God’s call on your life
Doing The Work
Doing the work in the context of fulfilling your purpose in life is portrayed in the life of Jesus. When praying to God toward the end of his days on earth, he was able to say, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4, NASB)
Inevitably, we will all stand accountable to our Creator at the end of our days on this earth. We must balance the joy of living with the wisdom to know that we have been placed in this particular century for “…such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14b NASB)
God, in His wisdom, did not create us with the capability to know what our life span would be; but He has wisely instructed us to know that we have all been assigned a number of days. In his season of severe trials, Job declares the finality of our lifespan on earth:
“Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass…” (Job 14:5 NASB)
If we take our cues from Jesus, He not only taught us how to live a godly and fruitful life, but that His work on this earth was to glorify God. We know that in His final days Jesus clarified God’s assignment by declaring in John 17:
- that all that God had given Him were given eternal life, that they may know God, the only true God and Jesus Christ (vs 2-3)
- the Words that were given Him from God, were given and received by His followers (vs 8)
- His followers understood that He came forth from God (vs. 8)
- That God would keep His followers (vs 12)
God has a good plan for our lives. When we choose to keep Him first, knowing Him and discovering His will for our lives becomes a delight through the highs and lows of life. When our hearts are solely devoted to fulfilling His will, His favor abounds.
“Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4, NASB)
Let’s live on purpose!
Courage
Courage is displayed in many facets of life in and through activities that are visible to the eye, but unseen courage of the heart, however, is another matter altogether. This is the stuff on a personal level (unseen courage) that makes life worth living, powered by an eternal hope that never dies.
“The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24)
Setbacks are real, and they have the tendency to knock us off track of pursuing life goals. Courage is real, and it has the power to get us back on track toward pursuing life goals, the hopes and dreams that we desire. As a Jesus follower, or Christian, we are encouraged to finish the course that God has set before us, to the point of being able to say to God in the end;
“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do.” (John 17:4)
It takes courage to stay on the course of life that leads to accomplishing what you set out to do. It takes a heart completely devoted to the One who not only assigns your course but provides the courage and inspiration you will need to complete it. After Jesus fed the five thousand He instructed His disciples to get into the boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He knew that they would encounter a storm while at the same time knowing that the storm would give opportunity to make them aware of their need for courage that could only come through a relationship with Him in order to fulfill His assignment on their lives.
“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14: 27)
Purpose, hope and courage weave together in such a way that sets us apart from the average mindset of “what will be, will be” approach to life; these three attributes enable us to face difficulty, danger and pain with a bravery that we’re given through our relationship with our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
Take courage my friend!
Scripture Quoted in ESV, NIV
Listen to God
Are you a ‘doer’ first and a listener second or a ‘listener’ first then a ‘doer’? Are you all about accomplishing tasks throughout the day based on what’s important to you and your priorities? God has a lot to say about those who are not willing to listen to His voice before moving through life with a personal agenda that is void of His influence. He longs to have a voice in your life. He knows that without Him we can’t possible make wise decisions all the time. We don’t have nor ever will have the mind capacity to know everything we need to know when we need to know it. The bible tells us that its foolish to think that we don’t need to listen to God. He is All-Knowing.
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.” (Jeremiah 5:21)
Like a parent assigning a task to a child that runs off without instructions, we tend to charge through life without taking the time ask God for His instructions. If we don’t ask or listen we will always come up short of God’s best for our lives.
Jesus lived His entire life on this earth based on what He heard from God. To the very end it was all about fulfilling God’s will and not His own. He was so in-step with God and His will for His life that He said:
“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34)
Jesus listened and followed God’s instructions for His life. He was fully obedient and surrendered to accomplishing the work that God sent Him to do.
In a similar way we have been called to follow Jesus’ example, to listen and obey, to do the will of God for our lives.
“This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.” (Mark 9:7)
Become a listener and you will accomplish what God sent you to do!
“When the heart sees what God wants, the body must be willing to spend and be spent for that cause alone.” Oswald Chambers
Image: Healing Gardens
loretta j. willis, author 