From the desk of Steve Shultz:
This is a great word on discovering "your greatest purpose" as you yield to God's great purposes for YOU! As simple as that sounds, it's not always easy, nor is everyone willing to always follow the Lord's leading for their lives. I like what Jeremy Caris shares here: Giving your life to Christ is not a prayer you pray, it is an action you take. It is all for Him and all about Him; pleasing Him with your very life. This is what it means to minister to God. It is giving Him what He wants, which is all of you. It is surrendering your entire life and focus. It is choosing His path and future for you.
Now that's a great purpose!
Here are also a couple of great resources that will help unleash your purpose and His good pleasure in your life:
Jeremy Caris:
Your Greatest Purpose
Intro by Ryan Wyatt:
I highly recommend Jeremy Caris. I have known Jeremy for several years and have had the privilege of seeing, first hand, his close and powerful relationship with the Lord and the fruit that has come from it. Jeremy has an incredible ability to teach on the deep things of the Holy Spirit in a way that leaves everyone with a deeper understanding and life-changing revelation of the mysteries of God.
Ryan Wyatt,
Founder
Abiding Glory Ministries & The Habitation Church
Over the last couple of weeks, the Lord has been repeatedly telling me to simplify my life. It is so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of being busy, even with good things. It is also possible to be extremely productive and still not accomplish anything that leads you to the next landmark along your God-given destiny. Nothing in life matters more than pleasing God. The one thing that pleases Him the most is to have someone who is fully surrendered to Him and His design for their life.
He urgently looks for those whose heart is devoted to Him to the point that they will rearrange everything to pursue the life that He intends. When you have that single focus of heart, the decisions you make and the actions you take become simple and determined. Are you spending your time and energy on pleasing Him, and on doing the things that keep you moving along His path for your life also? The second actually accomplishes the first when it flows from your heart. It is time to simplify your life.
Your Unique Purpose
If you have any glimpse of God's plan for your future, you know that it involves your deepest passions. That is because He created you with a purpose and He intends for you to fulfill the unique purpose for which He created you. The only way you will accomplish this is to become the fullest uninhibited expression of everything He intends for you to be. The Bible confirms that God has a plan for each one of us. Jeremiah 29:11 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."
In addition, if you are a Christian then you are a part of Jesus' Body in the earth today and you have an unlimited future because of your inheritance through Him. That inheritance is your potential. Because of Christ, you already have the potential to live your life to His full intent, but it is your responsibility to surrender to His path of developing that potential. You must focus your time doing what helps you along in this process of becoming the best that God intends for you to be.
Take a minute to imagine who you are from God's perspective. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him." That means He is inseparable from you. Through Jesus, He has fully invested Himself in you. He spent Himself completely in order to have His way with you and through you. Even before you surrendered to Him, He made you a unique and special person for His own pleasure. That not only means that He loves you, but it also means that He has a deliberate plan for your life.
Do you think that He could be so intentional concerning your very life without having a future designed especially for you? Maybe that life has been stolen from you, or maybe you have simply walked away from it. But if you want the happiness and fulfillment that every other person on the planet desires, then don't let life just happen to you, and don't allow your path to be determined by anyone but God.
His Plan Becomes Your Plan
You may be nowhere close to who you will become, but that's okay. He will give you the grace and strength to become who you are as long as you desire to continue. We would all like to become the person at the end of a successful journey, but "the journey" is part of the process of becoming that successful person. Choosing that journey will require your willingness and obedience. According to Isaiah 1:19, it is the willing and obedient who will eat the good of the land. In other words, that is what it will take for you to make the most of this life and receive the greatest benefit. Willingness is a motivated heart while obedience is motivated action.
You see, the first secret to living your successful and fulfilling life is to find what it is that God wants and then to act in agreement. You will go through many seasons along the way. You must not only focus your efforts in alignment with the purposes of God, but you must also work within the season of life you are in. Those seasons are defined by God, but your willingness and obedience in that season is decided by you. God will not force you to align with His plan, He will tell you to simplify your life until His plan very clearly becomes your plan as well.
What is defining your life? Are you focused on who you are created to be? Are you being positioned to fulfill your greatest purpose? There is a reason you are here! Giving your life to Christ is not a prayer you pray, it is an action you take. It is all for Him and all about Him; pleasing Him with your very life. This is what it means to minister to God. It is giving Him what He wants, which is all of you. It is surrendering your entire life and focus. It is choosing His path and future for you. Decide right now to give the rest of your life as an offering of worship that is pleasing to God.
Jeremy Caris
Abiding Glory Ministries
Email: info@abidingglory.com
Jeremy Caris serves as the Media Director for Abiding Glory Ministries and as an Associate Pastor on the Pastoral Leadership Team at The Habitation. Jeremy longs to see the Body of Christ demonstrating both the character and power of Jesus which flows from the surrendered life. Jeremy typically teaches on the deep things of the Spirit in such a way that empowers Believers to shift into a lifestyle which releases "on Earth as it is in Heaven." As he ministers, he demonstrates the Kingdom through prophetic ministry, healing, and miracles. He also equips Believers to minister prophetically and live in a deep awareness of the spiritual realm through his two schools, "Prophetic Ministry Boot Camp," and "Advanced Prophetic Training." Jeremy and his wife Mandy live in Knoxville, Tennessee, along with their two sons.
