Know Your Divine Purpose

An excerpt from the book “Navigating Towards Success: In Pursuit of Fulfilment”; Knowing your divine purpose is simply knowing God’s plan for your life and knowing what He has called you to do on earth – [It is the specific task you are to do which God has created you for]. This is also considered as your divine assignment.

Your fulfillment in life is determined greatly upon you becoming what you were predestined by God to be and do, according to His purpose. We cannot grope around and walk by presumptions, or live by the popular opinions of the day [especially in this present time where the internet and social media platforms are flooded with life coaches and motivational speakers offering personal experiences for directions which are based on the worldly system]; but we need to live by God’s purpose.

You will discover that one of the real reasons why people fail is because they lack a clear God-given vision for their lives, because they do not know God’s eternal purpose for them.

Everything about your life is connected with your divine purpose, and God’s relation to you is solely based on this eternal purpose of His.

The question that is being asked often is, What Is My Purpose? How Do I Know My Purpose? If you are ignorant of this purpose, how can you live to fulfill it!

You will need to look deep within and sincerely ask yourself some of life’s questions, and have accurate answers from the Lord to these questions. This will lead to precise directions for your life, your family, your ministry and for your career.

What Are These Life’s Questions?

These life’s questions are related to your:

ORIGIN – Where Did I Come From?
IDENTITY – Who Are You?
PURPOSE – Why Am I Here?
POTENTIAL – What Can I Do?
DESTINY/DESTINATION – Where Am I Going To?

Anyone living without an accurate answer, and right alignment of their life to these questions, are living without direction and true purpose – they are visionless and like a ship without a rudder to steer their movement. Such a person is a danger to their self and to others, because they are running wild without order.

ORIGIN – Where Did I Come From?

We are not a product of the ‘Big Bang Evolution,” or the “Ape’s Evolvement,” as some confused scientists [without a belief of God] would want people to believe. As sons of God, we are the offspring [descendants] of God – we have our origin in and from God.

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill” – Acts 17:28-29 NIV.

The Bible says, though you are living in this world, but you are not of this world, even as Christ is not of this world (John 17:14, John 17:16, John 15:19). You are a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). This denotes that your life has an origin that is beyond this world.

We believe and speak often of an afterlife (Life-After-Death), but have we thought about pre-life (Life-Before-Birth or preexistence)? The Bible speaks of this, before we were born on the earth we existed as spirits and lived in a spirit world in the presence of God. Before we were born, God prepared us for our earthly life, He assigned and endowed each of us. This is why the scripture says, we were predestined before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29).

IDENTITY – Who Are You?

We are spirit-beings – We lived as spirits before we were born on earth. We lived with God. We are a spirit, with a soul, that now lives in a body. We are a unique creature of God. We were deformed by sin, but in Christ Jesus [through His righteousness], we are reborn, renewed and restored – We become a new creation that is reconciled back to God (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We are the sons of God, and our Identity is in Christ.

God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him [Christ]. After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun – Romans 8:29-30 MSG.

Christ is our identity and the reason why we live! People will wrongly define you if you don’t know your identity, who you are in Christ.

This is why you don’t need to be so concerned about what and how people think or feel about you? Those are sometimes irrelevant. What matters the most is how God [your heavenly Father] thinks and feels about you. If you don’t know your identity in Christ, people will try and tell you who they think you are; and by so doing, they may give a false or misleading account of your true identity. So, don’t let anybody tell you who you are, instead personally discover [know] who you are in Christ. You are a son of God.

Always cheer yourself up in your identity and keep moving on. Be like the rolling train and let them be the barking dogs — barking dogs can’t stop a rolling train heading to its destination.

Your pursuit of divine purpose is personal, and not a collective agenda that needs the opinion and approval of men.

PURPOSE – Why Am I Here?

I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me – Psalms 57:2 NLT.

God created you for a purpose. If you don’t know who you are, and where you are coming from, you won’t know why you are here and to where you are going.

Long before God laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His Beloved Son – Ephesians 1:4-6 MSG.

Without a shadow of a doubt, we know from these above scripture verses, that God had us in mind, and that He took time and pleasure in planning and designing our lives; as a focus of His infinite love, He has a plan for us, and this plan is in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

The Amplified translation of the Bible put it this way in verses 4 & 5, saying,

God consecrated and set us apart for Himself…. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own sons.

For what purpose are we adopted or revealed as sons of God?

The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children. To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth – Romans 8:19-22 The Passion Translation (TPT).

This is the purpose why you are here on earth. Creation eagerly awaits you, for it is waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Obviously, you can see here that you are created by God to be a solution to earth’s problem.

The religious mindset of praying for an escape from the earth because of its corruption and decadence, and seeking to fly away to heaven doesn’t fulfill your God-given life purpose on earth, but rather, we are to be bringing heaven to earth for His will to be done, this is what fulfills His purpose. Our prayers and the reflection of our lives should be – “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” – Matthew 6:10. Hence, we are to “seek first the kingdom of God”, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:33.

We will look further into this in the next chapter as we expand further on having a clear mindset of the Kingdom of God.

POTENTIAL – What Can I do?

Within every believer, God has endowed them with gifts, talents and abilities that are to be used to impact every sphere of their influence that is in line with His specific assignment for us to reconcile men back to Him – we are His ambassadors. You are to use your potential (ability) to advance His kingdom. Wherever you are placed, or find yourself – whether it be in the religious arena, in the market place of the world of Business, Education, Family, Government/Military, Media and/or the Arts/Entertainment. Just find your niche and be useful.

The grace of God is more effective upon you when you function in your assigned gifts and place, in accordance with your true purpose.

The Believer’s Ministry (calling – assignment):

We have been giving a ministry by God, a task of reconciling people back to Him. This makes us Christ’s ambassadors with a wonderful message of reconciliation – no longer counting people’s sins against them [as new life has begun].

God is making His appeal on earth through us. This is His purpose for us. This is the believer’s ministry (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

DESTINY/DESTINATION – Where Am I Going To?

When your vision is clear, your destination (your destiny) will be known. This means, you will recognize the goal of your achievement, when you’ll be done, and where you are going afterward. Your destiny will give you a sense of a ‘finishing mentality’ like Paul the apostle, when he said,

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing – 2 Timothy 4:7-8 KJV.

This is where the power of vision kicks in, as you press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is the motivation that will keep you alive and going.

Everything you do concerning your life must be driven by divine purpose. As you continue in Christ and these life’s questions are made known to you by the will of God, by revelation, your purpose will be in view.

Find Christ, Find Your Purpose!

In actual fact, the discovering of your purpose comes simply by knowing Christ [by revelation]. It is then that these life questions will be revealed naturally in the light of your knowledge of Christ.

We look at this Son [Christ] and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son [Christ] and see God’s original purpose in everything created…. everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him…. and by Him [Christ] all things holds together – Colossians 1:15-17 MSG.

The purpose of every product is determined by the maker and not by the market; therefore, to find your purpose you need to go back to your Source, which is Christ, the Son. If you find Christ, you will find your purpose. Evidently you need the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Him, like we said previously, because Christ can only be rightly understood by revelation. This is why the Person of the Holy Spirit is very important to us, to reveal Him [by revelation].

This knowing of Christ [His revealing in us] that I speak of, is the knowing of Christ beyond head knowledge and superficial Christianity that many are accustomed to; this knowing of ‘Christ in us’, is about having a deep and in-depth revelation of the Person of Christ, that is birthed in us out of a genuine intimacy with God when we seek Him. Such intimacy becomes the reality of our daily walk that now consumes the totality of our being in reflecting Him [Christ nature], and therein our true purpose is now revealed, and we can go on to live and fulfill it.

We are created by God for the purpose of seeking and knowing Him, and to make Him known; not to just grope around in the dark, but to actually find Him. In doing so, we will find our purpose, and we will be able to fulfill His will and be successful in life.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for Him, as if He couldn’t take care of Himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make Him. Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; He’s near. We live and move in Him, can’t get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” – Acts 17:24-29 MSG.

The truth is: As we discover God’s eternal purpose in Christ, we will discover our identity and purpose, and grace will be made available to fulfill this.

It’s in Christ that we find out [who we are] and [what we are living for]. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone – Ephesians 1:11 MSG.

You must be in pursuit of His purpose [in Christ] as this is the only path to navigate to success.

Your Worth Is In Your Work:

In pursuit of purpose and fulfillment, having a clear vision is absolutely critical, because it is your vision that will help you define your future, and set the direction towards a successful completion. Lack of vision means lack of direction. Having a vision provides a sense of purpose and direction for your life.

Until your purpose is clearly defined, success can’t be realized. Success and fulfilment are only possible when you know your vision and go to work in pursuit of this.

“Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it” – Habakkuk 2:2 BSB.

Your value will not be discovered, except your vision is first discovered. No one is going to run with you when your vision is not known.

Your vision is connected to your purpose. This is what you are created for and to do, by God.

Your value is what counts. Value is a reward of work. Your worth is in your work. Success is a product of your work when your purpose is worked out.

Remember, “When purpose is fulfilled, value becomes the reward.” The goal should be to fulfill your purpose and then value becomes a by-product.

There Is Pro-Vision in His Purpose:

One of the challenges people come against in order to fulfill their vision and assignment, is the need for provision. And for people who don’t know God, and the economy of His Kingdom, and the way God works, they fuss over this.

If your vision is right [in the center of God’s will], you will receive every provision from Him to accomplish your assignment.

Therefore, in whatever circumstance you find yourself, always keep your eyes on the LORD, as the Source and the Provider. Men are not your source and provider, neither is your job, business or the worldly economy. You will fail in the pursuit of your purpose if you depend on them – [only depend on God and seek His kingdom, and all things you need will be provided for you through Christ].

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His Own Son (Jesus Christ), is there anything else He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? – Romans 8:31-32 MSG.

Jesus said:

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met” – Matthew 6:33-34 MSG.

During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, with millions infected with the virus and hundreds of thousands dying, things began to shut down globally, travel restrictions were set in place, virtually all international airports and borders were closed to all non-essential travelers, and nations were experiencing an economic meltdown, with millions of jobs lost. Local church fellowships were affected due to the restrictions on public gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus from one person to another. Only those deemed as essential business and essential workers were allowed to be open and to move around to help meet the rising needs. The outcry from some religious circles, especially church leaders, was that the church was not considered as “essential” and this resulted in some speculations and conspiracy theories from some corners.

There were some legitimate calls from the church to the government by honest and genuine Christian leaders which must be applauded; however, there were others crying out, not because of their love for God or compassion for the people, but for their stomach-sake as their ‘church business’ was shut down and no more platforms to perform and manipulate the people for the sake of money, as their means of revenue was closed.

One thing the Lord ministered to me is that He was using this global pandemic to expose the hearts of His people regarding their false trust on Him as their Source [while their dependency was actually on the worldly system]. He was refocusing the attention and priority back to Him, so they can put their complete trust on Him as their Source and Provider, and not on the worldly system.

Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord. For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river; And will not fear the heat when it comes; But its leaves will be green and moist. And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought nor stop bearing fruit – Jeremiah 17:7-8 AMP.

It’s very easy to proclaim that God is our Source and Provider when things are on the correct path, and be blinded to the fact that our hearts and dependency are on people, on the worldly system, and on the religious systems of the institutional church, that some are dependent upon and exploiting for gains.

During the pandemic I was locked down in the nation of Australia while my family was back home in South Africa. My scheduled trip to Australia was for six days but it turned out to be for over four months of lock down. I was worried because I had to cancel all of my ministry appointments and 13 international flight tickets. All of my investments were shut down and bills began to mount up, as well as the need for basic necessities for my family back home, who were also on lock down, and knowing that I was thousands of miles away from them.

From around the nations, God sent financial helpers. In His mercy and grace, He supernaturally provided for us, and every need was met, including the mounting bills. We were also able to ease the challenging financial problems of our tenants as they were out of work and couldn’t pay their rentals.

As I saw God’s provision, my faith in Him was renewed and strengthened as Jehovah Jireh [The Lord Who Provides].

Blessed be God – He proved He’s on my side; I’ve thrown my lot in with Him. Now I’m jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to Him.

This is the assurance we have in pursuit of purpose. He will provide for the vision, and for the assignment, and for our family, as long as we are in the center of His will.

I can’t imagine the Lord sending me on a mission for His kingdom and He not making provision for His work. It’s like a wealthy nation sending out an ambassador to represent the nation in a foreign country and not be responsible to provide for his upkeep and assignment in that country.

God will always provide for His kingdom assignment, and He will sustain you only where He leads.

God said to Elijah by His word, in the midst of a drought, “Go to the Brook Cherith…. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there” – 1 Kings 17:2-4. Elijah obeyed the word of the Lord, and there the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.

When you walk in obedience to the direction of God’s purpose for your life you will enjoy His provision.

When the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land, the Lord spoke to Him again and directed him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you” – 1 Kings 17:7-9.

Again, Elijah obeyed, and the result was a miraculous multiplication of a widow’s handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar, that sustained them until the draught was over, and he went on to his next assignment.

God’s provision for you is commanded in the place of His commission.

Divine Direction To Fulfilment:

Where there is no vision [no prophetic revelation of God’s purpose], the people are unrestrained – Proverbs 29:18 AMP.

When you attend to God’s prophetic revelation [vision] for your life, you are most blessed. This is how you walk the path to divine fulfilment and significance.

When you discover God’s purpose for your life and seek to pursue it, it will challenge your capacity to be the best.

Prayers

I pray for you in the name of Jesus Christ, that there will be clarity of God’s purpose in your life, and that you will know and walk in the prophetic revelation of His plan, and navigate the path towards success in accomplishing His will for your life. Amen.

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 Copyright © 2020 by Israel Onoriobe

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