The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever–do not abandon the works of your hands. Psalm 138:8

September 20//

So, every, single, time i open up My Utmost for His Highest, it blows me away. it is either so terribly convicting, challenging, and compelling– or the very thing I need. (haha, i know those should actually be the SAME, but lemme explain) so some days i open it, and the thing i learn is new and challenging, and i think about it the entire day, which is really how a good devotional should be. its powerful and lets the Word carry on in my day. and then other days, I feel as if God is meeting me just where I’m at. Bringing the thing i need to hear in that moment. Today was one of those “ahah!” moments.

Today’s devo was about missions, and purpose. (ha!) I will type it here:

The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances–we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for hte human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force is the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in John 3:16– “for God so loved the world…”

We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.

Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.

Okay. So, WOW. is this not all the things I’ve been pondering the past week or so? YAH.

And, to add something to this, I just was talking to a student in the library at tcnj. (yes i’m at tcnj right now) and  He said how the world’s lies have hidden or warped our process of discovering and following out our purpose. YES.  you are right mr. atheist jewish frat guy! “The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree.”

the following are VERY loosely quoted scripture. with no context. so i dont claim they really have anything to do with this, it just sounds good for now.

The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.– Proverbs 20:5 It takes alot of “soul-searching” and a communication with God to “discover” your purpose. Aside from our delegated purpose as humans as a whole- to glorify and enjoy God.

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.- Acts 5:38

They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.- Revelation 17:13

BUT, God does want to be known, and wants his purpose to be known to us. And through that, our purpose too. It sure is muddled by the things of the world, but he wants us to know it.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.-Hebrews 6:17

Summary: We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt.