What is your purpose?

Do you ever wonder what your purpose is here on earth? I’ve been thinking over some verses about this a lot this year. One thing is certain, we weren’t created for our own pleasure yet how often do we live as though we were? I know I often do, putting ‘ME’ first!

🌿We were created for God…

ALL things were created BY him, and FOR him: Col 1:16

🌿We were created for God’s pleasure…

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for THY pleasure they are and were created. Rev 4:11.

🌿We were created for God’s glory…

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for MY GLORY.

🌿And in a specific way God’s people are to;

🌿glorify God….

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Cor 6:20

🌿Crucify self and walk in the Spirit….

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gal 5:24-25

🌿Walk in obedience….

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

🌿Do good works…

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

There’s a questions these last verses raise that I’ve often thought about and that is that if salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, where do good works come in?

If we’ve been shown much of what we are by nature we may wonder how can anything good ever come out of me?

Well, it can’t, but if we belong to God we are not doing this alone,

it is Christ working in us and through us.

I’ve just finished studying Ephesians again, this time using a bible study on Ephesians by Sarah Koontz (see the end of this post) and she puts it so well – ” God’s work in us paves the way for good works to flow out of us.”

” Good works do not flow out of our goodness, they are a direct result of God’s work in us through the Holy Spirit.”

“Christians don’t manufacturer good works, they manifest good works. We are simply the riverbed through which God’s goodness flows.”

I think that these few points cover not only good works but the whole Christian walk. We cannot begin to glorify God, crucify self or walk in the Spirit in and of ourselves and we don’t need to try to.

How quick we are to try! We are so independent, make big resolutions, try to do better but one thing I’m having to learn is that the Christian pathway is not one of trying, it’s a path of relying!

These things come only as a direct result of the Holy Spirit working IN us and THROUGH us.

This begs another question, is there room in me for the Holy Spirit to work or is my heart too full of other things? Doubt, anxiety, fears, the world, other people’s affairs, judgemental attitudes?

When I pause and I’m helped to take a good look inside, what a lot of junk there is.

These things become like the debris, dead leaves and other rubbish that falls into the river, silting up the riverbed with a foul smelling, rotting waste, clouding up the water.

Let’s be pausing friends, and as God helps us, to battle against the things that clutter up our hearts and souls and asking God to create in us as clean heart and to renew a right spirit within us, keeping our armour bright by holding it up to the light of God’s word. Trusting in Christ alone, let’s take up the heavenly armour (see last blog post) and fight against all that would distract us from God by filling our hearts with heavenly ammunition, the sword of Spirit, His own Holy Word.

Then, as we keep filling our hearts and minds with the light of God’s word there will no dark corners left for the debris of doubts and fears and the rubbish of the world to lurk in.

Written to you with love

Sharon x

If you want to read more of Sarah Koontz study on Ephesians you can sign up for it HERE.

It is email based, ten to fifteen minutes a day with a five days on two days off format. Sarah writes in an easy to read, casual conversational style.

There are free printables throughout the study and if you join the study in October there are giveaways throughout the month including a skein of my scripture yarn this first week of October.

As I’ve got to know Sarah more over the past few months I’ve seen what a beautiful heart she has and what a longing she has to see other women loving God’s word.

Here’s a little more about Sarah from her site.

Sarah Koontz is a passionate storyteller who enjoys using illustrations to communicate deep spiritual truths. Sarah writes to inspire women of all ages to explore the beauty of God’s design at SarahKoontz.com.

Sarah lives on 13-acres in South Dakota with her husband, two daughters and a rowdy flock of chickens. She revels in their simple, uncluttered life.