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God Needs You

When Australia was a new nation, its leaders selected a crest to represent the country.  Two animals stood, one on each side of the crest – the kangaroo and the emu.

The two animals were chosen because of a unique common characteristic – while each turns their head to glance backward in order to get their bearing, they always move forward.

Though each animal is very swift afoot (30 mph) neither is able to walk backwards.

The founders of Australia wanted their country represented by what moved forward, never backward.  Kangaroos and emus look back and leap forward.

There are two times when individuals and organizations have a tendency to stop – after a defeat and after a victory.  Such lack of progress greatly affects momentum.

Persistent people begin their success when most others quit.

One person with commitment, persistence and endurance will accomplish more than 1,000 people with interest alone.

The past is for remembering, not living.  Life is understood backwards, but lived forward.

Most of us have dreams, plans for how we desire our lives to be lived.  And most of us will die without achieving many of them.

Have you ever wondered what God has dreamed, planned for you?

When He created you, who did He mean?  Plato said, “You did not come into the world by accident, but at the very moment God had need of you.”

Whatever God has dreamed, planned for your life is something the world greatly needs.

The Fulfilled Life

There is a truth I live with each day of my life –

When I stand in the presence of Jesus, He will not ask – Why were you not Paul?  He will ask, why were you not Tony?

A story is told of a man who died and was able to speak with Peter in Heaven.  He asked Peter – Who were the greatest men and women who lived on earth?

Peter took him into a huge room filled with drawers containing cards with people’s names and their assigned purpose.

As he pulled out card after card he realized none of the names were familiar to him.  Peter replied, they never accomplished their purpose.  God intended greatness for each of them.

Each individual’s original purpose is to make a difference. You alone can do best what you were created by God to do.

Purpose is the intent or reason for existence.  You may live a “Filled Life” but never be “Fulfilled.”

To engage in your purpose is the highest activity of your being.

Purpose is often hindered, interrupted by circumstance.  God always intended for us to be “defined” by our purpose – not by our circumstance.

Whoever you are at the core of your being will determine the substance of your life.

God is always going to do something good with any and every situation. God always gives us something better than we expect and deserve.  He provides some better thing.

God always gives something better than He permitted to be taken away.

Your purest purpose is something you love.  Do it with all the passion of your heart and significance will follow.

Living Beyond Unfairness

One obvious fact from this research is that circumstances, whether fortunate or unfortunate, are morally neutral.  They simply are what they are.  What matters is how we respond to them.

The real test for each of us is our personal attitude to life and it changes and chances.

Unfairness, suffering, loss may push a person toward brokenness rather than toward personal growth.

A positive, active, creative response will bring growth and development.  A negative reaction can cause emotional paralysis (stuck in the moment) or even regression into our past.

Martin Luther King used to say –

          What doesn’t destroy me makes me stronger.

When life is not fair, never lose your God-perspective.

Don’t permit the shadow of life’s unfairness to limit the sunlight of your tomorrow.

All of us experience circumstances which turn our plans upside down and suddenly life is not as we desired it to be.

Always remember that the photograph of our tomorrow must come from the darkness required to process the image.

Unfairness in life should never be empowered to limit, hinder or stop our progress.

Unfairness, disappointment, failure should never be permitted to establish the boundaries of our life.

Whatever it is, God wants to use it and you to advance you and the world around you.

Perfectly Designed For Your Purpose

You are perfectly designed for your purpose.

The word “purpose” as used in the Bible refers to counsel, wisdom, plans, passion, focus, intent.

There is no life without purpose.  Every created thing must have a purpose to fulfill.

Life is designed for and functions by purpose.

Without purpose, life is nothing more than the existence we have between birth and death.  It is the boring monotony of the routine.

Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get.”

Author F. Scott Peck said, “Life is difficult.”

The truth is life is not found in pleasure, performance, possessions, position, power, or pursuits.  It is only found in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

The whole purpose of His mission in the world was to deposit within each of us “life more abundant.”  (John 10:10)

When you discover “who” (identity) you are and you experience “why” (purpose) you are, you become invincible.

Purpose is individual.  Our purpose determines how we function, which establishes how we were designed, which is related to our potential, which is connected to our natural abilities.

The journey toward discovering your purpose begins with this question –

What does God want and how does God want to use me to make a difference in the world?

It is only as we merge our lives into His life that we can find the purpose for life that we seek and a rhythm of life that is renewing instead of exhausting.

God is always allowing into your life that which makes a demand on your purpose.  Only when you live His purpose for you will you prevail.

The Adventure of Becoming Who I Am!

You are never more a man (or woman) than when you embrace an adventure beyond your control, or when you walk into a battle you aren’t sure of winning.

We should see every adventure of our life as an opportunity for initiation.  What are You teaching me, God?  What are You asking me to do or to let go of?  What in my heart are You speaking to?

Oswald Chambers said, “Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.”

Originality and creativity are essential to identity and calling. 

The adventure begins and our real strength is released when we no longer rely on formulas.  God is an immensely creative person and He wants His children to live that way to.

God wants us to know that our battles are personal to Him and He will design personal and unique strategies for each battle.

The theme of our story is how we become human.  What does it mean to become human, be a real man, a real woman?  What must we deal with in order to become ourselves, to grow up?

We can’t be human without God.  Human life is a great gift; every part of it is designed by God and therefore means something.  Every part of it is blessed by God and therefore is to be enjoyed.

We can refuse to participate in God, act as if He isn’t our designer, provider and covenant presence.  But when we refuse, we’re less; our essential humanity is less, our lives are diminished and impoverished.

God-thirst is the most powerful drive in us, stronger than all the drives of sex, power, security and fame put together. 

To be God-chosen is to be God-anointed, God-assigned and God-defined. Once you know who you are, you acquire a God-dominated imagination.  You practice the presence of God and His presence captivates your thinking about your responses to life.

The most personal, most significant, most human thing we ever do is to believe in and trust in God.

And I’ll leave you with this…your thumbprint is God’s way of reminding you of how unique and special you truly are!

Life on the Other Side

Life with a capital “L” was never designed to be lived in a stationary, status quo, mundane, lethargic, monotonous kind of state.

In reality, life with a capital “L” was designed to be motion-filled, ever-changing, challenging, energetic and exciting.

All too often we find ourselves absorbed with the routine, allowing others and circumstances to dictate the pace and quality of our living.

Perhaps that kind of life is best described by the old Greyhound slogan – “Just take the bus and leave the driving to us.”

Or the Yellow Pages slogan of – “Just let your fingers do the walking.”

God never intended for us to be passive observers in life, but He wanted us to become faith-filled, active, exploit achieving, daring men and women of accomplishments.

• Adam was to tend the garden meaning to keep, cultivate, protect – all words demanding activity and achievement.
• Noah was to build an ark meaning to design, construct, finish – words demanding intelligence, creativity, work – 120 years of it.

One thing is certain – there is no time for idleness, slothfulness, laziness, lethargy or inertia.

God is always moving in the earth, directing His people, speaking His plans, encouraging us to experience Him in His great endeavors.

Perhaps it is time for us to hear the words of Psalm 68:1 – Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.

Too many people love the security of sameness.  God never changes, but His means and methods are ever changing.