(1 Cor 6:12 NIV) “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Refined Focus”. I am truly excited about 2016 and I pray you are as well. No matter where you are in life — young or old, retired or just starting out, struggling or prospering — we can all benefit from clarity and focus. In this season I will teach on seeking God for clarity of vision. God has prepared many things for us by His unearned and amazing grace. Our part is to discover what He has already prepared and then pursue those things by faith.
While I am studying and meditating any given topic, the Lord has a way of exposing me to information that assists my meditation. Yesterday, as I was meditating on this series I came across the following quote from Thomas Edison. Edison said, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” This led me to think about my life and the lives of many of my friends. We are all busy, but are we being productive? Activity does not always equal productivity, especially when it comes to the things of God.
In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth he explained that he was basically permitted, or capable, of doing just about anything. Let’s be honest. As free moral agents we have the ability to choose to do whatever we want. However, as Paul explains that everything is not beneficial. The Message Bible paraphrase of 1 Cor 6:12 reads, “Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.”
Without discovering your divine purpose and then seeking God for clarity of vision as you pursue it, life can become an experiment full of unproductive activity and tireless frustration.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
- Since God has given you the power to make your own decisions, the most complicated thing in life is weeding through what seems to be countless alternatives. This is why you must develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit and be led of Him.
- The late Dr. Myles Munroe said, “Discipline is a self-imposed standard or restriction motivated by a desire greater than the alternatives. Discipline is about making decisions that are dictated by a determined destiny… a person becomes disciplined when they find something that is more important than the alternatives and they decide to forego the alternatives in order to achieve what they consider desirable.”
- You were not born to do everything. Knowing your purpose and receiving divine vision makes life simple. People who are led by their God-given vision don’t dibble and dabble in everything. They know where they are going and they have the discipline to remain on course.
- Divine vision becomes the source of discipline. Divine vision will motivate you to forego the alternatives for the lives God planned for you to have.
- Divine vision inspires passion. Visionaries are passionate about life. Knowing you are pursuing your life’s purpose is exciting! You get up everything morning motivated by your life’s assignment.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. You bless me to discover and understand my purpose. My purpose gives birth to divine vision. By faith I can see what You planned for me by grace. You give me the insight I need to know what I am required to do this year, in faith, to get incrementally closer to Your overall expected end for my life. Divine vision becomes the foundation for my discipline. I use what You tell me as the ruler by which I judge my decisions. I make my decisions based on my destiny. My desire to arrive at Your determined destination for my life is stronger than the temptation of the alternatives. And lastly Father, I enjoy life. Knowing my purpose and being led by vision makes life exciting. I love my life and I pursue my purpose with passion and zeal. I enter every day with a spring in my step, a song in my heart, a smile on my face, and with my purpose before me! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
