Purpose.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”

“Workmanship” is the Greek word poiema, where we get the word “poem.” You are God’s masterpiece, and the good works you were made for were prepared before you showed up.

Live it: Name one thing you’re naturally good at that helps people, and use it for someone today. You weren’t made to sit on it.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”

God said this to people in exile who would wait seventy years to go home. His plans are good even when the timeline is long.

Live it: Write down where you’ll be a year from now. Pray over it, then take one real step toward it this week.

“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.”

“Commit” literally means to roll it onto Him. When your work is surrendered to God, He makes your plans stand.

Live it: Before you start work today, pray over your list, item by item. Roll every piece onto Him.

“Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, as for the Lord and not for men,”

Paul wrote this to people doing ordinary, unseen work. Every job becomes worship when you do it for God.

Live it: Take the task you’ve been dreading and do it with excellence today, like Jesus is your boss. Because He is.

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”

Not everything is good, but God works all things together for good for those who love Him. Nothing in your story is wasted.

Live it: Name one hard thing from your past and ask God how He’ll use it. Hand Him the whole story.

“As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.”

Every believer has a gift, and it was given to be used for others, not kept.

Live it: Use your gift for someone today without being asked. A gift kept is a gift wasted.

“being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God doesn’t start what He won’t finish. You’re unfinished, but you’re not abandoned.

Live it: Write down one way you’ve grown this past year. God is still working, and He finishes what He starts.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!””

Isaiah answered God’s call before he knew the details. Purpose often starts with being available, not with a full plan.

Live it: Tell God today you’re available, then say yes to the next chance to serve. Don’t wait for the full plan.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?””

Mordecai told Esther she may have come to her position for exactly this moment. Where you are is not an accident.

Live it: Look at where you are right now, your job, your city, your circle, and ask what God placed you there to do.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Jesus didn’t tell His followers to try to be light. He said they are the light of the world. Light is meant to be seen.

Live it: Let your faith show today in one way someone can see: a kind word, a prayer, an act of service.

“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.”

People make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose is what stands. Your plans matter, and His purpose matters more.

Live it: Hold today’s plans with open hands. When something changes, ask God what He’s doing.

““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.””

God told Jeremiah He knew him and set him apart before he was born. Your calling started with God, not with you.

Live it: Write one sentence about what you believe God set you apart for. Pray over it.

“We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;”

We all have different gifts, given by God’s grace. Your gift doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to matter.

Live it: Name your gift and use it today, without comparing it to anyone else’s.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Stand firm and give yourself fully to the Lord’s work, because nothing you do for Him is wasted.

Live it: Do the unseen work today with full effort. God sees it.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

God has shown what He requires: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. Purpose starts with how you live, not just what you do.

Live it: Do one just thing, show one act of mercy, and stay humble today.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Jesus’ last command was to go and make disciples of all nations, and He promised to be with us always. Every believer has a part.

Live it: Share one thing God taught you with someone this week.

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. As you delight in Him, your desires start to look like His.

Live it: Spend time today enjoying God, not asking Him for anything.

“He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

God called us with a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace. Your calling rests on Him.

Live it: Let go of the pressure to earn your calling. Walk in it today.

“As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:”

Paul urges believers to live a life worthy of the calling they’ve received. How you live should match who God says you are.

Live it: Make one choice today that matches your calling.

“Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.””

When Moses said he wasn’t a good speaker, God promised to help him speak and teach him what to say.

Live it: Say yes to the thing you feel unqualified for. God supplies what you lack.

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?””

God called Gideon a mighty warrior while he was hiding. God sees who you are becoming, not just where you’re hiding.

Live it: Come out of hiding in one area today. Take the step God has been nudging you toward.

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.””

When God chose David, He looked at his heart, not his appearance or résumé. God picks people others overlook.

Live it: Don’t disqualify yourself today. God sees your heart.

“The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.”

The purposes in a person’s heart are like deep waters, and a person of understanding draws them out.

Live it: Ask a wise friend to help you think through what God has put in your heart.

“For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.”

The vision is for an appointed time. If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come.

Live it: Keep working on the vision today, even if it seems slow.

“But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Paul said he didn’t count his life as precious compared to finishing the race and the work Jesus gave him.

Live it: Name the race God gave you, and run one stretch of it today.

“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.”

David trusted that the Lord would fulfill His purpose for him. God doesn’t abandon the work of His hands.

Live it: Thank God today that He will finish what He started in you.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”

Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises on you.

Live it: Get up today like someone God’s glory is shining on.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.”

Jesus said, “You didn’t choose Me, but I chose you,” and appointed us to bear fruit that lasts.

Live it: Do one thing today that will still matter a year from now.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.””

Jesus came not to be served but to serve and give His life. Greatness in God’s kingdom looks like serving.

Live it: Serve someone today who can’t pay you back.

“For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

All things were created through Christ and for Him. You were made by Him and for Him.

Live it: Offer your plans to Jesus today, since you were made for Him.