Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts

Thursday, November 6, 2014

The Set Apart Girl Finds Her Identity in Christ

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


When we are born, our identity comes from this world. Our parents give us a name, we belong to a family, and we learn how to live from our environment. As we grow, we learn to like and dislike things, foods, and people. We live to have experiences that mold and shape who we will later become. When a person becomes born again, they take on a new identity - a Heavenly identity.

Girls of this world will find their identity in the things they own, or the accomplishments they have achieved. The girl of this world brags about the degree she earned from the prestigious university she attended. The girl of this world bullies and gossips about others because she believes she is better than the "average person". The girl of this world will exalt herself and all that she has done, and can do. Although it is good to have goals, and work hard, Jesus tells us "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be" (Matthew 6:21). If your desires are in and of this world, your heart will follow the unGodly patterns of this world. 

When she becomes born again, the Set Apart Girl now takes on her new identity through Jesus Christ.  Her desires change from wordly desires to Heavenly desires. She no longer brags about what she can do, but she lives just as Jesus did. Christ died on the cross for our sins so that we can live again in Heaven with our Father God. The bible tells us that those that belong to Him will reign as heirs along with Jesus in Heaven (Romans 8:17). When the Set Apart girl realizes she is already royalty in Heaven, the things of this world become less important. 

 heir (n.) [air]
a person who inherits or has a right of inheritance in the property of another following the latter's death.

The Set Apart girl lives to store up her treasures in Heaven. She commits her time, resources, and talents to God's plan for her life. She lives this life here on earth to live again in Heaven. She behaves as an heir to the promises of God. 

Think about it...
When we get to Heaven, we will rule as joint heirs with Jesus. How does this change your opinion about how you should live your life here on earth?

Focus Scriptures:
And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right, to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Luke 22:29-30

Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Matthew 6:19-21

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
Ephesians 1:4

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13

Sunday, November 2, 2014

November Study: The Set Apart Girl


Do you know that you are special to God? Do you know that He created you for a special purpose, to make a difference in this world? You are hand-picked and loved by the Almighty God. He chose you, and wrote your story before you were even formed in your mother's womb. God spoke to Jeremiah and told him,

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah 1:5

Just like Jeremiah, God has a special plan for your life. You may not be a prophet like Jeremiah, but you have been chosen by God to leave your mark on this world, to make a difference, and to bring glory to God. Because you are so special, our enemy (the devil) is jealous and does not want you to fulfill your purpose, or receive all that God has for you here on earth. So what does the devil do? He puts in front of us enticing distractions and feel-good sins of this world, to keep us focused on everything but God. The devil tries to deceive us with the things of the world to keep us from the promises of God. When you decide to become"set apart" for God's use, He can move and flow through you everyday of your life to fulfill the perfect plan He has for you. 

The Set Apart Girl is a girl who is after God's purpose for her life. She sets herself apart from the things of this world and stays focused on the things of God. What is the difference between a girl of this world and a set-apart girl? Stay tuned as we search the scriptures and learn to distinguish the differences from a worldly woman, and a virtuous woman.


Scriptures about Being Set Apart:

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
Deuteronomy 7:6

The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
John 15:19

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
I John 2:15