Here's a question
What is the purpose of getting up in the morning what wakes me up what what drives me forward
What directs me what what is the purpose of all that I am that I'm doing in the whole of my life
Not just in faith, but in my family in my future my finances? what is behind the universe?
What is my life all about? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
If you want to know the purpose of your life
You got to start with God. You can't tell you what your purpose is because you didn't make you
The only way you were ever gonna know your purpose
For your life why you're here on this planet
What on earth you're here for is a talk to your Creator God who made you and b read the owners manual
God has never created anything without a purpose
Every plant has a purpose every star has a purpose every animal has a purpose
God does not create things without a reason without a purpose
And if your heart is beating and you're breathing there's a purpose for your life
Because God never makes anything without a purpose and the very fact that you're alive makes your life
Meaningful that God had a reason for creating you it is in Christ
We find out who we are what we're living for part of the overall purpose that he God is working out in everything and everyone
The next verse Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 says this everything absolutely everything
Got started in Christ and finds its purpose in him
it is in Christ that we find out who we are
And what we're living for
So you say I really got to find myself. You're gonna find yourself in Christ
You were made by God
You were made for God
Until you understand that your life is never gonna make sense. You're gonna go through life wondering what on earth am I here for?
You gotta a start with God
God wants you to know him and love him back
Here's what he says in the book of Hosea in the Bible chapter 6 verse 6. God says, I don't want your sacrifices
I want your love
This is God talking to you. I don't want your offerings
I want you to know me
The most important thing you can know in life is that God loves you and the most important thing you can do in life is
Love him back
First Timothy chapter 6 the Bible says this some people
Have missed the most important thing in life
They don't know God
Now how do you know when you don't know God how do you know when you're disconnected from God?
How do you know when in that moment? You're not knowing and loving God?
God has given us a warning sign and that goes off like a bright yellow light in your life
Every time you get disconnected from God and that warning sign is this
Worry
When you worry you're acting like God doesn't exist
You're acting like if it's to be it's up to me. No, it's not up to you. It's up to God
And when you when you worry you're acting like it's all your responsibility
That you don't have a Heavenly Father who loves you that there aren't
7,000 promises in the Bible that God hasn't already agreed to take care of all your needs
We're always worried about what does God want me to do God what job should I have? Where should I go to work?
Where should I go to school? What should I do? We're always worried about what we should do. God is much more interested
not in what you do, but in what you become
And the reason why is you're not taking your career to heaven
You're not taking your car to heaven
You're not taking your cash to heaven. How much money you making
You're not taking your china to heaven, you're taking your character
The only thing that's going to heaven after you're 80 years or so here on earth is you
You're not taking any of your accomplishments, you're not taking any of your achievements. You're not taking any of your acquisitions
You're not taking any of your things you've piled up stockpile money materialism stuff like that
None of that's going to heaven. The only thing that's going to heaven is the person you became the man you became
the woman you became the only thing you're taking to heaven is your character
And God puts you on this planet to develop your character to grow up spiritually and to become like Jesus Christ
When things happen to you the normal question you ask is the word why why is this happening?
Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening now and the answer to all the why questions of life is this?
To make you like Jesus
To make you like Jesus if God's gonna make you like Jesus, he's gonna take you through everything Jesus went through
And Jesus wasn't spared from difficulty was there times when Jesus was lonely? Yes time when he was misunderstood
Yes, where the times when Jesus was disappointed by people. Yes, where the times when he's tempted to be discouraged and give up
Yes were there times when who's just tempted?
Yes, and if God let his own son go through all that don't you think he's gonna let you go through it, too
Yes, why because he's more interested in your character than your comfort
This is not the comfort side of life. The comforts gonna come in eternity comforts gonna come in heaven
This is the classroom side of life where you were to learn and some things you only learn through difficulty
If you got everything you want, everything went your way you had no problems. You would be a spoiled brat
Self-centered brat and the whole goal of life is learning unselfishness
It's not about you
It's about learning to love God and learning to love other people and that's where fulfillment and joy and purpose comes from
You know those problems you don't like in your life
Every problem has a purpose and that purpose is to make you like Jesus
There is no situation in your life
You cannot grow from if you'll just trust Jesus and if you'll just learn to respond in the right way
God knows that you've been frustrated with your life
He knows your hurts. He knows your sadness. He knows your fears. He knows the turmoil that goes inside of you
He knows the loneliness you feel when you put your head down on the pillow at night
He knows the
the insecurities that you feel that you don't want to admit to anybody else. He knows all of that
He knows every part of you
You're not gonna surprise him by the hidden part of your life with the life that you're leading. He knows you
He is a loving father
He is the father that cares for you more than for you can ever imagine and a father wants to guide
his children
Before you were born
The Bible says I knew you before you in your mother's womb
I know the hairs on your head your names are written on the palms of my
hand I have plans for you plans for welfare and not
for evil
Sometimes you may feel just too insignificant
When God called Moses to free the Israelites
Moses protested that he could not speak publicly
When Sarah was promised a son she protested that she was too old when Jeremiah was told to prophesy
He protested that he was too young
When God sent Gideon to fight the Midianites Gideon protested that the family was
insignificant
When Samuel anointed Saul with oil Saul protested that his tribe was too small and when Samuel anointed David
Jesse protested that David was the youngest of his eight sons and even Mary
When she was promised that she would carry the Messiah
Protested that she was a virgin
He sees us not as we are
But as we will become
No, man will ever love you no woman will ever love you
Like your creator does like Jesus Christ does
And to go entirely through your entire life
Disconnected from your Creator who loves you that much
Makes no sense at all
If somebody
Was willing to die for you. Wouldn't you want to know about it
If somebody loved you so much
They died for you
Wouldn't you want to know them?
Somebody did die for you
His name is Jesus Christ
And he died for you to pay for all the things you've done wrong. So you could live a life a purpose
And my plea to you as your pastor do not waste your life
Decide right now that for the rest of your life, you're gonna give the best of your life
Not to your girlfriend not to your boyfriend not to your job not to something else but to God and his kingdom
Become what God made you to be. The man God made you to be the woman God made you to be