Chosen for God's Purpose

It’s Friday afternoon, and I am beginning my weekly countdown to 5 pm. Only a few more hours to go, and then I will be free for the weekend to do whatever I please. Or will I? How many times a day do you think this way, "I am free to do as I please"?  I realize many of us spend our days dictated by someone else’s schedule or agenda. We have jobs that tell us when to arrive and when to leave. We have expectations and goals to meet each day, and they are rarely set by us. It would stand to reason that when we break out of that routine, we wish to control the remainder of our time - our “spare change” if you would. We rarely value time as a commodity, until we run out of it. Our desperate attempt to grab hold of whatever extra minutes we can find and hoard them for ourselves is a natural reaction, but not the most valuable or advantageous. We all have obligations in life. We must eat. We must have shelter. We must have clean clothing. We must be able to pro

Have you ever wondered what it would take to have a successful year? Not just the kind of year that you get through, or the kind that you feel OK about. I am talking about a truly life-altering kind of year. The kind that causes you to look back and shout "Hallelujah!!" when you see all the growth and transition God has brought forth in you. What would it take for 2018 to be that year for us? At the beginning of 2018, when everyone was knee-deep in their resolution making process, I had the privilege of listening to a series of messages by world-renowned Bible teacher, Derek Prince. If you have not experienced the pleasure and the challenge of his teaching, I would encourage you to seek him out (derekprinceministries.org) .  In this series, entitled Twelve Steps to a Good Year , Derek walks us through the book of Hebrews, and points out twelve specific verses that point us towards a life more set on God -- more set on service -- and much less s