Introduction
If there’s one question that every human being seeks the answer to it is, “what is my purpose?” It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Christian or a non-Christian, rich or poor, black or white, conservative or liberal. The human world possesses an innate desire to discover the answer to this simple, yet perplexing, question. The problem is that there are no concrete formulas or methods to help us discover our purpose, hence the reason why there have been so many books, both secular and spiritual, that have been written about the subject. Everyone has a different opinion. It’s a very nebulous and frustrating process for many people who truly desire to discover and live out their purpose. Is it only revealed to some but not others? Do you have to chase after it to get it or does God reveal it directly to you? And if so how does He reveal it? I get it. It can be confusing. In this eBook I hope to provide five keys that can unlock the purpose God has for your life. To do this we will take a look at a few episodes from Joseph's life in the book of Genesis. His story begins in Genesis 37 and ends in Genesis 50. Clearly God thought that his story was so important that he devoted 14 chapters to it. So, let's jump in and talk about purpose!
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Background LET'S PICK UP HIS STORY IN GENESIS 41 VERSE 41.
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second in command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. If you only read this passage you would think that Joseph is "ballin'!" He had a new career, some cash, nice clothes, a new car, and a new companion (his wife). But most of this stuff is materialistic. The most important thing Joseph had was PURPOSE! He had a very clear reason for getting out of bed every day. If you read the chapter in its entirety, you’ll discover that his purpose was to single handedly save Egypt from a famine by putting aside food for seven years when the land was prosperous. The reason was because Joseph knew that the time of prosperity would soon be interrupted by a famine of seven years. He was saving for their future. Not a bad idea, right? But the real question I want to pose is, “What was it about Joseph that God saw in him that motivated God to entrust such a purpose to him?” Before we answer that question I need to provide some context. Joseph's story begins in Genesis 37 and as we open the pages of Scripture we see Joseph’s father Jacob playing favoritism with his sons (v. 3). When he would shop for clothes for his 11 sons he would get their clothes at the thrift store. But when he shopped for Joseph he went to Banana Republic. It says in verse 5, “Joseph had a dream.” Let's pause right here to ask a few questions.
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Key Questions On Purpose What dreams has God shown you for your own life? What is it that God has put on your heart to do? What is it that you find yourself getting so excited about that if you’re not doing it you feel as though your life is empty? What is that something that keeps you up at night? What is it that you would do for free? Most importantly, how is your passion directly tied to advancing God’s kingdom?
This last question is key. If you cannot connect what you believe God is calling you to do to the advancement of God’s kingdom, then I hesitate to call it your purpose. Let me put it another way. If an unbeliever can do what you believe your purpose is, I would suggest that it may not be your purpose. Perhaps it's just a hobby or your career. So let’s get back to our story. To make things worse, one day Joseph comes to his brothers and says, “hey I had this amazing dream that one day all of you are going to be bowing down to me!” There is a valuable lesson here on purpose. Everyone is not ready nor do they deserve to hear about your dreams, because not everyone can be genuinely happy for your success. So Joseph's brothers became angry and jealous of him and plotted to kill him. But one of his brothers says, “Hey I don’t want that on my conscience. Let’s just sell him into slavery and be done with it.”
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So Joseph gets shipped off to Egypt where he finds himself working as a slave for a man named Potiphar. Potiphar had a very beautiful wife who happened to be a cougar. She was the first cougar in the Bible! Perhaps Mr. Potiphar was a workaholic or traveled quite a bit. A traveling husband, a cougar wife and young, fine, handsome godly man working around the house is not a good combination. So one day Mrs. Potiphar could take no more and she says, “Joseph, come to bed with me!” Now guys, you think women are aggressive today? This sister didn’t beat around the bush. She said, "I’m not playing around with you. I’m grown and I know what I want. I don’t want a relationship with you. I just want…SEX!" I can only imagine the temptation Joseph must have felt at 17 years of age. For a young man to sleep with his master’s beautiful wife would have given him bragging rights for years and would have been something most young men would’ve gone after. But the Bible says that Joseph refused even though she pressed him daily. His response is staggering. He said in chapter 39 verse 9… “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
This leads us to the first key to unlocking your purpose.
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INTEGRITY
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Integrity
Integrity is that inner fear that says, “even though I could get away with this and no one would ever know, I know God is watching everything that I do and I won’t get away with it in His sight.” The word integrity comes from the root word integer. An integer in math is a whole number as compared to a fraction. Some of you are getting a headache right now at just the mention of anything related to math! Integrity is being whole in your character. When God unlocks your purpose, one of the things He looks for is integrity. This is what God has to say about this.
“No good thing will God withhold from those whose walk is blameless” Psalm 84:11
God has some good things He wants to do for you, in you and through you when your walk is blameless. Here is another helpful scripture on integrity.
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
Another great passage on integrity is 2 Tim. 2:20-21... “20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
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In many homes you have paper plates and you have expensive china. Paper plates have a purpose. They are used for common purposes and then thrown away. But when you have a special purpose you pull out the china. And he says, “people who CLEANSE THEMSELVES will be used for special purposes…” When God looks to take someone off of the shelf and use them for a special purpose, He first looks for people who are living lives of integrity. Do you want to be a paper plate or a piece of beautiful china?
Why is Integrity So Important? When you begin walking in your purpose it is God's desire that we possess impeccable character because when a Christian who is living out his/her purpose falls in the area of integrity it has two effects. First, it effects those who are on the inside. It affects the people who are close to this person because they look up to this person as a role model. When they fall, it shakes the faith of those around them. When you begin to walk in your purpose, people will begin to follow you. They will want to be mentored by you. They will be attracted to you because God’s purpose through you always involves people. So if our character is shaky and our integrity is not there, it’s only a matter of time before what is private becomes public. Then often times the faith of those around us is shaken. Secondly, it is an embarrassment to our faith to those on the outside. It becomes increasingly more difficult for nonbelievers to believe our message when our lips and our lives don’t match.
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FAITHFULNESS
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Faithfulness
The second key to unlocking your purpose is being faithful with what God has already given you to do. I want you to notice a few verses here in this story. In chapter 39 verse 4 it says,
“So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.”
Now look down a little further. Not only was Joseph a slave, but now he’s a prisoner. He gets thrown into prison and even in prison it says in verse 23…
“The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”
Joseph had every reason to say, “God gave me a dream that I would be doing one thing, but instead I find myself working in this man’s house as a slave. Then I get thrown into prison and now I’m working for a prison warden doing menial tasks again.” Little did Joseph know at the time that his one act of obedience would be the key that would unlock his entire destiny! This is why you shouldn’t view certain things in your life as unimportant or insignificant simply because what you're doing now is not what you believe you should be doing. Once again, the thing you don't want to do now could very well be the key that unlocks your destiny.
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When you find yourself doing something you never intended nor desired to do for a season, you must resist the thought that says, “I’ll be faithful once I get to the big stuff.” Or, "I'll do my absolute best once I get to where I want to be." I want to plead with you to resist and fight against that thought because often times it is the small stuff that leads you to the big stuff. God often tests us with small tasks to reveal if our hearts are pure. God says in Luke 16:10, "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones." Please don't miss this.
It’s difficult to remain faithful to do something that you don’t want to do. It's hard to continue to do your best when you have little to no passion for what you're doing. But the reason why this is important is because God is looking at the condition of our hearts and He is saying, “If this person has the character to be faithful in something they don’t want to do, how much more faithful will they be when I unlock their purpose?” Being faithful doesn’t mean it’s easy and it doesn’t mean you won’t get frustrated at times, but what it means is that you understand and apply the principle found in Colossians 3:23 which essentially says, “In everything that you do, do it to the best of your ability as unto the Lord.”
BLOOM WHERE YOU'VE BEEN PLANTED
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SPIRITUAL GIFTS
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Spiritual Gifts
The third key to unlocking your purpose is to discover and develop your spiritual gifts. In Genesis 40 verse 6 it reads, “When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were
dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’ ‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.’”
While Joseph is in prison with these two men, they both had crazy dreams and woke up frustrated because no one could interpret their dreams. But Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams and used his gift to make a difference in this man’s life. There are several observations I want to make here.
#1 EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A SPIRITUAL GIFT
The problem here is that we as Christians are often ignorant as to what a spiritual gift is, and more importantly, what ours are. Sadly, the church is partly responsible for this. You may have the gift of hospitality. You may have the spiritual gift of showing mercy to people in their times of greatest need and not even know it is a gift. Do you know how you know it’s a gift? It’s because everyone can’t do what you do. There are some people who would rather watch paint dry than to listen to someone who just went through a tough divorce and needs someone to show them comfort and mercy. Don’t DESPISE that gift as if it is not as important as the pastor’s gift or the musician’s gift. You could actually make an argument that some of these other gifts that we tend to minimize could be more important than the ones we typically exalt (read 1 Cor. 12).
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Someone could sing a song today that would bring you to tears and more than likely by Monday or Tuesday life has kicked back in and you’ve forgotten the effect of that song. But let someone come to your home when you’ve just lost a loved one and bring you some food, pray with you and comfort you. These acts of love leave a lifelong imprint on people’s lives. Don’t despise your gift. #2 USE YOUR GIFT IN EVERY SEASON
Joseph could have easily said, “you know what God, you have me in this low, depressing, discouraging prison. It’s not my time nor my season to use my gift. I have to get out of here first before I can really use it.” No! Joseph used his gift right when he was in the lowest season of his life. In the same way, things don't have to be perfect in your life in order for you to use the gift God has given you. You can use it in every season of life. #3 OTHER PEOPLE WILL AFFIRM YOUR GIFT
In the next chapter the king also had a dream and neither his magicians nor his wise men could interpret the dream. And the man who was in prison with Joseph reported to the king and said,
11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. 12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. 13 It happened just as he had said to us—Pharaoh restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.” Gen. 41:11-13
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These men affirmed the gift that was within Joseph. In the same way, if something is truly your gift you can be assured that other people will affirm it to you and to others. An encouraging scripture to memorize is, A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. Proverbs 18:16
This is the reason why you never need to try and manipulate your way into opportunities to use your gift. Trust God to open up opportunities for you. That is His job. Your job is to be prepared so that when He takes you off of the shelf, you'll be ready!
Illustration Men, imagine for a moment that you gave your wife some money to go out and buy a shirt for you. But instead, she took your money and bought a shirt for someone else. Now, it’s not wrong for her to buy someone else a shirt. But that wasn’t the purpose for which you gave her the money. The reason you gave her the money was so that she could buy YOU a shirt. She wouldn’t have had the money if it wasn’t for you. In the same way, God has given you some gifts to use. Is it wrong for us to use these gifts at school, at work or in our businesses? No. But that wasn’t the primary reason why God has gifted you. He gifted you so that you could use them to advance His kingdom. Every time we use our gifts in every other capacity except to glorify God and advance His kingdom, we are like that woman who takes her husband’s money and spends it on someone else.
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Action Plan STUDY THE LISTS OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS FOUND IN THE BIBLE
1 Cor. 12:46; 29-30 Romans 12:48 Eph. 4:11
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1 Pet. 4:11
TAKE A SPIRITUAL GIFT INVENTORY TEST
There are several of these online and they can help you pinpoint exactly what spiritual gifts God has given you and what specific ministries those gifts can best be utilized.
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USE YOUR GIFT
The easiest place to start is right in your home church. Talk to your spiritual leaders to see where your gift can best fit within the church's vision.
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RELATIONSHIPS
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Relationships
The fourth key to unlocking your purpose is to establish and invest in genuine, authentic relationships. Notice I used the word "invest." This must be INTENTIONAL. Oh how I wish I would have known how important this is earlier in my ministry. Watch this. In Gen. 41, two years pass by and Joseph remains in prison. However, the cupbearer gets out of prison and is back to working for the king. Do you remember him? Joseph interpreted his dream in prison and told him that he would be released from prison and successfully restored to his position as cupbearer to the king. Well, one night the king had a dream and no one could interpret it, at which time the cupbearer essentially said, “I remember this guy two years ago that interpreted my dream correctly and everything turned out exactly as he said. I’m sure he can interpret yours.” And the text says that the king sent for Joseph to be released from prison. This blows my mind. Because of a small deposit that Joseph invested in this man’s life two years prior, he was now in a position to connect Joseph to his ultimate purpose to serve the king! Wow! But none of that would have been possible if Joseph didn’t value his connection with this man that God brought into his life. Notice that Joseph served this man. He didn't approach the relationship thinking about what he could get out of it, but rather what he could give. Never minimize a connection! That could be the person God uses to propel you forward. Often times we don’t invest in them because of TIME.
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Illustration
There’s a story of a man who came home and his son ran up to him and said, “Daddy, daddy, tell me something. How much do you make an hour?” And the father became angry and said, “Why do you want to know that? You don’t need to know that.” And he said, “Daddy, daddy, I really need to know!” And he thought about it and said, “If you have to know I make 20 dollars an hour.” And the boy said, “Well, can I have 10 dollars?” And the man said, “What do you want 10 dollars for? You don’t need 10 dollars, now go to your room.” Well, the man thought about it for a while and said, “Well, maybe I was a bit harsh on my son.” And so he went up to his room and said, “Son, I was bit harsh on you. Here’s the 10 dollars you asked for.” And the young boy reached under his bed and pulled out 10 crumpled up dollar bills and began to count. And the man became angry again and said, “What are you doing asking me for 10 dollars when you already had 10 dollars? You’re asking me for money and you already had money.” And he said, “Daddy, daddy, I didn’t have enough, you said you make 20 dollars an hour. I only had 10 dollars and now with your 10 dollars I have 20 dollars, Daddy, can I buy an hour of your time?”
As extreme as that illustration is, the truth is that we are so absorbed into our own lives that we don't take the time to invest in relationships. You seldom see people who are walking in their purpose who have not mastered the art of investing in and valuing relationships. God used Moses to connect Joshua to his purpose. He used Elijah to connect Elisha to his purpose. He used Mordecai to connect Esther to her purpose. He used Jesus to connect the apostles to their purpose. He used Paul to connect Timothy to his purpose. You get the picture? Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, but it’s who you know?” It's true. God works through people and uses people to help launch us into our purpose.
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HEALING & FORGIVENESS
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Healing & Forgiveness
The final key to unlocking your purpose is to experience healing, which is often times preceded by forgiveness. This principle is such a huge part of you discovering your purpose because your purpose is often tied to your past. I want you to see this. If anyone had a reason to remain bitter it was Joseph. He could have remained bitter at his brothers who sold him into slavery. He could have remained bitter at Mrs. Potiphar for lying on him and saying that he raped her. He could have remained bitter towards Mr. Potiphar for not trusting him even though he was the perfect employee. He could have remained bitter towards the cupbearer when he interpreted his dream correctly only for the man to take two years to tell the king that Joseph was innocently put in jail and should have been released. Last but not least, he could have remained bitter at God for allowing all of this to happen to him. After all, God is in control of everything, right? But instead, Joseph experienced God's awesome healing power. Notice what it says in Gen. 41:51,
“Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’”
Notice that this doesn't mean Joseph didn't still experience pain. FORGIVENESS DOES NOT MEAN THE ABSENCE OF PAIN, BUT RATHER THE ABSENCE OF BITTERNESS. Shortly after Joseph was reconnected with his brothers thirteen years after they sold him into slavery, the Bible says in Genesis 42:24 that "He turned away from them and began to weep.” The key here that I don't want you to miss is that Joseph was able to extend forgiveness because he was able to...
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CONNECT HIS PAST PAIN TO HIS PRESENT PURPOSE
Notice that Joseph says in Genesis 50:20,
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
I REALLY want you to get this. What God often does is He takes the pain from our past, heals us, and then uses that as the fuel that ignites our purpose. You see, our God is an efficient God. He will not waste any experience in your past either good or bad. He will recycle it and use it for His glory. Whatever pain you have experienced in your past, when God heals you, you are now qualified to help someone else get through the same pain. If you've been through a divorce, God can now use you to help bring healing to those who have gone through a divorce. If you've been abused as a child, God can use you to help bring healing to those who have been abused. If you've made poor decisions in your dating relationships, God can use you to speak wisdom into those who are struggling in their singleness. Your purpose is often times hidden in your pain. And forgiveness can help unlock it. Perhaps you need to forgive someone who hurt you. Perhaps you are angry at God for what He has allowed in your life. Perhaps you're still ashamed of your past decisions and need to forgive yourself (although God already has).
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Far too often we allow the enemy to get the victory in our lives on the front end and on the back end. Let me explain this. On the front end, he caused hurt and pain in your life. But then God wants to reverse that and use you to help others. But sometimes, because we are too ashamed of our past, we keep our mistakes, pain, failures, poor decisions and all of the valuable wisdom from our past locked up and hidden instead of connecting it to our purpose. And the enemy gets the victory on the back end as well. Joseph got to the point where he was able to look the devil and his brothers in the eyes and say, "I know you thought that what you did would destroy me. But now that I'm on the other side, I see why God allowed it to happen. Had you never sold me into slavery I would not have been in a position to save this nation from national famine and ultimately be in a position to provide for my own family!" Wow! God wants you to experience the same transformation that Joseph experienced. I am reminded of the Old Testament story of Hosea. God allowed him to experience the pain of adultery in his marriage so that he could better relate to and ultimately minister to the nation of Israel who was committing spiritual adultery on God. What you've been through was painful. And no one should minimize that pain. But now you have the choice and the opportunity to get the victory and use that pain as fuel to ignite your purpose. What choice will you make?
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Conclusion I am convinced that the greatest pleasure in life is knowing that you are waking up every morning living out the very purpose for why God has created you. In my experience the joy of living out my calling far supersedes the highest joys and successes I've experienced in my career. It is my prayer that you will give strong consideration to these ďŹ ve keys. Are you living a life of integrity? Are you faithful in doing what God has already called you to do? Are you using your spiritual gifts? Are you actively investing in relationships? Are you experiencing healing and connecting your past pain to your purpose? When you do I hope and pray you will be on the road to discovering and living out the very purpose for why God has created you.
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