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TOU 3.0 September Life Mastery Class –
Why On Earth Am I Here?: A Conversation on Purpose
Speaker: Pastor LaBryant Friend, All Nations Worship Assembly – Atlanta/Charlotte
Purpose is a hot button topic lately, especially in and during this pandemic season. There are a lot of questions about what is going on, have I possibly missed God, has God missed me? None of us saw this coming and here it is anyway, we thought things were headed in a different direction.
This has been a time for re-evaluation and repositioning ,so that we can do the things that God has called us to do. There is a plan and a purpose for everyone! We all have the ability to build and create. We all carry aspects of His wisdom and grace.
Jeremiah 1:5 – You have had a plan from birth. God doesn’t haphazardly make things happen. God has strategy and order behind everything that He does. Our arrivals were not by accident. Nothing about us was by accident.
Everything is a part of the MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD!
Proverbs 19:21 – There are aspects that we can have mapped out but ultimately God’s purpose will prevail. God’s plans will always supercede what we see and what we want.
Psalms 33:11 – His plans stand FOREVER. It’s not just for now. This is a generational plan!! Our children’s children will reap the rewards of your yes now. He will use us as the one that breaks the generational curses and unlocks generational blessings. All along the journey he has been exposing you to bits and pieces of the journey. You haven’t yet seen the fullness of it.
Isaiah 46:10-11 – God worked from your expected end back to the beginning. He didn’t start your plan from your birth, he started from your death. He knows what’s His expectation of your yes and why. He knows what should have been poured by the time that you leave this world. He even uses your mistakes as all a part of your purpose. God doesn’t waste any experience when He’s unfolding the plan for your life.
Exodus 9:16 – There are many of your right now who are in the season called “Raising Up.” He’s about to reveal His purpose for you in a new way. God’s been using a hiding season to raise you up. God does not waste anything!!!!!!!!!!! It’s all for use. There is an erroneous conclusion that some have come is that you are only created to be someone’s spouse. That is false! You are more than a wife or a husband. You are designed for more than that. You are supposed to build out and create. You have to be well acquainted with your why and what His breath looks like in you.
7 Critical Aspects of Purpose and Corresponding Actions
1). Your purpose has a people – Reach them!
God didn’t breathe in you for you to go into isolation. You are meant to help people and work with people. You have to choose to work in collaborative efforts. This will help to extend reaches. There are people assigned to help you and you to them. When you stop running and open your heart and say yes to your purpose you will find there are people who are waiting for you that didn’t even know it or you! You’ll find the one when you’ve decided to be acquainted with the you that you’ve been running from. What would happen if you took the muzzle off the story that is your testimony?
2) Your purpose has a place – Find it
You have the ability to be who you are wherever you are, there are areas, mountains of influence and vicinities that are going to respond to your purpose differently than others will. When you find the place where God wants to use you, you will find that all of the places have been preparatory. You cannot hold your future responsible for what your history did! In the right space you will discover glimpses of success even in the wrong season and the place. When you are in purpose and in place everything you touch turns to gold. Purpose is NOT a place, it’s a journey You’ll be navigating it for the rest of your life.
3) Your purpose has a pace – Follow it
By Pastor Friend this is the most important and most weightiest! Just because you are coming into the revelation of your why it does not mean that you are going to manifest immediately into your end and what is happening! He doesn’t give you the totality of everything in the beginning. Look at the story of Abram. He gives what you need to get moving but then He gives you a pace. You have to move with the pace God is giving you. Sometimes you’re in acceleration, there will be other times when He pulls back the reins. You have to walk in tune with the spirit of Grace.
4) Your purpose will have pressure – Embrace it
We love the conversations about God that are revealing but what we don’t love is the pressure that comes with embracing knowing that everybody is not going to get the revelation of who you are when it’s revealed to you. You have to be able to handle it so that you don’t fold in the times when God is trying to build you. Hard seasons are God’s divine opportunities. There are various pressure points but you can’t nurse them like newborn babies. You have to embrace the pain as they hit and move through them.
5) Your purpose will be problematic – Expect it
If you haven’t experienced some outside agitation then it could be questioned that you’re not in your purpose at all. So understand that once you are called to solve a problem, you become a problem for those who don’t see it in you. Don’t run from them but tackle it as it transpires.
6) Your purpose is for public consumption – Pour it
Your greatest testimony at the end of your life is to say that you lived a life poured out. While you have the opportunity use it to the greatest capacity that you can. What would happen if you stopped being stingy with your why and restraining what the rest of the world needed to see? You may not everybody’s cup of tea but you will be somebody’s.
7) Your purpose is not a prison but you must surrender to it.
More often than not, people have an inner ticking about what they are put here for. Even if you haven’t investigated it, you have a feeling about it. You can’t be afraid of the surrender. You know how it feels to be reacquainted with your why and feel the flutters and start to see the things. You feel the anticipation building.
If you’re breathing you have a why! Don’t run from it!! Your purpose is not prison!! You are not stuck. There is a freedom that comes with knowing that you are doing and becoming everything that God has called you to be.
Q & A Segment:
- How do we navigate through all that is going on right now?
It’s about perspective. When you start to see things right in front of you it’s hard to see the big picture. Ask God for help in seeing the bigger picture of what all that is happening is for. Ask for Him to help you step away from the pressure of the pandemic and to see past it.
Take a walk by yourself. Unplug from everything and allow the spirit to whisper to you about what He’s saying to you about your life.
- How do you push past the feelings of inadequacy/the weight of the call?
Biblically, everybody that’s been called has never felt like they had or were enough. Nobody ever feels they are enough. However you have to insist on moving past it. Leaning on that feeling of inadequacy is a manifestation of the spirit of fear. You must realize that God’s grace is sufficient. In your weakness,discover His strength. Weight is not a deterrent to run, it’s an indicator of how much heaven trusts you.
- How do you navigate through being gifted to do many things or being good at many things?
Understand the season that you are in. Some things you are good at are to help your purpose but they are not the actual purpose. You have to be able recognize the seasons that you are in.
- Is there a difference between a purpose and a calling?
Per Pastor Friend, they are interchangeable. People generally use calling to refer to ministry but they work together. Your call may be a part of your overall purpose or it’s how you fulfill the purpose.
- In regards to the 7-steps which place should be before you consider bringing on someone else, i.e. a wife or a husband?
There is no set place to be within the steps per se. You should at least have been introduced to God’s version of you. Know who you are and know your why before entertaining someone else. Knowing who you are beforehand will stop you from morphing into someone you don’t want to be in order to fit the situation. God doesn’t marry people, He marries purposes! He joins purposes together to be fulfilled. The purposes are carried out through the people.
- How do you pour into others without feeling drained?
There is a public pour which should be regulated and limited. There is a private pour which is for those who have been given access to the other side of boundaries and spaces. When pouring if you begin to feel drained, you may need to reassess your boundaries. Pours should make you feel refreshed and invigorated.
You also have to realize that EVERYBODY IS NOT YOUR ASSIGNMENT!!!!
Additionally, don’t compromise your purpose once you’re acquainted with it. This is another way you can begin to feel drained.
Following Pastor Friend:
All Social Media – LaBryant Friend