#175 - Divine Sense of Purpose

Good morning! Hope you are doing well. If you are feeling a bit down or out of sorts, the Word is there to encourage, lift up, and give you answers to whatever it is you may be going through. The Word truly does have the answers we are looking for! Let's get going.

Eccl. 3:1, 3b, 11a - TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven: .... a time to break down and a time to build up... He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy]...

Where are you at in life right now? Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you experiencing frustrations and valleys? Or, are you on a mountain top of success & accomplishment? Debt? Or financial abundance?

Ecclesiastes begins with the Preacher talking about the great abundance of wisdom & material things in which he was living. He decides to apply himself to seeking out what appears to make others happy. In chapter 2, you'll see that he builds houses, vineyards, pools, brings on servants, gathers silver & gold, wine. He acquires great substance, and even remained wise is says in verse 9. Whatever he desired, he acquired. At the end of his pursuit for happiness, he concluded that it was all vanity and amounted to nothing.

A man of such great substance, but joy did not come from the acquiring. Joy did not fill the home filled with so many 'things.' Chapter 3 then dives into talking about the 'seasons.' There is a season for everything. Sowing, reaping, mourning, dancing, peace, war, etc. Seasons. Seasons do not last forever. Seasons pass. Praise the Lord! Are you tired of the cold winter? Spring & life are coming! Buds on trees, flowers in bloom! Summer is coming! Beaches, pools, sand, grilling out. Summer is coming.  Seasons last for a period and then the tide changes.

Have you been in your season for awhile? Are you ready for the change? Have you been in a time of 'breaking down' and you are just thinking, "When is it time to build up? When is it my time to win? When is it time for joy, abundance, fulfillment?" Your season is coming! Your season to win is upon you! Wait it out. Don't quit.

Make sure your motives are right. We see this preacher pursuing every material thing, yet it did not bring fulfillment. Eccl 3:11 answers a question, and brings clarity to what our focus should be, let's re-read it: "He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy]..." A divine sense of purpose has been placed in YOUR heart & mind! A DIVINE sense of purpose! Nothing but God can satisfy that yearning you have in your heart & mind. God Himself, has placed a divine sense of purpose on the inside of you. In the flesh, you may yearn for the house. You want to move from an apartment to a house, you want to upgrade your vehicle, you want bills and bill collectors not hanging over your head, you think that just to accomplish and move up in those areas, you will be happy. Only to arrive to that place and there be something else, something new.

A divinely implanted sense of purpose which only GOD can satisfy. Success in your business, will be futile. Success in your job, futile. Success in your finances, futile. Unless the underlying focus for ALL you and I pursue is to fulfill the purpose and calling that God has placed on our lives! To purge the underlying things that we "think" will make us happy, and pursue with fervor His purpose. Helping people. Changing lives. Drawing people to His Kingdom. Pursuing with excellence the calling He has placed on our life, the specific way He has called us to make a difference for the Kingdom. We were ALL put here as a piece to the puzzle of God. God's big master-plan, and WE have a part to play. We have a job that needs to be done.

An unhealthy focus on "acquiring things" can pervert our ability to pursue with purity of heart. In our purity of heart, in our pursuit of God, the other things will eventually follow. His desire is to bless His children! His desire is to provide. He is a good God! But we must not stray from our first love. We must not stray from the pursuit that only God alone can satisfy. Pressing in to Him. Pressing in to the One who makes all things possible, the One who gives us life, air to breathe, love.

A divinely implanted sense of purpose. What is yours? Are you pursuing it? Go make YOUR eternal difference in the world. God accomplish YOUR purpose! It is YOUR SEASON! The tide is changing for you! Take a deep breath. It's your season! It's your time! 

#43 - Who do you Employ? Angels or Demons?

I would say Good Morning... but it's really good afternoon. I guess if you are reading this at night, Good Evening! :) Buenos Noches. How are you doing this fine day? I am blessed. My alarm went off this morning and after snoozing about 3 times, I finally shut it off all together and slept. AND, my boy continued to sleep too!! God is SO good to me to give me such an awesome boy!! We have been very thankful for Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas money to him. :) He has gotten a lot of new clothes! Yippee! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa! Your gift is coming in handy now, when it is needed!! :) 


Well... there is always more and more to be found in the Word. It is very humbling! Just by looking up the original Greek or Hebrew meanings to just a single WORD can bring a whole new meaning to a verse!! Like, for example.. we aren't going to plant on this verse... but check out this verse and see what you think: "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks." Proverbs 30:26. So... what is your thought about that verse? First of all, what in the world is a coney? Second, "feeble"... I guess they are weak? And my thoughts continued with this, if these weak animals, I pictures older people that couldn't walk good... if these weak animals are walking in the cliffs and rocks and mountains... why? Why would they do that, they could fall?? Well... looking up ONE word changed the whole meaning! In this verse, the use of the word "feeble" means the following: mighty, vast, countless, strong in number, numerous. Whoa! So my original picture of little, old, animals walking with canes and almost falling off the cliff was a totally wrong picture! And, coney... I thought goat. But, no. When I looked up coney... coney is a rabbit, a rock badger. 


We could go on and on. But all that was just BONUS for you! :) hehe! Just some things I found interesting. We'll call it some "extra credit" study. :) But wasn't it interesting?! Would you have thought the same as me about "feeble" and "coney"?? 


Let's get rolling in our word for the day. 

Proverbs 30:32 - If you have done foolishly in exalting yourself, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth.

Proverbs 31:26 - She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].

Let's look at some of the Hebrew definitions for the word "foolishly" in Proverbs 30:32. It could read like this: If you have fallen down, become faint or lost one's strength, If you have drooped or faded as leaves on a vine fall, If you have lacked in firmness, resilience, vigor or energy becoming stupid & dull - My take on that... if you have screwed up. If you have really messed up. Your shoulders are drooped over. You know you have messed up. You have sinned, you have fallen short. Maybe it is a sin that has continued to pop it's head up and you just want to overcome it. You feel low. You feel upset. Disappointed. You just don't know how you can overcome this on your own strength. You have let yourself down and you feel like you have let God down too. How could you mess up again. That word... again... ringing through your ears. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! 


If you have exalted yourself, put yourself above others, bragged on yourself, given yourself a better position than others... you have become first and others last. If you have thought evil....the Hebrew further describes as this: If you have fixed your thoughts upon, considered, purposed, planned, devised, plotted with evil intent. If you have done these things... if you are considering or planning out evil, lay your hand upon your mouth. Why would you lay your hand upon your mouth? Seriously? Why lay your hand on your mouth? 


WORDS WORDS WORDS! At this point you have only gotten to the "thinking" stage. Your words have not been released. They have not been given LIFE! As soon as WORDS are released, they bring life! They either bring life or death. Your words either employee the action of angels or demons. If the words of evil that have been going on in your mind... that you have been considering... if those words come out, you then employee demons to work on your behalf, to bring those thoughts or plans to life! To bring them to pass. (Is. 55:11, Hebrews 1:14, Ps 103:20, Eph. 6:12, Jude 1:6) Angels obey the Word of God. We need to SPEAK it to give them their assignment! To bring to pass God's Word! Employee them with your words! Don't just have them sit around doing nothing. They are ready to help bring God's word to pass... they need to be employeed with the WORD. 


Our Proverbs 31 friend is speaking Words of power. Wisdom. What comes out of her mouth sets a good example for us to follow. If evil thoughts have come into her mind, she has covered her mouth. The WORDS that come out of her mouth are filled with LIFE. Kindness. Love. She speaks words of LIFE. 


What a HUGE topic that we could study for a long time!! The POWER of our WORDS! Satan can not read our minds... he can try to place thoughts into our minds, but he can not read what we are thinking. The moment WORDS are released, he is filled in. When we speak the WORD, we speak what God would have come to pass. When we are sick, but we speak, "BY JESUS STRIPES, I AM HEALED", we speak the ANSWER to come to pass. We line up our WORDS with GOD'S WORD and with GOD'S WILL! We are lining our words up with LIFE. Proverbs 18:21 - The tongue has the power of life and death... Let's bring LIFE! Sometimes that may mean just covering our mouth. Sometimes that means getting our words in agreement with the WORD OF GOD. 


Who is your employee today? Angels or Demons?
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Some good books: 

• Hung by the Tongue by Francis P Martin
• What you Say When you Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter