As we start a new year, Billy shares his thought for the week; living in the centre of God’s will.

I hope you’ve had a great Christmas, not too much turkey, not too much mince pies!

This is the time of year that we reflect as to what happened in 22 and looking forward to 2023. It’s a challenge for us because it’s important that we understand our purpose. There are two things important in our Christian lives, you’ve heard me speak in past weeks about them, and that is one, our identity, who am I? And the other is our destiny, why am I here? And so let me challenge you at the beginning of a new year, what is your purpose?

The Bible asks the question, what is life? And I must admit, as you get older, life just seems to fly by. And here we are, beginning of another year, 2023. But what is my purpose? When you look at Judah before they were exiled into Babylon, we read that the prophet, he spoke and challenged them about their destiny. And we read that Judah did not consider her destiny. And I think it’s good at the beginning of a new year that we consider our destiny, we consider our purpose. Why did God make me? Why am I here? Let us not run around aimlessly, not knowing what we’re going to do or what we are here for. You see, Jesus said,

my meat is to do the will of him who sent me.

John 4:34

In other words, he was saying, my food, my desire, my satisfaction in life comes by doing the will of him who sent me. And I pray that as your senior leader here at All Nations, my prayer is that you will live in the center of God’s will, not only in 23, but for the remainder of your life, that you will know and discover God’s purpose. It was Rick Warren who said, he said, we were born by his purpose, for his purpose. We came into our Christian faith not because of our own initiative, not because we were good, not because we did religious things. We were born by his purpose. It was his grace and his calling in our lives. And we were born for his purpose, by his purpose. And I pray that we will give God all the thanks as we approach a new year. He went on to say, he said, you will never discover life’s purpose by looking within yourself.

Your meat is not to find your own pleasure. Your meat is not to find your own satisfaction by doing your own things, but by doing the will of God. Rick said, you will never discover life’s purpose by looking within yourself. You will only discover life’s purpose by beginning with God. In our Western world, we are so consumerized. It’s all about me. What is in it for me? What’s my, what pleasure am I getting? God forbid that the core of our being and our lives is built on self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction. We ought to make God number one priority in our lives, seeking first the kingdom of God and glorifying him.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.