a third
killjoy in life is having no real purpose at all. if you’re just drifting, if you don’t know
where you came from or where you’re going and why you’re here, of course you’re
not going to have any joy in your life.
you’re just going to cruise on autopilot through life, substituting
happiness for joy – short-term pleasure for joy. we all need a cause greater than ourselves in
which to live for. that is what brings
us joy. living for yourself does not
bring joy.
when
paul is writing this letter to the philippians, he has literally lost
everything. he’s old. he’s in prison. he’s in poor health. he’s lonely, living in a dungeon in rome,
chained to a roman praetorian guard 24-hours a day. they’ve taken away everything from this
guy. he has no friends, no ministry, no
freedom. he even has no privacy, since
the guard is chained to him 24-hours a day.
but
there is one thing that they could not take away from paul – his purpose in
life. so paul says in philippians 1.21
(niv), for me to live is CHRIST. i live for CHRIST.
in 2
timothy, another book he wrote at this same time, chapter 1 verse 3 (lb)
he
says, my only purpose in life is to
please HIM.
if you
want to have a joy-filled life, if you want to get out of the dumps and into
the joy zone, you need to get in line
with GOD’s purpose for your life.
you need to make that statement where you say, “GOD, i give myself to
YOU and i want YOU to put YOUr purpose in my life.” when you begin to live the purpose for which
you are made, all of a sudden life makes sense and all of a sudden the joy goes
up.
romans
6.13b (lb), give yourselves completely to
GOD – every part of you – to be tools in the hand of GOD to be used for HIS
good purpose. i love that, to be tools in the hand of GOD…
i dare
you to pray the most dangerous prayer: “use me.” that’s the most dangerous prayer you can ever
pray.
i
prayed that prayer when i was 20 years old but i had no idea of the adventure i
was in for. if you want to experience
the joy that is beyond explanation, pray the prayer, “use me, GOD,” because
there is no greater thrill in life to feeling GOD use you in the life of
another person. nothing even vaguely
comes close to the thrill of being used by GOD.
i want to tell you from experience that if you get usable, GOD will use
you. GOD is looking for people who will
yield themselves to HIS purpose.
and let
me tell you, HE’s still using me at 65.
just a
thought from the front porch…
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