We'll be starting a series in this month of August: Purpose Discovery Series. And we'll be looking at Activating Purpose; that's the first layer of the series we'll be looking at. So, we're starting the Purpose discovery series and we'll be going on the first layer Activating Purpose in your Journey to Destiny.
There's an interesting verse of the Bible, I want us to start with; Ephesians chapter 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. Now, I want us to take this particular verse of the Bible patiently, step by step. Now the Bible says, “For we”; Who are we? We are the children of God, we are the creatures of God, we are the sons of God, and we are not just statistics on the face of the earth, the Bible says “we are His workmanship.” Who is the His? If you check your Bible very well, you will see that the ‘His’ is in capital letter H, meaning that He is not a man's workmanship; because sometimes we are always tempted in life to think that we are a product of human interaction, we're a product of man's idea that some man and some woman somewhere just slept together or colluded on each other: and here you are. That's not it; the Bible says; “for we are His workmanship” You are God's workmanship. And I want to read it in the amplified because the amplified helps us to amplify the words and help us to see in detail what he means. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, His own masterwork. A work of art, meaning that God spend time to create you; you were not an accidental discharge of all the millions of sperm that competed you won the race. It's not about winning the race, it is about the intentionality of God.
When you have a masterwork, then the one that crafted the work was intentional about the work. If you have a work of art, a work of art is not an accidental work; it is a work that was deliberately crafted. So, the Bible says you are His workmanship. The details of His workmanship is that you are a masterwork of God, you are a work of art. That's why David said, I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I am not a product of accident, even though he said; in sin, my mother and father conceived me but it was not in sin that God created me.
Sometimes you say a child born out of wedlock, or a child born in difficult circumstances, like Jabez, and a mother looked at her child and said you are a child of sorrow and called him Jabez. Even though the circumstances at the time Jabez was born, was a product of sorrow or something that connoted sorrow; God's work in the life of Jabez was not sorrowful. David said, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I am God's work of art. He said we are created in Christ Jesus, how do we know we are created in Christ Jesus? If you go to John chapter one, and you read from verse one down. The Bible says, in the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and said that there was nothing that was made outside the Word, everything was made in the Word, and for the Word. So, you are created in Christ Jesus, you are created in the Word and God spoke and it came to pass. Genesis chapter one; In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the face of the water. There is nothing that was made outside the purview of God; the same thing with your life, don't look at your life from your microscopic picture, your life is bigger than what you are seeing through the lens of your physical eyes, your life has been crafted intentionally by God.
And you have been made in the Word, God spoke and it came to pass. So, everything was made by the Word, for the Word, and in the Word. So, you are made in Christ Jesus, reborn from above, spiritually transformed, renewed, and ready to be used. If there is no purpose, you will not be crafted in such a way that you are ready to be used. He said you are ready to be used for good works. This is introducing us into purpose discovery series; that you must stop looking at yourself from the lens of your carnality, you must start seeing yourself, picturing yourself in the big picture of God. You must start seeing yourself as a necessary piece, an intentional piece in the big puzzle of God; He said you are ready to be used for good works, which God prepared.
When something was prepared, did it just happen? That means it has been done; your life is already done in God. When something is made, that's why it is called purpose discovery; you are discovering it, it is not because God wants to start it: it is already done. You are going to discover what is already done; do you remember when people want to go to do treasure hunt? they're not just going to put the treasure there, the treasure has been there; they are the ones hunting for it. Another word for hunting is discovery, going in search, discovery is what go in search for. So, you are going in search of what God has already prepared i.e. What is done. What are you doing on the earth? You are in a process of finding out in God what has already been done about you; that is purpose discovery, God has prepared it for us before hand, before we showed up.
God is not a lazy manufacturer; God is not a lazy producer that is trying to figure out things like what you will do or who you will be. God has so honored us that He had a purpose before creating us. He was intentional; He looked at the earth and looked at His agenda. What is the next big thing I want to do on the earth? He said and now I am going to cause man to arise; to fulfil that role. That is how God thinks, that's why when God was speaking in Isaiah 55, He was not insulting us; He said, My ways are higher than your ways, My thoughts than your thoughts. Human being thinks in the now, while God thinks in eternity; Man thinks in time God thinks in eternity. That's why He said, My ways are higher than your ways, My thoughts than your thoughts; as the heavens are higher above the earth, that's how My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. So, in purpose discovery series, in this module, we're looking at, what are the things that God has prepared before hand that we must discover; we must go in search of. He said, taking the path which He has set, remember the Scripture, the Bible says the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord; is it that God just created us and also create a path for us? No!! that path had being created, what happens, is that He orders your step in the path that He has created for you; so, as you follow His leadership, you are working in an already made path that He has created for you.
He said, so that we will work in them, living the good life, which He prearranged; your life as been prearranged, pre ordinated, predestinated, pre called; everything about your destiny has its pre; it is not post. It has been declared aforetime, who you will be, it has been created in God who you will become. So, what do you do? You go in God, to find out and discover and search and hunt for what God has already finished in Himself about you. Why is that? Because in Genesis 1:26, “God said, let us create man in Our image, and after Our likeness”. So, in God, you were created, in God, you were finished, in God you are made. So how do you discover this life that God has made outside God? In Him.
That's why Apostle Paul came to that point of Revelation; he said in Him I live, in Him I move, in Him I have my being. What does that being means? I have my essence, I have my wholeness, I have my completion in Him. It's a big deal; that's the truth about purpose discovery: it is in Him. So, this life, He said, He has prearranged and made ready for us; that's why the Bible says you are complete in Him. What does that mean? Your past, your present, your future is complete in Him. The Bible says, be anxious for nothing, but in all things with prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; that's the way you should live.
Why is purpose discovery important? Isaiah chapter 46:10-11, “Declaring the end from the beginning, ‘this is God speaking’ and from ancient times, things that are not yet done; saying My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure, verse 11, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, (what is the thing about His counsel? He said, My counsel shall stand. My counsel is not shifting, it is not going anywhere, it shall stand, the man who execute My counsel from a far country) indeed, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it; (another word for purposed it: is that I have planned it, I have figured it out, I have pre arranged it, I have preordained it.) and I will also do it.
So, God has purposed it; He said He is declaring the end from the beginning. So, your life in God, there is already an end in it; which is called destiny; and God has declared that destiny from the beginning. So, stop worrying your pretty head about how your life should turn out. What should we do? Go to God. There are times in our lives where we get confused and we get into a frenzy; were so many things are beclouding our sense of judgment. So many things wanting to change our DNA and that's the position many people are in; in the world today: they are confused. You know that what you are doing right now does not reflect who you are, you know the way you are living right now does not reflect who you are. Because as you are living that life, it is as though you are denying yourself; you need to discover purpose, it is important.
Activating Purpose in your Journey to Destiny, I'll be sharing with us; three (3) important points using Jesus and Abraham as a case study. Three important steps that are required if you want to activate your purpose towards your destiny, remember the purpose of God is the plan of God, the pre ordination of God, what God has settled in Himself about you.
That's why, when God was speaking to the children of Israel, He said to them, I lay before you life and death; He said, choose life that you and your children may live, meaning that, He has a plan. He said I know the thoughts that I have towards you says the Lord, they are thoughts of good; another word for God's thoughts is His purpose. God's thoughts are His plans; I know the purpose, I know the plans that I have towards you, says the Lord; they are of good and not of evil, to give you a future. What's your future? Your destiny, to give you a future; to hand you a destiny that is sure, to give you a future and a hope. That is what God is saying. So, what are the three (3) major steps that are so vital if you want to activate the plan of God, you want to activate the thoughts of God, you want to activate the pre ordination of God about your life.
Number One: Respond to the Call of Purpose; purpose has a call, we must respond to it. How do you respond to the call of purpose? I want us to see Matthew chapter 4:4, (the devil said to Him, if you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread. And that was in a time when Jesus was famished and hungry.) “And Jesus answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone.” Then, what kind of life is Jesus talking about? The life that God made and created in Genesis 1:26. Jesus said, man cannot live that life by bread alone. But how can we live that life? How can man actually live? He said, by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
How do you activate your purpose? How do you activate the life you have in God? By every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God; that is the only way you can live. And somebody will ask a question, but we have people that are not living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, are they living? The life we're talking about here is a life that originates from God. Then if you want to live the life that God had pre arranged and pre ordained, we're not talking about the kind of life that you found yourself living on the face of the earth. We're talking about the life that God Himself had planned and purposed for you from the beginning, from the foundation of the earth. To live that life, you must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. As you journey to destiny, you must live your life responding to the call of purpose, God has called every one to His purpose, every one made by God was made to respond to the purpose of God.
Let us look at the example of Jesus in Luke chapter 4:16-21, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: (for it to be written, it was spoken) The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed: to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. Verse 20, then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the Synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them; today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”.
How is the Scripture fulfilled in their hearing? Because I (Christ) have come in the volume of the book and it is written concerning Me to do the will of God. He said today, this Scripture, it is not just the letter, Jesus is saying, I have become that Scripture, I have come to live the purpose of this Scripture, I have come to fulfill the agenda of this Scripture; this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So, for us to activate our purpose on our way to destiny, you must correspond to the call of purpose; Jesus responded to the call of purpose. It had been written aforetime, remember, God said declaring the end from the beginning; Jesus had not come to the scene when prophet Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. And when Jesus came, Jesus found a portion which was written concerning Him, which was pre-arranged, which was preordained by the Lord concerning Him that He will fulfill. And when He read that portion, it said and He began to say; did He only began to say or He also began to do? Because the Bible makes us understand how the LORD anointed Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, healing all those who are oppressed of the devil, proclaiming liberty to the captive; for God was with Him, He responded to the call of purpose, and He started living that life. When you respond to the call of purpose, it is responding to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you.
There is something in God that have been declared, declaring the end from the beginning. There's something God is saying about your life, there's something God is saying about your marriage, there's something God is saying about that work you are doing, there's something God is saying that you should start doing: when you respond to what God is saying, you are responding to the call of purpose. Let us see the example of Abraham; how did Abraham respond to the call of purpose?
Genesis chapter 12:1-4, “Now the Lord had said to Abraham, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So, Abraham departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran”.
Abraham heard a call (what was the call? The call was to depart) and Abraham responded to the call; to activate your purpose towards your destiny in life, in marriage, in finances, anywhere God is calling you; the first point of call is that you must respond to the call of purpose. And responding to the call of purpose is living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The question is, how have you been living? The reason many people are not on the path to their destiny is because they have not activated purpose. And the first step in activating purpose is responding to the call. There is a call, and the Bible says, and the prophets and teachers came together and they prayed, and the Holy Spirit spoke and He says, separates unto Me, Paul and Barnabas for the work. Paul and Barnabas did not remain there but they departed. We can continue to pray; morning, afternoon, and night saying, God, I want to fulfill destiny, Lord I don't want to miss out on destiny; if you don't live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, you cannot activate purpose: and you are not on the road to your destiny. In your marriage, in your work, in your life; as you live your life daily, you must respond to the call of purpose, and the call comes by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
How are you responding? Are you taking your time? The Bible says and so Abraham departed: he did not consult with the elders. And that's why Jesus was saying to that young man; when Jesus said, sell all that you have and follow Me, the man looked he had so great possession; such a man cannot fulfill destiny. The reason many people don't fulfill destiny is that they cannot respond to the call. Are you willing? Are you ready to respond to the call? It won't be easy, it won't be rosy, it will not come cheap; I can assure you, for Abraham, it was not easy but it was worth it. It might not be easy, but it will worth it.
Number Two: Follow the Process of Purpose. Matthew chapter 4:5-7, “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, if you are the Son of God, (he had a problem with Jesus being the Son of God) throw Yourself down. For it is written: He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God”.
What does it mean to follow the process of purpose? You will need to really be living your life in faith and not fear. If Jesus was living in fear, He would have succumbed to the devil; but Jesus was a man that was full of faith. And He said, you cannot tempt the Lord, another word for tempt is test, you can't test God. God calls you and you follow Him and without Him saying a word, you will not do anything. You know there are some people on their journey, they feel that they've arrived, saying after all, I have the Spirit of God; God is not sending you somewhere and you go yourself: you are testing God, you are trying to prove a point. Do you know something happened to Prophet Elisha? Prophet Elisha is the man that carried a double portion of Elijah's anointing; he was a man of humility, one who is willing to follow the process; Elisha was a man that understood process. There are certain things you don't do as a believer; it is not a show of your faith, it is a show of your lack of faith.
We're going to see the example of Jesus in Luke chapter 22:41-42, “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone throw. And He knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will take this cup away from Me, (you will almost see this as a contradiction in the life of Jesus. Jesus knew He had to die; He said, for this cause, the Son of Man was made manifest. He didn't come to live, He came to die, that except a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone.) verse 42, He said, Father, if it is your will take this cup away from Me (that's a point of contradiction, but He was not going to attempt God). That's why He said, nevertheless, not My will (not my desire, not how I desire My process to be, but as You desire the process) but Yours be done”.
There are times we wish our process is different, but that's how God has ordained it. Jesus saw the agony; dying was not a problem, but the agony and Jesus saw it to the point when He knew that He will carry the sins of the world and the Father would turn His back to Him; but He was still willing to follow the process.
To activate purpose, you must be willing to follow the process. Don't test God, by saying; God if you are indeed God, if you are truly the One that parted the red sea, this that is before me, cause it to flee: and God says it is not going anywhere. The story of Apostle Paul, he said and God gave me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of the devil to buffet me. He said on this I cry to the Lord, three times. And what was the response of God? My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in your weakness. Did God take away the thorn in the flesh? No!!! it was his process. Your process is temporary, but the promise is permanent. There is something about God’s purpose and process; you cannot negate the process; you can't avoid the process if you want to arrive at destiny. To arrive at destiny, you must follow the process, there is a path that have been laid down for you, and you must follow it. For Jesus it was hanging on the tree; dying the death of the cross, and He could not avoid it; He said I wish this cup ‘this terrible cup I am about to drink’ can pass over Me; but nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.
Let's see the example of Abraham in Genesis chapter 15:3-6. Abraham was talking to God; if you read the conversations of Abraham and God, you will know Abraham honored God, he loved God. He got to this point in his process; this was a man that started following God at seventy-five and at this point, he was already nearing a hundred years i.e. twenty-five years of following God.
Genesis chapter 15:3-6, “Then Abraham said, look, you have given me no offspring; indeed, one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. Then He brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to number them. And He said to him, so shall your descendants be. And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”.
This was a man believing God when there are no indicators to believe God. Already at this point, Sarah was past menopause. There were no physical indicators to believe God, but he followed the process. And because he believed the process, he believed what God was doing; the Bible says he believed in the Lord and God accounted it to him for righteousness.
Sometimes you might not understand your process. Our processes are different, just as our destinies are different. You must be willing to follow. Living your life in faith. That's what the Bible says, the just shall live by faith. The only way the just can survive in this journey is to live by faith. And Bible says faith cometh by hearing, hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you are not willing to be strengthened by the word of God you are hearing, you cannot arrive at destiny. Will times come when you will be tired? Will times come when you will be weary? Yes!!
Abraham had no child because Sarah had not conceived; it was not like suddenly Sarah started seeing her menstruation again; there was no physical indication but he believed. If you go to Hebrews, Bible says, And Abraham hoped against hope, like when you have exhausted hope and you now start again; that was the journey of Abraham but he chose to live by faith. And that's why when in Hebrews 11, the heroes of faith were listed, the story of Abraham took a center stage, because he lived by faith. What was the destiny of Abraham? God said, I have changed your name from Abram to Abraham, because you will become the father of many nations. And you look at it, how can you become a father of many nations with one child? It looked to people that God was mocking them but it was their process. God chose to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob till today. Why? The promise is permanent while the process is temporary. Follow the process; while you are following the process you trust God, that's why faith is needed. You trust the one that has promised, because faithful is He that has promised, for He will bring it to pass; though it tarries, wait!! don't give up, don't give in; wait! That's how we arrive at destiny, we don't arrive at destiny on a platter of gold; it takes process and you must follow through the process.
Number Three: The Last Point: Living for an Audience of One. Matthew chapter 4:10, “Then Jesus said to him, away with you Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only, (none besides Him) you shall serve”. Jesus said to Satan, away with you, and your lies, and your gimmicks, and your strategies; for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. To activate purpose, you must learn to live for the audience of one. God is the only audience. Let God be true, and every man a liar; for the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Believe Him, please Him; worshiping and serving the Lord only. Understand that the fulfillment of your purpose is about living for the pleasure of God. When Jesus died, His disciples were not happy; When Jesus died, His followers were down casted but God was glorified. The Bible says it pleased God that He should be smitten. And as He was being smitten, God was being glorified. How did Job enter the trials he entered? God said to the devil, have you seen My servant, Job that there is no upright man like him in all the earth? And the devil said to God, does Job fear you for nothing? Let's test Him. And God said to the devil, go and test him, but his life I did not put in your hands. And in one day everything that Job had was destroyed, and he did not curse God: that was the process of Job. His friends came to him saying, you must have sinned, happen to a man in one day, something has gone wrong somewhere. Job tell us! What did you do? And Job said, will you accept good from God and not expect evil, also. And to crown in all his wife told him to curse God and die: and he said, you speak like one of the foolish women. Even if God does not give me anything again, let me live in this poverty for His pleasure.
Living for the audience of one is what make men fulfill their destiny. If job was concerned about his friends or his wife, he would have missed out on destiny. If Jesus was concerned about His disciples, He would have missed out in fulfilling that purpose He came for. Peter said to Him, Jesus, you will not and Jesus, rebuked the devil in him. Get behind Me, Satan; you are an offense to Me; because I must die in the purpose of God. To glorify God, I must die. There are friends and family members that loves us genuinely, that might love us outside of destiny but we live for the audience of one. Purpose discovery requires you living for the audience of one, focus on God, serve only God, live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Let's see how Jesus did this in John chapter 10:17-18, “Therefore, My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again (it wasn’t about laying down but about dying that gruesome death). Verse 18, No one takes it from Me but I lay it down of Myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” This life that I'm living, I'm living it by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself for me. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; (that is a life going to fulfill destiny) and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I'm not leaving it for people, I'm not leaving it for my family; I'm leaving it for the audience of one.
Luke chapter 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father, (not disciples, not My mother) into Your hands, I commit My Spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last”. This is how Jesus lived; Fater, into Your hands. Can we come to that point where we commit (there is nothing we are holding back) everything into the hands of God; living for the audience of one. If I live or die, I'm in the hands of God. However, God wants to do this life, it is in His hands. Let's see the example of Abraham in Hebrews chapter 11:18-19, “of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense”. Now, when God had finally given Isaac (the seed) to Abraham, God said, sacrifice Isaac: without telling Sarah, none of the household members, he just took few servants, saddled the donkey, and off he went. Abraham was living for the audience of one; whether when he comes back, that Sarah was going to tear him into pieces, he cared less. God said, go and sacrifice your son, that son that you love, that your dear son, sacrifice him to Me. If God had not stopped Abraham, Abraham will kill Isaac. In fact, in the heart of Abraham, Isaac was dead. That's why the Bible says that he had concluded that God was able.
Do we live for the audience of one like that; concluding that God is able to make all grace abound towards me? Do we conclude living our lives for the audience of one that God is able to turn this life around, that what is not enough will become abundant? That's how we activate purpose on our journey to destiny. Whether it is in your marriage, live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God; that's how you can fulfill destiny. Live daily by faith, not sometimes of your life you just want to suddenly pick up faith where you kept it, no! the just shall live perpetually by faith. Live by faith and live for the audience of one; God, you are the one audience that I seek to desire.
