When You Get Locked Out Of Your Purpose….
Last Sunday morning, when I arrived about 8:00, to prepare everything for service, as I usually do, I unlocked the door and got the cart which I use to bring my key board, projector and laptop from my car to the stage, and then I normally proceed to set everything up. I do this every Sunday without any problems, but this time, when I had loaded everything on the cart and tried to open the door….IT WAS LOCKED AND I WAS LOCKED OUT! Understand, please, that we only have one key to the front door and it was now locked inside, and there I stood with all my equipment, outside, unable to get in, with no way to get to the key…..fortunately, Allan, who works with the School system, has a master key of his own…..So, he drove over and unlocked the door so I could get in! I share this with you, because first, I was locked out of my purpose! Second, I felt as though I had no control over what had locked me out of my purpose and could not, in my own strength, finish my purpose! Third, there was someone who had a master key, who could re-open the door to my purpose for being there!
As a nation, tomorrow will be celebrated as Memorial Day, & in Washington D.C., among many other places, folks will gather at the World War two Memorial to remember & honor all those who served..
Then a few days later we Americans, & many among the allied nations of WW 2, will pause again to mark the Anniversary of D-Day (1944), & to remember the events of that day, when thousands fought and died on the beach of Normandy and in the ongoing conflict. We will be expressing our debt on the anniversary of those who paid the ultimate price for that victory.
During President Ronald Reagan’s term as president, he provided inspirational leadership to our nation during the cold war period. And I reference him this morning, because I want us to consider something he said, at a Memorial Day gathering for a grateful nation, and it’s something which is engraved upon his tombstone….
He said, “I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will eventually triumph. Because I know that there is purpose & worth to each & every life.”
I checked on the internet and found that over the past 3,400 years, of recorded history, we humans have only been entirely at peace for just 268 of those years… that means we have had peace just 8 percent of all recorded history. At least 108 million people were killed in wars in the twentieth century alone. The best estimates for the total number of people killed in wars throughout all of human history range from 150 million to 1 billion. Our world has had a history of turmoil and upheaval…..The bible says that men shall cry, “peace, peace but there is no peace”….
Have you ever asked yourself, "Why did God permit me to wake up this morning? Why is my heart still beating? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence?" With all the horror and terrible conditions in the world, why was I allowed to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave…..America! If we haven’t asked those questions, we need to, because there is a reason why God has permitted you & me to be here at this time and this place. We have a greater purpose!
With all it’s flaws and failings, we are still allowed to meet openly and safely here today, to worship and to serve God according to the dictates of our heart….to express our faith, to witness for Christ and to example & share our faith, without fear of imprisonment or torture!
In the O.T. book of Ecclesi-astes, King Solomon talks about negative results that arise when we have no sense of purpose. King Solomon, if anyone, should have known the answer. I mean, Solomon had it all. He had money more than he could ever spend in many life times. He had possessions more than he could ever enjoy. He had wives more than he could ever please.
He even had wisdom far greater than anyone else in his day. He had it all. Yet for a while, at least, he didn’t have a real grasp on the purpose of life, and he went through some dark and fearful days, when he was locked out of his purpose. Could it be that the most devastating wars that effect all of us, could be the ones within ourselves, that rage within our own souls?
Let me suggest, 6 subtle internal conflicts that could be sabotaging your life purpose…(1).Worrying about things you can do nothing about…. (2).Blaming anyone and anything for your results….(3). Expecting perfection from yourself or others …(4).Telling yourself that you can’t do it….(5). Jumping to conclusions without any facts to back it up…and last but not least (6). Procrastinating, putting off till tomorrow what you should be doing today… When you don’t know the purpose of your life, then life can be empty and it can become very meaningless. In Ecclesiastes 1:2 Solomon writes despairingly, “Meaningless! Meaningless!... Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Without a guiding purpose, life doesn’t make much sense at all!
When you don’t know the purpose of your life, then life can be an endless series of dead ends and bridges to nowhere…
Solomon gets over into his whiney voice and says such things as, The sun rises & the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises,"…. "The wind blows to the south and returns to the north, in an endless cycle, around and around it goes...” Solomon feels like life is a treadmill or a merry go round going round & round, yet never getting anywhere, a lot of motion, but never making any progress…..And Solomon gives this response in vs. 8, "All things are wearisome, more than words can say (or It’s all just wearing me out)." Notice he says with his whiney voice in verse 8, "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor does the ear have its fill of hearing." When you don’t know the purpose of your life, you never seem to ever be really satisfied, regardless what you do or how much you have. We always want more and more is still never enough. We have gone from 10" black & white picture tubes to giant high-definition screens, with stereo phonic, surround sound. But we’re still not content. Put a 300 channel remote control in our hands & we’ll run through all the channels and still be looking for more. Because the things of life never really satisfy unless you know your purpose for living. When you don’t know your purpose, your life can get out of balance real quick, and things and people, lose their value and insignificance. Relationships and life goals are set adrift….The power of love can become the love of power…you start loving things and using people, instead of loving people and using things for the cause of the kingdom…. Jesus didn’t die for your car, your house, your job or your bank account….He died for the souls of men and women…to put other things before that, is out of balance! Listen to vs. 11, he says "There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” (in other words, it’s all for nothing anyway) Tony Campola said, "If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family & friends will be eating fried chicken and potato salad, telling jokes, moving on with their lives, and you’ll be history." (don’t you feel better already, after hearing that)? Now I don’t know about you, but that can be down- right depressing, if you don’t know your purpose)
When Solomon is describing that period of time when he got locked out of his purpose, he is describing an empty, meaningless, frustrating, futile, insignificant, out of control life that has lost sight of what is really important and valuable. Now if that in any way describes your life in any area, I want you to know that God has the master key of purpose for your life & for mine. Listen to this passage in God’s Word, from the Message Bible… Ephesians 1:4&5 "Long before He laid down earth’s foundation, He had us in mind. He had settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole & holy by His love." This verse tells you and me, that long, long ago, even before He created the heavens & the earth, God had our purpose in mind.
Everything changed for me at 15 years of age, I felt locked out of my purpose….no matter how much I banged on the door, it didn’t seem to matter and life was meaningless. I felt that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was then that my pastor took a group of us to Youth Camp in West Virginia, for a two week spiritual adventure. Following chapel service where we were challenged to go deeper in God, a group of my buddies and myself, really got into prayer, we prayed all night, when God broke through into my life and in a vision, He came to me with His call upon my life to the ministry….
With His master key, He opened the door of my purpose and let me enter into an exciting new world of His plan for my life!!! He holds the key to every door and can get you where you need to be from any place you happen to be! After all He touched the globe from a tiny dot on the map, called Jerusalem, with a group of ordinary folks like you and me.
You may remember the rope I used to illustrate that God has an eternal purpose in mind for us, not just a purpose for this brief physical lifetime. I put a piece of red tape on the end of a 40 foot rope and we could see that the 1 inch wide piece of red tape represented our physical life while we are here on earth…that life may be 70, 80, or even more than 90 years, but it’s just a tiny little speck on the register of our complete life, which goes way beyond what we can imagine or even comprehend, because we’re going to live forever….that rope stretches on into eternity…that’s who we are...one little speed bump is nothing! this life and the things of life may come crashing into you like a freight train…and try to derail you, but if you know your eternal (forever) purpose, you will keep coming back stronger and better than ever! Because you have begun to live your life in the light of eternity!
The way you talk, and the way you view everything is a good mirror, that reveals whither or not you understand your true purpose….Your attitude as you go through the day and deal with negative situations, tells the world that you do or you don’t know your purpose. You wake up in the morning and you either say “Oh God, it’s morning”….or you say Hallelujah Lord, it’s morning!!!!
Everyone has struggles, but if you see that Satan is just trying to get you to give up, lay down and surrender the God given outcome that is ahead for you, then you’ll understand that Satan is afraid of your purpose, and if you stick with it, he knows that you’ll tear up His kingdom!!!! Hebrews 12:1 “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily distracts and hinders us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us v2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”
Everything changes when we see life and the world the way God sees it! It is then, that we begin to attain the unattainable and we begin to see that things which seemed impossible are still possible!….Instead of seeing closed doors everywhere, we begin to see the one who said, “I am the door, I am the wayl….Enter by Me”!!! Philippians 3:12 “It is not as though I had already attained, or that I have already reached perfection, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. v13 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, v14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. v15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, have this mind and if in anything we are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto us. v16 whatever level we have already attained, let us walk in that truth, and let us mind the same thing”.
When Paul says to forget those things which are behind that we may reach for those things which ahead… he’s addressing that work of sanctification that separates us from something and joins us to something else.. It is that transformative work which sets us apart for our eternal purpose, as we separate ourselves from the shortcomings, failures, and mistakes of the past, and enter the realms of His freedom and liberty, to fulfill God’s high calling! No matter where you’ve been and what has happened, God only sees what you are destined to become and to do, as a result of who you are and He offers you the master key to unlock the door of your purpose!
I want to give you 4 things that God wants us to do with the years that we have while we’re still on this earth.
The first one is this. God wants me to get to know Him. Now, If I’m a part of His family that makes sense. Since He is my heavenly Father, and I am going to spend all eternity with Him, He would like me to know Him. Peter got a revelation of Him as he was sinking and that revelation allowed him to walk on top what was overwhelming him…..Mary got a revelation of Him as he transformed her life from prostitute, to disciple of Christ….the thief on the cross who was waiting for the end, found a new beginning….the sick and afflicted discovered the healer….Lazarus was dead when He found out he could live again with life more abundantly….and He’s moving in your direction right now, to give you a fresh revelation of Himself…..
This cry erupts from the soul and spirit of the great apostle of the faith, in Philippians 3:10 (Message Bible) “I have given up all that inferior stuff so that I might know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him beyond death itself. v11 If there is any way to get in on the resurrection, I want to do it, that I may know Him…”
How do you get to know someone? Well, you spend time with them, talk with them, listen to them and do everything you can to just be with them. TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM!
The 2nd thing that God wants me to do is to become like Christ. Winnie and I have been married so long, we finish each other’s sentences… We have shaped one another’s lives….She has made me a more considerate, sensitive and caring person (sometimes)….and I have put a sense of unpredictability, adventure, and the willingness to take risks into her! We give boundaries and a sense of direction to one another’s lives.
Speaking of that likeness, Someone said to me the other day… “I can see so much of the two of you in your children’s lives”.. That’s the greatest compliment any parent can get!!!! (if it’s in a good way…).
We can see this in 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, it does not yet appear what we shall be…but we know that when He reveals Himself, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”.
It’s one thing to know someone, but it’s another thing to understand them…..The word “know” is the Hebrew “Yada”….to have intimate knowledge which translates into “understanding”. To put yourself in the place of someone else…..that’s called compassion!
Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them….
Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight..
Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto him, be thou clean….
Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, whose son had died, and he had compassion on her v14 And He touched the casket and said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (Compassion will take you places you would never go otherwise, and cause you to do things you never thought possible)!
I can know about riding a bike, but only when I RIDE THE BIKE, do I “UNDERSTAND” bike riding! RIDE CHILD OF GOD, RIDE!!!! Last on my list of things that God has me here to do, is to share my life’s purpose with others.
You see, the meaning of life is to discover and develop your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away….
God did not call angels to share the good news of the gospel of Christ, He gave that privilege to you and me. God needs a body in the earth, through which He can show Himself and demonstrate Himself to the world. NEWS FLASH…..It’s Christ in you, the hope of Glory!
If you can’t figure out your purpose, then figure out your passion, for your passion will lead you right into your purpose!
When David Wilkerson was called of God and given a passion to take the gospel to the gangs of New York….he was confronted by Nicky Cruz, the leader of the dreaded Mau-Maus … Nicky’s father was a satanic priest, and when David told him that God loved him and Jesus died for him….Nicky said, I’m going to take this switch blade and cut you into a hundred pieces, then what will you do…..David said, “every piece will cry out, Jesus loves you and I love you”…. As a result of that meeting Nicky met with David and received Christ as his savior!
You better know your eternal purpose if you’re gonna do that!!!!
W.A. Dromgool wrote these words…..An old man, traveled a lonely way, And came at evening cold & gray,To a chasm deep & wide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, for the swollen stream held no fear for him, but he turned when he reached the other side, and started building a bridge to span the tide. "Old man," cried a fellow pilgrim near, "You’re wasting your strength trying to build here. Your journey will end with the close of day, and you never again will come back this way. You have crossed the chasm deep & wide. Why do you build a bridge at eventide?"
And the builder raised his old gray head.. "Good friend, on the path I have come," he said, there follows after me today, a youth who even now is coming this way. This stream, which has been as nothing to me,
to that young person a pitfall could be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim, good friend, I am building this bridge for him."
When Jesus opened the tomb, and marched out, He came out with the master key that would unlock the door of your purpose! He built a bridge that connected the Father’s plan with our God given destiny!
And He said in Matthew 16:19 “I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”.
Your God given purpose is the place where heaven and earth come together and embrace one another, so that God’s Divine plan in the earth, as it is in heaven, may be done!
Just as I was locked outside last Sunday, maybe there are some places where you feel locked out of your purpose…. What is it that is keeping you locked out? Maybe, like the disciples, it’s fear. Maybe it’s all the questions that you don’t have answers for, or disbelief, or the conditions you have placed where God never put conditions…...Perhaps it’s sorrow or a loss you’ve suffered. Maybe the wounds are so deep it doesn’t seem worth the risk to try again.
He stands before you with the master key that can open every locked door! He’s here today to give us all we need, so we can open the doors to a new life, a new creation, a new way of doing life and a new way of being. He may not change all the circumstances of your life and your world, but He enables us come out from under all our stuff, and live through those situations as a complete person, fulfilled, with inner peace, joy that comes from another dimension, and with eternal perspective!
It’s time to step outside the limits, to take the lid off, to stretch and enlarge your boundaries!
The bible says that after Jesus was placed in the tomb…..the disciples lost their purpose….they lost their direction….they came under the power of fear, doubt and confusion….They locked themselves in a room with fear as their companion…..
John 2019 “The disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, they had locked all the doors in the house.
Suddenly Jesus was with them, He stood among them, and said, "Peace be unto you." v20 Then He showed them His hands and side. v21 then Jesus repeated His greeting: "Peace be unto you. Just as the Father has sent me, I send you." v22 Then He took a deep breath and breathed into them and said. "Receive the Holy Spirit". (They received the power for their purpose)
In a moment, their purpose was unlocked, and they were given understanding by the Spirit. Shortly after this, they gathered in an upper room and came out with the Power of the Holy Spirit’s anointing resting on their lives and 3,000 were added to the Church in one day!
They received “Dunamis”, to overwhelm what had overwhelmed them…They received “Ischus”, the ability to cause little to become much… They received “Exuesia”, the delegated authority to do the works Christ.. and they received “Kratos”, to be unstoppable as they did the Father’s will in the earth…..
He has the “Power for your Purpose” available today….Let God renew your calling and purpose…..come into His glorious liberty! He is opening the door for you to walk through….
Zechariah 4:6 “It’s not by might nor by power, but it is by My Spirit, says the Lord”
