OUR PURPOSE FOR LIFE

What is the world's definition of success in life? We go through life being told that in order to be considered a success in life, we are to work hard for a living and accumulate the comforts of life as well as achieve recognition. So we end up desiring material possessions of many types, including larger homes, better vehicles, pricey clothing and more as an indication of our success. When we get these things, we definitely experience a brief period of excitement, happiness and satisfaction, but this is soon followed by a sense of emptiness and discontentment with life.   There is a diminishing enjoyment in material things that sets us back onto the pursuit of new material things that can replace the old ones and hopefully give us joy. But the pattern is the same, we soon find ourselves feeling empty and unsatisfied with the new things. It is possible to be happy without stuff, but we can never be happy without God. If God is not first before all things in our lives, we will not k

Chasing After Things One of our deepest desires as humans is to live a meaningful and fulfilled life. We are constantly on the lookout for things that will bring us fulfillment, contentment and happiness. We long for the peace and joy that come with material possessions, successful careers, beautiful bodies, higher levels of education, popularity and recognition, self-advancement, sex, pleasure, and relationships. When we obtain these things, we often feel excited for a short period of time, but then we feel empty, and the cycle begins again, and we seek the next best thing. None of these things can completely satisfy our hearts' hunger. We all want to be happy, but we can end up wasting years pursuing things that don't bring lasting happiness.  "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastics 1:14 How many people are happy because they have a lot of money? Are they not up all night trying t

Longing for more We all have a deep underlying longing for something that is beyond our human capacity to completely comprehend. It is an awareness of something within us that is lacking and which if realized, would make our lives complete.  We all have strong desires for things like love, power, achievement, identity, goods, and social connectedness, but none of them provide long-term fulfillment. We may feel joyful and delighted for a short period of time, but that sensation always disappears. Many people are dissatisfied with their life, even if to others they may be seen to have it all; a generally good life. They imagine that the next idealized relationship, purchase, or career will be the one that will finally and fully satisfy them. Only for the joy and excitement felt when these things are achieved to disappear with time. "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!" Ecclesiastes 5:10 Our supreme satisfactio

  God and Money Is making money your primary motivator in life? Is your entire effort devoted to the pursuit of money? What do you do every day? "Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world."  1 John 2:15-16 God and Money are the two masters of the earth. Jesus says in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."  You are either controlled and driven by God or by money in this world. Consider this: what consumes the majority of your thoughts? Is it how to labor efficiently for God's kingdom or how much money you need to make? People kill for monetary gain. Yes