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Passion is the fuel of life. It is the great source of energy and drive. It’s what makes us explore new vistas, develop new relationships, and seek solutions to perplexing problems. Bob Buford, Halftime There is another Artist—a Grand Master—whose attention to detail and whose interest in his creation far outweigh that of any artist you will ever meet in a gallery. The Scripture says, Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed (Psalm 139:14–16, NLT).
Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa, Beethoven created one Fifth Symphony, and God made one version of you. You’re it! You’re the only you there is. And if we don’t get you, we don’t get you. You’re the only shot we have at you. You can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do it. You are more than a coincidence of chromosomes and heredity, more than just an assemblage of somebody else’s lineage. You are uniquely made.... The fascinating thing to me is that literally everything God makes is unique — every human, animal, flower, tree, and every blade of grass. He didn’t clone anything. Even identical twins possess their own individual uniqueness. That ought to tell us that our individuality is a sacred trust — and what we do with it is our gift to God. Our best contribution in life — our “utmost for his highest” — can only be made as we allow God to finish his work in progress and perfect our uniqueness. To live without discovering our uniqueness is to not really live. I think God is heartbroken when his children miss out on the potential he has placed inside of them. In fact, your Kingdom Purpose is very much a reflection of your faithfulness to God. The Bible defines faith as the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen (see Hebrews 11:1). The more time we spend with God, the more we learn of his goodness and faithfulness—and the stronger our faith in him becomes. We learn from God’s Word that it is impossible to please God without faith (see Hebrews 11:6). Unleashing Your S.H.A.P.E. for Life Chapter 10: Kingdom Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Chapter 11: Pass It On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Chapter 12: Full Potential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
My main problems with this book are that, while his intentions are noble, the author bases some assumptions and teaches some ideas from questionable sources. Quite frequently, Rees quotes from The Message paraphrase and the New Living Translation of the Bible. These versions often misinterpret or distort the meaning of Scripture. He also quotes passages out of context, making it sound like they are saying something they do not (e.g.--Romans 12:6a, as used on pp. 67 & 69). He quotes from Wilferd Peterson, a proponent of "New Thought," a belief system that purports that we are all part of a "universal mind" and that humans have the potential of becoming one with the impersonal life force at work in the cosmos (p. 81). In chapter 5, he talks about personality theories that originated in ancient astrology.
gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues (1 Corinthi ans 12:28). It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:9 – 10). Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Request help from others. What two sources of wisdom can you seek help from to discover your spiritual gifts? One of those people is John Baker—an ordinary man God has used in extraordinary ways. For many years, John battled an addiction to alcohol. It almost cost him his marriage, his family, and his life. Thankfully, John found God through his local church. That turning point led him to write his senior pastor a lengthy letter, outlining the vision for a ministry he believed God was nudging him to start. He also confessed his feelings of inadequacy about taking on such a task. Not long after, the pastor challenged John to go after his dream.
Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. fulfilling our Kingdom Purpose means discovering how God wants us to minister in the paths and relationships of the daily lives he has given us. For all of us, it means determining that we will let God use us to impact eternity and leave a heavenly legacy on earth. Your Kingdom Purpose is way more than a career. It is a special commissioning from God to make a significant difference on this earth. It’s the banner of your life that you carry and wave for God’s glory. Now don’t get me wrong, your career could provide you the platform to direct your Kingdom Purpose, but it doesn’t define it.
Based on the purpose of ministry outlined in The Purpose Driven Life, this inspiring guidebook gives you the tools to: This verse helps us understand that if we want to discover our mission or purpose in life, we first need to look at the masterpiece God has made us to be. While self-help books tell you to look within, I’m saying the key to living the life you were meant to live is to look to God and ask him to help you discover your uniqueness. Once you discover who you are, then you can start figuring out what God has planned for you, the specific way he designed you to make a difference in the world for him. G r a b b i n g H o l d Reflect on what you have learned. What did this chapter show you about spiritual gifts?
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The Bible says, For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10, NLT). Here God gives us a clear, beautiful picture to explain his relationship to us. He is the master craftsman; we are like clay in his hands. His role is to carefully shape us; ours is to remain pliable, allowing him to do so. It’s amazing how well the process works when we cooperate! As the prophet Isaiah emphasized: “And yet, Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand” (Isaiah 64:8, NLT). As we allow God’s hands to lovingly mold us, we submit ourselves to his purpose in creating us. God specially designs each of us for doing his will on earth. Each one of us is intentionally shaped to fulfill the specific 25
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, Go down to the potter’s shop and I will speak to you there. So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, he crushed it into a lump of clay and started again. Then the LORD gave me this message: O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand (Jeremiah 18:1–6, NLT). God wants you to truly understand and accept who he has made you to be. He longs for you to experience the release that comes with simply living as the person he created you to be. What Drives You? Because God is driving her life, Kay Warren is hoping to slow the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in the world. God is the ultimate driver of your life too — and you can experience the thrill of seeing him accomplish his best through you! The key is to discover the cravings the Creator has put in you; often they lie deep within your spirit and you’ve never before taken the time or effort to identify them. Listen for the whispers of secret prayers and desires, the deep yearnings in your life. Sadly, for many people, those passions go unexpressed, at least in terms of serving in the unique role God has for them. Ask yourself: • What do my dreams and desires drift toward? • What do I really want to do for God? • What motivates me to take action? • What do I crave? One passion that drives my life is helping people discover who God has created them to be. I live for that. This drive keeps me focused on fulfilling my specific Kingdom Purpose for God. Or consider Kimberly. Because she had always been a good listener, friends and family often remarked that she’d make a great counselor, and so she had seriously considered becoming a therapist. But after she became a Christian, she wondered what God wanted her to do. That’s when a woman at her church encouraged her to consider serving God through counseling. Kimberly now uses her passion to reach out to — and care for — the peop The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things. Larry Crabb, Finding God
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Another translation of Ephesians 2:10 uses the word workmanship to describe our uniqueness. It’s from the Greek word poiema, which literally means work of art, and is the root of our English word poem. You are a work of God—and nothing but the highest and best comes from his hand. Like the artist who takes scrap metal and turns it into an amazing sculpture, God takes our lives and fashions them into a masterpiece. One of a Kind
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