what was I made for?

Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Ali Yost. It is a joy and an honor to be here with you guys today. Happy Friday everybody! How are we all feeling? I am so grateful to be here with you guys. I know I already said that. I'm going to say it again. I doubled up on y'all this week with the gratitude, but seriously, I'm so grateful. I'm so excited to be here. I will say, I look a little fancier today. Then I typically do on the podcast. I mean, I present myself well, I think. Hopefully, you guys feel the same way. I'm not showing up in my pajamas, but I do feel a little bit more elevated and fancy and sophisticated. It's because I had gone up to LA today for an event, which was so fun. I don't typically have a lot of excuses to dress up like this. It was a nice event and it was fun. It was with this makeup brand. They were incredible. Okay, incredible. The pop-up, because they were visiting. They're not based out of Los Angeles. It was beautiful. So impressed, so much fun. Everyone was so kind. I just had the best time. I was already in this outfit and I was considering changing and just getting into something more comfortable, like a cozy sweater or something. I was like, you know what? We're just going to keep rolling with it. I loved this outfit so much. So here we are, guys. Here we are. I love you guys. I love y'all. Can I just tell you how much this podcast brings me joy? True, genuine joy. I think if anything, obviously, my biggest thing with this podcast is praise God that this is something that the Lord is using to tell people about Jesus and to reach people. It's his spirit moving through me that gets to just minister to you guys and I'm really so grateful for that. But also, I'm just so grateful for this community, like genuinely grateful for the family that we have here. It's like nothing I've ever really experienced. I just love y'all and I'm so proud of the people that you guys are. And so I just want to encourage that and encourage you guys in that. I don't know if anyone has told you that they are proud of you, but I am genuinely so proud of you and I know that we don't know each other personally, but I do know that the Lord is so proud of you and just the fact that you're listening to a podcast like this, there are just so many other things that you could be doing with your time right now and the fact that you want to spend your time this way in a way where we are hopefully in this episode, that's my goal in every episode, is to just look at Jesus. Like the fact that that's how you're spending your time right now is just really amazing and it's remarkable and it's beautiful and I just think the fact that we are all here and we are able to just look at Jesus is actually a miracle in itself. I think, you know, probably a lot of us listening right now maybe have stories like mine where I didn't know Jesus like that. It's a miracle that I'm here today and so in the way that I am, like the fact that this is my life now is a literal freaking miracle, doesn't make sense and so yeah, it's a miracle that you're here. It's also a miracle that you've just been created and formed by God like the odds. I looked at it, I've shared it one time on the internet of the odds of just being alive. Okay, people usually ask this because they're feeling the weight of how wild it is to exist and honestly the odds are insane. So listen to this guys, here's the simplest, clearest breakdown of what people mean by the odds of being alive. This is a calculation is like it's actually an insane, I don't know what this number, I can't even say it back to you, but it says that's a one with 2.7 million zeros after it. That number is so huge it might as well be zero. This includes your parents meeting, them staying together long enough to conceive, the exact egg and sperm combining one in 400 quadrillion, your ancestors surviving long enough to have children, every event in history lining up to allow your existence, it's wild. Your existence isn't a random accident anyway, even if the quote odds are mathematically impossible, scripture frames it differently. You were knit together in your mother's womb, which is Psalm 139-13, meaning you're not here by chance at all, you're here because God wanted you here. So in a scientific sense, the odds are almost zero that you exist right now. In a Christian sense, the odds are irrelevant because your existence is intentional. Another way to picture it of just the odds of you being alive and the fact that we are all sitting here is a miracle, right? So a way to picture it is imagine the entire universe covered in grains of sand, every planet, every moon, every star, then imagine picking one single grain at random, the odds of picking that exact grain someone secretly chose beforehand, still much higher than the odds of you being born. It's just so crazy that mathematically we shouldn't exist, but the fact that we do, I don't know why that just like wrecks me, but God so intentionally created you, so intentionally created you. And I think we just forget that, like we genuinely forget what a miracle it is to be alive. I think we probably take advantage of it. And I think that we also probably let the heaviness of life get in the way of remembering just how special it is to be alive. And I think that even the pressure of the world too, with how we're supposed to spend our life or what we're supposed to do with our life, and there's so much pressure on doing it the right way or making the right decisions. And from a faith perspective, if we're sitting here, I would imagine it's because you love Jesus or you want to learn how to love Jesus, but maybe we can sometimes fall into this cycle of like, well, I want to live my life to the fullest of what God wanted for my life. And I think that that's a really good desire to have, and I think it's an honoring desire to have. But there might be a point where we maybe are putting too much pressure on ourselves to be quote, in the will of God, that we're just stressed and anxious the whole time about what our purpose is or what we're supposed to do here on earth. And so I really would love to talk about purpose. I would love to talk about why in the world you're here. Why am I here? What are we doing? Like, okay, it's a miracle that we're alive. And it's crazy that we exist. Like the odds of us existing is basically zero. That's how big the number is. But why? Like, like actually why? Why are we alive? Why are we here? What's the purpose? What's our job? What are we supposed to do while we're here on earth? And apparently, this life in comparison to eternal life is like a grain of sand compared to the life that we're going to live after this life, right? With Jesus in heaven in all of eternity. Like this is just a, like a little glimpse, like a sparkle, like a little, compared to the life that we're going to spend in eternity with Jesus. And so it is such a little blimp of like our life and what our life will look like even after this lifetime. But also we want to spend it well. And if you do believe in Jesus and you love God with all of your heart, mind and soul, first most important commandment is you want to do that well and you go and you want to go, okay, guys, so then what am I here for? What did you make? Like if I was so important to be made, why did you make me? And so if that is a question you have asked yourself in your life or just recently, I think this is going to be a really good episode for you. And just a tiny little plug, because it's not yet finished yet. And I think I've, I think I've like, I've snuck this in an episode before maybe, I don't know, but I am writing a book. We're in the process of getting it out there and it being like an actual book. And what I've written about is around this topic of purpose. So I am very excited for that book to exist in the world very soon. But I felt such a burden to write about this topic of purpose. And I'm sharing a lot of my own stories in my life of how I've navigated and how I've even gotten to where I am today and what clarity God has given me in my purpose. And so that'll definitely be a more in depth version than this podcast episode, of course, because it's a whole book. But I'm very excited about it. And I'm excited to announce it. So I mean, stick around. If you'd like, keep your eyes peeled for whenever that can go live. And follow me on socials and stuff too, because I'll definitely be talking about it on socials, but I'll be talking about it on here too. Duh. Anyway, purpose. Okay, let's talk about it. One, it's so funny because I feel like that is like the one of the deepest desires, if not like the deepest desire of the human soul, I think since the beginning of our lives is I think the biggest thing that we are always trying to understand is why? Like, why am I here? What was I made for? How to feel fulfilled? And just how to feel confident and good like this is no, this is what I was made for. And I think that when you are filled with that kind of purpose, there is that instant satisfaction that comes to our soul, like that restoration that comes to our soul of like, Oh, this is what I was made for. And I think a lot of times, like if you are in high school, and you are figuring out what your passions are, like what are your loves? What do you love to do? What are you passionate about doing? Is it sports? Is it being a counselor and helping people? Is it being a nurse? Is it being a doctor? Is it running your own business? Dreaming, being an artist? Like, what does that mean? So finding that and then obviously, like that's what you're going to do with the rest of your life. And the thing is, is God has given all of us passions and abilities, artistically. I mean, we can all be creative in our own ways. It doesn't mean you have to have necessarily a paintbrush and a canvas, but I do believe we're all creative and we have strengths and we have things that we love because those are gifts from God. And so I'm not saying that those things are bad, but I do think that a lot of times the world, especially if it's void of God, if it's void of Jesus, and it's like we're just looking at that, that is where all our worth goes into. And that is our definition of our purpose is like, no, my purpose is this thing that I'm really good at. My purpose is to play basketball. My purpose is to, you know, and I feel like that's actually just like a little dinky, dinky sliver of what our actual purpose is here on earth. And I think that's an expression of how to be in our purpose. Because like, if you have a strength, that's the tool, that's the medium that you will definitely need to be using, like as, you know, your tool in life. But I think we all have the same purpose. And then like with those gifts, and those things that God has planted in all of our hearts, we all reach that, you know, but the big major purpose that I have realized, it's not, it doesn't just stop at that. And I think that's the, that's the disconnect that the world has is it's like, it's actually quite like shallow. And it goes a lot deeper than that. It's not just like, Oh, well, I'm really good at this, and I can help people in this way. And this is what I do. It's like, yeah, for sure. But also, like, there's such a deeper meaning to our purpose that is spiritual, that is rooted in, okay, where did we come from? Who were we created by? And who gave me these passions and these gifts or these things that I love? Like if that's song writing, who gave that to you? And so I think the first step of truly understanding our purpose, like genuinely before anything else is understanding who you were created by. I didn't say fully understand because we will never fully understand or be able to conceptualize who God is because he's massive, massive. I believe at the end of our lives, like even if we just like faithfully followed God and studied the Bible and studied scripture and just like educated ourselves to the most of our abilities of who God is. And we did that for the rest of our lives until we were 93 years old. We probably still wouldn't come anywhere near truly understanding who God is. He's just too big. But he's so kind to have left his Holy Spirit, who genuinely is like our intercessor, is our counselor, is the one, or translator, you know, that can help us understand who God is. And I think for me, like the best way I've really understood who God is to me is through obviously scripture, like you guys, I've shared my story so many times of how I've come to Jesus, but it was scripture that actually introduced me to the spirit of God, which made me feel something I had never felt in my life. And so I actually think the way that I've understood God is through a way of feeling that sometimes I can't even put words to, because that's how massive he is. Actually, that's like a whole nother rabbit hole that we could probably fall into of just like, I don't know, like how we all can kind of encounter God differently. But I guess that's just been my experience is I feel like I've understood God more through obviously scripture and then the feelings, the feelings, I don't know, I can't just, it's just, it's just him, it's just his kindness, it's his love, it's his compassion, it's his empathy, it's his heart, like, so I will say that I think step one is that is like being like, okay, who are you God, like, understanding my purpose, I think best start would be who made me, you know, so understanding our creator to love God and walk closely with him. Your first calling is relationship, not performance, to know Jesus talk to him, to trust him, to lean on him, and to let him shape your heart day by day. Everything else flows out of that place. And if those things sound overwhelming to you, it, we got to go back to that very first sentence that said your first calling is relationship, not performance. So you don't need to strive. You don't feel like this is a checklist that you have to try to achieve, like, okay, I have to talk to him, I need to trust him, I need to lean on him, and I need to let him shape my heart, like, yeah, for sure, and you do actually, you have to talk to him. That is something you physically have to do. And I could be speaking, like preaching to the choir, a lot of you guys may know this, but also if you're new, I just feel like maybe there could be a lot of new people that are just clicking on this episode because it's about purpose, and they're like, I don't know, maybe you've never even tried to consider Jesus. But I really think that going into it with an open heart of being like, I'm just going to start talking to you, Jesus, and I'm going to start opening my heart to you, and I'm going to start praying, and I'm going to start reading scripture, and like that is walking closely with him, you know, is like starting to lean on him and trust him, and look at him like a friend. And I think that that's something that happens over time, just like any friendship. I mean, you think about when you start becoming friends with anybody, and probably the first couple hangs are a little like, who are you? What's your, what's your vibe? What are you about? And then the more that you realize that it's safe, and the more that you realize you actually really like this person, and you like their character, and you love their heart, and you're like, wait, this person's like actually so kind, and they're like really compassionate, and they kind of have a little bit of humor, like they're funny, and they make me feel safe, and they never make me feel judged, and then you just want to be around them all the time. And I think that is exactly what it's like becoming a friend of Jesus, and letting him be your friend. And so, yeah, I just think that that comes with time. So like, there is no pressure to be like, oh, but I got to make sure all this, like genuinely just come to him with an open heart and curiosity, and being like, okay, God, I want to know who you are. Okay, Jesus, I invite you into my life and into my heart. And slowly, but surely, those things will all start to fall together. He will then be able to start shaping your heart day by day, and then everything else will flow out of that place. It's beautiful. It's like the coolest thing ever. And so, once we've done that, okay, let's say, okay, now we've finally encountered the very man who saved my life, the very man who died on the cross for me, the very man who's created me, the man who humbled himself, and came down from heaven to live a life like ours, but perfectly, never committing a single sin, overcoming all of sin and death and evil of the world, so that we could be freed through his blood and his sacrifice. We can plead his blood and say, thank you, Jesus, for overcoming the sin of my life and the sin of the world. So once we've accepted him as Lord and Savior, and we're starting to get familiar with him, and we're like, wait, Jesus, you're actually like the best person ever. I want to give my life to you. Okay, you've given your life to Jesus. You're like, this feels like purpose. I really believe that that is like the first step of really feeling so fulfilled is because the purpose of our existence is to know who we've been created by and to then love people the way that we've experienced the love of God. And so the next thing, okay, would be to reflect Christ into the world around you. There's something so powerful about being that example of Jesus in the ordinary moments. Another thing is forgiving quickly. I think that's a very rare thing in the world. And so if we are setting the example of Jesus, who is forgiving, he forgave us before we ever sinned against him. He loved us before we ever loved him back. And so forgiving people quickly is a major, major thing that we are called to do and something that would set us apart as followers of Jesus to show kindness that doesn't make sense, offer peace, intense places, and choose truth over convenience. Your life becomes a living picture of what God is like. So we're just supposed to reflect the love of God. And the only way we can do that is to know him and to have experienced his love. And so that's why this can't actually come before step one. Step one is who are you, God, who made me? What's going on here? Why am I here? And then step two is be that example in the world of who God is and who Jesus is. And the example of who Jesus was and Jesus humbling himself, being God, was to also set the example of how we are truly supposed to walk through life. One of the clearest ways we love God is how we treat people. Your purpose includes building others up, serving your family, friends, and even strangers, showing compassion and being a safe, steady presence in a world that feels chaotic. Love is your ministry. Love is your purpose. Love, love, and not the fake kind of love. Like there's so many versions of love out there. I'm telling you the fruits of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those are all fruits of the spirit and the spirit is God. So this is the fruit of who God is. This is his character. This is who God is to the core of him. And so that is who we're called to be. And those are only things we can access through his spirit, through him, through his spirit working through us. So when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you have access to those fruits because his spirit is the one that gives you the strength to have all of these things. And so if it's hard for you in the chaos of this world, in how unfair this world is, how evil this world is, how selfish people can be, how they can just backstab you with no problem and then walk away and dispose you off to the side of the road, like that is the sad truth of the world that we live in now. And it is hard to practice these things when that is how we are being treated. Or those are the things that are like honestly ruling and dictating a lot of the world right now. Like there just is not enough of this, the fruits of the spirit, the character of God. There's not enough people practicing the true characteristics of who God is, which is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And so to love people deeply and sacrificially through building people up, serving your family, friends and strangers, showing compassion, being a safe and steady presence in the world that feels chaotic, right? All these examples, but the only way you will be able to do those things is through the power of God and through his Holy Spirit. And so if that's an intimidating thing to hear right now, I have good news for you. You don't have to do it alone. And you don't have to do it out of your own strength. That is what happens when you come into partnership with the very Creator who made you. We were made to love and not just any love, not just any man-made, manufactured, selfish love that's all about ourselves and how other people can make us feel, but like the real definition of love that comes from the very source, which is God. He created us in love for love to be loved by him and to love other people. God just is love. So now that we've gotten a better understanding of who our Creator is, we are not only doing that. We're walking closely with him. We're in relationship with him. And then we're reflecting those same characteristics of who God is to the world. We're letting the Lord use us as a vessel and be like, I want to look just like you, God. I want to love people the way that I've experienced your love, the way that you love the real you. I want to show people the real you. So you're doing that. You're loving people deeply and sacrificially. And now it's like, how do we partner all of those things with also who God's created us to be like individually as a person? You're like, who have I been created to be? And that can stem from your personality, your gifts, your creativity, your voice, your story. None of it is random. Whether through your job relationships, music, creativity, or simply the way you make people feel seen. I think it really is that simple. What is the thing that God has put on your life and in your heart that makes people feel seen at the end of the day? Our purpose is also to help people feel seen. And if we do that in partnership of loving people, as God loves us and as God loves them, you are living the most purposeful life. And it isn't just about the title of who you are. It isn't just about the job that you were able to get. It isn't just about the college that you were able to get into. It isn't just about the money that you could make or the car that you could have or the house that you could have. There is just too much emphasis on that being like, and that was my purpose and that's my purpose. It's actually more so like, what are your gifts? And what has God created you to be and to do? And what is it about that that helps people feel seen? And I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to want to be successful at that. It's not a bad thing to want to make a lot of money because I believe as Christians we are called to be successful and make money so that we could bless people with that because money is a tool and it is something that is still God's, by the way, money is still God's. Everything is His. Everything is God's. And so that is a tool that I believe God trusts us Christians with to bless other people and not to just make it about ourselves and to hoard it and to only have our income be about us. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a nice life and to have a night and even provide for your future family if that's a goal that you want. But for that to be the only purpose of why we do what we do is where I believe there is a big disconnect. We should be thinking more about, okay, I want to operate in my strengths and my gifts that God has given me so that not only am I really good at it, but I want to be really good at it so that I can bless even more people and help even more people be seen and to feel loved by God. And that could be in a profession that isn't a pastor. It doesn't have to be something that's necessarily in like a Christian title, but you can absolutely do that in whatever that gift or talent could be. I believe that you can still point people to Jesus no matter what that is. As long as it honors God and as long as it is something that you know was put in you for whatever reason and whatever reason is because God had a plan for your life and He wanted you to use that very gift to love Him with it by loving others with it. And also if you're young and when I say young, I mean you could be like high school, even college. Like if you're still having a hard time fully understanding, I do believe deep down though like in our gut, we know the very thing that God has made us for and I think it's just a matter of like really sitting down with Him and being like, okay God, what are some characteristics about me, my personality, the things that I love to do, and the ways that I like to make other people feel through those things, what do you say about that? And what would you say I was made for with going to Him and asking those questions? Like if you genuinely are like, I don't know, I think that would be such a cool invitation to sit with God and be like, all right Lord, I want you to highlight my strengths and I want you to bring to mind the things that I know I'm really strong. Like if that's communication, if you're like a strong communicator and you're so good at talking to people, I think that's a great start of being like, okay God, I know this is a strength of mine and then just like letting Him navigate you in your life and let Him open the doors that need to be opened and close the doors that need to be closed. And I think another part of that too is like really trusting that God will reveal to you what that means. Like if it's really as simple as like, I just know I'm a really great communicator and like for some reason I'm so good at helping people navigate their feelings or like I'm so good at articulating my thoughts or my feelings or I really love, I'm like quite poetic sometimes and I feel like I could write. Like I just think trusting that the Lord will also slowly reveal it to you in time and it's okay if you don't actually fully understand what that means. It could mean that God uses that strength of communication in a bunch of different ways throughout your life and it doesn't actually mean that just because you're hitting like the deadline of you know just being in high school and being like, I'm supposed to know what my purpose is now. Like I'm supposed to understand what I'm supposed to do with my life. Like you may not even do that thing for the rest of your life. It might just be a chapter of your life or you may not even end up doing that with your life which is okay. I think that the truth is is as long as we have a relationship with the very person who created us and we're loving people the way that he would want us to love people and not only are we doing that but like we're using those gifts. Like if the only way you know how to use your communication right now is to like help your friends navigate their feelings or thoughts or if the only way you know how to use your skill of communication is by writing blogs or whatever then do that. Then do that and I think just continuing to walk closely with God and like practicing hearing his voice and letting him kind of just surprise you. I will say that even though I've always known kind of what I've been made for this is the thing is ever since I was a little girl I knew I was supposed to be in front of a camera. I knew I was supposed to be in front of people and so God has really plot twisted my life in a lot of ways and probably will continue I loved the feeling of like performing not that this isn't a performance but you know what I loved the idea of like being in front of people and like having a personality and being like entertaining in a way as well and I've always loved to sing and I've always been good at talking in front of people even though I'm so scared to do it but like for some reason when I would get up in front of people I could do it no matter how scared I was it didn't seem like I was seriously like a gift like what who why yeah and he's plot twisted my life so many times and he probably will continue to plot twist my life but it hasn't been a mystery that those were the things that he planted in my heart and he's continuing to show me why he did and so I think the truth is is I know my purpose more now than I ever have in my life but a lot of it is still a mystery and I think that those two things can exist and be true at the same time of like I know that my purpose is to be in relationship with the very man who saved my life is to love him with my entire heart mind and soul and then to love people and share the love of Jesus with other people to share the gospel to share the good news that is available to every single person on earth because God has died for everyone Jesus died for every person on earth and so it's the great commission y'all it's also the great commission of sharing the love of Jesus and the good news of Jesus saving us from ourselves I have never felt so fulfilled in my life but at the same time it's still a mystery how he's using me like some of it has been revealed but I don't think all of it has and I think that's something that will evolve for a long time for me and for all of us like I think if that part of your purpose isn't totally clear to you I think that's actually quite normal I think the meat and potatoes of all of it is is to be loved by God to love God and then to love others as God loves them and to share the good news of Jesus with people and to love and that is simply loving people like Jesus that's forgiving people like Jesus that's being more like Jesus every day it is the most fulfilling thing you will ever do in your life I can testify to that that I have never felt so fulfilled in my life I I had the success I had the independence I got myself my own place I was buying myself all my own furniture I had never felt I got my I had my dog I worked for myself I was a full-time influencer I was going on brand trips to Paris I was going on brand trips to Greece I was going to Italy I was making money I was making money most money I've ever seen in my life I'm not saying I was a millionaire but most money I've seen in my life I had everything I had the quote fame on the internet I mean I had everything you thought you would want to feel fulfilled in life and I wasn't and I'm sitting here and I'm telling you that none of that stuff will ever fulfill you the same way as knowing Jesus just not being friends with Jesus being a friend of his and allowing him to be your friend nothing else in this world and I think the reason why is because the odds of us existing is a number that is like we said should basically be zero the odds of us existing is already insane enough but then getting to know the source of why we're created it's like my soul was like finally this is what I've been yearning for and the rest will truly follow like the rest will really fall into place and if we focus too much on like what has God made me for it's like just walk with him just walk with him just let him love you and love others and and let him just flow through you and just like of course be curious about who he's created you to be but don't put pressure that that is what it has to be about and if you don't have it figured out like it's okay there's so much grace for that and I have so much faith I know that there is something deep down in you that has an idea but I think sometimes we're a little we're just not satisfied with knowing the whole plan or what that exactly is supposed to look like and that just takes the fun out of life probably I would I don't know probably if if we just knew exactly how our life was going to go or exactly what God has made us to do and every day and every season and every era like I don't know it also like wouldn't take a lot of faith like if we knew all those things already it wouldn't take a lot of faith like we wouldn't have to have so much faith in Jesus we wouldn't have to depend on him so much and I think the reason he wants us to have so much faith in him and to depend on him so much is because that's the very thing that builds our character that's the very those are the very experiences that forms us and creates us into the being that we're supposed to be and also he just wants us to know him more and experience his love more why because he loves us that much and he just he's like because I love you and I want you to know how much I love you and I want you to experience my love because I love you and so believe it or not the seasons of confusion and the shifting of life and you know the mystery of life and the mystery of well what's God going to do with my life now actually brings us to a deeper intimacy with Jesus at least it's an invitation if we accept it he's always going to offer that but it is it is an invitation by God to be like or I could just depend on you even more right now in the confusion of life and the lack of clarity of what and am I and how and I mean we could rack our minds about that forever but I have truly found so much purpose in just being with him and being loved by him and then loving other people like Jesus I will tell you there is actually nothing better than loving people the way that Jesus loves them there's there's nothing in this world that will make you feel more satisfied and filled with more purpose than that like I'm telling you if you practice those two things of like truly understanding more of who God is and allowing yourself to be loved by God and loving others I mean that alone is like purpose check and then being able to use the gifts that God has given you to then also flow in that is like such a cherry on top and like a perk you know but it actually fills me when I get to love people genuinely through the love of Jesus sometimes I feel like maybe we could have a a hesitation to do that or to be inconvenienced or to go out of our way for other people because it's like oh but it's going to take time and it's going to take energy and like I really have to be at this place but like if I stop it's going to make sure I'm going to be stuck in traffic even more like you think that it's actually going to be a burden but the minute that you do it you realize that that actually was that moment was way more fulfilling for you and your soul than if you were to have never been able to bless that person in that moment and I think that even speaks volumes to what we've been created for like the fact that that's how we feel when we do those things it's like oh this is my purpose this is what I was made for like to encounter the love of God that feeling is like oh I want to be here forever why because that's what you were made for and then being able to flow that same love out to a stranger or a loved one or whoever it's like oh my gosh this is what I was made for like it's like it just clicks it just clicks and it's the best feeling ever so even that alone I'm like I've done my job and so another part of our purpose is to grow into who God imagined when he made you life isn't just about doing it's about becoming becoming more patient more gentle wiser more joyful more free God cares about your heart more than your achievements and last but not least the most important thing I think the best way that we can really keep our eyes on loving God and loving people as Jesus would love people and does love people is to make eternity our aim so it goes back to like how this life is just a little blimp it's just a little grain of sand compared to the life that we live in the afterlife eternity with Jesus but keeping our eyes on that making eternity your aim you're here for a breath but what you do with your life echoes forever your purpose is to live with eternity in mind helping others find the hope you've found in Jesus and those are rewards it says in Matthew 512 I am bringing out my bible for this one you guys should bring out yours too if you have a nearby um okay Matthew 512 reads be happy about it be very glad for a great reward awaits you in heaven and remember the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way you are the salt of the earth but what good is salt if it has lost its flavor can you make it salty again it will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless you are the light of the world like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket instead a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father that is so beautiful and I think another reason why this is our purpose is because all good things come from God and so if we are doing good things and we are being the example we are being the light of the world and the salt of the earth and we are not shying away from that like we are we are being like bold about our love right bold in your love that you get through Jesus bold in your compassion bold in your kindness bold in your forgiveness those are all good things and good things can only come from God so it will actually point everybody to God it'll point everybody to Jesus and that's what this scripture is saying so that everyone will praise your heavenly father not you they will have to acknowledge that this is only something that could come from God like the way in the ways that you operate in those things you're gonna be like it's actually only Jesus that I can be this way whether they believe in Jesus or not it will force them to look at him and it'll force them to acknowledge that there has to be something bigger and if you're like yeah the only reason I'm this person trust me I was not this person before is because of the strength of Jesus like it's because of his spirit that lives inside of me it's crazy but it's true having that perspective of an eternal aim of like the rewards that I could store up here on earth it are so fleeting and it's nothing compared to the rewards stored in heaven for us which is simply people going to heaven and being able to live a life of eternity with Jesus forever if you really have the compassion of Jesus in your heart and especially like we've talked about this in other episodes where when we remember if this is your story when you remember what it was like to live a life void of Jesus like you did not acknowledge him you didn't know him you had no idea that that's who you were created for having compassion for people with remembering that like that should be enough of a reward for you to be like no this is the rewards in heaven that are stored up for me is I don't want a crown I don't want a fancy car I don't need to have like a bit like I just want to be satisfied and know that the reward is is that God will look at me and say well done my good and faithful servant meaning I am so proud of you for the way that you were an example of who I am thank you for believing in me enough to be that example on earth and to love people no matter how much they treated you in one way or whatever like you truly believed in me enough to be the example of who I am and you pointed everybody to me and because of that look at all of these people that are here because of you that alone should be enough and that is the perspective that we need that is the heavenly eternal perspective that we need to have and I think too many times we look at the things that are right in front of us and it's like no it's just about Jesus it's all about him and yes it's the ways that he can use our gifts and it's the ways that we can steward them and it's the ways that we can build a life for ourselves that will then also bless other people yes yes yes yes but at the end of the day it's all about him and it's about that eternal like people need to know him they need to know who they've been created by and for and that is the goal that is our purpose and like one last little note here I feel like this episode was a bit scattery but hopefully you guys managed to stay with me I think another fun thing about life with God is slowly discovering who he made you it's like exciting you know instead of that being an intimidating thing and a scary thing of like I don't know who I am it's like oh my gosh I don't know who I am and that's kind of exciting like having faith listen it's a perspective it's a lens having faith that like God will show that to you and maybe it's just like a fun exciting little adventure you know of being like you know what this is fun and I know that it's been exciting for me to see the ways that it just kind of goes like oh this is what God has made me for and it's like fun and exciting it's like a little Easter egg hunt you know as he slowly puts together the puzzle pieces of your life and your journey and the ways that you get to touch people and express yourself through that like whatever that looks like it's fun there's also a part of it that doesn't need to be so serious like just trusting that the Lord is going to answer all of those questions and use those gifts for what they are right now and the rest will follow anyway you guys I love y'all I'm really proud of you thank you for sticking around to the end of this episode I feel like it was like all over the place but maybe it wasn't I don't know I can't remember I don't even know what he said but um I love y'all hey can we do something cool today can we show somebody how cool Jesus is today can we walk more like him talk more like him be more like Jesus today because that is our purpose and it's a purpose that is so fulfilling and it blesses so many people and it saves them and it helps them see the very person who's created them and experiences love which is like nothing else in this world so let's be that today I love y'all happy Friday I hope you have a beautiful rest of your weekend and the rest of your week and I will see you next time bye are some of y'all still listening okay if you're still here that means you're a real one which is why I'm about to share this with you if you've already caught up on all the episodes so far and you don't want to wait until next Friday for a new one I have really good news for you subscribe to our patreon to get early access to the episodes every week early access to merch launches or any other exciting 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