October 16, 2025 • 27 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Grace for My Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken, and whata pleasure it is to be back with
you again this week.
I hope that you're having afantastic week.
My husband Michael and I, wejust returned from a long
weekend in Asheville, NorthCarolina.
It was such a wonderful trip.
We had a few days together,which we don't get to do very
(00:22):
often.
We visited some friends wholive near Asheville, and we went
hiking on a beautiful trail andjust had a great little quick
getaway.
And I'm so thankful we wereable to do that.
But there's no place like home.
I was ready to get back home.
I missed our boys, and I'm notso sure they missed us, but I
(00:44):
missed them.
And then we jumped right backinto real life.
I have a large event at theshop this week, and so I've been
spending most of the day todaygetting ready for that, baking,
and and just buying what we needand those kind of things.
This weekend we're going to ona college visit for my middle
(01:05):
son who's graduating this year,Luke, and we will see how that
goes.
So that's exciting.
Um, last week, in case youdidn't hear, last week I
announced that I am going tohave another covered in prayer
event on Saturday, November 15thfrom 5 to 7 p.m.
at Awakened Coffee Bar, andthat's in Mullen, South
(01:28):
Carolina.
We're gonna have a night ofprayer.
We're gonna gather together,share a meal together, and pray
with and for each other.
Last time it was specificallyfor moms, but this time it's
open to all women.
This event is sponsored byGrace from My Home, my blog and
podcast, and also ChristianFellowship Church, which is my
(01:50):
church, and Awakened Coffee Bar.
So if you live in or around theMons, South Carolina area, we
would so love to have you.
We would love for you to joinus.
I would love to meet you.
I'll leave the registrationlink in the show notes.
You can also find out moreinformation on my blog,
gracefromyhome.com.
(02:10):
I so encourage you to go andcheck that out.
We had such a great time at thefirst one, and I know this one
will only build on that.
So if you're interested, like Isaid, go to gracefrommyhome.com
or look in the show notes andregister for that.
It's called Covered in Prayer,A Night for Women.
This week I'm sharing with youa teaching that I shared with my
(02:33):
church a few years ago.
It's about finding God's visionand purpose for your life.
The audio may sound a littledifferent than what it usually
does because I recorded this asan online Bible study for my
church about four years ago.
And I was going to re-recordit.
I was going to reteach it forthe podcast, but after I
(02:54):
listened to it, I thought Ican't teach it any better than I
did the first time.
So I'm just going to replay itfor you guys.
I hope that this messageinspires you.
I hope that it gives you hopefor God's plan for your life.
He made you on purpose for apurpose.
And this life is a gift.
And part of our calling in thislife is to find out why we were
(03:17):
created, is to find out whatgifts God has placed inside of
us and how to use those giftsand talents and that calling for
his glory.
And it's a process, and it thebeautiful thing about it is he
walks with us as we figure itout.
He walks with us and helps usfigure it out.
(03:37):
You know, he didn't just sit uson the road and say, Okay, good
luck.
He takes us by the hand and hewalks with us.
I hope you're blessed by thismessage.
Enjoy.
Today, I just wanted to talk alittle bit today about one of my
favorite subjects, and um thatis vision and purpose.
(03:57):
And this I really enjoy, Ireally love talking about vision
and purpose because um, youknow, it's why we do what we do,
and it's really easy to justfloat in life, it's easy to
float from one thing to the nextand get almost like a um a ball
(04:19):
in a ping-pong machine, bouncefrom this thing to that thing to
that thing, um, when we don'thave a purpose or a direction,
and it's real easy to let otherpeople determine what we do on a
daily basis when we don't havea vision for our own lives.
And so my prayer, my desire formyself and for you is that we
(04:45):
would have a clear understandingof what God has called us to
do.
You know, a vision, when wetalk about a vision, having a
vision, um, you know, all theall a vision, all a vision is,
is being able to look ahead andsay, you know, what do we want
our lives to be like, or whatshould our lives be like in the
(05:06):
future?
You know, whether that's umthis afternoon, whether that's
next week, next month, fiveyears, ten years.
Um, a vision is what do we wantthe future to look like?
And for us as Christians, webelieve that God has something
in mind.
So it's not what do I want myfuture to look like, what has
(05:30):
God planned?
What's part of his plan?
You know, where do I fit in inthat plan that he already has?
And so it's looking forwardwith purpose because he has a
purpose for us, and we're notjust to float around, you know,
we need to find where ourpurpose is and connect to it.
(05:51):
You know, even not just theChristian world, but even in you
know, in every in the world outthere, psychologists tell us
that we need a purpose, thatpeople are happier who have a
purpose or who have a goal orwho have direction or trying to
achieve something.
And that's how God's made us.
(06:12):
He's made us to be happiestwhen we're growing and when
we're going towards somethingthat we greatly desire.
And this isn't just true forthis is true for churches, this
is true for companies, this istrue for families, for
individuals.
We all need something.
We need to see that we're goingtowards something worthwhile,
(06:33):
something, something thatmatters, something that has
meaning.
You know, we we are created forthings that have meaning.
And really things that aremeaningless or to us that feel
meaningless are very draining.
They don't give us energy, theydrain our energy.
But things that even maybe tothe outside world seem
(06:56):
monotonous or to other peoplemay seem completely like a waste
of time.
If we see the purpose behindthem, then we can find, we can
find energy in those things.
We can find fulfillment inthose things.
I sometimes I relate it becauseI'm a mother, sometimes I just
relate it to being a mom.
And I think at least somepeople out there who are moms
(07:18):
can understand.
But I think you can kind of seethe broad picture when I say
that a lot of things thatmothers do are very monotonous,
they don't seem um grand orexciting in the least, like
making supper or fix or cleaningdirty dishes or changing dirty
diapers.
You know, those are things thatare very monotonous and they're
(07:40):
they happen every day.
You have to do them every day.
There's no day that you can'teven catch up one day and be
free from it the next day.
It's every day.
And it doesn't seem that seemslike those things that it seems
like something that could drainyou.
You know, think about you knowchanging dirty diapers.
I mean, there's nothingglorious about that, right?
But when you love that child,and when you see that God has
(08:06):
put this child on the on theearth, you know, for me to love,
for me to encourage, for me togrow up to follow Him, then it
gives that dirty diaper, itgives that bottle a whole
different sense of meaning.
And we need meaning so that thethings that we do in our life
(08:27):
are not drainers.
And that doesn't mean they'renot work, they're still work, it
can still be very exhausting,but while I'm while I'm in the
middle of it, I can see thatthere's a greater purpose for
this, and that's what I'mtalking about.
I'm talking about, I'm nottalking about going out there
and just doing these hugethings.
(08:48):
I mean, unless that's whatGod's called you to do.
For me, it's being being ableto see the greater purpose and
the little things that hashelped me feel more fulfilled in
my life, and I and I knowthat's a God thing.
I know it's it's a blessingfrom the Lord, because not only
are we made for purpose, but welive in a fallen world, and in
(09:12):
that world, there's a lot ofpain, if you haven't noticed,
and the it says that it rains onthe just and the unjust.
You know, everybody who livesin this world at one point or
the other is gonna face hardshipand pain.
And when we know our purpose,it gives us a reason to go
(09:34):
through the pain and thedifficulty.
If you have your Bibles thismorning, if you have your
Bibles, turn to Romans 5,chapter, chapter 5, um, verses 3
through 5, and we're gonna readthat together.
I'm gonna read um the KingJames Version, and it says, and
(09:54):
not only so, but we glory intribulations also, knowing that
tribulation works patience, andpatience experience, and
experience hope, and hope doesnot make us ashamed because the
love of God is shed abroad inour hearts by the Holy Ghost,
which is given unto us.
(10:15):
And you see the progressionhere, God is saying, you know,
we glory in the things that somepeople fight about.
You know, we we take on, we umwe don't give up when we face
difficulties or sufferings ortrials.
(10:36):
You know, we we glory in thesethings because we know that
they're working, they're workingin you, they're working in us,
these things that that we gothrough that we wish we could
avoid and we can't avoid.
Um we can avoid some things,that's wisdom, but there's other
things that is just life.
(10:56):
We can't avoid all pain.
And so when we go through thesetrials, we're it's working in
us in patience.
Another word for patience isendurance, it's it's waiting and
holding on, but it's holding onwith perseverance and
fortitude, it's not giving up,and so that's the picture there.
You know, they're workingpatience in me.
(11:17):
I'm gonna hold on, I'm notgonna give up, I'm not through,
I'm not giving in.
And that patience works in me,experience.
And the word here forexperience is the same word as
for character.
It's working character in me.
Your character is veryimportant to God.
He wants his children to havehis character.
(11:39):
You know, it's not enough tothe Lord for us just to do his
will.
You know, he might give you anassignment and you go out and
you do that assignment, andthat's good.
It's better to do it than notto do it, right?
But he also cares about yourwill, he about your your
character, he cares about whoyou are because that reflects on
(12:02):
him.
He wants us to be like him.
And so as we do these things,as we hold on, it changes our
character and we become moregodlike, we become um more
honorable, we become someonethat has something to give the
world, and then as we developcharacter, it gives us hope.
(12:27):
Because as we go through theseexperiences, as we go through
these things that perhaps umthey're not pleasant things,
things that we wish we could runfrom, but we can't, because
we're gonna hold the line.
As we go through those things,and we go through more and more,
then we we develop hope becausewe see as we hold on through
(12:51):
these things, that in the endgood things happen.
See, I've been through trialsthat at the time just seemed
like they were never gonna end,and I couldn't see any good in
it.
And sometimes in the end, itactually worked out a lot better
than I thought it would.
And sometimes, even when itdidn't work out better than I
(13:12):
thought it would, it changed me.
It made me see that I wascapable of a lot more than I
ever thought I was, and it mademe see that I have developed, it
has developed strength in methat I didn't know was there.
And so these things are workingin us, and it I love that part
(13:32):
where it says, and hope makes usnot ashamed, you know.
Hope does not disappoint, youknow.
That hope inside of us ismaking us um more and more like
Jesus.
That perseverance is developingin us the character of God, and
(13:52):
it's a good thing, it's a goodthing.
You know, we are made to needand crave purpose in our life,
and we have to find thatpurpose.
We have to find that, you know,we have to rise up and and and
and not cast off um our hope.
(14:13):
You know, Hebrews 7 19 saysthat hope is the anchor of our
soul.
You know, what does an anchordo?
An anchor holds on, a hang ananchor holds the ship in one
place.
Without an anchor, when thestorms come, that ship can be
(14:36):
thrown, not just blown offcourse, but completely
destroyed.
But that anchor holds, and sohope is like an anchor to the
soul, it holds us to God when wewould rather not.
You know, and my prayer and youknow, our prayer should be:
Lord, hold me even when I don'twant to be held, Lord, keep me
(14:57):
in the faith even when I and itjust seems easier just to throw
up my hands and say, forgetthis, it's not worth it.
It is worth it, it is worth it.
Serving Jesus is worth it.
You know, hope does notdisappoint us, it does not
disappoint us.
He will not disappoint you.
(15:18):
Um, you know, I when we talkabout vision and purpose, you
know, you have to understandthat these are things that um
that should be something that weactually want.
You know, we a purpose shouldgive, should should do something
(15:40):
inside of us.
It should be like, you know, Iwant that so much that I'm
willing to give up somethingelse that I really want.
And you know, it says Michaelmentioned this last Sunday in
the message that he that he gaveat church, that you know, that
scripture that says without awithout a vision, the people
(16:02):
perish, they cast off restraint.
See, a vision, when we can lookin the future and see how we
want things to be, how thingscould be better than they are
now, then we are willing to giveup something in this right now
for something greater in thefuture.
And that's hope, and it's faiththat if I do this, then the
(16:26):
reward will be there.
And it makes me think of Jacoband Esau.
Jacob and Esau were brothers,and Esau was the oldest, and so
the birthright was his, and itwas his to give away.
And Jacob wanted thatbirthright.
He saw the value in thatbirthright, but Esau did not see
(16:48):
value in it.
So Esau comes home fromhunting, he's tired, he's
hungry, he's famished, and Jacoboffers him lentils, he offers
him lentil soup, some stew, andhe says, If you'll give me the
birthright, I'll give you mystew.
And Esau says, Well, what goodis my birthright gonna do if I
(17:08):
if I if I starve to death?
What good is that?
So I'll, yes, I'll take yourbargain.
And so he sacrificed his entirefuture for something that he
wanted right now, and I thinkthis is what the world does, and
this is what the enemy wants usto do.
This is what our flesh will do.
It sees something it wantsright now, and it says, I will,
(17:32):
I want this right now, and Ihave to have this right now.
And it sacrifices what couldbe.
Guys, don't sacrifice whatcould be.
You know, ask God, Lord, showme what you want my life to be
like.
Show me the good things thatare worth giving up the the the
(17:53):
things I want right now.
Show me, Lord, and he will dothat.
Um, I want to be able to say noto the things that right now my
flesh are screaming for becauseI see that in the future
there's better.
In the future, it's gonna beworth it.
And that is a that is not easy.
(18:15):
That is not something that wenaturally do.
That is something that the HolySpirit comes in and helps us
to.
And the more we do that, and wesee and we get to the thing we
were waiting for, and it'sreally good, and we are so
thankful we waited, then themore it gives us a taste for
that.
And we continue to do that.
(18:36):
And you know, don't be a don'tbe afraid of asking the Lord.
We need to ask the Lord, Lord,what is your plan?
What is your purpose?
Of course, for our church andfor our community and for our
family, but Lord, what is yourpurpose for me?
You know, right now, maybe hispurpose for you right now is
(18:57):
just to be finding his purpose.
I know that sounds may soundkind of um strange, but maybe
right now your assignment is tofind out what your assignment
is.
Maybe right now he wants youseeking him for direction.
You know, maybe you have to tryon a couple of hats to see
(19:18):
which one fits you better.
It's impossible to change thedirection of a car that is not
moving.
You know, you can set in a parkcar and you can turn the
steering wheel any way you want,but you're not gonna change the
direction of that car.
It's still going the samedirection.
(19:40):
The only way to change thedirection of that car is to get
it moving.
If you can get it moving, youcan turn it around, but not
unless it's moving.
And that's how we are.
A lot of times we don't moveahead in things, we we get stuck
because we're afraid of makinga mistake, and that's the worst
(20:00):
mistake we can make is to getstuck and do nothing.
You know, if we're movingforward, if we're going forward
in faith, even if we're not surewhat our next move is, but
we're going forward in faith,then God has something to bless.
Then he can turn us around.
But God honors faith, and hehonors faith as somebody doing
(20:22):
something, um, moving forward.
You know, he told Abraham toget out of his city, get away
from his family, and he and andhe didn't even know where he was
going, but he got up and hewent.
And so I feel I hear the Lord,you know, just saying to me, you
know, God honors faith, andfaith involves movement.
(20:45):
You know, fear paralyzes, fearparalyzes us.
We don't know what to do, wedon't know what to do, so we
don't do anything.
But God is saying, trust me,move out and do something, even
if it, even if if it doesn'twork out the way we want it to.
You know, faith is alwayslooking forward, and it's a God
(21:08):
like it's a God quality, it's aGod quality.
Faith is always moving forward.
You know, we need to hear whatis God saying right now, what is
he saying right now for mylife?
And the only way I can't tellyou what God has for you at this
time in your life, but I cantell you that it's good.
I can tell you that he wants totell you, he wants to speak to
(21:32):
you, he wants to show you whathe has for you in the future
that is worth sacrifice today,that is worth giving up
something else that I might wantmore right now because I don't
see anything better in thefuture.
And you know, it says inHebrews 12 2, it says looking
(21:55):
unto Jesus.
Hebrews Hebrew Hebrews 12 2says looking unto Jesus, who is
the author and finisher of ourfaith.
So he started this thing andhe's gonna finish it.
He is the author and thefinisher of our faith, who, for
the joy that was set before him,endured the cross, despising
(22:15):
the shame, and sat down at theright hand of the throne of God.
So Jesus had a vision, he had avision, he could see that
there's something I want, but Ihave to go through something I
don't want, and it was worth it.
And what he wanted was you.
(22:36):
It's why you were made, it'swhy you were created, and it's
(23:18):
exciting.
It gives you a reason to get upin the morning, it gives you a
reason to suffer through thingsthat that you know, pain's gonna
come, issues are gonna happen,things are gonna happen to the
just, to the unjust.
We might as well get somethingout of it, we might as well grow
from it, we might as well letit work in us, something good.
(23:38):
Um, my prayer is that more andmore we would see the vision.
You know, it says, you know, inthe word in the word that, you
know, it was it it's like thenoonday sun, it gets brighter
and brighter when we walk withthe Lord.
It gets brighter and brighterlike the noonday sun.
You know, when we first startwalking with the Lord, we're
(23:58):
just hoping that this this isgonna work out well.
But if we hold on and we don'tgive up our hope and we stay
faithful to Jesus, then more andmore we see him, and it
encourages us to hold on becausethe more and more we hold on,
the more we see him.
He is worth it, he is worth thefight, he is worth the
(24:22):
struggle, he loves you, and hehas more for you.
He has more for you, and I praythat that encourages you this
week to find yourself at hisfeet to find out what is the
next step, Lord, what's the nextstage?
What do you have for me at thistime?
(24:42):
Before I let you go today, Ijust want to pray with you, and
um I pray, I I I bless you, andI hope you have a wonderful
week.
And um, I love you.
Let's pray, Father.
We just thank you for hope,Lord.
I break discouragement off ofyour people, Lord, today.
(25:06):
Lord, I break worry off of yourpeople today, Lord.
I break frustration off of yourpeople today.
And I ask you, Father, to giveus eyes to see, eyes to see a
future that is so much betterthan anything we could work out
or figure out.
God, give us hope.
(25:27):
Hope that, Lord, your futurefor us is way better than
anything we could we could makehappen.
God, I pray that, Lord, that itwould be that hope would be an
anchor for us, Lord.
And I just bless your peopletoday.
And I thank you, Lord God, thatyou've not left us, Lord,
you've not left us as orphans,but you've sent your spirit with
us to bring us comfort.
(25:48):
And Lord, I just speak speakcomfort and vision and purpose
and hope and joy to your peopletoday.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Hello and welcome back to Grace for My Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken, and whata pleasure it is to be back with
you again this week.
I hope that you're having afantastic week.
My husband Michael and I, wejust returned from a long
weekend in Asheville, NorthCarolina.
It was such a wonderful trip.
We had a few days together,which we don't get to do very
(00:22):
often.
We visited some friends wholive near Asheville, and we went
hiking on a beautiful trail andjust had a great little quick
getaway.
And I'm so thankful we wereable to do that.
But there's no place like home.
I was ready to get back home.
I missed our boys, and I'm notso sure they missed us, but I
(00:44):
missed them.
And then we jumped right backinto real life.
I have a large event at theshop this week, and so I've been
spending most of the day todaygetting ready for that, baking,
and and just buying what we needand those kind of things.
This weekend we're going to ona college visit for my middle
(01:05):
son who's graduating this year,Luke, and we will see how that
goes.
So that's exciting.
Um, last week, in case youdidn't hear, last week I
announced that I am going tohave another covered in prayer
event on Saturday, November 15thfrom 5 to 7 p.m.
at Awakened Coffee Bar, andthat's in Mullen, South
(01:28):
Carolina.
We're gonna have a night ofprayer.
We're gonna gather together,share a meal together, and pray
with and for each other.
Last time it was specificallyfor moms, but this time it's
open to all women.
This event is sponsored byGrace from My Home, my blog and
podcast, and also ChristianFellowship Church, which is my
(01:50):
church, and Awakened Coffee Bar.
So if you live in or around theMons, South Carolina area, we
would so love to have you.
We would love for you to joinus.
I would love to meet you.
I'll leave the registrationlink in the show notes.
You can also find out moreinformation on my blog,
gracefromyhome.com.
(02:10):
I so encourage you to go andcheck that out.
We had such a great time at thefirst one, and I know this one
will only build on that.
So if you're interested, like Isaid, go to gracefrommyhome.com
or look in the show notes andregister for that.
It's called Covered in Prayer,A Night for Women.
This week I'm sharing with youa teaching that I shared with my
(02:33):
church a few years ago.
It's about finding God's visionand purpose for your life.
The audio may sound a littledifferent than what it usually
does because I recorded this asan online Bible study for my
church about four years ago.
And I was going to re-recordit.
I was going to reteach it forthe podcast, but after I
(02:54):
listened to it, I thought Ican't teach it any better than I
did the first time.
So I'm just going to replay itfor you guys.
I hope that this messageinspires you.
I hope that it gives you hopefor God's plan for your life.
He made you on purpose for apurpose.
And this life is a gift.
And part of our calling in thislife is to find out why we were
(03:17):
created, is to find out whatgifts God has placed inside of
us and how to use those giftsand talents and that calling for
his glory.
And it's a process, and it thebeautiful thing about it is he
walks with us as we figure itout.
He walks with us and helps usfigure it out.
(03:37):
You know, he didn't just sit uson the road and say, Okay, good
luck.
He takes us by the hand and hewalks with us.
I hope you're blessed by thismessage.
Enjoy.
Today, I just wanted to talk alittle bit today about one of my
favorite subjects, and um thatis vision and purpose.
(03:57):
And this I really enjoy, Ireally love talking about vision
and purpose because um, youknow, it's why we do what we do,
and it's really easy to justfloat in life, it's easy to
float from one thing to the nextand get almost like a um a ball
(04:19):
in a ping-pong machine, bouncefrom this thing to that thing to
that thing, um, when we don'thave a purpose or a direction,
and it's real easy to let otherpeople determine what we do on a
daily basis when we don't havea vision for our own lives.
And so my prayer, my desire formyself and for you is that we
(04:45):
would have a clear understandingof what God has called us to
do.
You know, a vision, when wetalk about a vision, having a
vision, um, you know, all theall a vision, all a vision is,
is being able to look ahead andsay, you know, what do we want
our lives to be like, or whatshould our lives be like in the
(05:06):
future?
You know, whether that's umthis afternoon, whether that's
next week, next month, fiveyears, ten years.
Um, a vision is what do we wantthe future to look like?
And for us as Christians, webelieve that God has something
in mind.
So it's not what do I want myfuture to look like, what has
(05:30):
God planned?
What's part of his plan?
You know, where do I fit in inthat plan that he already has?
And so it's looking forwardwith purpose because he has a
purpose for us, and we're notjust to float around, you know,
we need to find where ourpurpose is and connect to it.
(05:51):
You know, even not just theChristian world, but even in you
know, in every in the world outthere, psychologists tell us
that we need a purpose, thatpeople are happier who have a
purpose or who have a goal orwho have direction or trying to
achieve something.
And that's how God's made us.
(06:12):
He's made us to be happiestwhen we're growing and when
we're going towards somethingthat we greatly desire.
And this isn't just true forthis is true for churches, this
is true for companies, this istrue for families, for
individuals.
We all need something.
We need to see that we're goingtowards something worthwhile,
(06:33):
something, something thatmatters, something that has
meaning.
You know, we we are created forthings that have meaning.
And really things that aremeaningless or to us that feel
meaningless are very draining.
They don't give us energy, theydrain our energy.
But things that even maybe tothe outside world seem
(06:56):
monotonous or to other peoplemay seem completely like a waste
of time.
If we see the purpose behindthem, then we can find, we can
find energy in those things.
We can find fulfillment inthose things.
I sometimes I relate it becauseI'm a mother, sometimes I just
relate it to being a mom.
And I think at least somepeople out there who are moms
(07:18):
can understand.
But I think you can kind of seethe broad picture when I say
that a lot of things thatmothers do are very monotonous,
they don't seem um grand orexciting in the least, like
making supper or fix or cleaningdirty dishes or changing dirty
diapers.
You know, those are things thatare very monotonous and they're
(07:40):
they happen every day.
You have to do them every day.
There's no day that you can'teven catch up one day and be
free from it the next day.
It's every day.
And it doesn't seem that seemslike those things that it seems
like something that could drainyou.
You know, think about you knowchanging dirty diapers.
I mean, there's nothingglorious about that, right?
But when you love that child,and when you see that God has
(08:06):
put this child on the on theearth, you know, for me to love,
for me to encourage, for me togrow up to follow Him, then it
gives that dirty diaper, itgives that bottle a whole
different sense of meaning.
And we need meaning so that thethings that we do in our life
(08:27):
are not drainers.
And that doesn't mean they'renot work, they're still work, it
can still be very exhausting,but while I'm while I'm in the
middle of it, I can see thatthere's a greater purpose for
this, and that's what I'mtalking about.
I'm talking about, I'm nottalking about going out there
and just doing these hugethings.
(08:48):
I mean, unless that's whatGod's called you to do.
For me, it's being being ableto see the greater purpose and
the little things that hashelped me feel more fulfilled in
my life, and I and I knowthat's a God thing.
I know it's it's a blessingfrom the Lord, because not only
are we made for purpose, but welive in a fallen world, and in
(09:12):
that world, there's a lot ofpain, if you haven't noticed,
and the it says that it rains onthe just and the unjust.
You know, everybody who livesin this world at one point or
the other is gonna face hardshipand pain.
And when we know our purpose,it gives us a reason to go
(09:34):
through the pain and thedifficulty.
If you have your Bibles thismorning, if you have your
Bibles, turn to Romans 5,chapter, chapter 5, um, verses 3
through 5, and we're gonna readthat together.
I'm gonna read um the KingJames Version, and it says, and
(09:54):
not only so, but we glory intribulations also, knowing that
tribulation works patience, andpatience experience, and
experience hope, and hope doesnot make us ashamed because the
love of God is shed abroad inour hearts by the Holy Ghost,
which is given unto us.
(10:15):
And you see the progressionhere, God is saying, you know,
we glory in the things that somepeople fight about.
You know, we we take on, we umwe don't give up when we face
difficulties or sufferings ortrials.
(10:36):
You know, we we glory in thesethings because we know that
they're working, they're workingin you, they're working in us,
these things that that we gothrough that we wish we could
avoid and we can't avoid.
Um we can avoid some things,that's wisdom, but there's other
things that is just life.
(10:56):
We can't avoid all pain.
And so when we go through thesetrials, we're it's working in
us in patience.
Another word for patience isendurance, it's it's waiting and
holding on, but it's holding onwith perseverance and
fortitude, it's not giving up,and so that's the picture there.
You know, they're workingpatience in me.
(11:17):
I'm gonna hold on, I'm notgonna give up, I'm not through,
I'm not giving in.
And that patience works in me,experience.
And the word here forexperience is the same word as
for character.
It's working character in me.
Your character is veryimportant to God.
He wants his children to havehis character.
(11:39):
You know, it's not enough tothe Lord for us just to do his
will.
You know, he might give you anassignment and you go out and
you do that assignment, andthat's good.
It's better to do it than notto do it, right?
But he also cares about yourwill, he about your your
character, he cares about whoyou are because that reflects on
(12:02):
him.
He wants us to be like him.
And so as we do these things,as we hold on, it changes our
character and we become moregodlike, we become um more
honorable, we become someonethat has something to give the
world, and then as we developcharacter, it gives us hope.
(12:27):
Because as we go through theseexperiences, as we go through
these things that perhaps umthey're not pleasant things,
things that we wish we could runfrom, but we can't, because
we're gonna hold the line.
As we go through those things,and we go through more and more,
then we we develop hope becausewe see as we hold on through
(12:51):
these things, that in the endgood things happen.
See, I've been through trialsthat at the time just seemed
like they were never gonna end,and I couldn't see any good in
it.
And sometimes in the end, itactually worked out a lot better
than I thought it would.
And sometimes, even when itdidn't work out better than I
(13:12):
thought it would, it changed me.
It made me see that I wascapable of a lot more than I
ever thought I was, and it mademe see that I have developed, it
has developed strength in methat I didn't know was there.
And so these things are workingin us, and it I love that part
(13:32):
where it says, and hope makes usnot ashamed, you know.
Hope does not disappoint, youknow.
That hope inside of us ismaking us um more and more like
Jesus.
That perseverance is developingin us the character of God, and
(13:52):
it's a good thing, it's a goodthing.
You know, we are made to needand crave purpose in our life,
and we have to find thatpurpose.
We have to find that, you know,we have to rise up and and and
and not cast off um our hope.
(14:13):
You know, Hebrews 7 19 saysthat hope is the anchor of our
soul.
You know, what does an anchordo?
An anchor holds on, a hang ananchor holds the ship in one
place.
Without an anchor, when thestorms come, that ship can be
(14:36):
thrown, not just blown offcourse, but completely
destroyed.
But that anchor holds, and sohope is like an anchor to the
soul, it holds us to God when wewould rather not.
You know, and my prayer and youknow, our prayer should be:
Lord, hold me even when I don'twant to be held, Lord, keep me
(14:57):
in the faith even when I and itjust seems easier just to throw
up my hands and say, forgetthis, it's not worth it.
It is worth it, it is worth it.
Serving Jesus is worth it.
You know, hope does notdisappoint us, it does not
disappoint us.
He will not disappoint you.
(15:18):
Um, you know, I when we talkabout vision and purpose, you
know, you have to understandthat these are things that um
that should be something that weactually want.
You know, we a purpose shouldgive, should should do something
(15:40):
inside of us.
It should be like, you know, Iwant that so much that I'm
willing to give up somethingelse that I really want.
And you know, it says Michaelmentioned this last Sunday in
the message that he that he gaveat church, that you know, that
scripture that says without awithout a vision, the people
(16:02):
perish, they cast off restraint.
See, a vision, when we can lookin the future and see how we
want things to be, how thingscould be better than they are
now, then we are willing to giveup something in this right now
for something greater in thefuture.
And that's hope, and it's faiththat if I do this, then the
(16:26):
reward will be there.
And it makes me think of Jacoband Esau.
Jacob and Esau were brothers,and Esau was the oldest, and so
the birthright was his, and itwas his to give away.
And Jacob wanted thatbirthright.
He saw the value in thatbirthright, but Esau did not see
(16:48):
value in it.
So Esau comes home fromhunting, he's tired, he's
hungry, he's famished, and Jacoboffers him lentils, he offers
him lentil soup, some stew, andhe says, If you'll give me the
birthright, I'll give you mystew.
And Esau says, Well, what goodis my birthright gonna do if I
(17:08):
if I if I starve to death?
What good is that?
So I'll, yes, I'll take yourbargain.
And so he sacrificed his entirefuture for something that he
wanted right now, and I thinkthis is what the world does, and
this is what the enemy wants usto do.
This is what our flesh will do.
It sees something it wantsright now, and it says, I will,
(17:32):
I want this right now, and Ihave to have this right now.
And it sacrifices what couldbe.
Guys, don't sacrifice whatcould be.
You know, ask God, Lord, showme what you want my life to be
like.
Show me the good things thatare worth giving up the the the
(17:53):
things I want right now.
Show me, Lord, and he will dothat.
Um, I want to be able to say noto the things that right now my
flesh are screaming for becauseI see that in the future
there's better.
In the future, it's gonna beworth it.
And that is a that is not easy.
(18:15):
That is not something that wenaturally do.
That is something that the HolySpirit comes in and helps us
to.
And the more we do that, and wesee and we get to the thing we
were waiting for, and it'sreally good, and we are so
thankful we waited, then themore it gives us a taste for
that.
And we continue to do that.
(18:36):
And you know, don't be a don'tbe afraid of asking the Lord.
We need to ask the Lord, Lord,what is your plan?
What is your purpose?
Of course, for our church andfor our community and for our
family, but Lord, what is yourpurpose for me?
You know, right now, maybe hispurpose for you right now is
(18:57):
just to be finding his purpose.
I know that sounds may soundkind of um strange, but maybe
right now your assignment is tofind out what your assignment
is.
Maybe right now he wants youseeking him for direction.
You know, maybe you have to tryon a couple of hats to see
(19:18):
which one fits you better.
It's impossible to change thedirection of a car that is not
moving.
You know, you can set in a parkcar and you can turn the
steering wheel any way you want,but you're not gonna change the
direction of that car.
It's still going the samedirection.
(19:40):
The only way to change thedirection of that car is to get
it moving.
If you can get it moving, youcan turn it around, but not
unless it's moving.
And that's how we are.
A lot of times we don't moveahead in things, we we get stuck
because we're afraid of makinga mistake, and that's the worst
(20:00):
mistake we can make is to getstuck and do nothing.
You know, if we're movingforward, if we're going forward
in faith, even if we're not surewhat our next move is, but
we're going forward in faith,then God has something to bless.
Then he can turn us around.
But God honors faith, and hehonors faith as somebody doing
(20:22):
something, um, moving forward.
You know, he told Abraham toget out of his city, get away
from his family, and he and andhe didn't even know where he was
going, but he got up and hewent.
And so I feel I hear the Lord,you know, just saying to me, you
know, God honors faith, andfaith involves movement.
(20:45):
You know, fear paralyzes, fearparalyzes us.
We don't know what to do, wedon't know what to do, so we
don't do anything.
But God is saying, trust me,move out and do something, even
if it, even if if it doesn'twork out the way we want it to.
You know, faith is alwayslooking forward, and it's a God
(21:08):
like it's a God quality, it's aGod quality.
Faith is always moving forward.
You know, we need to hear whatis God saying right now, what is
he saying right now for mylife?
And the only way I can't tellyou what God has for you at this
time in your life, but I cantell you that it's good.
I can tell you that he wants totell you, he wants to speak to
(21:32):
you, he wants to show you whathe has for you in the future
that is worth sacrifice today,that is worth giving up
something else that I might wantmore right now because I don't
see anything better in thefuture.
And you know, it says inHebrews 12 2, it says looking
(21:55):
unto Jesus.
Hebrews Hebrew Hebrews 12 2says looking unto Jesus, who is
the author and finisher of ourfaith.
So he started this thing andhe's gonna finish it.
He is the author and thefinisher of our faith, who, for
the joy that was set before him,endured the cross, despising
(22:15):
the shame, and sat down at theright hand of the throne of God.
So Jesus had a vision, he had avision, he could see that
there's something I want, but Ihave to go through something I
don't want, and it was worth it.
And what he wanted was you.
(22:36):
It's why you were made, it'swhy you were created, and it's
(23:18):
exciting.
It gives you a reason to get upin the morning, it gives you a
reason to suffer through thingsthat that you know, pain's gonna
come, issues are gonna happen,things are gonna happen to the
just, to the unjust.
We might as well get somethingout of it, we might as well grow
from it, we might as well letit work in us, something good.
(23:38):
Um, my prayer is that more andmore we would see the vision.
You know, it says, you know, inthe word in the word that, you
know, it was it it's like thenoonday sun, it gets brighter
and brighter when we walk withthe Lord.
It gets brighter and brighterlike the noonday sun.
You know, when we first startwalking with the Lord, we're
(23:58):
just hoping that this this isgonna work out well.
But if we hold on and we don'tgive up our hope and we stay
faithful to Jesus, then more andmore we see him, and it
encourages us to hold on becausethe more and more we hold on,
the more we see him.
He is worth it, he is worth thefight, he is worth the
(24:22):
struggle, he loves you, and hehas more for you.
He has more for you, and I praythat that encourages you this
week to find yourself at hisfeet to find out what is the
next step, Lord, what's the nextstage?
What do you have for me at thistime?
(24:42):
Before I let you go today, Ijust want to pray with you, and
um I pray, I I I bless you, andI hope you have a wonderful
week.
And um, I love you.
Let's pray, Father.
We just thank you for hope,Lord.
I break discouragement off ofyour people, Lord, today.
(25:06):
Lord, I break worry off of yourpeople today, Lord.
I break frustration off of yourpeople today.
And I ask you, Father, to giveus eyes to see, eyes to see a
future that is so much betterthan anything we could work out
or figure out.
God, give us hope.
(25:27):
Hope that, Lord, your futurefor us is way better than
anything we could we could makehappen.
God, I pray that, Lord, that itwould be that hope would be an
anchor for us, Lord.
And I just bless your peopletoday.
And I thank you, Lord God, thatyou've not left us, Lord,
you've not left us as orphans,but you've sent your spirit with
us to bring us comfort.
(25:48):
And Lord, I just speak speakcomfort and vision and purpose
and hope and joy to your peopletoday.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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