Responding to Your Purpose

Accept or Abandon?

This is where your path divides. This is where you must make the decision to follow God's way or choose your own. You've spent the last few weeks discovering the special and unique way God created you for a specific purpose...now what are you going to do with that information? What action are you going to take? Are you going to bear right and continue on God's path? This will require you to surrender to His will and plans - even if you don't know and can't see what lies ahead. Or, will you just take the information you've received and head out on your own - blazing your own trail?

A - Direction, not intention, determines destination. ~ Andy Stanley

S - ..."yet, not my will, but yours be done." ~ Luke 22:42

A - To follow God's way is to accept His ways:
1) Accept His gift of salvation ~ "He gave his one and only son..." (John 3:16)
2) Accept the way He created you ~ "We are his workmanship ..." (Eph. 2:10)
3) Accept why He created you ~ "...to act according to his purpose." (Phil 2:13)

Accepting requires a total surrender! Not half surrender and half control. Jesus' willingness to accept His purpose - a cruel death on a cruel cross, is the ultimate example of surrender. What is God asking you to surrender?

Katie Brazelton, in her book, Pathway to Purpose for Women, explains: "You cannot fulfill God's greatest purpose for you without surrendering your will and life to him. Surrender involves first, learning to live for an audience of one ~ God and then letting go of everything that takes a higher priority than God ~ idols. Surrender is one of the greatest challenges of faith you will face, but step by step God will prepare you to be completely his and totally engaged in his purposes for your life." Amen.

P - Are there "idols" in your life that you're not willing to give up? Is there still a part of you that wants some control and say in what your path will be like? Surrender is not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of willingness! Ask God to show you areas of your life you may have a tight grip on. Thank Him that although you may never know where the path will lead, you know you can always trust the Guide.

Next Time.....Commitment