The Purpose Driven Life
15-19 September 2003
Lesson # 2 - What on Earth Am I Here For? (Days 4-7)
INTRODUCTION
· What do people get attached to on earth that keeps them from living for God’s purposes?
OBSERVATION/INTERPRETATION
Note: “While life on earth offers many choices, eternity offers only two: heaven and hell. Your relationship to God on earth will determine your relationship to him in eternity. If you learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus you will be invited to spend the rest of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God forever.” (TPDL, p. 37) Reading Days 4-7 causes us to consider that we were made to last forever and we should see life from God’s perspective because life on earth is truly a TDY/TAD.
Read Psalm 39:4-6
Note: We were reminded last week: “David had served God’s purpose in his own generation.” Act 13:36
· What did David ask of God? Have you ever prayed such a thought?
· What was David’s assessment of the length of his life?
· How does the awareness of the brevity of life affect your priorities?
· “Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more than you realize.” (TPDL, p. 42) Do you agree? Why?
· Which life metaphor best describes your life? Why?
Read 1John 2:15-17
· What does John mean by “the world” and why are we not to love it?
· How does James 4:4 compare this concept of the world?
· What examples would you apply to “lust the flesh, lust of the eyes & the pride of life”?
· How do these verses help you to see life from God’s perspective?
APPLICATION
· Since we were made to last forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and the one thing I should start doing today?
· How should the fact that life on earth is a temporary assignment change the way I am living right now?
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:8 (NIV).
“Living the rest of your life for the glory of 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… Will you live for your own goals, comfort and pleasure, or will you live the rest of your life for God’s glory, knowing that he has promised eternal rewards?” (TPDL, p. 57)
“Continually restate to yourself what the purpose of your life is. The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness…” Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest