Have you figured out what the purpose of your life is? You're wasting time if you haven't, and time is more precious than you know

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Thinking About Purpose

By Bob Jones, Life Formation, Life Stories

RevWords

Know your purpose and you will clarify your thinking.

In 2002, Rick Warren tapped into a universally felt need by writing a book that addressed the question, “What on Earth am I here for?” Fifty million copies of The Purpose Driven Life have been purchased.

One of them belongs to my sister, Nancy.

Thinking On Purpose

We talked about life at her kitchen table. I listened as she enthused about the book’s influence on making sense out of life. The picture below tells the story of a well read, well marked, and well loved book.

Nan lost her way after the death of our parents. Alone. Grieving. Confused about why God allowed her to be orphaned.

Here’s what she discovered:

Clarity About Purpose

Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which to base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. Without purpose you will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and your mood at the moment.

Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.

If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.

Begin With God

You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that you discover your origin, identity, meaning, purpose, significance, and your destiny.

When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just the here and now, and you realize that life is preparation for eternity, you’ll live differently. You will start living in the light of eternity, and that will colour how you handle every relationship, task, and circumstance.

The closer you live to God the smaller everything else appears.

Change Your Thinking

Living the rest of your life for God will require a change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and everything else. It will sometimes mean choosing a difficult path instead of an easy one.

Even Jesus struggled with this. Knowing he was about to be crucified, he prayed: “My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

Purpose Behind Problems

God has a purpose behind every problem. God uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, God depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances twenty-four hours a day.

Every time you forget that developing good character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?” Life is supposed to be difficult. It’s what enables us to grow.

Remember, Earth is not Heaven!

Life’s Experiences

Experience is not what happens to you.

Experience is what you do with what happens to you.

Don’t waste your pain; use it to help others.

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27 Minutes with the Extraordinary Arkiane

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My Encounter With God: Akiane Kramarik

By Bob Jones 

REVWords

October 2, 2021

Akiane Kramarik’s atheist parents were surprised when their three-year-old began to describe dreams and visions from God. This inexplicable direction in their daughter’s life, combined with a remarkable talent in art and poetry, inspired her family to re-examine their own lives.

An Encounter With God

“My life began in an unusual way,” says Akiane, 17, who spent her early years in rural Illinois. By unusual, she refers to her underwater birth in “a shack” on the edge of a cornfield. “Our family had no money, no friends, no relatives, no television or radio. Our life was quite simple — long walks in nature, open conversations, and hands on explorations of knowledge,” she says.

Her mother, Forelli, is a Lithuanian immigrant educator. Akiane’s father, Mark, is a chef from Chicago with a Catholic background. In her early family life, there was no prayer, no discussions of God, and no visits to church.

Yet in the atheistic environment her parents created – free from media influences or even outside babysitters – Akiane suddenly began to talk about God.

The Face of Jesus

She spoke of colorful dreams and visions about heaven, Jesus, and God’s amazing love. Her stunned parents realized her intense focus on God could not have been inspired by anything in the world they created for her. Indeed, Akiane seemed to be having supernatural encounters with the living God.

“Most of my spiritual experiences I kept secret, so as not to overwhelm my parents,” she says. “When I was four years old, suddenly I started experiencing vivid impressions about different dimensions and a great desire to express them through art,” she says.

At eight-years-old, Akiane decided she wanted to paint the face of Jesus, based on the visions she received.

A Discovery of God

Akiane’s painting of Jesus was a painstaking effort. “The ‘Prince of Peace’ took me 40 hours to paint and another 20 hours of working with model sketching,” Akiane says. She deftly works with light and shadows to create powerful impressions. “The light side of his face represents the truth, the dark side represents suffering,” she notes.

Akiane’s discovery of God seems remarkably personal. “Since nobody told me who God was, I found God myself. He’s been there for me through the years.  I don’t belong to any denomination or religion. I belong to God.”

To eliminate any confusion, however, Jesus is first in her mind.  “He is the only way to God — the only way to heaven and joy,” she states. “My personal views on Jesus have only matured and deepened since age 4.  As I grow I see how vast and unlimited His love is.”

Jesus’ Glory

“Jesus remains my highest authority, love, and God. I pray every day that people will one day follow Jesus, His teachings and feel His love.”

“I alone know how important Jesus is for me. Instead of writing it is best for me to express (this) through my personal connection — art. I portray Jesus how I see him, as human and as divine.

“My art is only a representation of what I see — Jesus’ glory is beyond any description!”

video 26:47

Follow Akiane on Facebook.

Do you know someone who has an encounter with God like Akiane’s? Please leave a comment below. Please go to REVWords first.

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SOMETHING INVISIBLE PUT EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE

By Bob Jones, RevWords

I don’t know if you agree, but something invisible came

and put everything in its place.

Suddenly

Gasoline prices went down, pollution went down, and discretionary time went up. Parents are spending time with their kids as a family; work is no longer a priority, or traveling or social life either.

Suddenly we silently see within ourselves and understand the value of the words “solidarity”, “love”, “strength”, “empathy” and “faith”.

In an instant we realized that we are all in the same boat, rich and poor. The supermarket shelves are empty and the hospitals are full.

Old cars and new cars also, gather dust in the garages, simply because nobody can get out.

Empty streets, less pollution, clean air, and the land also breathes.

Survive

The human returns to his origins, realizing that with or without money, the important thing is to survive.

Health is now the main thing, in spite of wanting to have or possess.

It took six days to establish the social equality that was said to be impossible.

Fear invaded everyone.

We realize the vulnerability of every human being.

Nature is forcing us to clean up the mess made by ourselves.

Surrender

Our overthrown gods:

– Money

– Sports

– Entertainment

– Politics

What the coronavirus is teaching us:

– Our best protection: SPIRITUALITY

– Our best refuge: HOME

– Our best company: FAMILY

– Our real time: TODAY

– Nature’s call: STOP US

– Its message: WAIT, RESPECT

Basics

We are not gods, we are not kings, nor do we have the power of controlling everything.

We are part of a whole, fragile, brittle and vulnerable something.

Part of something that we wanted to dominate and today is telling us:

Stop, breathe, respect.

Go back to the basics, to the essentials, and let the peace of your soul guide you towards what you are: LIGHT.

-Anonymous

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In him was life and the life was the light of men.”

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

God saw that it was good.

APPLICATION: The world is in crisis. Health care systems are overwhelmed. Hockey rinks serve as temporary morgues. What would have been the script of a B movie just two months ago is now our reality. With the world in isolation now is good time to turn to the Light – Jesus. “Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest.” Email me at bob.pb.jones@gmail.com to talk.