your purpose?  What addict might you deliver by walking in your purpose? How many countless souls might be saved by your decision to pursue purpose TODAY?