September 28, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Obadiah

Weekly Memory Verse: Ephesians 2:10

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

In today’s study, Rick got to the meat of the purpose in “Purpose Driven Life”.  The main focus was on what drives people to do what they do.  Have you ever thought about that?  What is it that drives you to be the way that you are?  He used a few examples of being driven by guilt, resentment and anger, fear, materialism, and the need for approval.  In short, something makes our motor tick, there is something that drives us forward to accomplish what we desire. 

The question of course is whether the things that drive us are of God or if they are centered on the flesh.  This purpose driven life is not abnormal in humans, it is the normal.  Most people don’t realize the drive that is behind their actions.  Once we accept Christ as savior, our purpose changes.  At the end of the chapter, Rick poses two questions that will be asked when we meet Jesus.  What did you do about Jesus as Savior? And “What did you do after you accepted Him?” 

Isaiah 49:4 (NASB95)
⁴ But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, And My reward with My God.”

Job 7:6 (NASB95)
⁶ “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope.

Job 7:16 (NASB95)
¹⁶ “I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. ^[1]

As you can see from the scripture references, even the men of God loose their focus and focus upon the issues rather than focusing upon God in their lives. 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB95)
¹¹ ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Ephesians 3:20 (NASB95)
²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ^[2]

God gives each believer hope in Him.  He has prepared a plan for each of us and has supplied the purpose for our lives.  We often complicate matters by adding unnecessary stress to following God.  Often we will spin our wheels by becoming overly involved in busy activities, or even becoming a couch potato rather than spending the time in the Word and in prayer to draw near to God.  Purpose driven living does not mean busy living, it means that our beings are focused intently upon God.

Ephesians 5:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Philippians 3:13 (NASB95)
¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

Philippians 3:15 (NASB95)
¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;

John 14:6 (NASB95)
⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

^[3]

Rick used the illustration of a magnifying glass to demonstrate the power that is available to us.  When we are focused upon God, His power is magnified in our lives to where it goes from being ineffective rays to a focused beam which can start fires.  He went on to say that light focused more intently in the form of a laser beam can cut through steel. 

I am going to close here, I would encourage each of you to acquire a copy of the book and read the chapter daily.  During these forty days I am going to focus primarily upon the concepts taught in the book by hitting the high points.

Father, as we consider Your purpose in our lives, enable us to see beyond ourselves in order to see the purpose that You have for our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.