Skip to main content

“When your gifts and natural skills collide with your deepest burdens—you have calling.”

A thought by Gabe Lyons (2010-10-05) in his book, The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America (p. 124). Doubleday Religion. Kindle Edition.

Maybe you are searching for your purpose in living as you go into the new year.  Maybe you have been wandering and wondering through 2011 but you want 2012 to be different.  Now this is a good time to sit down with a yellow pad or your notes on your iPhone and start to do some God-directed thinking.

A good place to start is evaluating your gifts.  I’m not talking about your Christmas gifts but those Spiritual gifts that God gave you when you became a Christian.  Check on the internet for a good Spiritual gifts test or go to your local Christian book store or ask your pastor. 

Take that test and then do some self-assessment of your natural abilities.  Ask yourself and some of your closest honest friends, “What am I good at?”  That may be hard for you to do but it is an important step in this process.

And then ask yourself, “What is it that really moves my heart?”  Or as Gabe Lyons puts it, “What is your deepest burden?”  Mine has always been for people who are confused about life.  I have a deep burden for them.  So what is it that really moves you that you want to do something about? 

Rick Warren has a SHAPE process - Spiritual gifts…Heart (what you love)…Abilities…Personality …Experiences (what have you gone through in your life) to help you in finding God’s calling/purpose on your life.

You see God has built you for a reason and that is your calling.  I believe that God has called each one of us to make a difference with our lives.  Knowing what that is makes life so much more meaningful than just living for one’s self. 

So spend some time with the Lord and let Him lead you through a time of soul search and self-evaluation.  He does have a calling for your life and He wants you to know it and to live it.

So why don’t you start today?           
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 14, 2018 at 12:42 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...
Post a Comment
Read more

“Sometimes we think we’re stuck simply because things are hard.”

A thought by Matt Perman, from his book, How to Get Unstuck (p. 52). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the That is a possible trap for many, isn’t it? Matt says, “But if you’re continuing to make progress and aren’t experiencing huge snags, you’re not stuck. Rather, you’re in a dip. “A dip is a temporary hard slog that you will get through if you keep pushing and don’t give up. And pushing through the hard slog is actually the fastest route to the destination. In these cases, you will be especially tempted to bail. Be discerning and able to identify that you’re in a legitimate dip and you’re not a failure.” Matt says another trap to be careful of, “Some people are stuck and don’t know it.” He goes on, “Everything can be going your way, going smoothly, and going quickly. Everything feels and seems wonderful. Yet... you are still headed toward a dead end, a form of getting stuck, if you are leaving God out of t...
Post a Comment
Read more