God's Purpose

Ever wondered why you are here?  Have you ever felt like you had no purpose or reason to live?  Today’s lesson focuses on GOD’S plan for each human life.  It is my prayer that as you read and look at the scriptures in GOD’S Holy Written Word that you will begin to see that your life was planned and that you are special to GOD.  There is and will never be another you, so make your life count now, for the glory of The Father.  GOD Bless You All. :O)

Handout:  God's Purpose

Take a moment and ask yourself.  Why am I here?  What is God’s plan for my life?  Am I here for a reason?  The answer, you are here for God’s own purpose.  Now I don’t know about you, but that excites my spirit!  You and I are here for GOD’S purpose, plan and His great delight!

Psalm 18:19 “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because He delighted in me.” 
God doesn’t do anything or create anything, or allow anything to happen haphazardly, He has a plan and a purpose for all things. He is on the throne at all times, aware, and in control, even when we are out of control.


Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” 


Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his on will:  12.  That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.” 


2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” 

You are here for a reason.  For a purpose that God has planned.  All through God’s word we find examples of people that God called out.  We see that some had a big calling or plan from God, while others a smaller plan but they all were  important and worked together toward God’s master plan in which we are part of today.  There can be times when satan will come to us and tell us that we are just a waste of space, that we have no purpose, no reason for living.  We know he does this because of the high rate of suicide on our planet today.  Satan is a liar and a destroyer.  There is no truth in him (John 8:44) if he is telling you those things, kick him out of your mind.  He is trying to destroy you because he knows that GOD has a great plan for your life, if you surrender to Him, trusting and obeying His word.  The truth is Beloved, you are no accident.  God knew you and made you and called you before you were even born.  You are special to GOD.  We find proof in the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.  

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
 
God knew you and I as well and called us according to His purpose and plan.  Sometimes we have dreams and desires and we expect them to happen in a certain way, but then things turn differently and we can start to feel disappointed that our own plans didn’t work out and instead of just going to GOD for council, we just decide that we are losers and that we failed and that there is no purpose for us, when all along our plan was not GOD’S!  HE is our creator, it is so important to seek HIM and know and follow HIS plans.  When the unexpected happens if we will trust, seek, and surrender to God, He will work it out in His own way which is better than we could have ever hoped for.  We are not here to complete our own plans, we are here to fulfill the plans HE has made for us since before the beginning of the world.  That’s pretty amazing.  This reminds me of a story I heard, and some of you may be familiar with it.  It’s called, Three Trees.

Three Trees 

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world, and hold the most wonderful treasures!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be a great ship traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world carrying the most important kings!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to Heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."

Years passed. The rain came, the sun’s rays beamed down, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters, thought the second tree, "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to Heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But instead of a beautiful treasure chest, the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered in gold, or filled with treasure at all. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.  She was so disappointed and did not understand.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was so small and was not carrying kings at all.  Instead, she carried fishermen back and forth in their work.  Heartbroken, she went day by day not understanding what had happened. 

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" the once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God.  I just wanted to bring Him glory so that when people saw me, thought of me, they would praise God."  Devastated she just did not understand.

Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said, as she lay Jesus, the son of God inside. Suddenly, the first tree knew God had given her more than her dream for she was indeed holding treasure, not only treasure, but the greatest treasure that would ever be.  

One evening years later, a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out onto the water. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace Be Still." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew she was carrying Jesus, not just an important king, but King of Heaven and Earth, the King of Kings.  Her heart rejoiced because God had not forgotten her dreams, but had surpassed her desires by far.  What an honor.  

Again years passed and suddenly one morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. Soon she realized they were using her to kill Jesus.  She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on the third day, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her at the risen Christ, the third tree knew God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of that third tree which became a cross, they would think of God, of Jesus and his gift to the world.  That was better than being the tallest tree in the world. She had been created, for this special task.

Each tree then understood that God in His grace and goodness had created them for very special purposes and had given them the desires of their hearts only in a more vast and wonderful way then they could have ever imagined. 

Just like the trees in the story, each of us as human beings have hopes and dreams for our own lives.  If we pray and ask the Father, He will place the right dreams and desires in our heart that will fit in to his plans for us.  


Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself in also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Like the trees in the story, sometimes our plans take a detour and things happen or we end up in places or doing things that we do not understand and we wonder why we are at those places.  However, if we trust the Father and know that His ways are best, and no matter what happens, or what life throws our way, if we continue to obey the Father and do and go as He leads, He will give us the desires of our hearts that he has placed there and it will be more than we could have ever imagined.  We can then live in the plan and destiny that He has for us.  We may endure struggles, heartache, disappointment and even pain during our journey, we may not understand, but those things that come, God uses to make us stronger and to prepare us so that we can, at the right time, step into the plan He has for us.  He uses life to train us for things to come. 

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” 

Daniel 9:19 “ Oh Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” 

We as human beings tend to want control.  We believe that we should choose our own paths and be successful and that is very true, we do choose our own paths, having said that, if we are to really be successful for GOD, sometimes we have to let our own plans go because when we go against The Master’s Plan we get into trouble, and even more tragic, we can miss out on HIM and the adventure of a lifetime!  We have been called by Almighty God, what a privilege that is.  Even if life is harder than you expected, or things happen that seem unfair that you do not understand.  Yield to GOD, remain strong in your faith in God and obey Him, knowing that He knows what is best for you and that He can see far beyond what we can see, and He will lead you into divine victory and He holds you in His hand.  He loves you and approves of you and He is on your side, He wants you to succeed.  Hallelujah, in trusting, loving God and obeying Him, we will then fulfill God’s purpose and plan for our lives.  If God be for us who can be against us?  Seek Him.  Spend time in prayer asking for guidance in living according to GOD’S plan for your life.  It may not be what you want at first, but I promise if you will obey GOD, you will NEVER regret it and you will live a life that is far more rewarding than you ever dreamed it could be…you can bear much fruit and bring much glory to GOD, who is Worthy!  (Romans 8:31)

Dearest Father…
How worthy You are to be praised.  There is no other like You nor will there ever be.  We worship You Father.  We come to You today in the name of Jesus.  We thank you for creating us and for calling us out.  We thank You for the plans and purposes you have for each of our lives.  We ask you Father to help us ever trust, love and obey you.  Help us to follow your plan so that we can enter the destiny that you have in store for each of us as your children.  Help us to always bring glory, honor, and respect to your name.  Father when others look at us, let them see you and your son Jesus so that you would be lifted up to draw them to you.  We will always love, praise and worship you.  Thank you for all the blessings in our lives that only come from you.  In the name of Jesus we thank you, praise and worship you, and pray…AMEN.

~*cindygirl*~
March 12, 2023