Limitless Life: Chapter 8

“RELIGION says, ‘I am a good person. Look what I’ve done.’  GRACE  says, ‘The only goodness in me is JESUS; look at the good thing He’s done for me: He loved me.’ ‘Your purpose is not found in your career, money, children, spouse, or anything else. Your purpose is to be loved by God.” Derwin Gray

The label in Chapter 8 to let go of is purposeless. Mr. Gray in this chapter explores purposeful. What is God’s will for my life? What is my purpose in this life? Who am I to be in this world? What self-identity will decide my function? He shares, when you know your identity, discovering your function in life follows. He reassures, who you are is vastly more important than what you do. When you know who you are, you will be able to know what you are supposed to do.

I have asked similar questions throughout my life. Our church has a class to help one figure his or her self-identity which helps find my gifts or my function. I have the gift of helping. I have the gift of being a good listener and I am an encourager. I am empathic. I felt it was God calling me to be a nurse. There were so many obstacles to overcome before I started my career as a nurse. Who I am in the Lord is more important than the different roles I have had in my life. Roles such as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a mother-in-law, a Sunday school teacher, a Bible Study Discussion leader, a children’s leader, an encourager for Freedom in Christ, and finally a nurse.

In this chapter the reader’s challenge: Moving beyond purposeless by: 1. Let Jesus shape your identity. 2. Let God love you. 3. Let God rewrite the story of your life. God has done this for me. God has done this for me. My childhood was rocky. As a young adult, I became a wife and mother. Jesus was with me and shaped my identity as I studied God’s word and claimed His promises. Jesus is real and he was with me when I struggled with disappointment, chronic pain, heartache, and strife. When I let God love me, my world changed. When I learned my identity in Christ, he healed my damaged emotions. God has rewritten the story of my life. He has redeemed the year of the locust. A promise God has given me is Isaiah 40:31: Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary.

Mr. Gray writes, “When you and I were living misguided, purposeless, selfish lives, Jesus took our judgment on the cross. He experienced the toxic waste of our purposeless lives so we can live in the purpose of His Father’s love.” I have been forgiven much. I love much. I want to serve much.

As I strip off the label purposeless and I embrace this new label “Purposeful.”  According to chapter 8, the keys to discovering your life’s true purpose: Key 1: Know that you wear God’s robe of honor.  Key 2: Recognize that you have God’s authority. Key 3: Understand that you are God’s child, not a hired servant. Key 4: Know that God celebrates you. These keys are so important. When we celebrate who we are in Christ, we can wear God’s robe proudly, we can renounce the lie’s because of God’s authority, we can embrace God’s promises as his daughter, and we can lavish in the truth that we love God because He loved us first.

What lie do you need to renounce that is preventing you from recognizing your worth?

What promise do you need to embrace from God’s word?

What do you need to do to move beyond being purposeless to being fruitful with the new label purposeful?

Father God you are amazing, you are full of grace and mercy. I stand in awe of your presence in my life. “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, I surrender all, All to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”   Lord, for the woman believing the lies that her life is purposeless, let her come to a saving knowledge that you have not given her a spirit of fear, but of power, love and discipline.  For the woman who is believing the lie that she is worthless, let her claim the truth of Ephesians 2:10 that she is God’s masterpiece. For the woman who is believing the lie that she is rejected, unloved, or shameful, let her accept the truth of Ephesians 1:1 that she is a saint, a holy one. For the woman, who is believing the lie that she is alone or has feeling of being abandoned, let her embrace that the good work God has began in her will be perfected. Philippians 1:6. The truth Lord is that each one of us has purpose and we can have a purposeful life because Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.  I confess Lord I have not always had purpose. Let me live a limitless life with the new label purposeful. Let these words describe me Lord. Purposeful= Prayerful, United, Redeemed, Pleasing, Obedient, Servant, Eager, Faithful, Unfailing, Loved. Blessings Diana