My Life's Purpose

During my quiet time today, I read in Ephesians. I discovered that my life's purpose was found in Eph. 3:19. I'm to continually pray to know the deep, deep love of Christ. This kind of knowing is the experiential kind--not head-knowledge. The more I can experience His love for me, the more filled to the measure I'll be with Him. I must have the power of the Holy Spirit in me in order to live successfully as a believer in Christ. Ephesians 3:16,20 tells me my goal is to grow continually in Christ's love and power so that He can work through me.

What does Jesus want to do through me? I found the answer in Ephesians 4:12-13--to build up the body of Christ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Why does God want this? Ephesians 4:14 says it's (a) so we'll no longer be deceived by every wind of false doctrine or by deceitful, scheming men and (b) so we, as Christians and lovers of Christ, will stick together--be unified in Christ's love--"until the redemption of those who are God's possession (Eph. 1:14)".

Ephesians 2:10 makes it clear that we each have a calling--specific works created in advance for us to do in order to build up the body of Christ into unity and maturity. That calling has to do with the reconciliation of unbelievers to Christ and with encouraging and supporting our fellow believers in Christ. That's pretty important stuff. So I wondered, how do I go about fulfilling my calling or knowing what works I am to do to accomplish what God wants? The answer goes back to Ephesians 3:16,20: I must continue to grow in Christ's love and power. The more I know Him, the more He will reveal to me what I am to do. The more I seek His filling, the more of His power I'll have working in me.

Thinking about doing works for Him, I remembered what Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." Specifically, it reads in John 15:4-5: "Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing." (Amplified)

I certainly proved that apart from Jesus I can do nothing. I've screwed up more times than I can count. But it encourages me to know that God hasn't given up on me. That there are still those works that He wants me to do--that He has "called" me to do. The only way I'm going to know what they are, though, and how to do them is to (a) grow in my experiential knowledge of the love of Christ and (b) live in that love every day.

I'm beginning to see that Christ's love is everything! It is the key. And the pathway to this love is through reading His Word every day, taking time out of my day to kneel at His feet, to meditate on Scripture that tells of His deep love for me, and developing an attitude of listening for His voice. I so want His love and His power filling me "to the measure of all the fullness of God". I believe He wants that for each and every believer in Christ Jesus.