A Journey to Your Purpose

By Albert Chisolm

A journey to your purpose must begin with the realization that God has created you with a purpose. Purpose is defined as Gods intention, plans, and will for your life. God and only God can reveal your purpose to you. This journey requires that you evaluate your spiritual heart, explore intimacy with God, and be willing to encounter the warmth of Gods love. God loves you, regardless of what you have or have not done. He will go the extra mile for you because you are valuable to Him.

A healthy spiritual heart is the key element in discovering your purpose. The healthier the spiritual heart is, the greater the connection with God. It is the heart that tells your true intent to God. Your heart is an important treasure to Him.

If you are going to discover your purpose with God, it must begin with an intimate relationship with Him. One must begin to inquire about who God is, what He does, how God thinks, and what His desires are. Intimate relationship with God simply means becoming spiritually connected, becoming close to God, and becoming one with Him.

The warmth of Gods love is the only answer for a wounded heart and spirit. The warmth of Gods love is God knowing what you need to become functional again spiritually. He will give you what you need to restore and heal your wounded heart and spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490855431

Albert Chisolm

Albert Chisolm Jr. is a native of John’s Island, South Carolina. Albert lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife, Iris, and daughter, Olivia. God gifted Albert with a passion for youth ministry, the broken and the unchurched, that they may discover God’s purpose for their life.

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Copyright © 2014 Albert Chisolm.

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THE HEBREW GREEK KEY STUDY BIBLE, KING JAMES VERSION, Copyright © 1984, 1991 by AMG International, Inc., Revised Edition 1991

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-5544-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5543-1 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/13/2014

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Living a Meaningful Life

Chapter 2 What Is Your Purpose?

Chapter 3 Who, Me?

Chapter 4 Young, but with a Purpose

Chapter 5 Who Will This Generation Serve?

Chapter 6 Guarding Your Heart

Chapter 7 The Heart of a Relationship

Chapter 8 Real Talk: A Confession to God

Chapter 9 God’s Gifts Don’t Have Limits

Chapter 10 Encountering Your Purpose through Intimacy

Chapter 11 Passing the Mantle

Chapter 12 A Message from the Father’s Heart

About Albert Chisolm

Copyright Acknowledgements

Introduction

God’s purpose is defined as His intention, will, and plans for your life. The journey to your purpose must begin with the realization that God has created you with a purpose. This book was written with the intent of dealing with one profound question that I believe everyone at some point, asks: What is my purpose in life? This question pertains to all ages, nationalities, and ethnic groups, to people of every social status, and to believers and unbelievers alike. What is your purpose, what is its true definition, and how do you know it?

If you are serious about knowing your purpose, you must explore your relationship with God, fully understand the warmth of His love, and evaluate your spiritual heart. It is critical to address any issues that may be preventing you from embracing your purpose, including inadequacy, insecurity, inferiority, guilt, shame, rejection, setbacks, hurt, pain, bad relationships, abuse, sin, pride, and a damaged heart. God loves you regardless of what you have or have not done. He will go the extra mile for you because you are valuable to Him. He wants you to become a partner with Him. You can no longer sit on the sideline; you are too important for that. God can use you regardless of your age, spiritual condition, or messy past.

The Three-Legged Chair

God doesn’t qualify us as the world does. The world and the church often have ways of only wanting to deal with new or clean items. We are afraid of getting our hands dirty, and have become comfortable playing it safe with our social club mentality. As Christians, we hold back from engaging with or supporting the not-so-clean or the not-so-pretty believers and unbelievers. This reminds me of an illustration that I often use in demonstrating how our society will overlook someone or something of value because of what they deemed to be a small defect. If you saw a chair that had only three legs, would you stop and pick it up with the intent of repairing it? Most people would answer, No, because they couldn’t foresee its potential value. A personal friend of mine answered, No way! In her opinion, she did not see why she should invest her time in getting a chair with three legs—she needed one with four legs because, to her, that is how it would be useful or workable. She couldn’t envision the possibility of investing a few minutes of her time to make a trip to the store to purchase a new leg for the chair.

As believers, we often take the easy way out and adopt the same manner of thinking. However, the uniqueness of God extends beyond humanity’s perception. We think it would be easier to purchase a new item rather than to fix the defected one. God, however, works in a way totally opposite than that of humanity’s wisdom. He doesn’t mind becoming a partner with a person with either minor or major defects. He specializes in repairing and restoring the rejected, the thrown away, and the ugly. We base this insight on the concrete fact that God has a purpose for everyone.

Obeying God’s Plans

It is critical to understand that God’s purposes and plans are not what make you happy, popular, famous, or comfortable. Your friends and family may not agree with or understand His purpose for you. It may cause them to laugh at you or to doubt you. Your purpose may not make sense either to you or to others. For instance, God called Noah to carry out a ridiculous task that nobody understood. Since the wickedness of people had covered Earth like a flood, God decided to start over again with Noah and his family. Giving very specific instructions, the Lord told Noah to build an ark in preparation for a flood that would destroy every living thing on Earth. Noah diligently accepted his calling and never wavered from it (see Genesis 6–9). Just imagine people’s reactions as Noah preached about a coming flood, which would kill every living thing on Earth with the exception of Noah and his family. Can you imagine God calling you to do something that the world considers ridiculous? Please! Do not become alarmed if you share your plans with close friends and family and receive no moral support from them. Remember, your purpose comes from God and not from other people; He has designed it specifically for you. Understand that not everyone is going to embrace your purpose or fully understand it. He made you with a purpose based upon His intentions for you and not upon on how perfect you are!

Genesis 1:1 states that In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and each has its unique purpose. God created two great lights: the greater light was for the day and the lesser light was for the night. The two lights He created were purposely designed for two unique reasons. Without the two lights, there would not be any separation between day and night. God’s purpose is always based on His intentions and nobody else’s. All of God’s creations have a purpose.

CHAPTER 1

Living a Meaningful Life

Why is it so important to know your purpose in life? As we have seen from the previous examples of God’s work, He has a specific purpose for everything He creates. It is important to know your purpose so that you can be a contributor. Your gift can add value not only to someone’s life but also to the whole world! Yes, you are that important to society. Your purpose is what will bring true fulfillment to your life. When you do what He intends for you to do, it brings value to you, and pleases both your heart and God’s heart! When you are living outside of God’s plan, your life is like eating a hamburger without any meat. It would not be enjoyable, and you would be pretending to be eating a hamburger and not just bread. Most of us are living lives like that—hamburgers without any meat! We are pretending that life is full of excitement and that we are truly pleased with it.

Sometimes pursuing your purpose starts with answering some tough questions:

1. Can you really say that you know your purpose in life?

2. Do you dread waking up every morning and going to work?

3. Do you frequently say that you don’t really enjoy your job?

4. Do you often tell yourself that there has to be more to life than just going to school or work?

5. Do you often say that you feel really lost inside?

6. Do you feel as if you are making a difference?

What is the danger of not knowing or identifying your purpose? It is like a dog chasing its tail or using a hammer on a screw. It is not natural; it will cause problems, bring about distractions, and life will not be meaningful. When you don’t know God’s true intention for you, or have a clear sense of His direction for you, you may look for affirmation and acceptance in the wrong places. When you can’t identify your purpose, confusion creates a state of wandering in your heart and in your life. This is evident among members of our society today. Lack of purpose can cause you to engage in activities that give a false sense of direction and belonging. This false sense of belonging and acceptance then becomes the substitute for purpose. As human beings, we all want to be accepted by someone or something. This is why gang memberships are increasing throughout the world. I was recently informed that you actually can become a gang member over the Internet! As a youth pastor, I received insight into the patterns of thinking of some young church members who have chosen this lifestyle. Most of them were good students in the classroom and had promising futures. They were well respected in their communities and churches. So where did they go wrong, or more specifically, where did we go wrong as a community? The feedback I received from the gang members was that gang leaders made them feel important and that they had a purpose in the gang. Now this, is of course, absolutely not the truth and they are generally targeted because of their vulnerability. When you think that you don’t have a purpose, and start looking for it, the end result is not favorable. Most gang members are involved in criminal activities. Were you created to take part in illegal activities and put yourself in danger of forfeiting your entire life for a lifestyle of crime? Why would this make anyone feel accepted? This reminds me of a very tragic story regarding a young man that I knew from a high school mentoring program. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his mother during the high school track season. She was focused on keeping him on a positive path in life, and was proud of him for being a member of the track team. He was a respectable young man and a hard worker.

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