Text: Jeremiah 1:1-10

Jer 1:1-10 (1) The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: (2) To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. (3) It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. (4) Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (5) Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (6) Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (7) But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt goto all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (8) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. (9) Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. (10) See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Introduction:

Today I want to talk to you from the subject, “Discovering Your purpose in God.”

There are many of us going through our lives without having discovered our purpose. There are many who do not know their purpose. They have not figured out what their life is really about.

You see, without purpose, it causes you to ask questions like,

• “Who am I?”
• What is the meaning of life? 
• “What am I doing here?” and 
• What’s my purpose for being?”.

Yes, there are many who are asking these questions today. Many of us are going through life not ever finding true peace and happiness because we have not discovered our purpose in life. The sad thing is that when we go about our daily lives without purpose,

• the decision that we make are based on what seems to be expedient at the time…
• the decision that we make are based on what seems to be right at the time.

You see, when I have not discovered what God has purpose for me, I don’t have the ability to make decisions for my life that are connected with where I am going….you see, I’m unable to make decisions that propel me toward my destiny. And so, the decisions that I make in my life may actually be in direct opposition to my destiny… because I really don’t know where I am going.

You see, If I don’t know my purpose, when it comes to decision making, the only thing I can do is give my best guess. But if I know my purpose, when I come to a fork in the road of life and I have to decide whether to go straight or turn to the left or turn to the right, knowing my purpose in life will help guide me in the right direction to go.

So, discovering my purpose in life is critical. Understanding that I have purpose and what that purpose is and where purpose comes from, is important.

So I’m here to tell you all today that you each have purpose and when you discover your purpose in God you will begin to walk in the fullness of joy and peace.

Origin of Purpose

Now in order to walk in this fullness of your destiny you have to first recognize the origin of your purpose (2X). You have to understand that your purpose comes from God and the meaning of your existence is wrapped up in Him. You can not walk in the fullness of your purpose without recognizing where your purpose comes from.

What am I saying? I’m saying, the thing that God has for you can only be fully realized as you come to understand that He is the one who has given you your purpose….your purpose comes from God.

Look at what God says to Jeremiah in the 5th verse, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou cameth forth out of the womb I sanctified thee a prophet unto the nations.”

God is revealing something here: God is revealing to us something about Himself, and God is revealing something about Jeremiah. Well, what is He revealing about Himself? God is letting us in on how He operates. God is letting us see how He operates in the life of people.  This is critacal because if I can see how God operated in the life of Jeremiah, I can then begin to see how He operates in my life.

Look, God says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…”. This literally means that God had already selected Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations before he was even formed in the womb.

Illustration

I remember when a man was going to have a house built. He saw the soil and the dirt and he told the builder where to build it. He also told them what color the house was to be, the color carpet, the type of cabinets etc. You see, He had already decided what kind of house it would be and it’s use before it was built. All the colors and the layout of the house was to accommodate little children. The purpose of the house was in my mind of the man before it was built.

The purpose of Jeremiah was already in the mind of God before he was formed in his mother’s womb. Your purpose was already in the mind of God before you were formed in your mother’s womb.

You see the word says that He “formed” you. That word means that He fashioned you according to His purpose.

Where we mess up is when we try to walk according to our own purpose. But the Word of the Lord tells us that, “many are the plans of a mans heart but God’s purposes will prevail.”

God fashioned you according to what He was desiring to bring about in your life. It is like when a potter takes a piece of clay and he squeezes it into the form that he desires. However, before he begins to form the clay he has to determine in his mind what He wants the thing to be:

• If he wants to make the clay into a cup He determines that before he starts to mold the clay, 
• if he wants to make a bowl he determines that before he begins to form the clay.

And so the thing molded does not determine it’s purpose, nor does it begin to fulfill purpose until it is used according to what is was formed for. Ask your neighbor, What where you formed for? If they answer, “I don’t know”…tell them ask God! Because you see the clay does not determine it’s own purpose, but the potter who formed it.

The word “form” literally means to “determine purpose.” Before God formed you He determined your purpose. Your real purpose in life is determined by God Himself, and so: 

• it is impossible to walk in your destiny outside of God
• it is impossible to walk in your purpose out-side of God
• it is impossible to find real meaning in life outside of God.

God says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…”. What did He know? He knew the plans that He had for Jeremiah, He knows the plans that He has for you! The word of the Lord declares, “I know the thoughts (Plans) that I think toward you. Plans to prosper you, plans never to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”.

In our scripture, God is encouraging Jeremiah by telling Him that the thing that I have purposed in you was: 

• Not only in My mind before you were formed
• It was not only in My mind before you were born

But I have given you this purpose because I know you.

• I know your:

1. Heart 
2. Thoughts: the things that you meditate on
3. Desires: the things that move you
4. What’s in you
5. What you are capable of God knows you, He knows everything about you.

He says, before I formed you with purpose I knew you. The word “Knew” means a close personal relationship, it means that God had singled Jeremiah out as a prophet to the nations because He knew him.

This is the operation of God, each of us has been molded by God, fashioned by God to fulfill our God given destiny. But you see, you can not begin to walk in it until you decide to stop giving all the excuses about why you can’t do it. If God has called you to it, you can do it. Tell your neighbor, If God call you to it, you can do it!

Now look at verse 5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou cameth forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

God says to Jeremiah, before you came out of your mothers womb I sanctified you and ordained you.” God is literally tell him, “I have set you apart for my purpose.” To sanctify means, to make clean, to set apart and to prepare and ordain means to appoint for purpose. Jeremiah was appointed and set apart by God to speak the word of the Lord to the nations. Perhaps someone sitting here right now, today, has a similar purpose,

• to speak the Word of the Lord in the earth.
• To speak to every ethnic group,
• To tell everyone what is in the heart of God.

Perhaps your purpose in God is simply to lead one person to Jesus. You may have been set apart to let the people know that Jesus lives or to minister to the hungry or to give clothing to those who need clothing. What ever you purpose is you must discover what it is…this is where you will find true fulfillment in life.

But, you can’t get there without Jesus.

Excuses

Many of us know that we have something that we are set aside to do. God has shown some of us a glimpse of what He wants from us. But since it seems too hard to us we begin to make excuses. Don’t make excuses anymore.

In verse 6 Jeremiah begins to make excuses as to why he could not do as God had said, “I can not speak: for I am a child.” We come up with all kinds of reasons why we can not do the will of God:

• I’m too young
• I’m too old
• I too this and too that
• I don’t know enough
• You don’t know my background.

When Jeremiah gives his excuses, God simply says, “Say not, I am a child.” In other words:

• Stop limiting yourself
• Stop looking at yourself with human eyesight
• Change your conversation about yourself

God tells Jeremiah, “Thou shall go to all I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak”. God’s purposes for Jeremiah were bigger than Jeremiah could see. They were beyond his natural ablity to accomplish. But God was the one who was sending him, God was the one who would give him the words to speak.

When God gives you purpose, He also gives you what you need to accomplish it. Do you want to accomplish the purpose of God in your life? Do you want to know the purpose of God for your life? Many of us have it tried our way…and found that it did not work. Try it God’s way. God’s way is the right way.

The way that God has determined to find your purpose starts with a relationship with Jesus. Accepting Jesus into your life is the best decision you could ever make in your life. Jesus is the way to finding your eternal purpose.

You must accept this gift of God.

If you feel, I need to begin walking in my purpose, the first step is making a decision for Jesus Christ.

Will you make that step today?

Discovering You Purpose in God Part 1 © 2002

Pastor Jimmy R. Davis, Jr.

River Christian Fellowship