Scripture of the Day
(December 3, 2020)
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24, NLT)
There is probably nothing more important to born-again lovers of God than finishing the work that God has for them on this earth. The scripture in Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan for each one of us and that it is a good plan to give us an expected end. There is nothing in this world that can satisfy as much as knowing that you are in the perfect will of God and doing exactly what you have been called and anointed to do.
On the other hand, there is nothing more frustrating to not be sure exactly where you should be or what you should be doing. To miss out on your assignment in life is to miss out on why God put you here. You’re gifted and called by God, and we all need to take that very seriously. The question is not what are you running from, but what are you moving toward? To succeed you must know God’s will and concentrate on fulfilling it. Having a powerful “why” will provide you with the necessary “how”. Purpose, not money and talent, is your greatest asset. To help you discover your life’s assignment, answer the following questions:
(1) What’s your temperament and what’s your talent? Psychologist and motivational speaker Charles Garfield said, “Peak performers are people who are committed to a compelling mission. It is very clear that they care deeply about what they do, and their efforts, energies, and enthusiasms are traceable back to that particular mission.”
(2) Why do you do what you do? There’s a big difference between doing something because you believe God’s called you to do it, and doing what your parents, friends, or ego wants you to do.
(3) What do you not do well? Knowing what you’re called to do often starts with discovering what you’re not called to do. When you can accept your limitations, you’re on the road to understanding your life’s assignment. When you pretend to be something you’re not, you live with a chronic sense of inadequacy and set yourself up for frustration. Don’t do that. Be open to the truth about yourself. Discover your God-given assignment, then give yourself to it.
The Apostle Paul was a great example of pursuing what God had called him to do after having his Damascus road experience. Here was a man that had persecuted believers and watched as Stephen was stoned to death. However, Jesus had a plan for him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (that’s most of us). Paul spent his life doing just that and if you could ask him today I think he would say this, “It was worth it all!!!”
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. (Philippians 3:13-15)
