What drives your life? (Day 03)

Ecclesiastes, 4.4  Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

4   Nakita ko ring ang tao'y nagpupunyagi upang mahigtan ang kapwa. Wala rin itong kabuluhan at nauuwi sa wala.

The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder –a waif, a nothing a no man.

Thomas Carlyle

Everyone’s life is driven by something.

Most dictionaries define the verb drive as “to guide, to control, or to direct.”

Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment.

What is the driving force in your life?

v  Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline.

v  You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief.

v  There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life.

v  Some were driven by idealism…

The truth is most people don't plan on messing up.  Most people don't plan on a divorce.  Or alcoholism.  Or just missing what they could have become.  Or any number of other things, crises that come into our lives. 

We don't plan those things.  They come by default.  Because we weren't paying attention.  You will go through life and you will live your life either by design or by default. 

You can either live it intentionally based on what God wants you to do or you can just do it by default and kind of muddle through.  Know what's been driving you.

I. Here are five of the most common ones:

1.     Many people are driven by guilt.

v  They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories.

v  They allow their past to control their future.

v  They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. 

When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God’s presence, and God said in & Gen.4:12, “When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”  --.  Bungkalin mo man ang lupang ito upang tamnan, hindi ka mag-aani; wala kang matatahanan at magiging lagalag ka sa daigdig."

That describes most people today—wandering through life without a purpose.

We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.

God’s purpose is not limited by your past.

1. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader
2. and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero,
3. And he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too.
4. God specializes in giving people a fresh start.

The Bible says in & Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”  -- Mapalad ang tao na pinatawad na yaong kasalanan, at nalimot na rin ang kanyang nagawang mga pagsalansang;

2.     Many people are driven by resentment and anger.

They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds.

Some resentment-driven people “clam up” and internalize their anger, while others “blow up” and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.

Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. 

While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past.

Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment.

Your past is past! Nothing will change it.

You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go.

The Bible says in & Job 4:2, “For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.”  --

3.     Many people are driven by fear.

Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition.

Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they’re afraid to venture out.

Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.

Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be.

You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.

The Bible says in & 1 Tim 1:7   For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Sapagkat hindi espiritu ng kaduwagan ang ibinigay sa atin ng Diyos kundi espiritu ng kapangyarihan, pag-ibig, at pagpipigil sa sarili.

4.     Many people are driven by materialism.

Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives.

1. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make me happier, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue.

Possessions only provide temporary happiness.

Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions.

2. It’s also a myth that if I get more, I will be more important. 

Self-worth and net worth are not the same.  Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!

3. The most common myth about money is that having more will make me more secure.

It won’t. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors.

Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you-your relationship with God.

2 Cor 4: 18   While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Kaya't ang paningin namin ay nakapako sa mga bagay na di nakikita, hindi sa nakikita. Sapagkat panandalian lamang ang mga bagay na nakikita, ngunit walang hanggan ang mga bagay na di nakikita.

5.     Many people are driven by the need for approval.

They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their lives.

1. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of un-pleasable parents.
2. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think.

Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.

I don’t know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God’s purposes for your life.

Jesus said in &  Matt.6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye  cannot serve God and mammon.”  --

There are other forces that can drive your life but all lead to the same dead end:

v  unused potential,

v  unnecessary stress,

v  And an unfulfilled life.

This forty-service journey will show you how to live a purpose-driven life—a life guided, controlled, and directed by God’s purposes.

Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them—not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure.

v  Without a purpose:

o    Life is motion without meaning,

o   activity without direction,

o   And events without reason.

o   Life is trivial, petty, and pointless.

II. THE BENEFITS OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIVING

There are five great benefits of living a purpose-driven life:

1.     Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.

We were made to have meaning. This is why people try dubious methods, like astrology or psychics, to discover it.

When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is bearable.

A young man in his twenties wrote, “I feel like a failure because I’m struggling to become something, and I don’t even know what it is.

All I know how to do is to get by. Someday, if I discover my purpose, I’ll feel I’m beginning to live.”

Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning.

Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.

In the Bible, many different people expressed this hopelessness.

   a.      Isaiah complained in & Isaiah 49:4, “Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my  strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.”  --.   Ngunit ang tugon ko, "Ako ay nabigo sa aking pagsisikap, hindi nagtagumpay gayong ibinuhos ko ang aking lakas." Gayunma'y itinitiwala ko kay Yahweh ang aking kalagayan, na ako'y gagantimpalaan sa aking nakayanan.

  b.      Job said in &Job 7:6, “My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.”

Mga araw ng buhay ko'y mabilis na nalalagas, pag-asa ko'y lumalabo, at matuling tumatakas.  ----  and in &Job 7:16 “I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.” Ako'y hirap na hirap na, ayaw ko nang mabuhay; iwan mo na ako, wala rin lang kabuluhan.

The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.

Hope is as essential to your life as air and water.

You need hope to cope. Dr. Bernie Siegel found he could predict which of his cancer patients would go into remission by asking, “Do you want to five to be one hundred?”

Those with a deep sense of life purpose answered yes and were the ones most likely to survive.

Hope comes from having a purpose.

If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in your life as you begin to live it on purpose.

God says in &Jer.29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” ----.    

You may feel you are facing an impossible situation, but the Bible says in &Eph 3:20, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”  ----

2.     Knowing your purpose simplifies your life.

It defines what you do and what you don’t do. Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren’t.

You simply ask, “Does this activity help me fulfill one of God’s purposes for my life?”

Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources.

You will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and your mood at that moment.

People who don’t know their purpose tries to do too much—and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict.

It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God’s will. If you can’t get it all done, it means you’re trying to do more than God intended for you to do (or, possibly, that you’re watching too much television).

Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule.

§  The Bible says in & Prov 13:7, “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.”  May taong nagkukunwang mayaman subalit wala naman, ngunit ang iba'y nag-aayos mahirap bagaman sila ay mayaman.----. 

§  It also leads to peace of mind:  Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Binibigyan mo ng lubos na kapayapaan ang mga taong matapat na tumatalima at nagtitiwala sa iyo. -- --

3.     Knowing your purpose focuses your life.

It concentrates your effort and energy on what’s important. You become effective by being selective.

It’s human nature to get distracted by minor issues. We play Trivial Pursuit with our lives.

There 300 whales that died in the shore of California because they are pursuing the salmon.

Henry David Thoreau observed that people live lives of “quiet desperation,” but today a better description is aimless distraction.

Many people are like gyroscopes, spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere.

Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals-hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart.

You think, Maybe this time it will be different, but it doesn’t solve your real problem--a lack of focus and purpose.

The Bible says in &Eph 5:17, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the

Lord is.”  ----

The power of focusing can be seen in light.

v  Diffused light has little power or impact, but you can concentrate its energy by focusing it.

v  With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can be focused to set grass or paper on fire.

v  When light is focused even more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel.

There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose.

The men and women who have made the greatest difference in history were the most focused.

For instance, the apostle Paul almost single-handedly spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

His secret was a focused life.

§  He said in & Phil 3:13, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,  forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Ang ginagawa ko ngayo'y nililimot ang nakaraan at sinisikap na makamtan ang nasa hinaharap.----

If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less.

Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most.

Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point?

§  Paul said in & Phil 3:15, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any  thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Ganyan ang dapat na maging isipan ng mga matatag na sa pananampalataya. Kung hindi ganito ang inyong paniniwala, ito'y ipauunawa sa inyo ng Diyos.----

4.     Knowing your purpose motivates your life.

Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose.

On the other hand, passion dissipates when you lack a purpose.

Just getting out of bed becomes a major chore.

It is usually meaningless work, not overwork that wears us down, saps our strength, and robs our joy.

George Bernard Shaw wrote, “This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. “

5.     Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity.

Many people spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth. They want to be remembered when they’re gone.

Gusto lang nating ng monumento, ang mga monumento ay iniihan na lang po.

Tatanda at lilipas din ako ngunit mayroong aiwitn iiwanan sa inyong ala ala…

Yet, what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says.

What people fail to realize is that all achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, reputations fade, and tributes are forgotten.

In college, James Dobson’s goal was to become the school’s tennis champion. He felt proud when his trophy was prominently placed in the school’s trophy cabinet.

Years later, someone mailed him that trophy. They had found it in a trashcan when the school was remodeled. Jim said, “Given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed by someone else!”

Living to create an earthly legacy is a short-sighted goal.

A wiser use of time is to build an eternal legacy.

§  You weren’t put on earth to be remembered. 

§  You were put here to prepare for eternity.

One day you will stand before God, and he will do an audit of your life, a final exam, before you enter eternity.

The Bible says in & Rom.14:10,12, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”  ----. 

Fortunately, God wants us to pass this test, so he has given us the questions in advance. From the Bible we can surmise that God will ask us two crucial questions:

First, “What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?”

God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views.

The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?

Jesus said in &John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” ----

Second, “What did you do with what I gave you?”

v  What did you do with your life—all the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships, and resources God gave you?

v  Did you spend them on yourself, or did you use them for the purposes God made you for?”

Preparing you for these two questions is the goal of this book.

v  The first question will determine where you spend eternity. 

v  The second question will determine what you do in eternity. 

By the end of this series of messages you will be ready to answer both questions.

DAY THREE

THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE

Point to Ponder: Living on purpose is the path to peace.

Verse to Remember: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”  Isaiah 26:3

Question to Consider: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?