26 Mar Hopes & Habits (Because you can’t have uphill hopes and downhill habits) Part 25
Over the last few weeks we have been sharing “Four Biblical Habits” that will radically change your life:
- Focus on firsts (Matt. 6:33).
- Foster new thoughts (Rom. 12:2).
- Find your purpose (Eph. 2:10)
Not only do we need to:
- Focus on firsts
- Foster new thoughts
You need to…Find your purpose!
To assist you we began our “Seven Purpose Principles”:
- You have a purpose (Eph. 2:10).
Remember this: Live your life by God’s design not human default.
2. You must have purpose beyond your pain.
Remember this: You can’t be a selfish person and live a significant life!
3. There will be competition for your purpose (Mark 4:19)
Remember this: An overwhelmed schedule will always produce an underwhelmed soul.
This week let’s continue with…
4. You only have a short time to fulfill your purpose (James 4:14).
Here the Scripture tells us, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.”
The word translated “vapor” literally means a puff of smoke. Therefore God is comparing the length of our life with eternity and describes it as a “puff of smoke”.
My mother is 82 years old and she is convinced she is going to Heaven in the Rapture of the Church. She may be right. No one knows the day or hour (see Matthew 24:31) but we can know the season and it appears we may be in that season. However, whether this is the last generation or not, it sure is your last generation! Life is not a dress rehearsal…we only have one shot at this thing! Let’s make it count for God!
5. Determine to value your purpose (Phil. 3:7-8)
The Bible says here, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
In other words, Paul was telling us whatever he used to determine as valuable, he no longer thinks so! His relationship with Jesus was more valuable to him than race, religion, ritual and reputation!
Please allow me to share with you some thoughts about what is truly valuable:
Three Vital Value Verifications:
1.) Learn to discern the difference between the urgent and the important.
Years ago I used to have a gentleman who attended our church who would write a letter to me every single week. Most of it was critical. One time in a sermon he noticed I used a word incorrectly. I said “irregardless” instead of “regardless”. This was the premise of the letter. I remember sitting down and spending about a half hour trying to thoughtfully and kindly respond. After a while, it occurred to me…when was the last time I spent a half hour writing my precious wife? I threw away my response letter and sat back down and wrote my wife a beautiful love letter!
Remember this: Just because it gets your attention doesn’t mean it deserves your attention!
2.) Never worship at the altar of another man’s opinion
You will never find peace in another man’s head. Plus other people are thinking about you much less than you think! “What are they thinking about, Pastor?” you may ask. They are thinking about the same thing you are thinking about…what you think of them!
Remember this: Never let compliments go to your head….never let criticism go to your heart!
3.) If you don’t calendar it, you don’t truly value it!
If you truly value church, calendar your church. If you truly value your family, calendar your family. Intending to spend time together is not actually spending time together.
Remember this: What you truly prize, you will prioritize.
Next month we will continue our series!