A PLAN AND A PURPOSE

By Pastor Walter C. Scott, Let Go and Soar Ministries

March 11, 2014

Isaiah 14:24

²⁴ The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

Isaiah 14:27

²⁷ For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Ephesians 1:11-14

¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

So what is it to have a plan and a purpose for our lives? And should we all have one? Is it really necessary? I think that point can be argued from many angles if we are looking at it from a worldly view. However, from a Christian viewpoint, a plan and a purpose for our lives is essential and God-inspired. The words “plan” and “purpose” are interchangeable in meaning, and refer to a reason, guiding principle, motivation, justification, objective, goal, etc. The Bible says:

Reason:

John 12:27 (Jesus speaking)

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

2 Peter 1:3-8

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Motivation:

Proverbs 16:2

²All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

James 4:1-3

¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Justification:

Titus 3:3-7

³ At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done,but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Romans 3:22-24

²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28-30

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called;those he called, he also justified;those he justified, he also glorified.

The Word (Bible) states that God has a purpose and a plan for every one of us, which will lead us to and through our destiny. This is communicated to us in a variety of ways, and you don't have to be a Christian to receive the call. I do believe, though, that those who answer the call will willingly come to the Lord on bended knee and obediently follow Him.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Philippians 2:1-5

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus

Young people are repeatedly advised in school and sometimes at home to plan, set goals and objectives, and to generally formulate some type of structure for their lives. How many of them actually do this or are ready to do this? This takes a certain level of maturity and we don't all achieve this level at the same age. I think a very small percentage actually achieve this. The consequence of a premature decision here can lead to at least a wasted undetermined length of time. And we all only have just so much time. The solution? Ask God, wait for the answer, then act.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

I also believe that not always, but often life's pendulum either swings too far one way or the other. There is no balance and no God in their lives. Either there is no clear direction or example shown at home, or there is far too much pressure and structure to set goals and find direction. Often it is the parent's unrealized goals the children are directed toward. Either way leads to many young men and women leaving home, lost in a viciously competitive success oriented, materialistic society. Years go by with them accepting what ever comes along just to get by, or just dropping out completely. Many end up self-medicating, which often leads to addiction. Many never finding their purpose or achieving their full potential. And then we look at them, shake our heads, and wonder why. Can this be corrected, and can we do anything about this situation? Yes, we can, with God's help and direction through the Holy Spirit. As stated above, “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Of course this requires cooperation from all involved, and we achieve this through impartation such as, for example, mentoring, teaching, being an example, and so on. All this by using the various giftings that God has endowed us with.

1 Peter 4:10

¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Romans 12:3-8

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Through understanding and comprehension comes wisdom and the realization of grace and truth brought to us through Jesus Christ. From this we can develop faith, trust, hope, obedience and finally absolute belief. From this we develop and realize God's plan and purpose for us.

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works,so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I do believe that our primary purpose in this life is to carry out the Great Commission in whatever way God directs, and through whatever special gifting He has endowed us with. We all received the Holy Spirit when we became Christians and with this came gifting.

Acts 11:15-18

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.¹⁶ Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Galatians 5:22-23

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

We are all part of the body of Jesus Christ, the church and are uniquely gifted. If we are all on the same page in our purpose we can all compliment one another's gifts, becoming more successful in spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

1 Corinthians 12:27

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

This, I believe, is God's final purpose and plan for us all. All we need to do now is discover our gifting, help others discover theirs, acknowledge those gifts, and let the Holy Spirit lead us to the full utilization of those gifts. Jesus gave us the authority and power. The rest is our free will choice to accept and receive. Let's make the decision that leads to freedom and life. Love and peace to all. Amen

Acts 17:24-31

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ²⁹ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹ For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”