Living the Live You Were Meant to Live
Proverbs 16:14 “The Lord has made everything for His own Purpose.”
Introduction
January 11th Garfield Comic strip – Jim Davis
The Garfield comic strip portrays a common Philosophy of Life.
Garfield’s owner, “I gotta do something with my life.”
Garfield – “Why start now?”
“I don’t know what to do.”
Garfield – “Do what I do.”
“I guess I’ll raise my standards”
Garfield – “I’ve lowered my standards.”
“I’ll be tougher on myself!”
Garfield – “Now I’m easier on myself.”
“I’ll take on the world.”
Garfield – “I got out of bed this morning.”
“Who am I kidding?
Garfield – “How do I do it?”
(This comic can be put on power point – 1-11-04 www.garfield.com)
A common questions asked by most people –
I. Why Was I Born?
Many people like Garfield and his master see life as a struggle and hardship. A great task is accomplished for the day by just getting out of bed.
Many feel like the man who gets up in the morning puts on his robe and goes out in the cold – gets the newspaper – looks in the obituary page – if his name isn’t there he goes back to bed.
The Prophet Jeremiah asks – Jeremiah 20:18, “Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my dais in shame?”
As a boy growing up in the small town of gypsum I often wondered why I was having such a hard life. So many people were much better off then we were. We had no indoor plumbing – out bathroom was an outhouse, we had to pump water out of a cistern, when during dry weather carry water from a neighbor’s house, we took a bath once a week in a tub with a few kettles of hot water. Other people in town had indoor bathrooms, hot water and nice cars.
My greatest fun in those days was playing guns. We would cut out a gun from wood and then cut thin round strips of rubber from car tire inner tubes. We would take a wooden clothes pin and wrap the pin on the end of the gun handle with the cut rubber. We would then put a knot in the rubber and put one end in the clothes pen and stretch it over the end of the gun and you have a ready weapon. Open the pin and your shot zings off toward your target. What we had was a former model of today paint gun warfare.
For many years I grew up on a small world – Gypsum – population 600 with infrequent travels to Salina, 25,000, McPherson 10,000 population and Abilene for Rodeos population 5,000. When we took a trip to visit my mother’s parents in Kansas City I was over whelmed by the size of the city. On one trip to Dodge City to see my mother grandparents and my great grandparents I was thrilled to visit Boot Hill. My entire world for many years was confined to the state of Kansas.
In your growing up years you all have asked, “What on earth am I here for?” Why am I here? “What is life all about anyway?
In chapter one of the Purpose Driven Life book Pastor Rick Warren tells about Dr. Hugh Moorhead. He is Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the Northeastern University. He wrote to 250 well-known philosophers, scientists, writers and intellectuals of the world and asked them, “What is the purpose of life?” He then published all their responses in a book.
His book was not that helpful. These professional people offered their best guesses. Some admitted they made up their own purpose in life. Some admitted they didn’t have any idea as to what the purpose of life was and if Dr. Moorhead found out to let them know.
Carl Jung, a psychiatrist once said, “I don’t know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were meant by it.” Many leaders throughout the world believe that life on earth has no purpose.
A life without purpose is a meaningless life. Solomon with all his wealth, a multi billionaire wrote: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure, my heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11.
Only in God’s Word and in the person of Jesus do we find meaning to life.
Proverbs 16:4a “The Lord has made everything for His own Purpose.
Ephesians 1:4 (Message) “Long before He laid down earths foundations, He had us in mind, and settled on us the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy in his love.”
People try to find meaning to life in many ways:
The Look within: –A Mystical approach like the New Age Philosophy. For New Age salvation is finding your higher and divine self. There is life after death for all, with no eternal punishment for the wicked. Reincarnation is the primary way people reach perfection.
The Philosophical approach: The purpose of life is to live as long as you can. The purpose of life is pleasure so eat drink and be merry. Everyday is party time. He who has the most toys wins at the game of life. But the fact remains that he who dies with the most toys still dies.
God’s Word has a clear answer: Proverbs 16:4a “The Lord has made everything for His own purpose.” (God’s Word Translation)
“Everything” includes you. Does God have a purpose for your life on earth? Check your pulse is your heart still beating. God still has a purpose for you.
Look at Ephesians 1:4 again - (Message) “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by his love.”
You are the focus of his love. Why Am I alive? Why on earth am I here? God has made you to love you. You were created by God to be loved by God.
II. Does My Life Have Meaning?
A second question to ask: “Does My Life Have Meaning? The prophet Isaiah asked this question: “Isaiah 49:4a “My work all seems so useless. I’ve spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.” (New Living Translation)
To not know why God created you doesn’t make sense at all. God wants you to live the life He created you to live.
During World War II, there were prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary. They were processing human sewage in a factory. The allies came along, bombed that factory and blew it apart. So the prisoners had nothing to do. The Nazi soldiers had the prisoners take all the rubble of that factory and move it to another field. The next day, they had them take that same rubble and move it back in reverse. The next day, they had to take that stuff and move it back and day after day they had no meaning, no purpose. It was just work doing the same thing over and over with no meaning and no purpose. Then something strange began to happen. The prisoners began to go crazy. They began to lose their will to live because there was no meaning, no purpose in their work. They were just moving bricks back and forth, back and forth. Many of them began to throw themselves in front of the guards trying to get shot. In essence, trying to commit suicide.
When people have no purpose or meaning they have no reason to live.
Tom Patterson in his book, “Living the Life You Were Meant to Live”, describes four levels a person lives on.
1. The lowest level is survival. I would venture to say the majority of people in America life on the survival level. They live from hand to mouth. Go to work, get paid, spend your money……go to work, get paid, spend your money, day after day.
2. Second level is success. According to the standards to the rest of the world you are successful. You have a bed to sleep in, food to eat, water to drink, a car to drive, freedom of religion, medical are and a great future.
3. The third level is surrender. To live on the level of surrender is to yield your life to God and live the life God meant you to live. Romans 12:2 is a call to surrender – “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what god’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The surrendered life is a life transformed from self-centeredness to Christ centeredness.
Have you surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you agree with the hymn we sometimes sing: “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”
4. The fourth level is significance. On the level of significance you know at least three things:
a. You know the meaning of life – that gives you significance.
b. You know how much you matter to God – that gives you significance.
c. You know God’s purposes for your life and you’re living them out and that gives you significance.
You matter to God. You were made by God to live forever. The Psalmist said in Psalm 33:11 “His purposes last eternally.” God says to you” “you are made to last forever.” Say, “I was made to last forever.” You were made to be loved by God. You were made to last forever. God wants to spend eternity with you.
Knowing Jesus gives your life significance. Proverbs 9:6 “Leave your impoverished confusion and live and walk up the street to a life with meaning.”
Why are you alive – you are alive to be loved by God? You are so important that God wants to keep you in His Presence for eternity.
III. What is My Life Plan?
A third question to ask is “What is My Life Plan?” “What on earth am I here for?”
Atheist Bertrand Russell was intellectually hones when he said: “Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant.”
Unless you believe God is creator and Lord of the universe the question of finding meaning and purpose in life is meaningless. If there is no God you are just an accident of the universe, maybe you came from pond scum. If that true then your life doesn’t matter.
But God is God. God is who His Word says He is. He created the Universe and made you for a purpose.
On the screen are several medical tools and instruments.
Do you know what the purpose is for a Capnograph/Oximeter? (It measures respiration rate and heart rate)
Do you know what a nicoletvarsaleban/Antepartum Monitor does? It is used for a non stress test.
Do know what a omnisese 800 does?–Sunlight Omnisese --measures bone density in the body
Cholesterol Testing monitor – gives a readout on your cholesterol level. (These instruments were taken off the web using www.Google.com to search medical instruments)
If you don’t know the purpose or how to use a certain tool then the tool won’t do you any good. But in the hand of a medical specialist the tool is helpful and has meaning.
You are God’s creation. God created you. To find your purpose talk to your creator. Talk to God. Read the Owners manual – His Word.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God….” - not “in the beginning you.” “In the beginning God created…” You find your purpose by getting to know God. It all starts with God.
Colossians 1:16, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.”
When you know your purpose – purpose gives you persistence. One of my life scriptures for ministry is Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.” When you know you life purpose you don’t give up easily.
James Watt spent 20 years laboring to perfect the steam engine. William Harvey worked day and night for 8 years to demonstrate how blood circulated in the human body. That it took another 25 years to convince the medical establishment he was right.
Self discipline is a quality that’s only achieved through practice. R.H. Macy, founder of Macy’s Department Store failed five different professions – whaler, retailer, gold-miner, stock broker and real estate broker – before he finally succeed. What sustains a person through failure after failure? Purpose and Persistence
#See these oranges. They are off the orange tree I planted five years ago. These are real oranges from the tree. My patience in caring for the tree produced fruit.
A clear life purpose keeps you from giving in to your moods and impulses. Your life purpose gives you energy to stay on God mission.
During the “40 Days of Purpose” I encourage you to read a chapter of the book, “The Purpose Driven Life” every day for 40 days. Get involved in one of the small groups and memorize a Scripture verse every week. On every Sunday of the Spiritual Journey Campaign we will be handing out a new verse to memorize during the week.
I realize all of us here this morning are on different stages in our spiritual journey. Some of you are new Christians and are looking forward to getting started right on your journey. Some of you have been on the way for many years and want to bring others along with you on the journey. Some of you are still searching and are willing to check out the “40 days of Purpose” That’s great your on your way to discovery.
The next 40 days you could experience a transformation of you life. You will know the answer to the questions:
Why was I born? To be Loved by God
Does my life have meaning? God made you to
last forever.
What is my life plan? You find your purpose by getting to know God and following His Will.
