PURPOSEFUL
LIVING
BREAD
24 Do you
not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run
in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict
training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a
crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I
do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after
I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
12 Not
that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider
myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is
behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to
win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the
five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with
five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His
master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness!’ Matthew
25:19-21 (NIV)
6 Therefore
we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we
are away from the Lord. 7 We
live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away
from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are
at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in
the body, whether good or bad. 2
Corinthians 5:6-10 (NIV)
15 Be
very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's
will is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)
5 Be
wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be
always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer
everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV)
14 Make
every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no
one will see the Lord. 15 See to
it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to
cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews
12:14-15 (NIV)
14 Yet it
was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days
of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one
church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in
Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a
gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment
and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus
the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice,
pleasing to God. 19 And my
God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:14-19 (NIV)
14 But
thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of
Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of
death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a
task? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)
BUTTER
“No one can dissuade God
from His purposes; nothing can turn Him aside from His plans.” A.W.
Tozer
“You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on
your problems.” Rick
Warren
“The sin of our
times is the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know
nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose
in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for
which it will die.” Dorothy
Sayers
“The purpose of
life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne
“Knowing
that we are fulfilling God’s purpose is the only thing that really gives rest
to the restless human heart.” Chuck
Colson
“Somehow
in the wonder-working providence of God, our worst problems become our best
pulpits. God turns our tragedies into testimonies and our emergencies into
evangelism. Our testimonies are forged and crafted in the trials of life, our
pain has an evangelistic purpose, our problems become His pulpits, and the
things that happen to us turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.” Robert J. Morgan
“If you wish to know God, you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive His power,
you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word.” C.H. Spurgeon
you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word.” C.H. Spurgeon
“The
true Christian cannot be hid, he cannot escape notice. A man truly living and functioning as a
Christian will stand out. He will be
like salt; he will be like a city set on a hill, a candle set upon a
candlestick. But we can also add this further word. The true Christian does not
even desire to hide his light. He sees
how ridiculous it is to claim to be a Christian and yet deliberately to try to
hide the fact. A man who truly realizes
what it means to be a Christian, who realizes all that the grace of God has
meant to him and done for him, and understands that, ultimately, God has done
this in order that he may influence others, is a man who cannot conceal
it. Not only that; he does not desire to
conceal it, because he argues thus, ‘Ultimately the object and purpose of it
all is that I might be functioning in this way’.” Martin
Lloyd-Jones
“Our
Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to
accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.” Oswald Chambers
HEART
SAVOR
- · God has a purpose for my life. I am not my own, I have been bought by a high price.
- · I am to dedicate myself to living out the attainment of the purposes of God in my life with an unswerving singleness of purpose – as the vigorously effective zeal of a crusader.
- · God will lead me in triumphal procession to spread the aroma of Christ in my every encounter through His mighty power.
