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Friday Features
August 25, 2017

The Purposes of God

By Group Ministry

Let’s look closely at Ephesians 2:10. It helps us remain encouraged in God’s plans for us and how we will be able to accomplish them for His glory.

This verse makes four powerful points. You are (1) a masterpiece, (2) created anew, (3) to do good things, and (4) to act according to His plan. The New American Standard translation calls you God’s “workmanship,” but the New Living Translation paraphrases the word as “masterpiece,” which paints a highly descriptive picture of what Paul was saying.

We are priceless works, meticulously crafted by the hands of our Creator.

He recreated us at salvation, fully equipping us in Christ and by His own Spirit to handle what God’s will requires.

We are being prepared and called to do “good works”—God-sized acts that facilitate His kingdom agenda and purposes on the earth.

These types of activities can’t be accomplished in our own power. We walk in them as Christ expresses Himself in and through us.

As you seek to hear God’s voice and discover His plan, rest in His sovereignty. Relax in His omniscient, preordained plan and journey for your life. He’s a good architect. He has sketched a design with detailed attention to the nuts and bolts of your existence. Your individual interests and passions can be expressed within His purposes for you, as part of His purposes for you. Sticking to the framework of what He has created will ensure an outcome that will be beyond anything you can fathom.

When He speaks, don’t circumvent it or take the easy way out. If the cross you are being asked to carry feels a bit heavier than you expected, trust that He Himself intends to pick up the slack.

Your job is to just keep walking it out.

This is an excerpt from the 7-session study Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer. This excerpt comes from Week Five, Day One.

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Filed Under: Friday Features Tagged With: Authors, Bible Study, Community, Curriculum, Discernment, Discipleship, Growth, Ministry, Spiritual Growth, Women

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