WARNING: This may offend you

God is so good at turning moments into learning moments. Long story short we were having a moment in the girls room that presented a friendly disagreement (that isnt important to the lesson) and then the sharing of wisdom from our leader, Shawndell (a good place for it to come from). She shared that everything Jesus did was purposeful. 



Lets review right away…… 



EVERYTHING Jesus did was purposeful. And also important to note, He was Spirit led.



Jesus had a reason for every word he spoke, music he listened to, food he consumed, relationships he pursued, friendships he had, places he went, shirt he put on, and anything else he couldve possibly done. 



And that reason was to glorify His Father, God, and advance His Kingdom. And He didnt make these decisions apart from God. He couldnt live this way without God in His life. Who is also Our Father. The big bambini, the Creator of you and me, Giver of your life and breath and heart beat EACH AND EVERY DAY, the Guy you owe everything to. Lets be honest, EVERYTHING. 



But do you? Do you give everything to God? Do you do everything with the intention of glorifying Him? Or is some of it for selfish gain or personal pleasure? I honestly and ashamedly admit, I dont. Yeah, its poop. 🙁 



As a Christian, Jesus Christ is my role model for living and I want to be more Christ like. And it might sound tough, he does have four books devoted to his life and you may not know everything about his life but i think those five words are an excellent summary. Everything Jesus did was purposeful. Bam. Hows that for a measuring stick? 



So, when I measured how I was doing, I was heartbroken. I do somethings purposefully to glorify God, I do love Him. But, Jesus didnt do Halfsies. EVERYTHING Jesus did was purposeful. Sometimes I eat food for the sake of eating food when millions are starving. I could give that food and advance the kingdom or atleast share my food and a conversation about Jesus. Sometimes I speak just to be heard and God is no where to be found even in between the lines. And sometimes Im silent when I should speak up, which is just a wasted opportunity to glorify and share. Sometimes Im not very intentional in my friendships. I dont put the effort into really getting into their lives so that I can challenge and encourage and allow them to do the same for me. I listen to some music for its beat or the way it makes me feel (I really strive not to listen to foul languaged music, but that may not be enough) and again its about me and not about praising God. I go places because Im bored without any intention of even mentioning God. And for you it might be other things. It might the movies you watch, how you wear your pants (God may have created you in His image, but we all have butts and dont need to see yours), what you daydream about, what you want to go to school for, or anything else that is a part of your life that you do that is without the same purpose as Jesus and isnt Spirit lead.



Offended yet? Well, I hope so. I am. Or rather, my flesh is. That nasty part of me that I must crucify everyday. The part of me that didnt want me to write this let alone post it, because I cant just post it for everyone to see and then not do something about it. My flesh wanted so bad not to post this so I can keep on living the way I am. My flesh told me I dont always need to be purposeful with EVERYTHING. But I do. Jesus is my absolute example. And thanks to His faithful life, I dont have to question how I should live. Theres no ifs, ands, or, buts about the life Jesus lived. He lived one way, all the time and that was with purpose to God! 



So if you are feeling offended, good. Now what are you going to do about?? At this point I would highly recommend reading Romans 7:14 – 8:17. Here is even a link to make this easier for you. Youre welcome. 🙂
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%207:14%20-8:17&version=NIV 



Okay, so luckily, Jesus came with some really good news. "You suck at life and theres nothing you can do to save yourself, but thats why I (Jesus) came to save you if you just believe that I am came to die for your sins and that I raised from the grave and conquered death " (this is my paraphrased version) 

Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. 

And then He didnt just rise up into heaven and say, "Okay, you saw how its done, now you go." No, He left us the same Holy Spirit to lead us! Seriously, how much nicer can you get!?
  John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 

So since God, Creator and Giver of our lives, gave us his son (John 3:16), Jesus, to die and suffer for our sins so that we could live eternally in His beautiful, perfect, paradise called Heaven, why am I not being purposeful with my life???? Why am I not jumping at the chance to get into to every life I come across to tell others this good news, to use the food I have, the music I listen to, how I talk, when I talk, what I talk about and where I go to scream about Jesus, To glorify God, And advance the Kingdom!? (Answer these questions for yourself. If you dont know what your problem is, take it to God.He will tell you because, trust me, He wants you to get over it and He will enable you to do so if you so choose and ask for His help). We all wanna get there, right? So why not work a little harder to get there faster and invite God completely into our lives and then invite as many people as possible to come with us?! 



It just seems absurd not to be purposeful with the purpose of Jesus. 



And this means every God-given life has a purpose. So dont go thinking you dont have a purpose, because you do. God gave everyone and everything life, in case you missed that. Even the aliens, so no excuses. 



You wont be perfect, no one is, but that doesnt make you a failure as long as you try. And youre not alone in this purpose. We have God by our side and He is more than enough. He will equip you. We are given the Holy Spirit, (which is a worthy of its own study, so I woul highly recommend it). Things you never thought possible of yourself (giving up things, breaking habits, stepping out of your comfort zone, maybe even dropping friends, etc.) in order to live a purposeful life for God is ABSOLUTELY possible with God. He wants this more than you! He wants you so He can love you and you can live eternally with Him! But He wont force it, its your choice. 



So whats yours? A life of selfishness, over indulgence,thats unsatisfying and unglorifying and only half commited to God? OR a life of total purpose to One who you owe everything? 



Im going to choose the latter. 







"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans shall succeed." Proverbs 16:3 



"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have receieved it, and it shall be yours." Mark 11:24 



"and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20 



"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." Phillipians 2:1-2