Thursday, January 27, 2011
Age discrimination
After 13 years of marriage and being separated for 6 years I was 17 when I marry conceived on my debut year. After having 6 babies now and failures in in marriage and a relationship with an american it was just a day ago that I went trying to get a job. I once opened my portfolio checking all my diploma and transcript. Everything just came back to me. Making my first resume was a hard task for me. I even hardly remember the year I graduated and years Ive taken classes in schools I went. I asked my self "Will someone hire me". Thinking of the fact the word "hiring"
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
"A day to remember, A Hero was born" Part One
An Ambassador of Goodwill
A big heart, God's Child, a dearest daughter, a sweet wife, a loving mother, caring sister, a dedicated and sincere person.
When I hear my ex-husband asked “Can you get me a pair of new white shoes pls , here is a thousand”. It was used for the motif of my dear sister-in-law’s funeral on that day. First thing that came to my mind is Ate Edna. Something inside me that pinches my heart, I remember Ate Edna. At the Adjacent side of the room I felt her presence and the presssure of those heartbreaking word. No one can ever give him another pair of shoes. Though its been long time since we last separated from her half-brother and from the family the ties remains I was the sole witness of her love to the people and her family. The love and dedication she have is never said to be taken for granted. How she runs out for someone inside the family who got a simple case like flu is the same concern she had for her patients. One time when she woke up and just got out of the room she used to greet us how are we and if we have eaten already then after knowing about another health case inside the family she did not bother herself getting a breakfast first before entertaining she immediately run towards us and sit and listen and consulted then run back to her room (as if she was in the emergency room in a hospital) to get medicines inorder for me to take the meds. Eversince I see this woman I see an angel. I can't take my eyes off her she is like having a charisma that comforts people, that makes us attend to her and listen. Again tears was squeezed out from my heart, tears that tells how we will miss her”. I am just a sister-in-law but to her she considered me a real sister just like she considers every person who consulted for her help a part of the family. That she wanted to save.
When I hear my ex-husband asked “Can you get me a pair of new white shoes pls , here is a thousand”. It was used for the motif of my dear sister-in-law’s funeral on that day. First thing that came to my mind is Ate Edna. Something inside me that pinches my heart, I remember Ate Edna. At the Adjacent side of the room I felt her presence and the presssure of those heartbreaking word. No one can ever give him another pair of shoes. Though its been long time since we last separated from her half-brother and from the family the ties remains I was the sole witness of her love to the people and her family. The love and dedication she have is never said to be taken for granted. How she runs out for someone inside the family who got a simple case like flu is the same concern she had for her patients. One time when she woke up and just got out of the room she used to greet us how are we and if we have eaten already then after knowing about another health case inside the family she did not bother herself getting a breakfast first before entertaining she immediately run towards us and sit and listen and consulted then run back to her room (as if she was in the emergency room in a hospital) to get medicines inorder for me to take the meds. Eversince I see this woman I see an angel. I can't take my eyes off her she is like having a charisma that comforts people, that makes us attend to her and listen. Again tears was squeezed out from my heart, tears that tells how we will miss her”. I am just a sister-in-law but to her she considered me a real sister just like she considers every person who consulted for her help a part of the family. That she wanted to save.
Yes, Eddie Morgan is right when he said “ You could never replace her”. He was her patient for 10 years said “ she saved me twice”, once when she treated him after a near over-dose in prescription pills and again when his appendix raptured. He said “ I can’t think of another doctor to replace her. “You could never replace her”. “Dra. Edna Almaden Makabenta” A popular Filipino- American Medical practitioner well-loved by the community, her patients, family and friends. She was 49 years old a good wife and doting mother of three, whose life was inanely ended at the prime of her life and peak of her career. She was the doctor who's life ended on the spot in her examination room in her office Monday 12th of January in Las Vegas Nevada. Before it happened she kept on saying “I will go home in January” that’s why everytime I went to my father-in-law to visit and asked permission to go home he always clarifies it again ” Where are you going home?” though he knows where I am living. I answered “ at home” then he will insist again to asked “where?” with a voice that needs clarification. I was trying to grab something then finally I answer” I will be going home to Lapaz”. By then he said with a contented heart hearing it” That’s what I want to hear you have to clarify what home you are talking about”. On the late afternoon 12th of January a man whom I usually see inside the family occasions came and knock on my door telling me “Tatay asked me to come and tell you Ate Edna is dead”. I couldn’t understand that but I know what ‘dead’ means. I was speechless for a moment. The only thing that comes out from my mouth is “Why” then I started crying.
My life story (at its turning point)
Today I realized that I wasn't the worst person I thought I am for not having a successful relationship on my past marriage and to whoever ived hurted. I didn't mean to be hurtful. Actually its me who ends up on my knees each and every time I fail a relationship. I love sincerely why it hurts me more. I listened to Dr. Charles Stanley today the message was about "conflict" and when it arrived to how to deal with it it tells about what a good listener is.I started crying cuz i never realized I am a good listener.Its one thing that my AUNT is proud of me about "I never answer back" (facing a roaring lion I just stand still with my head down and listens..with endless tears silently weeps and never tries to explain myself) I understand she cares why she tries to make me realize the failures in my life like failing my parents highest expectations from me, finishing college before marrying. Everything comes back to me when my Aunt was saying things to me about why i have to give food to the street children to spend some of my extra money that Christmas time she was really mad that time that she almost want to throw the glass she was holding 'cuz i just nod my head and cry. She couldn't understand why 'cuz on my bad times i always run to her. She told me I should have made a party at home and invite all my relatives. While she was saying that I saw a successful woman who easily can make money i was seeing the ideal person i wanna be someday but at the same time I pity her despite of her success in life she cant understand why i want to share to the people who haven't done anything and cant do anything for me in return. Its really hard watching ur loved ones hurted and that you cant even explain to them because u rather look bad than to hurt them more by telling they are wrong.
And to one of the member here in cb who e-mailed also makes me realize that I am hard to find. And in his great age he knows what a good wife is. Someone who wants to share the simplest things in life like walking holding hands going to the beach maintaining the house clean and rubbing the back and knowing that their partner no longer have a s drive of a 20 year old man. Having 13 years of marriage life i did all i can to iron things and make things work just to give my kids a father and mother living in one roof since I came from a broken family and i grew up with my grandma. But it seems not all we planned and worked for works. And I am thankful I got a chance to read Rick Warrens "Purpose Driven Life". There's a bigger picture that awaits us in the future.
And to one of the member here in cb who e-mailed also makes me realize that I am hard to find. And in his great age he knows what a good wife is. Someone who wants to share the simplest things in life like walking holding hands going to the beach maintaining the house clean and rubbing the back and knowing that their partner no longer have a s drive of a 20 year old man. Having 13 years of marriage life i did all i can to iron things and make things work just to give my kids a father and mother living in one roof since I came from a broken family and i grew up with my grandma. But it seems not all we planned and worked for works. And I am thankful I got a chance to read Rick Warrens "Purpose Driven Life". There's a bigger picture that awaits us in the future.
Made to Last Forever
Made to Last Forever
This life is not all there is.
Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal
before the real production. You will spend far
more time on the other side of death—in
eternity—than you will here. Earth is the
staging area, the preschool, the tryout for your
life in eternity. It is the practice workout before
the actual game; the warm-up lap before the
race begins. This life is preparation for the
next.
At most, you will live a hundred years on
earth, but you will spend forever in eternity.
Your time on earth is, as Sir Thomas Browne
said, “but a small parenthesis in eternity.” You
were made to last forever.
The Bible says, “God has planted eternity in
the human heart.”
You have an inborn instinct
that longs for immortality. This is because God
designed you, in his image, to live for eternity.
Even though we know everyone eventually
dies, death always seems unnatural and unfair.
The reason we feel we should live forever is that
God wired our brains with that desire!
One day your heart will stop beating. That
will be the end of your body and your time on
earth, but it will not be the end of you. Your
earthly body is just a temporary residence for
your spirit. God’s Word calls your earthly body
0310264839_whatonearth.qxd 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 28“a tent,” but refers to your future body in
heaven as “a house.” The Bible says, “When
this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is
torn down, God will have a house in heaven for
us to live in, a home he himself has made, which
will last forever.”
While life on earth offers many choices,
eternity offers only two choices: heaven or hell.
Your relationship to God on earth will
determine your relationship to him in
eternity. If you learn to love and trust God’s
Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest
of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you
reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you
will spend eternity apart from God.
The brilliant Oxford professor and author
C. S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of
people: those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’
and those to whom God says, ‘All right then,
have it your way.’” Tragically, many people will
have to endure eternity without God because
they chose to live without him here on earth.
When you fully comprehend that there is
more to life than just here and now, and you
realize that life is just preparation for eternity,
you will begin to live differently on a daily basis.
You will start living in light of eternity, and that
will color how you handle every relationship,
every task, and every circumstance. Suddenly
many activities, goals, and even problems that
seemed so important will appear trivial, petty,
and unworthy of your attention. The closer you
live to God, the smaller everything else appears.
When you live in light of eternity, your values
change. You use your time and money more
wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth
or achievements or even fun. Your priorities are
reordered. Keeping up with trends, fashions,
and popular values just doesn’t matter as much
anymore. St. Paul said, “I once thought all these
things were so very important, but now I consider
them worthless because of what Christ has done.”
If your time on earth were all there is to your
life, I would suggest you start living it up
immediately. You could forget being good and
ethical, and you wouldn’t have to worry about
any consequences of your actions. You could
indulge yourself in total self-centeredness
because your actions would have no long-term
repercussions. But—and this makes all the
difference—death is not the end of you! Death
is not your termination, but your transition into
eternity, so there are eternal consequences to
everything you do on earth. Every act of our
lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in
eternity.
The most damaging aspect of contemporary living is short-term thinking. To
make the most of your life, you must keep the
vision of eternity continually in your mind and
the value of it in your heart. There’s far more
to life than just here and now! Today is the
visible tip of the iceberg. Eternity is all the rest
you don’t see underneath the surface.
What is it going to be like in eternity with
God? Frankly, the capacity of our brains cannot
handle the wonder and greatness of heaven. It
would be like trying to describe the Internet to
an ant. It’s futile. Words have not been invented
that could possibly convey the experience of
eternity. The Bible says, “No mere man has ever
seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful
things God has ready for those who love the Lord.”
However, God has given us glimpses of
eternity in his Word. We know that right now
God is preparing an eternal home for us. In
heaven we will be reunited with loved ones who
are believers, released from all pain and suffering, rewarded for our faithfulness on earth,
and reassigned to do work that we will enjoy
doing. We won’t lie around on clouds with halos
playing harps! We will enjoy unbroken fellowship with God, and he will enjoy us for an
unlimited, endless forever. One day Jesus will
say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.”
C. S. Lewis captured the concept of eternity
on the last page of the Chronicles of Narnia,
his seven-book children’s fiction series: “For us
this is the end of all the stories. . . . But for them
it was only the beginning of the real story. All
their life in this world . . . had only been the
cover and the title page: now at last they were
beginning Chapter One of the Great Story,
which no one on earth has read, which goes on
for ever, and in which every chapter is better
than the one before.”
God has a purpose for your life on earth, but
it doesn’t end here. His plan involves far more
than the few decades you will spend on this
planet. It’s more than “the opportunity of a
lifetime”; God offers you an opportunity
beyond your lifetime. The Bible says, “[God’s]
plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.”
The only time most people think about eternity is at funerals, and then it’s often shallow,
sentimental thinking, based on ignorance. You
may feel it’s morbid to think about death, but
actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death
and not consider what is inevitable.
Only a fool
would go through life unprepared for what we
all know will eventually happen. You need to
think more about eternity, not less.
Just as the nine months you spent in your
mother’s womb were not an end in themselves
but preparation for life, so this life is preparation
for the next. If you have a relationship with God
through Jesus, you don’t need to fear death. It
is the door to eternity. It will be the last hour of
your time on earth, but it won’t be the last of
you. Rather than being the end of your life, it
will be your birthday into eternal life. The Bible
says, “This world is not our home; we are looking
forward to our everlasting home in heaven.”
Measured against eternity, your time on earth
is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of
it will last forever. The deeds of this life are the
destiny of the next. We should be “realizing that
every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is
time spent away from our eternal home in heaven
with Jesus.”
Years ago a popular slogan encouraged
people to live each day as “the first day of the
rest of your life.” Actually, it would be wiser to
live each day as if it were the last day of your
life. It ought to be the business of every day to
prepare for our final day.
Point to Ponder: This life is not all there is.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Why do you think God made us to last forever?
Why do we spend more time worrying about what won’t last and so little time preparing for eternity, which will last forever?
What are you doing right now to prepare for eternity
This life is not all there is.
Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal
before the real production. You will spend far
more time on the other side of death—in
eternity—than you will here. Earth is the
staging area, the preschool, the tryout for your
life in eternity. It is the practice workout before
the actual game; the warm-up lap before the
race begins. This life is preparation for the
next.
At most, you will live a hundred years on
earth, but you will spend forever in eternity.
Your time on earth is, as Sir Thomas Browne
said, “but a small parenthesis in eternity.” You
were made to last forever.
The Bible says, “God has planted eternity in
the human heart.”
You have an inborn instinct
that longs for immortality. This is because God
designed you, in his image, to live for eternity.
Even though we know everyone eventually
dies, death always seems unnatural and unfair.
The reason we feel we should live forever is that
God wired our brains with that desire!
One day your heart will stop beating. That
will be the end of your body and your time on
earth, but it will not be the end of you. Your
earthly body is just a temporary residence for
your spirit. God’s Word calls your earthly body
0310264839_whatonearth.qxd 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 28“a tent,” but refers to your future body in
heaven as “a house.” The Bible says, “When
this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is
torn down, God will have a house in heaven for
us to live in, a home he himself has made, which
will last forever.”
While life on earth offers many choices,
eternity offers only two choices: heaven or hell.
Your relationship to God on earth will
determine your relationship to him in
eternity. If you learn to love and trust God’s
Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest
of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you
reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you
will spend eternity apart from God.
The brilliant Oxford professor and author
C. S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of
people: those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’
and those to whom God says, ‘All right then,
have it your way.’” Tragically, many people will
have to endure eternity without God because
they chose to live without him here on earth.
When you fully comprehend that there is
more to life than just here and now, and you
realize that life is just preparation for eternity,
you will begin to live differently on a daily basis.
You will start living in light of eternity, and that
will color how you handle every relationship,
every task, and every circumstance. Suddenly
many activities, goals, and even problems that
seemed so important will appear trivial, petty,
and unworthy of your attention. The closer you
live to God, the smaller everything else appears.
When you live in light of eternity, your values
change. You use your time and money more
wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth
or achievements or even fun. Your priorities are
reordered. Keeping up with trends, fashions,
and popular values just doesn’t matter as much
anymore. St. Paul said, “I once thought all these
things were so very important, but now I consider
them worthless because of what Christ has done.”
If your time on earth were all there is to your
life, I would suggest you start living it up
immediately. You could forget being good and
ethical, and you wouldn’t have to worry about
any consequences of your actions. You could
indulge yourself in total self-centeredness
because your actions would have no long-term
repercussions. But—and this makes all the
difference—death is not the end of you! Death
is not your termination, but your transition into
eternity, so there are eternal consequences to
everything you do on earth. Every act of our
lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in
eternity.
The most damaging aspect of contemporary living is short-term thinking. To
make the most of your life, you must keep the
vision of eternity continually in your mind and
the value of it in your heart. There’s far more
to life than just here and now! Today is the
visible tip of the iceberg. Eternity is all the rest
you don’t see underneath the surface.
What is it going to be like in eternity with
God? Frankly, the capacity of our brains cannot
handle the wonder and greatness of heaven. It
would be like trying to describe the Internet to
an ant. It’s futile. Words have not been invented
that could possibly convey the experience of
eternity. The Bible says, “No mere man has ever
seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful
things God has ready for those who love the Lord.”
However, God has given us glimpses of
eternity in his Word. We know that right now
God is preparing an eternal home for us. In
heaven we will be reunited with loved ones who
are believers, released from all pain and suffering, rewarded for our faithfulness on earth,
and reassigned to do work that we will enjoy
doing. We won’t lie around on clouds with halos
playing harps! We will enjoy unbroken fellowship with God, and he will enjoy us for an
unlimited, endless forever. One day Jesus will
say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.”
C. S. Lewis captured the concept of eternity
on the last page of the Chronicles of Narnia,
his seven-book children’s fiction series: “For us
this is the end of all the stories. . . . But for them
it was only the beginning of the real story. All
their life in this world . . . had only been the
cover and the title page: now at last they were
beginning Chapter One of the Great Story,
which no one on earth has read, which goes on
for ever, and in which every chapter is better
than the one before.”
God has a purpose for your life on earth, but
it doesn’t end here. His plan involves far more
than the few decades you will spend on this
planet. It’s more than “the opportunity of a
lifetime”; God offers you an opportunity
beyond your lifetime. The Bible says, “[God’s]
plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.”
The only time most people think about eternity is at funerals, and then it’s often shallow,
sentimental thinking, based on ignorance. You
may feel it’s morbid to think about death, but
actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death
and not consider what is inevitable.
Only a fool
would go through life unprepared for what we
all know will eventually happen. You need to
think more about eternity, not less.
Just as the nine months you spent in your
mother’s womb were not an end in themselves
but preparation for life, so this life is preparation
for the next. If you have a relationship with God
through Jesus, you don’t need to fear death. It
is the door to eternity. It will be the last hour of
your time on earth, but it won’t be the last of
you. Rather than being the end of your life, it
will be your birthday into eternal life. The Bible
says, “This world is not our home; we are looking
forward to our everlasting home in heaven.”
Measured against eternity, your time on earth
is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of
it will last forever. The deeds of this life are the
destiny of the next. We should be “realizing that
every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is
time spent away from our eternal home in heaven
with Jesus.”
Years ago a popular slogan encouraged
people to live each day as “the first day of the
rest of your life.” Actually, it would be wiser to
live each day as if it were the last day of your
life. It ought to be the business of every day to
prepare for our final day.
Point to Ponder: This life is not all there is.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Why do you think God made us to last forever?
Why do we spend more time worrying about what won’t last and so little time preparing for eternity, which will last forever?
What are you doing right now to prepare for eternity
What Drives your life
What Drives Your Life?
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? Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. Here are five common ones: Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. In the Bible, when a man named Cain killed his brother, his guilt disconnected
him from feeling God’s presence, and God said, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 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 never limited by your past. He turned a murderer
named Moses into a compassionate leader, and
a coward named Gideon into a courageous
hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest
of your life, too. God specializes in giving people
a fresh start. The Bible says, “What happiness for
those whose guilt has been forgiven. . . What relief
for those who have confessed their sins and God has
cleared their record.”
Many people are driven by resentment.
They hold on to their 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 past,
perpetuating the pain.
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. God’s Word says, “To
worry yourself to death with resentment would be
a foolish, senseless thing to do.”
Many people are driven by fear. These fears
may be a result of a traumatic experience, an
unrealistic expectation, growing up in a highcontrol 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. The only way to defeat fear is to move
against it with the spiritual weapons of faith
and love. The Bible says, “Well-formed love
banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful
life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not
yet fully formed in love.”
Many people are driven by materialism.
Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal
of their lives. This drive to always get more is
based on the misconception that having more
will make me more happy, 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 a
newer, bigger, better version.
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. God says the most valuable
things in life are not things!
The most common myth about money is
that having more will make me more secure. It
won’t. Wealth can be lost instantly through avariety of uncontrollable factors. Real security
can only be found in that which can never be
taken from you—your relationship to God.
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. Many adults are
still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable
parents. 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 other is a guaranteed way to miss God’s
purposes for your life. Jesus said, “No one can
serve two masters.”
There are other forces that can drive your
life, but they all lead to the same dead end:
unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an
unfulfilled life.
That’s why nothing matters more than
knowing God’s purpose for your life, and
nothing can compensate for not knowing it—
not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without
a purpose, life is motion without meaning,
activity without direction, and events without
reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty,
and pointless.
This booklet will introduce you to the five
purposes you were created for, but first let’s
look at some of the practical benefits of living
a purpose-driven life:
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 meaning, nothing is bearable.
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. Isaiah complained, “I have
labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in
vain and for nothing.”
Job said, “My life drags
by—day after hopeless day”
and “I give up; I
am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes
no sense.”
The greatest tragedy is not death,
but life without purpose.
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.”
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 live 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, “I know
what I am planning for you. . . . I have good plans
for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope
and a good future.’”
You may feel you are
facing an impossible situation, but the Bible
says, “God . . . is able to do far more than we
would ever dare to ask or even dream of—
infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires,
thoughts, or hopes.”
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 to 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 try 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
wasting your time in some way. Purpose-driven
living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner
schedule. The Bible says, “A pretentious, showy
life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a
full life.”
It also leads to peace of mind: “You,
Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you.”
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.
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, “Don’t
live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.”
The power of focusing can be seen in light.
Diffused light has little power or impact, but
you can concentrate its energy by focusing it.
With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can
be focused to set grass or paper on fire. 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. One of the most effective leaders in the Bible, St. Paul, said, “I am
focusing all my energies on this one thing:
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what
lies ahead.”
Have you done that?
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
what matters most. Never confuse activity with
productivity. You can be busy without a
purpose, but what’s the point? “Let’s keep
focused on that goal, those of us who want
everything God has for us.”
Knowing your purpose energizes your
life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing
motivates 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.”
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. Yet, what
ultimately matters 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. I once read of
a college student whose only 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! That man said, “Given enough time,
all your trophies will be trashed by someone else!”
He was right.
Living to create an earthly legacy is a shortsighted 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,
“Remember, each of us will stand personally
before the judgment seat of God. . . . Yes, each of
us will have to give a personal account 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 your 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, “I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.”
God wants you to
get to know, love, and trust his Son, Jesus,
whom he sent to earth to show us what God is
like and to forgive and save us.
Second, “What did you do with your
life?” What did you do with all that God gave
you—all your gifts, talents, opportunities,
energy, relationships, and resources? Did you
spend them on yourself, or did you use them
to fulfill God’s purposes for your life?
Preparing you for these two questions is the
goal of this booklet. The first question will
determine where you spend eternity—with
God or separated from God. The second
question will determine what you do in
eternity—your responsibilities and rewards in
heaven. By the end of this booklet you will be
ready to answer both questions.
Point to Ponder: What drives your life?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
If you asked your family and friends to describe what drives your life, what driving force or motivations would they mention?
Why do you think most people are not driven and guided by the purpose of their lives?
What habits, or hurts, or hang-ups, or fears might keep you from beginning to live out and enjoy God’s purpose for your life?
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? Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. Here are five common ones: Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. In the Bible, when a man named Cain killed his brother, his guilt disconnected
him from feeling God’s presence, and God said, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 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 never limited by your past. He turned a murderer
named Moses into a compassionate leader, and
a coward named Gideon into a courageous
hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest
of your life, too. God specializes in giving people
a fresh start. The Bible says, “What happiness for
those whose guilt has been forgiven. . . What relief
for those who have confessed their sins and God has
cleared their record.”
Many people are driven by resentment.
They hold on to their 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 past,
perpetuating the pain.
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. God’s Word says, “To
worry yourself to death with resentment would be
a foolish, senseless thing to do.”
Many people are driven by fear. These fears
may be a result of a traumatic experience, an
unrealistic expectation, growing up in a highcontrol 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. The only way to defeat fear is to move
against it with the spiritual weapons of faith
and love. The Bible says, “Well-formed love
banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful
life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not
yet fully formed in love.”
Many people are driven by materialism.
Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal
of their lives. This drive to always get more is
based on the misconception that having more
will make me more happy, 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 a
newer, bigger, better version.
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. God says the most valuable
things in life are not things!
The most common myth about money is
that having more will make me more secure. It
won’t. Wealth can be lost instantly through avariety of uncontrollable factors. Real security
can only be found in that which can never be
taken from you—your relationship to God.
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. Many adults are
still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable
parents. 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 other is a guaranteed way to miss God’s
purposes for your life. Jesus said, “No one can
serve two masters.”
There are other forces that can drive your
life, but they all lead to the same dead end:
unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an
unfulfilled life.
That’s why nothing matters more than
knowing God’s purpose for your life, and
nothing can compensate for not knowing it—
not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without
a purpose, life is motion without meaning,
activity without direction, and events without
reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty,
and pointless.
This booklet will introduce you to the five
purposes you were created for, but first let’s
look at some of the practical benefits of living
a purpose-driven life:
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 meaning, nothing is bearable.
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. Isaiah complained, “I have
labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in
vain and for nothing.”
Job said, “My life drags
by—day after hopeless day”
and “I give up; I
am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes
no sense.”
The greatest tragedy is not death,
but life without purpose.
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.”
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 live 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, “I know
what I am planning for you. . . . I have good plans
for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope
and a good future.’”
You may feel you are
facing an impossible situation, but the Bible
says, “God . . . is able to do far more than we
would ever dare to ask or even dream of—
infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires,
thoughts, or hopes.”
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 to 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 try 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
wasting your time in some way. Purpose-driven
living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner
schedule. The Bible says, “A pretentious, showy
life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a
full life.”
It also leads to peace of mind: “You,
Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their
purpose firm and put their trust in you.”
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.
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, “Don’t
live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.”
The power of focusing can be seen in light.
Diffused light has little power or impact, but
you can concentrate its energy by focusing it.
With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can
be focused to set grass or paper on fire. 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. One of the most effective leaders in the Bible, St. Paul, said, “I am
focusing all my energies on this one thing:
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what
lies ahead.”
Have you done that?
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
what matters most. Never confuse activity with
productivity. You can be busy without a
purpose, but what’s the point? “Let’s keep
focused on that goal, those of us who want
everything God has for us.”
Knowing your purpose energizes your
life. Purpose always produces passion. Nothing
motivates 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.”
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. Yet, what
ultimately matters 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. I once read of
a college student whose only 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! That man said, “Given enough time,
all your trophies will be trashed by someone else!”
He was right.
Living to create an earthly legacy is a shortsighted 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,
“Remember, each of us will stand personally
before the judgment seat of God. . . . Yes, each of
us will have to give a personal account 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 your 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, “I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.”
God wants you to
get to know, love, and trust his Son, Jesus,
whom he sent to earth to show us what God is
like and to forgive and save us.
Second, “What did you do with your
life?” What did you do with all that God gave
you—all your gifts, talents, opportunities,
energy, relationships, and resources? Did you
spend them on yourself, or did you use them
to fulfill God’s purposes for your life?
Preparing you for these two questions is the
goal of this booklet. The first question will
determine where you spend eternity—with
God or separated from God. The second
question will determine what you do in
eternity—your responsibilities and rewards in
heaven. By the end of this booklet you will be
ready to answer both questions.
Point to Ponder: What drives your life?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
If you asked your family and friends to describe what drives your life, what driving force or motivations would they mention?
Why do you think most people are not driven and guided by the purpose of their lives?
What habits, or hurts, or hang-ups, or fears might keep you from beginning to live out and enjoy God’s purpose for your life?
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