Success, freedom, and hope – all progress when individual purposes get met. Unfortunately, when free will prevents the achievement of these objectives of God, consequences occur: success, freedom, and hope all regress rather than develop. Human history proves this theory: Adam’s sinful rejection of God’s purpose for humanity has brought forth tyranny of death, fear, and misfortune to mankind, but the successful completion of Christ’s purpose gives all believing souls hope, freedom, and the path toward success. Today, so tyrannized souls can find Christ, Christians must continuously chase their God-given purpose even amidst the struggles and sinful desires they constantly face.
What is success? It, according to Princeton University, is “an event that accomplishes its intended purpose.” Success happens when something or someone achieves its creator’s reason for existence.
Robert Byrne once said, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Everyday people create, perform, or use things for some justification; normally, to satisfy some human need or desire. Creators produce food, homes, and cars so others can have the needs of nourishment, shelter, and transportation met. If these objects are used for other reasons other than their intended purposes, consequences occur as people become hungry, homeless, and stuck in one place. Success then fails to happen since they fail to meet these intended purposes. This concept is also true for us as we are considered God’s creation.
God is the Creator and we are His workmanship. Before our existence, He shaped and formed us to satisfy some need in life. Our presence proves our worth. Every characteristic of us was designed precisely for a reason. So why were we created?
God desires a reciprocal love relationship with every human. He wants us “to love Him with all thine heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30), similar to how He does in return. This is mankind’s number one purpose. There is no higher relationship, achievement, or position in life when we experience intimacy with our Creator. For those who seek Him, He is their ultimate lover, companion, provider, comforter, healer, deliverer and mentor. There is no greater satisfaction than to be connected to Him.
“Freedom is the right to live as we wish” (Epictetus). When God gave us life, He gave us the free will to make our own decisions. In doing this, Love gave us a choice to abide in Him or in sin. Unfortunately, starting with Adam, we have all wrongfully become choosers of sin.
According to Genesis 1:26, we were purposed to become “masters of all life on Earth”; death, fear, disappointments, suffering, and restlessness have terrorized our minds instead. Wars have caused oppression and turmoil, cancer has produced death and despair, broken relationships have produced depression and loneliness, and abuse has brought forth shame and distress to too many individuals who seek both hope and freedom in this unfair world. Our worst predicament is that sin has sentenced the entire human race to spend their eternity in hell. All of this is not how God meant our lifestyles to be. However, according to Willa Cather, “While there is great love there are always miracles.”
Victor Hugo once said, “The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” This is how God still loves us. Sin separated man from God, but Jesus’s purpose restored this relationship to all those who believe in His salvation: “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.” (Romans 10:4).
“Jesus came into this world as a light to shine in this dark world, so those who put their trust in Him will no longer be in the dark” (John 12:46). Those who have faith in Him are free from hell, have access to the power and guidance of God, and don’t have to fear affliction anymore. His existence infinitely satisfies the needs of all, making Him a “success” as He gives hope and freedom to those who seek His face. Unfortunately, He cannot save anyone if people do not know of His presence.
We reveal Christ when we “love others as thyself”. As Leo Buscaglia once said, “It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bring hope to the lost and love to the lonely.” People do this and become “successes” when they serve God by serving others.
What is a servant? It is someone who strives to perform the duties of his master while being under his direct control. To serve Christ, we must completely obey and adjust ourselves in response to His direction of our lives. He is our master and we are His servants. Unfortunately, self-centeredness often prevents us from doing this.
Our lives are considered self-centered when sin and our self-interests replace Christ as being our supreme ruler. Self-centeredness also occurs when people rely upon their abilities and resources in life rather than being 100 percent dependent upon God. Since sin created self-centeredness, there is an enormous struggle in being centered upon God and His ways. To correct this problem, God becomes the Potter.
The Christian life is one constantly being spent at the Potter’s wheel. There He uses life struggles to form, mold, and shape our self-centered, imperfect lives of clay into a God-centered handiwork which He can later use for to fulfill our unique purpose in life. God cannot use clay that is not moldable. We become resistant to this process when we fail to fully surrender our lives in response to His direction. Only those who remain in the Potter’s hand by obediently adjusting themselves to the changes involved with being molded will find both happiness and success in this unfair world. In order for purposes to be achieved, we must first let God use us.
We must continue to be moldable to God’s will. In this world, we often face moments where everything seems so overwhelming and so pessimistic. Cancer, broken relationships, living with a disability, depression over a loved one, financial hardships, and memories of past abuse are examples of the agony many go through. During these times, making it one day at a time seems like a futile pursuit. How we respond to these situations determine how successful in life we are.
Chasing God-given dreams often requires leaving comfort zones. In Hebrews 11:8-19, Abraham through faith left his home to go to an unknown land where “he felt like a foreigner, living in a tent”. However, Abraham knew God would take care of all his needs and that someday He would be blessed for his obedience. If you follow God’s will, He will do the same for you.
The ongoing pursuit of achieving God’s purpose is like us being a sailor on a sailboat whose direction is being navigated by God, the captain of our life. In this example, only the captain knows our destination point; consequently, we are forced to trust His traveling judgment. This is especially true at night where visibility is dark. During many miles of seeing only water and no land, as the speed of the sailboat seems so slow, we are forced to remain patient, calm, and confident that we will both safely and successfully find soil. Unfortunately, fear sets in when fierce storms arise which threaten to sink and destroy the boat we are in.
This is probably how the disciples felt when asked by Jesus to “cross to the other side of the lake” in Mark 4:35. They saw the waves as they wondered where Jesus was. In verse 38, they frantically shouted to him, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” Similar to how He does to us, Jesus greatly cared but was out of sight so He could test their faith when they could not feel His presence. At the right moment, Jesus calmed the scary storms they faced. Jesus will also always quiet your rainstorms when you experience the hurricanes of life.
You may feel powerless to the strongholds you face in life. When you are troubled, remember what Anthony Robbins once said: “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.” According to a Japanese proverb, “Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.” People find success when they don’t let fear stop them from pursuing God’s will.
God has a purpose for all of us. To pursue it, we must be moldable and a servant to Christ. This requires not being self-centered, and not be controlled by fear when facing life struggles. As we do this, we become a lighthouse that lets God light to shine to those sinking ships lost at sea. Others who see this light have the opportunity to find both freedom and hope in this unfair world. When our purposes make this dream a reality, we find success in the eyes of our Creator.
What is success? It, according to Princeton University, is “an event that accomplishes its intended purpose.” Success happens when something or someone achieves its creator’s reason for existence.
Robert Byrne once said, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Everyday people create, perform, or use things for some justification; normally, to satisfy some human need or desire. Creators produce food, homes, and cars so others can have the needs of nourishment, shelter, and transportation met. If these objects are used for other reasons other than their intended purposes, consequences occur as people become hungry, homeless, and stuck in one place. Success then fails to happen since they fail to meet these intended purposes. This concept is also true for us as we are considered God’s creation.
God is the Creator and we are His workmanship. Before our existence, He shaped and formed us to satisfy some need in life. Our presence proves our worth. Every characteristic of us was designed precisely for a reason. So why were we created?
God desires a reciprocal love relationship with every human. He wants us “to love Him with all thine heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30), similar to how He does in return. This is mankind’s number one purpose. There is no higher relationship, achievement, or position in life when we experience intimacy with our Creator. For those who seek Him, He is their ultimate lover, companion, provider, comforter, healer, deliverer and mentor. There is no greater satisfaction than to be connected to Him.
“Freedom is the right to live as we wish” (Epictetus). When God gave us life, He gave us the free will to make our own decisions. In doing this, Love gave us a choice to abide in Him or in sin. Unfortunately, starting with Adam, we have all wrongfully become choosers of sin.
According to Genesis 1:26, we were purposed to become “masters of all life on Earth”; death, fear, disappointments, suffering, and restlessness have terrorized our minds instead. Wars have caused oppression and turmoil, cancer has produced death and despair, broken relationships have produced depression and loneliness, and abuse has brought forth shame and distress to too many individuals who seek both hope and freedom in this unfair world. Our worst predicament is that sin has sentenced the entire human race to spend their eternity in hell. All of this is not how God meant our lifestyles to be. However, according to Willa Cather, “While there is great love there are always miracles.”
Victor Hugo once said, “The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” This is how God still loves us. Sin separated man from God, but Jesus’s purpose restored this relationship to all those who believe in His salvation: “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.” (Romans 10:4).
“Jesus came into this world as a light to shine in this dark world, so those who put their trust in Him will no longer be in the dark” (John 12:46). Those who have faith in Him are free from hell, have access to the power and guidance of God, and don’t have to fear affliction anymore. His existence infinitely satisfies the needs of all, making Him a “success” as He gives hope and freedom to those who seek His face. Unfortunately, He cannot save anyone if people do not know of His presence.
We reveal Christ when we “love others as thyself”. As Leo Buscaglia once said, “It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bring hope to the lost and love to the lonely.” People do this and become “successes” when they serve God by serving others.
What is a servant? It is someone who strives to perform the duties of his master while being under his direct control. To serve Christ, we must completely obey and adjust ourselves in response to His direction of our lives. He is our master and we are His servants. Unfortunately, self-centeredness often prevents us from doing this.
Our lives are considered self-centered when sin and our self-interests replace Christ as being our supreme ruler. Self-centeredness also occurs when people rely upon their abilities and resources in life rather than being 100 percent dependent upon God. Since sin created self-centeredness, there is an enormous struggle in being centered upon God and His ways. To correct this problem, God becomes the Potter.
The Christian life is one constantly being spent at the Potter’s wheel. There He uses life struggles to form, mold, and shape our self-centered, imperfect lives of clay into a God-centered handiwork which He can later use for to fulfill our unique purpose in life. God cannot use clay that is not moldable. We become resistant to this process when we fail to fully surrender our lives in response to His direction. Only those who remain in the Potter’s hand by obediently adjusting themselves to the changes involved with being molded will find both happiness and success in this unfair world. In order for purposes to be achieved, we must first let God use us.
We must continue to be moldable to God’s will. In this world, we often face moments where everything seems so overwhelming and so pessimistic. Cancer, broken relationships, living with a disability, depression over a loved one, financial hardships, and memories of past abuse are examples of the agony many go through. During these times, making it one day at a time seems like a futile pursuit. How we respond to these situations determine how successful in life we are.
Chasing God-given dreams often requires leaving comfort zones. In Hebrews 11:8-19, Abraham through faith left his home to go to an unknown land where “he felt like a foreigner, living in a tent”. However, Abraham knew God would take care of all his needs and that someday He would be blessed for his obedience. If you follow God’s will, He will do the same for you.
The ongoing pursuit of achieving God’s purpose is like us being a sailor on a sailboat whose direction is being navigated by God, the captain of our life. In this example, only the captain knows our destination point; consequently, we are forced to trust His traveling judgment. This is especially true at night where visibility is dark. During many miles of seeing only water and no land, as the speed of the sailboat seems so slow, we are forced to remain patient, calm, and confident that we will both safely and successfully find soil. Unfortunately, fear sets in when fierce storms arise which threaten to sink and destroy the boat we are in.
This is probably how the disciples felt when asked by Jesus to “cross to the other side of the lake” in Mark 4:35. They saw the waves as they wondered where Jesus was. In verse 38, they frantically shouted to him, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” Similar to how He does to us, Jesus greatly cared but was out of sight so He could test their faith when they could not feel His presence. At the right moment, Jesus calmed the scary storms they faced. Jesus will also always quiet your rainstorms when you experience the hurricanes of life.
You may feel powerless to the strongholds you face in life. When you are troubled, remember what Anthony Robbins once said: “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.” According to a Japanese proverb, “Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.” People find success when they don’t let fear stop them from pursuing God’s will.
God has a purpose for all of us. To pursue it, we must be moldable and a servant to Christ. This requires not being self-centered, and not be controlled by fear when facing life struggles. As we do this, we become a lighthouse that lets God light to shine to those sinking ships lost at sea. Others who see this light have the opportunity to find both freedom and hope in this unfair world. When our purposes make this dream a reality, we find success in the eyes of our Creator.
