DAY 1 – IT ALL STARTS WITH GOD
It’s not about you!

“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, … everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” Colossians 1:16 (MSG) “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” Job 12:10 (TEV)

You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not using him for your own purpose. Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life’s purpose: Ask God.

Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheistic Communist regime. But God got his attention one dreary day. He recalls, “In my 27th year, while riding the metro in Leningrad I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: ‘Without God life makes no sense.’ Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro, and walked into God’s light.”

You may have felt in the dark about your purpose in life. Congratulations, you’re about to walk into the light.

DAY 2 – WE ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT

We are not an accident!

Our birth was no mistake or mishap, and our life is no fluke of nature. God was not at all surprised by our birth. In fact, he expected it. God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything he creates.

“Long before he laid down Earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.” Ephesians 1:4a (MSG)

Why did God bother to go to all the trouble of creating a universe for us? Because he is a God of love. This kind of love is difficult to understand, but it’s absolutely reliable. We were created as a special object of God’s love! God made us so he could love us.

DAY 3 – WHAT DRIVES OUR LIFE?
Everyone’s life is driven by something!

“I observed that the basic motive for success is the driving force of envy and jealousy.” Ecclesiastes 4:4 (LB)

What is the driving force in our life? Without a focus, life is movement without meaning, days without direction, and events without reason.

There are five great benefits of living a life of focus: - Knowing our focus gives meaning to our life - Simplifies our life- Focuses our life - Motivates our life- And knowing our focus prepares us for eternity

Lots of folks spend their lives trying to create or leave a legacy on Earth. But what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about our life but what God says. Living solely focused on leaving a worldly legacy misses the mark. A wiser use of time is to focus on building an eternal legacy. We weren’t put on Earth to be remembered. We were put here to prepare for eternity.

DAY 4 – MADE TO LAST FOREVER

This life is not all there is!

“God has…planted eternity in the human heart.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

Life on Earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production. We will spend far more time in the hereafter than the here but so much of this life is preparation for the next.

We have an inborn instinct that longs to live forever. That is the way God designed us, we are made in his image and that means living for eternity; in some capacity. Even though we know everyone eventually dies (at least physically), death always seems unnatural and unfair. The reason we feel we should live forever is that God wired our brains with that desire!

Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day.”

DAY 5 - SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S VIEW

The way we see our life shapes our life!

The way we view life is our life metaphor. It's our description of how life works and what we expect from it; it influences our life more than we realize and determines our expectations, values, relationships, goals, and priorities. To fulfill the plans God has for us, we will have to base our view on the biblical metaphors of life. These are: Life is a test, and life is a trust.

Life is a test - God does not tempt us or bring bad things in our lives but he does use siuations in people’s lives to grow our character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty. Character is developed and revealed in the circumstances of everyday life. When we understand this we realize that every day is important. God wants us to pass the tests of life, so he never allows the tests to be greater than the grace he gives you to handle them.

Life is a trust - We are to be stewards of whatever God gives us. All we have (and we have so much) is to be treated as a trust that God has placed in our hands. If we treat everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity: affirmation, promotion, and celebration.

“Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones.” Luke 16:10a (NLT)

This Thanksgiving think of all that God has entrusted to us and let us all be thankful for the opportunities to demonstrate our character, faith, obedience, love, integrity and loyalty.

DAY 6 - LIFE IS A TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT

Life on Earth is a temporary assignment!

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on Earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.” Psalm 39:4 (NLT)

To make the best use of our life, we must never forget two truths:- First, compared with eternity, life is extremely brief.- Second, Earth is only a temporary residence. We won’t be here long, so don’t get too attached.

In order to keep us from becoming too attached to Earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction in life – longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity. We’re not completely happy here because we’re not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.

In God’s eyes, the greatest heroes of faith are not those who achieve prosperity, success, and power in this life, but those who treat this life as a temporary assignment and serve faithfully, expecting their promised reward in eternity.

When life gets tough, when we’re overwhelmed with doubt, or when we wonder if living for Christ is worth the effort, remember that we are not home yet. At death we won’t leave home – we’ll go home.

DAY 7 – THE REASON FOR EVERYTHING

It is all for him!

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NIV

The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the reason for everything that exists, including me & you. God made it all for his glory. Without God’s glory, there would be nothing. The glory of God is who God is. It is the essence of his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of his presence. God’s glory is best seen in Jesus Christ. He, the Light of the world, illuminates God’s nature. Because of Jesus, we are no longer in the dark about what God is really like. There are a lot of ways to bring glory to God, but they can be summarized in God’s five aims or reasons for our life. We bring God glory by worshiping him, loving other believers, becoming like Christ, serving others with our gifts, and by telling others about him. It’s time to settle this issue. Who are we going to live for – ourselves or God? Right now, God is inviting us to live for his glory by fulfilling the reasons he put us here. Real life begins by committing ourselves completely to Jesus Christ. Are you ready to start really living?

DAY 8 - PLANNED FOR GOD’S PLEASURE

We were planned for God’s pleasure!

“You created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11 (NLT)

The moment we were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at our birth. He wanted us alive, and our arrival gave him great pleasure. God did not need to create us, but he chose to create us for his own enjoyment. We exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight. We bring pleasure to God like nothing else he has ever created. Bringing enjoyment to God - living for his pleasure - is the first aim of our lives. When we fully understand this truth, we will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant. It proves our worth. So many things in life can bring pleasure to God & can be an act of worship. Worship is not just something we do a few hours a week-but is woven into our lives. Praise should be the first activity when we open our eyes in the morning and the last activity when we close them at night. David said, “I will thank the Lord at all times. My mouth will always praise him.” Psalm 34:1 (GLT)

This is what real worship is all about – falling in love with Jesus.

DAY 9 - WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE?

The smile of God is one of the goals of our life!

“May the Lord smile on you …” Numbers 6:25 (NLT)

Since pleasing God is the first reason we are here; one of our most important tasks is to discover how to do that. “and find out what pleases the Lord.” Ephesians 5:10 (NIV) Five acts of worship that make God smile:- God smiles when we love him supremely.- God smiles when we trust him completely.- God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly.- God smiles when we praise and thank him continually.- And God smiles when we use our abilities to bring him glory.

We may feel that the only time God is pleased with us is when we’re doing “spiritual” things – like reading the Bible, going to church or praying. Actually, God enjoys watching every detail of our life. He doesn’t miss a single move we make. The Bible tells us, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalm 37:23 (NLT) Almost every human activity, except sin, can be done for God’s pleasure if we do it with the attitude of praise. We need to make pleasing God the goal of our life. There is nothing that God won’t do for the person totally dedicated to fulfilling this goal.

DAY10 - THE HEART OF WORSHIP

The heart of worship is surrender!

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?” Romans 12:1 (NLT)

In today’s competitive world we are taught to never give up and never give in – so we don’t hear that much about surrendering. Winning is everything-how many times have you heard that one? On the other hand surrendering is unthinkable. We would rather talk about winning, succeeding and overcoming; those words come easy. Ideas like yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering don't exactly role off the tongue. But surrendering to God is the heart of worship. As Joshua approached the biggest battle of his life, he encountered God, fell in worship before him, and surrendered his plans. That surrender led to a stunning victory at Jericho. This is the paradox: Victory comes through surrender.

Nothing is more powerful than a surrendered life in the hands of God. So today let us give ourselves completely to God.

Day 11 - BECOMING BEST FRIENDS WITH GOD

God wants to be our best friend!

“I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you … and here is how to measure it – the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. You are my friends if you obey me.” John 15:12-14 NLT

Our relationship to God has many different aspects: God is our Creator and Maker, Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer, Father and much more. But the most shocking truth is this: Almighty God yearns to be our Friend in that He longs for a relationship with us! Friendship with God is possible only because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. We sing the hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus,” but actually, God invites us to enjoy friendship and fellowship with all three persons of the Godhead or Trinity: our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15 (NIV) The word for friend in this verse does not mean a casual acquaintance but a close, trusted relationship. The same word is used to refer to the best man at a wedding and a king’s inner circle of intimate, trusted friends. In royal courts, servants must keep their distance from the king, but the inner circle of trusted friends enjoys close contact, direct access, and confidential information. Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God’s greatest pleasure.