PURPOSE AND SUCCESS

Luke chapter 9




Today we are walking in: Purpose And Success




Today we look to the word-PURPOSE- H6213 ’asah--to do, work, make, produce; to act, act with effect, effect






The Torah testifies...............

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The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 14:26

This is the purpose H6213 that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.







The writings bear witness...........................




Ecclesiates 3:1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose H6213 under the heaven:




Purpose and Success


What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his
Luke 9:25


Everybody everywhere wants to be “successful,” but only a very few people succeed. Millions are driven, possessed and preoccupied with this passion. They would sacrifice anything to be seen or accepted as “successful.”


Success in today’s world is usually defined by the superficial rewards glorified in the media: wealth, power, fame, luxury, prestige and recognition. Yet few of us have a firm idea what it takes to be or feel successful. It is easy to presume that a young corporate executive who rises to the top management position of a major corporation and earns nearly a million dollars a year is successful, but would the young man agree? That depends largely on the sacrifice he made to get to the top, the quality of his life outside work, and perhaps most significantly, his personal reason for pursuing his particular career.


If the young man has a positive sense of direction that encompasses his whole life, not just his professional career or bankbook, and if he understands why he wants what he wants, his accomp lishments may give him genuine satisfaction, making him a success in his own eyes. If, however, he does not have this clarity of purpose, and especially if he has been struggling to live up to someone else’s definition of success—be it that of a parent, a spouse or perhaps society in general—he is likely to reach the top of his professional ladder but wonder why he feels so dissatisfied and burned out.


In the end he may realize that his identity as an individual has been compromised by the forces pushing him to attain career stardom. He has become trapped by the pressure to get ahead, and his life is out of balance. There are millions like this young executive who are striving daily after a prize they despise, to accomplish a goal they personally hate.


We, as a society, have confused success with fulfillment, accomplishment with satisfaction, and achievement with peace. I believe it is essential for you and for me to look beyond the wonderful things material success can buy, to the heavy price it can exact. You must question why you are so driven to succeed and why you’ve made the choices
and the sacrifices that professional life thus far.
have shap ed your private and professional life thus far.

Can you recall the personal goals that motivated you before external success became your life’s ambition? Do you remember the origins of your assumptions about success? After you’ve traced the development of your personal definition of success, you must consider what it means to be true to yourself.


Few of us ever stop to develop a personal and meaningful definition of success that allows us to thrive as well as strive. Instead, we absorb a composite of largely superficial illusions from the media, parental demands and peer pressure. In essence, success in our culture requires becoming what everyone else tells you to be. It is assumed, almost as an afterthought, that success by the world’s standards will magically include happiness, but this formula leaves little room for genuine personal fulfillment.


Most people look at those who appear to be successful and think they would be fools to change their jobs or lifestyles, even if they hate what they are doing. Not surprisingly, life dominated day after day, year after year, and one step up the ladder after another by this quest for success becomes increasingly less satisfying and more anxious. Millions of people live at this critical point, trapped between external success and internal collapse. In simple terms, success is not as simple as we once thought.


Success Defined


What is success? By now it must be obvious that I am questioning the world’s perception of success. Success has very little to do with what you accumulate, possess or achieve. It has even less to do with other people’s opinions and their assessment of you and your accomplishments. Success can only be defined by purpose and measured by obedience. The following statements support this premise.


Purpose is the original intent for the creation of a thing. It is the reason for its existence and the why behind something’s existence. Purpose is the “assignment” that is produced by the intent of the creator or manufacturer.


Completion of the intended assignment is the fulfillment of the reason for existence. Being true to the original intent is the essence of obedience and the measure of faithfulness.


The satisfaction and pleasure of the manufacturer when the product fulfills his intended purpose is the measure of success.


Success is the fulfillment and the completion of the original intent for the creation or the production of a product.


Success is obedience to purpose.


Success is not what you have done compared to what others have done, but what you have done compared to what you were supposed to do.

The above statements show that success has more to do with being than doing. To be successful is to finish the originally intended assignment according to the plan and the specifications of the creator. Purpose is thus the key and the foundation of success. It is the only true source of fulfillment and the only accurate measurement of life. Therefore, success cannot be determined by the opinions of others about your actions, but by the satisfaction of the One who gave you the assignment.


You are not successful if everyone says you are. You are not successful if you have done what others expected you to do. You are not successful if you receive commendation and recognition from your peers or the accolades of the masses. You are truly successful only if you have done what you were purposed to do.


Purpose is doing not a good thing, but the right thing. As “the best” is the enemy of “the good,” so the enemy of “the right thing” is “a good thing.” It is dangerous to do a good thing at the expense of the right thing. Yet, there are thousands of people, even in the Church, who are busy doing good things that Yah neither told them to do nor purposed for their lives. (Many ministers are wearing themselves out pursuing ministry goals, projects, programs and assignments that are not part of Yah’s plans for them.) They have adopted another man’s vision or purpose as their personal standards for competition and comparison. Trapped by the expectations of others, they live to please everyone except Yah.


Be careful not to confuse right with good, famous, big, easy, acceptable or popular. Your only responsibility is to respond to Yah’s purpose for your life. Your only measure of success is to find your purpose for your life and do it! Living with purpose is the difference between being busy and being effective. Don’t let the tragedy of faithfulness to the wrong thing waste your life. Refuse to allow activity without progress to dominate your existence. Purpose protects you from doing good at the expense of doing right.


Yahusha is the perfect example and the ultimate display of an individual who knew and understood the nature of success. Because He knew His purpose, He was protected from the opinions of others and the distractions of doing good. Many times He expressed His understanding of His purpose in words like, “for this cause came I into the world,” or “for this reason was the Son of Man manifested.” His awareness of His purpose not only protected Him from distracting activity, it also served as the reference point from which He made His decisions and measured His success. At the completion of His assignment He could declare, “It is finished.” Until you are able to say these words with assurance, your life will never be fulfilled and you will live another person’s life.


You Must Discover Your Purpose!


I know deep inside you there is a cry and an agreement that confirms the truth that you were born for a purpose. You can feel the desire to reach for something greater than just making a living. I know you are tired of the rat race, trying to keep up with everyone, attempting to live up to their expectations. You despise the job you go to every day, and the ministry has become a source of frustration. Not even the presence of the Ruach HaQadesh fills the emptiness inside.


Perhaps, you have never made a spiritual commitment to your Creator through Yahusha Christ, and you are living a life of frustration. Perhaps all your accomplishments and achievements have brought you more frustration and disillusionment than joy. Maybe you have succeeded in fooling everyone that you are a success by meeting their expectations, but deep inside you have failed to be true to your inner dreams. You have made everyone happy except you.


If this nightmarish existence describes your life, you have not yet discovered your purpose. I, therefore, urge you to make a quality decision today to submit your life to your Creator and Manufacturer. Remember, nobody knows the purpose of a product except the one who made or created it. You were created by Yah the Abba, and only He knows the purpose for which He gave you birth. He knows His plans for your life and the reason He gave you breath. He wants you to be fulfilled.


He is not asking you to be religious, only to reestablish a relationship with Him that can give you the resources to move from emptiness to personal satisfaction. Only then can you resume your purpose in life and find the personal and corporate fulfillment you desire. If you wish to surrender your life to Him, I encourage you to pray the following from your heart:


Dear Abba Yah,
Creator and Manufacturer of my life, I am aware that You have created me for a specific purpose and designed me to fulfill that intent. I am aware that we as men have fallen away from You by our disobedience and have thus lost a sense of our purpose in life. I am also aware that You sent Your Son, Yahusha the Christ, to restore us to You so that we can once again discover our reason for being. I, therefore, ask You, in the name of Yahusha, to cleanse my life and send the Ruach HaQadesh into my heart right now to reveal to me Your purpose for my life. I also submit to Yahusha as my Lord and personal Savior and commit myself to finishing the assignment You have for me.


In the name of Yahusha I pray, Amen.


May Yah bless and enrich your life as you begin the journey of discovering and completing your purpose.