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Health & Fitness

New Year, New You - Part 1 of 3 - Discovering Your God-Given Purpose

"New Year, New You: Discovering Your God-Given Purpose" outlines four steps that will begin you on your journey of a renewed sense of self awareness.

2013, New Year! New You! When the clock struck 12 and the calendar flipped over to a new year, many of us had our neatly drafted lists detailing the things we will leave behind, the things we will change and the things we will begin. We will make definite and earnest decisions about the changes to be made in our lives. We will resolve to become a new person, different from the way we were before!

Have you ever wondered what is God’s plan for your life or what are the things that you have already been gifted with that God is just waiting to release in you? 

Jeremiah 29:11-12 says …  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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

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God has plans for each of us. With one person being born every seven seconds and one death every 13 seconds, there are over 7 billion people on this earth. Yet, God has singled each of us out with a unique plan for our lives.

I don’t know about you, but I have one husband and two kids and putting a plan in place for a simple one-week vacation takes more effort than I care to think about at times. Can you imagine what it must be like to plan out the lives of over 7 billion people with different needs, wants, desires, etc.?

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In Isaiah 55:10-11 God declares … As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

So, if God says he has a purpose for our lives, you can rest assured he has a purpose for our lives.

But, you may ask, how do we find out what our true Godly purpose is?

Acts 17:24-28 says … “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. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 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. 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. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’

To find your true Godly purpose you must first start by reaching out to God. Matthew 7:7-11 says …  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Below is a four-step process I take my clients through before we begin to work through outlining and establishing their professional, personal and spiritual goals.

Step 1 Survey where you are spiritually:

  • Do you regularly attend worship service or commune with other believers?
  • Do you have a basic understanding of the scriptures that you are willing to apply to your life?

Step 2 Pray for guidance and direction

  • Do you pray on a regular basis?
  • When you pray are you attempting to impose your will on God by giving him a list of your wants and desires or are you praying specifically for him to guide your steps and make his will clear to you?

Consider two scriptures:

Isaiah 65:24 … “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 33:3 … “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,” says the LORD.

You know from previous scriptures that God’s word does not come back empty and in these two scriptures he clearly tells you that he is not only listening for you to come to him he is anxiously awaiting you. Imagine you only have to begin to speak and before you are done God has already begun to put things in place to answer your prayers. Jeremiah 33 goes on to say that when you call him he will not only answer you but he will make known to you great things, things that you have not even begun to seek out, but things that he has planned for you and you alone.

Step 3 Establish Godly relationships

  • What types of relationships do you have?
  • Would you consider them to be healthy when compared to the scriptures or would you say they tend to lead you into areas that in hindsight you are left feeling empty, confused, hurt, sorrowful, doubtful of yourself and others or just plain sick and tired?

Proverbs 13:20 says … He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Which would you say you gain from those you keep company with; wisdom or foolish sufferings?

Step 4 Identify and have the faith to rid yourself of worldly distractions

Before you begin this 4th step I encourage you to really submit yourself to prayer. A really good scripture to pray through would be Psalm 139 with a special focus on verses 23-24 … Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

  • Get a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, then another line a few inches from the top.
  • On the left side label it “Positive” and list the positive things in your life. All the things that line up with God’s word and the way the scriptures say we should live our lives.
  • On the right side label it opportunities and list the things in your life that when lined up against God’s word just doesn’t make the cut.
  • Once you have your list pray about both the positives and opportunities.

Pray about the positives because although you may have a lot of great things going on, you can never be close enough to God and you should always remain humble with an attitude that you can always grow and develop spiritually. Pray about the opportunities so that God will change your heart and reveal to you the intimate details about the things you need to change. In this way, your changes will not be ones based on intellect or momentary sorrow, but instead your changes will be for a life-time based on Godly convictions and a desire to live a life that is in-line with God’s word.

As 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 says … Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Remember, God is a God of grace and each new day provides us with the opportunity to begin again. Choose God and may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!!!

To learn more about Dr. Crystal and the services she provides, visit www.drcrystal.weebly.com.

 

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