This is that…7.31.18
The Professor stood at the door and handed each student a piece of paper that was folded in half and told them not to look at the contents. After everyone was seated, the Professor said they could now open the paper and answer the following question:
WHAT ARE MY REASONS FOR LIVING?
(Child of God, take some time and answer this question today. Write from your heart.)
After a little while, the Professor began to teach.
Many of you will have different answers to my question according to your interests, your goals, and those things that are important to you. The goal of this exercise is to reveal those things that are in your heart. Now let’s take a brief look at two words that have a major impact on your life: PURPOSE AND POTENTIAL.
P U R P O S E
Definition: the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.; an intended or desired result, end, aim, or goal; determination; resoluteness.
Examples:
Antonym: purposelessness, aimlessness; inconstancy; apathy
P O T E N T I A L
Definition: latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness; having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future
Examples:
THREE ORDINARY PEOPLE THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE
Certainly Moses saw the potential leadership abilities in Joshua.
He was chosen to be one of the twelve leaders to spy out the land of Canaan that God wanted His people to occupy. Sadly, only Joshua and Caleb had faith to take the land, but that was not enough to persuade the people. However, forty years later, Joshua would lead the next generation in to take the land of Canaan and occupy what God had given them forty years before. (Joshua Chapter 1)
Joshua came into the fullness of his purpose and potential as God led him to conquer and settle the Promised Land.
“So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” (Joshua 21:43-45)
Esther saved her people, the Jews, from a plot to annihilate them. God had a purpose for this young woman who became Queen after her marriage to the Persian King, Xerxes. With great tact and skill, she exposed Haman’s evil plot.
Her purpose for living unveiled the great courage and potential that this young woman had within her as she laid her life down to save the Jewish people.
Remember her uncle’s statement? “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Jesus said of the Centurion soldier, “I have not seen such great faith, not even in Israel.”
He asked Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant, not to lay hands on him, but rather “speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”
This Roman soldier’s great desire was that his servant would be healed of a tormenting disease. His purpose, his intercession of love, brought him to Jesus.
His potential for “great faith” was in demonstration as he did not ask Jesus to come to his servant, but rather to “send the word.”
“And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)
Joshua, Esther, and an Officer in the Roman army—three ordinary people at birth but born with a purpose. What was it that made them aware of their own potential?
MISSION AND VISION
When purpose is accompanied with a God-breathed mission, an ordinary hum drum life is propelled to unleash the power of potential!
Christian, when you were born again, God put Himself in you. The Holy Spirit in you is the power of God.
He is the potential to do extra-ordinary things for the Kingdom of God. (See Acts 1:8)
So, what are your reasons for living?
This is that…which God said about you before you were born!
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Recommended For You
Bill Winston video: 30 minute teaching "Empowered in Purpose"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5AapoIE_n8
The Professor stood at the door and handed each student a piece of paper that was folded in half and told them not to look at the contents. After everyone was seated, the Professor said they could now open the paper and answer the following question:
WHAT ARE MY REASONS FOR LIVING?
(Child of God, take some time and answer this question today. Write from your heart.)
After a little while, the Professor began to teach.
Many of you will have different answers to my question according to your interests, your goals, and those things that are important to you. The goal of this exercise is to reveal those things that are in your heart. Now let’s take a brief look at two words that have a major impact on your life: PURPOSE AND POTENTIAL.
P U R P O S E
Definition: the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.; an intended or desired result, end, aim, or goal; determination; resoluteness.
Examples:
- The purpose of a screen door is to keep bugs out. (objective; function; point; intention; meaning; reason; design)
- The students purpose is to graduate medical school and become a doctor. (goal; aim; ambition; intention; mission; target; resolution; desire; hope; expectation)
- He purposed to be a great musician. (intend; aim; decide; persist; propose; persevere; plan; determine; endeavor; choose; commit oneself; have a mind to accomplish
Antonym: purposelessness, aimlessness; inconstancy; apathy
P O T E N T I A L
Definition: latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness; having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future
Examples:
- He is a potential candidate for president. (possible; conceivable; latent; concealed; hidden; covert; unapparent; dormant; passive; unexpressed)
THREE ORDINARY PEOPLE THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE
Certainly Moses saw the potential leadership abilities in Joshua.
He was chosen to be one of the twelve leaders to spy out the land of Canaan that God wanted His people to occupy. Sadly, only Joshua and Caleb had faith to take the land, but that was not enough to persuade the people. However, forty years later, Joshua would lead the next generation in to take the land of Canaan and occupy what God had given them forty years before. (Joshua Chapter 1)
Joshua came into the fullness of his purpose and potential as God led him to conquer and settle the Promised Land.
“So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” (Joshua 21:43-45)
Esther saved her people, the Jews, from a plot to annihilate them. God had a purpose for this young woman who became Queen after her marriage to the Persian King, Xerxes. With great tact and skill, she exposed Haman’s evil plot.
Her purpose for living unveiled the great courage and potential that this young woman had within her as she laid her life down to save the Jewish people.
Remember her uncle’s statement? “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Jesus said of the Centurion soldier, “I have not seen such great faith, not even in Israel.”
He asked Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant, not to lay hands on him, but rather “speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”
This Roman soldier’s great desire was that his servant would be healed of a tormenting disease. His purpose, his intercession of love, brought him to Jesus.
His potential for “great faith” was in demonstration as he did not ask Jesus to come to his servant, but rather to “send the word.”
“And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)
Joshua, Esther, and an Officer in the Roman army—three ordinary people at birth but born with a purpose. What was it that made them aware of their own potential?
MISSION AND VISION
When purpose is accompanied with a God-breathed mission, an ordinary hum drum life is propelled to unleash the power of potential!
Christian, when you were born again, God put Himself in you. The Holy Spirit in you is the power of God.
He is the potential to do extra-ordinary things for the Kingdom of God. (See Acts 1:8)
So, what are your reasons for living?
This is that…which God said about you before you were born!
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Recommended For You
Bill Winston video: 30 minute teaching "Empowered in Purpose"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5AapoIE_n8