Category: purpose in life

Do you have the gift of speaking?
Then speak as though God himself
were speaking through you.
Do you have the gift of helping others?
Do it with all the strength
and energy that God supplies.
Then everything you do
will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.
All glory and power to him
forever and ever! Amen.
1 Peter 4:11 NLT

We tend to busy ourselves and over-book our calendars in an attempt to justify our relevance. We can become frustrated and discouraged when our lofty goals are not achieved. There is the urge is to do more and more until we become exhausted. Failure to achieve success can be deflating and this misdirection takes us down a path of self-pity and perceived failure. This may be God’s way of keeping us humble. When we get to the end of a day, sometimes there is nothing left for us to do except thank and praise God!

Now all glory to God,
who is able,
through his mighty power
at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more
than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church
and in Christ Jesus
through all generations
forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT

While we may often dream of doing great things for God and his Kingdom, the dreams aren’t as big as God’s plans. While we may be richly talented, influential, powerful, or rich, these are merely tools in God’s hands, not symbols of our sufficiency. “God is able” has to be one of the best and most accurate phrases in the Bible. But this time, it’s said about his work in you in me. He is able of much more than we imagine to work through and in us. What can we say to that?  Just say, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

Loving Father,
please help me to know
and live your will in my life.
I want to be your vessel of ministry,
healing, blessing, and hope
to those around me
at work and play.
Please use me to your glory today,
and always. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.

A new command I give you:
Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
By this all men will know
that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.
John 13:34-35 NIV

How do you recognize Jesus’ followers? How do you find Christians? Jesus said they love each other just as he loved the disciples. In the immediate context this means he is willing to give sacrificially and extravagantly by dying for them at the cross, and he is also willing to love selflessly and practically by washing their feet. His ministry reveals he will do almost anything in between extravagant and practical. Imagine if we all read the Gospels and committed to love each other in the same way Jesus showed his love to his disciples!

Father of Compassion and God of all grace,
I thank you for teaching me to love
through the example of Jesus.
May my words and actions
reflect his love toward your people today,
tomorrow, and until you bring us all home to you.
In the name of Christ, my Great Example, I pray.
Amen.

Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed [David], with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
— 1 Samuel 16:13 MESSAGE

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
— Ephesians 2:10

Did you know that God is an artisan? Even more importantly, did you know that you are|one of his masterpieces? God has designed us to be beautifully useful for doing good things! So let’s not let anyone, especially not the evil one, convince us that we are not worth anything to others or to God. His grace has made our lives canvases upon which he will provide the world more masterpiece works of his artistry! Let’s live up to God’s high opinion of us.

Thank you, dear Father, for knowing me and re-making me by your grace in Jesus. Use me to do your will and lead me to the appropriate people so that I can most effectively minister to them. In Jesus’ grace-filled name I pray. Amen.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
— Romans 15:30 NIV

The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we pray (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit pours love into our hearts to give us hope and endurance (Romans 5:5; Colossians 1:9-11). So it shouldn’t surprise us that the love we have from the Holy Spirit moves us to pray for others in their struggles. Praying for others, what is sometimes called intercessory prayer, is a great gift empowered by the love that comes from the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. In today’s verse, Paul wanted this Spirit-led and love-driven prayer to focus on his desire to proclaim Jesus, something we’ve focused on for several days. However, this Spirit-led and love-driven kind of prayer can be offered for anything that another brother or sister in Christ needs. Let’s remember that the love we feel for others and the intercession we are given by the presence of the Spirit are there as gifts to equip us to pray for others!

Today, Father, I want to pray for a number of folks on my heart who face struggles of all kinds. Some are family members… some are friends… some are faithful servants of your kingdom doing your work in hard places… some are grieving… some face tough times… some are making hard decisions… some have family struggles… some have great opportunities they don’t want to miss… some are overcoming addictions… and there are many others. Please hear my prayer for them today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
— Colossians 2:6-7

Jesus is our center! He is the hub around which we turn. Rather than trying to add on to the truth of Jesus, we must learn to accept it and trust it in child-like faith. But that child-like faith must be nourished and grown. As Jesus remains our central focus and our hearts remain thankful to God for his grace, we will that our faith is strengthened and that Jesus is more real than ever.

Holy and Righteous God, please give me eyes to see evil and avoid it. Please give me wisdom to know deceptive and false teaching when it is placed before me. Empower me to live a thankful life of holiness so that I can live in Jesus to your honor and glory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

[Peter said,] “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
— Acts 5:32 NIV

The apostles, and some others, were witnesses of Jesus’ presence after his resurrection from the dead. However, if we listen carefully to this statement of Peter, there is a great promise for those of us who live centuries after Jesus’ resurrection. We have living in us a witness of Jesus’ resurrection — the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises to send this witness — sometimes called our Anointing from the Holy One, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, Advocate, or Counselor — to live in us as his followers. This promise is not just for those of the first century, but this is a forever promise to anyone who loves Jesus and obeys his teaching! (See John 14:16-23.) Just as Peter said, the Holy Spirit is the witness God gives to those who obey him! Do we want to hear testimony to the resurrection of Jesus? Then, let’s listen and look for the work of the Spirit in our own lives!

Father, I am astounded by the touches of grace in every aspect of the Jesus story. Today, however, my heart is captured by the incredible gift of grace you have given to me in the Holy Spirit. While I affirm the importance of Scripture and the truth of the Bible, I am deeply moved to realize that you have given me the Holy Spirit as your living witness inside me, assuring me of the resurrection of my Lord. Thank you! I praise you! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[To the apostles, Jesus said,] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Everywhere! That pretty much covers the world, doesn’t it? The amazing thing is that this ragtag bunch of disciples, who were nobodies from nowhere, did it. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they began a movement that has endured time, cultural differences, geographical distances, persecution, martyrdom, apathy, and misunderstanding. When the power of the Holy Spirit animates and motivates Jesus’ followers, they are compelled to care about all peoples and share the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth!

Loving Father, I know you want all people to experience your love for them in Jesus. I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in me, convicting me of my prejudices, calling up compassion for the broken of the world, propelling me to reach out to people around me, and moving me to give up myself and my resources to share the message of Jesus wherever I can in the world. I pray this for your glory and in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

[Jesus said,] “John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”
— Acts 1:5 MESSAGE

“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, …” (Acts 1:4 NLT). These were Jesus’ words to his closest followers. Now we understand why. When John the Baptizer came, he spoke of one who would baptize in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:7-8). Soon after Jesus ascended back to heaven, the kingdom of God would break into the world with fresh power. In the kingdom, the Holy Spirit is given to every true follower of Jesus. The early disciples stood on the edge of Pentecost and the beginning of a new movement of God that would sweep up all sorts of people into his kingdom. And we are part of that great movement. We, too, are filled with this same Holy Spirit. Jesus still calls us to live out the good news of God’s kingdom in our world by the power of the Holy Spirit… and to do it now!

Father, thank you for your plan: the call of Abraham, the leadership of Moses, the heart of worship in David, the faithfulness of the prophets — all who worked, led, and spoke through your Spirit and pointed to your great work to redeem the world and create a people who reflect your character and compassion. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, please form us — please form me, those I love, and all of Jesus’ disciples — into the people who live your will in the world. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
— Philippians 2:3

Humility is recognizing who God has made us to be and using that recognition to serve and redeem others. Living in humility as Jesus did, we don’t just practice the golden rule, but we go one step better — we treat others better than we would treat ourselves. Are we instructed to do this because we’re unworthy or unfit? No! Jesus was worthy and glorious, but he chose to treat others better than himself when he sacrificially gave himself to redeem them. It’s a high standard. It’s a hard standard. It is not for wimps. But it is ultimately glorious.

Almighty God, thank you for adopting me as your child and making me holy and precious to you. Please help me to see myself as you do, and then, as one of your precious children, empower me to serve others in ways that help them see your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.