- NIV. (i am following this 40-day guide...however the next few days i have a lot of time to read, so i will be reading genesis 11-27 tomorrow.)
"in the beginning, God created." 1:1
-that's all we need right there.
in the BEGINNING...GOD... (He was there AT the very beginning.)...CREATED. (He created it all. everything. for His purpose, from His imagination.)
"God said 'let there be light!!' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." 1:3-4 (i love the symbolism here too.)
"then God said, 'let Us make man in our image, in our likeness'...so God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." 1:26a, 27-28
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."1:31
"the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."2:7
"the Lord God said 'it is not good for man to be alone. i will make a helper suitable for him.'" 2:18
TPDL, chapter 1
it all starts with God.
the purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.
focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purposes.
you exist only because God wills that you exist.
"all things have been created through Him and for Him."
- colossians 1:16, NIV.
you were made BY God FOR God.
life is about letting God use you for HIS purposes, not your using Him for your own purpose.
"obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."
- romans 8:6, MSG.
"it's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone."
- ephesians 1:11-23, MSG.
book's question: in spite of all the advertising around [you], how can [you] remind [yourself] that life is really about living for God, not [you]...??
my answer: i think that not spending my time consumed with thoughts of myself is crucial; by not *dwelling on things that are not of my concern...or not *dwelling on anything negative, for that matter, (be it my own circumstance, life event, relationships, human-acceptance, body-image, fitting in with the "status quo", life direction,) i-in turn-don't think about ME as much--which i think is very important to learn in life. it can be a hard idea to grasp...but i think everyone is capable of it. the brain is a very powerful thing. (you will hear me say this a lot.) don't get me wrong, there are times when i have thoughts about myself-obviously, but once i latched onto that concept (of specifically not *dwelling), there was no forgetting it--and it is so, incredibly beneficial and life-changing.
(i guess, i wrote my own sort of purpose driven life synopsis here a little over a year ago...many things in my life have changed since then; these thoughts have not.)
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