http://www.spiritualkindling.com/Site/Bible_Verses_on_Purpose/Bible_Verses_on_Purpose.html What the Bible Says About Purpose<br/><br/>Our purpose in life seldom comes to us in a sudden flash of insight. Usually, it is discovered a little at a time. It may be told to us by a mentor, close friend or relative who sees in us gifts the Lord can use. But in order to recognize the truth we have to be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,<br/>And light unto my path.” (Psalm 119: 105)<br/> iWeb 3.0.3 http://www.spiritualkindling.com/Site/Bible_Verses_on_Purpose/Entries/2008/8/7_The_Lamb_of_God__John_1__35-39.html 6d472016-497d-4ef6-9b42-2800aa13ba8f Thu, 7 Aug 2008 11:20:40 -0500 “The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.” http://www.spiritualkindling.com/Site/Bible_Verses_on_Purpose/Entries/2008/8/7_Finding_Our_Life%E2%80%99s_Purpose.html 7514becf-98a6-4adc-bf8d-c75002aaf8a4 Thu, 7 Aug 2008 08:50:46 -0500 What do you seek? If Jesus put the same question to you, how would you answer? What are your goals, your dreams? <br/><br/>If the past didn't exist and you didn't know who you were, what would you do differently in the coming year?<br/><br/>The question can be a troublesome one; especially, if you have an uneasy feeling that you have been put on this earth to accomplish some mission, which remains a mystery to you.<br/><br/>Yet, the Bible tells us, and our own experience confirms, those who discover their purpose in life accomplish great things in God's name. Jesus said His mission was to bring light to the darkness. It was a simple and direct mission statement, and as a result, He never wavered. <br/><br/>Christ could have done anything. He could have raised an army or built cathedrals. He could have written books, founded a school or sat in judgment on all of us. But, instead, He brought light to the darkness.<br/><br/>It's worth noting what Christ didn't do. He didn't say that His mission was to be a biblical scholar. That may have been one of His roles in life, but it wasn't His mission. Nor did He say that His mission was to be a great preacher. That may have been His job, but it wasn't His mission.<br/><br/>A mission involves an element of risk. It calls us out of ourselves. It requires a leap of faith.<br/><br/>Richard Bolles wrote in his book, “What Color Is Your Parachute?”, that we all enter life with three missions:<br/><br/>1. Our first mission is to recognize that we are human beings with the emphasis on “being” - - not “doing.” As such, we must accept ourselves with all our strengths and limitations, knowing that God has a plan for our life, one entrusted to us at birth. We must be true to ourselves.<br/><br/>2. Second, we must not only “be”, we must be “blessed.” To accomplish our life's work, we must place ourselves in God's presence each day and ask for the grace to know His will. Isn't that what the disciples do in today's Gospel? John tells us that they went off with Jesus and stayed with him. They spent the whole night being blessed. The next day they were so filled with the Holy Spirit - - with the knowledge that they had been blessed - - they went out and brought others to Christ.<br/><br/>3. Our third mission in life, which is to “be a blessing.” To be a blessing to all we meet . . . to bring them to Christ just as the disciples did.<br/><br/>To be, to be blessed and to be a blessing: if that is what each of us seeks in life, the future presents us with a great opportunity. It's an open book with hundreds of blank pages waiting for us to record what is to be.