Jeremiah 29:11

True character is revealed not by what a man does when people are watching but by what he does when nobody is around.

Well it has been a year since the last Bible study, so I thought it was time to start another since I felt God leading me to do this one.

This Bible study will be based on the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

This will hopefully answer one of life’s most asked question and that is: “What on Earth am I here for?”

Hopefully by the end of this study you will know God’s purpose for your life.

We will take this study one week at a time and I will do the best I can to keep on track.

A Purpose Driven Life - Week #1 - A bible study on what on Earth am I here for?

“It’s not about you”.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment (yes, that even includes our indulgence in the Challenger…sorry about that), your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dream and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.

Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

In the same way that you cannot arrive at your life’s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself, you cannot understand your life’s purpose by starting on a focus of yourself like so many self help books have suggested. You have to start with God, your Creator. You exist because God wills you to exist and you were made for God by God. Until you understand that basic fact, life will never make sense to you. In God, we can start to understand where we came from, who we are, our reason, and why we exist and where we are going.

You were made for God and not the other way around. You need to let God use you for His purposes.

Romans 8:5-9 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Many self-help books will suggest you look at your dreams, values, and goals. These suggestions can certainly lead to success. But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same. You can become a success by the world’s definition and still miss the purpose for which God created you. Self-help is not help at all. Self-Sacrifice is the way, God’s way, to finding yourself, your true self.

Matthew 16:25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

This lesson is not about self-help but about doing less “things” in life (the stuff that does not matter) by focusing on what matters most. This is about focusing on what God created you to be.

Philosophers have speculated about this for thousand of years but did not have God in mind during their thinking. Instead of speculation, we need to turn to revelation in what God says in His Word.

[b]1 Corinthians 2:7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"—