The Purpose Driven Life Chapters 10-15

Chapter 10- The heart of worship is surrender

Verse to remember- surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes Romans 6:13b

Question to consider- what area of my life am I holding back from God?


Several quotes from this chapter got my attention


"There are three barriers that block our total surrender to God; fear, pride and confusion."

"to have complete control - is the cause of so much stress in our lives. We struggle with God."

"You know you re surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your own agenda and control the situation."

"surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him."

"the most difficult area to surrender for many people is their money"


As I think about lack of faith and trust equating to not surrendering totally to God I think of my past and some of the issues or circumstances that I can look back at.

In the past 24 years I have worked in the following occupations and held positions within the occupations.

Psychiatric Technician
EMT and Nursing assistant
Roofer
Longshoreman/ Stevedore
Security/ Law Enforcement
Information Technology

In the last 24 years I have been married twice with my current marriage lasting almost 14 years and going strong. Due to the last 15 years having been spent in Information Technology and because I spent 8 years in Law Enforcement we have moved at least 24 times or maybe more. Is there no wonder that I want to settle down in one occupation and live in the same location for longer than 2 to 3 years? I/ we feel that we need stability. Our children need stability. All these years I have attempted to find steady and lasting employment. Perhaps my lack of a college degree has something to do with that? My parents tried to teach me the importance of having a college degree when I was still living at home but in all my wisdom (at the age of 18) I yearned to be outside of their realm of authority and influence and wanted to be my own man and do my own thing. So I dropped out of RN school and did my own thing.

When I was in my early 20's I felt a very strong calling to ministry. I did not feel called to pastor a church but rather to Christian ministry. After my divorce and coming from the SBC denomination all hopes of ministry were flushed down the toilet. At the age of 42 I look back at the last 24 years and wonder if I have been rebellious in more than one area of my life. I became a Christian at the age of 17 when I asked Christ into my heart out in the woods of Quinlan Texas as one of my friends father led me to a saving knowledge of Christ by a chopping block. I began to understand the need for Christ to be the Lord of everything in my life and not just my fire insurance card when I was in my mid 20's. When I compare my life to other friends that I know it appears as if they have their life in order and my life appears to be a ship wreck floating out in the harbor.

Waiting on the Lord and surrendering my will to God has been a pursuit since I got serious about the Lord being Lord of all. I spent quite a few years trying to figure out how and why I needed to quit making decisions through intuition and gut feelings. I have a natural tendency to be spontaneous and do things on the fly. I guess that I have always equated success to having stability and that stability would equate to stable income and finances and that would guarantee a safe and secure family. Perhaps I still need to learn how to totally surrender all and let go of the things of this word, especially its wisdom and let God do what He wants with my life.



Chapter 11 - God wants to be my best friend

Verse to remember- Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him.

Question to consider - What can I do to remind myself to think about God and talk to him more often throughout my day.



I spent a lot of time doing activities and tasks that require me to tune in with the Holy Spirit and converse with God and meditate on his word or research what Gods word says about a specific topic. The following statements from the book have special emphasis.


"if you are seeking an experience of his presence through all of this, you have missed the point. We don't praise God to feel good, but to do good. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual awareness of the reality that God is always present. That is the lifestyle of worship."



So to become a BEST friend of God I need to learn how to perfect the skill of talking with God about every day tasks or events as well as meditating more on his word.
I find that the worries of this world can sometimes overwhelm me and drag me down into the pit of helplessness or give me the feeling of hopelessness. Instead of allowing the circumstances to control how I feel through emotional responses I need to learn how to consciously channel those things to God and ask him how to deal with them. Sometimes I spend so much time during quiet time repenting of sin and fearing God that I forget that God wants me to be his best friend. God cares about every single detail of my life. I know that but somehow I still compartmentalize God with regards to WHEN I spent quiet time or let him into my life.


Day 12- I am as close to God as I choose to be.

Verse to remember - Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. James 4:8

Question to consider - What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God.



The following comments in the book are of importance.

"You must work at developing your friendship with God." "I must choose to be honest with God." "Complete honesty- about your faults and feelings. " "Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God." "I must choose to value what God values".



There are times during my typical day that I am aware of God but I am passive in regards to communicating with him. I need to quit seeking to be emotionally happy and constantly entertained during moments of down time. Instead of doing something just to pass the time and experience momentary pleasure I need to pursue God passionately. Prayer, meditation and talking to God honestly about my feelings on a regular basis and not just when it is my scheduled quiet time with God. God desires to be a full time friend and not someone that needs to fill a time slot in my Day Timer.



Day 13 - God wants all of me

Verse to remember - Love the lord your God with all your hart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

Question to consider - Which is more pleasing to God right now- My public worship or my private worship.



When I originally wrote my answer I missed the "MY" portion of public or private worship and thought it was asking "which" form of worship was more pleasing to God. I will go ahead and run with my thoughts on that question and then answer the original question below.

My thoughts on WHICH type of worship is more important to God.

I believe that God is interested in both private and public worship. I also believe that God looks past our method of worship and examines our motives for worship. As this chapter and book states the acts of worship are far more diverse than just singing choruses of music on Sunday morning. God wants us to worship Him thoughtfully, authentically and passionately. I have to remember that when I make an effort to minimize my desires and wants and put the needs of God and other first and foremost that I will have many different ways to worship God. I have always said that a tithe is much more than 10% of my income. I believe that our tithe and or worship is time, talents and money.

My thoughts on "MY" private and public worship.

I believe that MY definition of worship has been radically changed by reading the definition that is given in this book. I believe now as I look back that there have been times when I thought that I did not worship God in a pleasing way that in fact there have been times that I have worshiped him both publicly and privately and have brought a smile to his face. I think that there are times when I am in the spot light of public ministry no matter what role I might be playing that I am more conscious of how I APPEAR to others than I should be. I have always attempted to be sincere and authentic with my worship and have never had a problem with being REAL or passionate. Where I need to improve with regards to worship both publicly and privately would be to seek out new opportunities for worship now that I have a NEW definition of WHAT worship really is. It is much more than what happens on Sunday morning or during a specified church program.



Day 14 - God is real, no matter how I feel

Verse to remember - For God has said, I will never leave you, I will never abandon you. Heb 13:5

Question to consider - How can I stay focused on God's presence, especially when he feels distant?



The following statements had special meaning and relevance in my life.

"God is real, no matter how you feel"

"But circumstances are not always pleasant"

"The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during at trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant"

"We grieve Gods spirit and quench our fellowship with him by disobedience, conflict with others, busyness, friendship with the world and other sins."

"God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion and questions"



I can attest to the fact that my circumstances in the last three years have played havoc with my emotions and at times my faith. I could relate to Job even though my trials were not as severe nor did my faith always reflect his total trust in God. My trust in God was seated in total ignorance of my circumstances and a loss to know what else to do other than to cling to what I knew. I knew I keep coming back to the statement that the "purpose" is not about me but it is about God. It is so much easier to be obedient, fruitful, content and happy when the circumstances of life are going my way. When I continually seek to be emotionally satisfied I limit my perception of Gods desires to my immediate circumstances and how I feel about them. I can allow those situations to rob me of my joy.

I can stay focused on Gods presence by doing the following.

A. Communicate with God and tell him how I feel
B. Focus on who God is and not my circumstances
C. Trust God to keep his promises
D. Remember what God has already done for me


Day 15- I was formed for Gods Family

Verse to remember- his unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ Ephesians 1:5a

Question to consider - how can I start treating other believers like members of my own family?

A. Showing genuine concern for their well being
B. Loving them selflessly just as I would want to be
C. Thinking less of my own circumstances and pursuing healthy relationships
D. Investing time, talent and resources into the lives of younger believers
E. Allowing myself to be trainable and teachable to a mentor