Our Purpose

Episode notes:

These series make up today's Revive Our Hearts Weekend program:

"Consider Jesus: The Surrendered Servant and Savior"

"Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood"

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Dannah Gresh: Here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth talking about our Savior

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Consider Him: subordinate, surrendered, submissive to His heavenly Father, in eternity past, in creation, and then as He came to earth in the incarnation, coming to do the will of the Father.

Dannah: Jesus knew His mission. Do you? Today we’ll talk about our purpose and why it’s important.

Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend, I’m Dannah Gresh.

Have you ever studied honey bees? They live in colonies, and in each colony there are worker bees, drones, and one queen bee. The queen bee's job is to lay the eggs that will bring forth the next generation of bees. The drones’ job is to make sure the queen bee has what she needs to lay said eggs. The worker bees forage for food, build and protect the hive. There is so much more that goes into each bee colony. But what’s fascinating about bees is that each one has its job and sticks to that job. You can say that bees know their purpose in life, their mission. Do you know yours? Your purpose?

I want us to talk about purpose today.

As the founder of True Girl, a partner ministry of Revive Our Hearts, I know my mission: to bring moms and their tween girls closer to each other and closer to Jesus. So, as fun as it would be to post tasty recipes and Pinterest-perfect crafting projects to our social media, we leave that to those whose mission is food or art. We stick to teaching our followers to meditate on God’s Truth found in their Bibles and to talk about it and grow their faith together. That’s our mission.

A mission statement keeps us on track, keeps us resolute and focused on our purpose. As we talk and listen today, I want you to keep your purpose or reason for living in mind. If you’ve never considered it, maybe think through what your mission is as you listen. And as you’re inspired, write down what God brings to mind.

It’s Christmastime, so the thing on our minds is Jesus as a baby. Jesus was on a mission, and it was a mission He took seriously. Nancy DeMoss Wolgumuth shared that this mission was in existence before He was sweet, little, baby Jesus. 

Nancy: In the incarnation, we see that Christ, the Son of God, equal with God, surrendered Himself to the will of God. He had no will of His own except to the do the will of the Father. So when Jesus left heaven to come to earth, He had one purpose in mind. Why did He come? What was that purpose?

The Scripture tells in John 6:38 that Jesus said, "I have come down from heaven, not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."

"That's my purpose," Jesus said. "I don't have an agenda of my own. I don't have a plan of my own. I'm not leading my own life. I'm not doing my own will. I'm not coming to do my own work. I have come to do the will of the One who sent me. That's why I'm here."

Hebrews 10:7 refers to an Old Testament passage where Jesus said, "'Here I am, I have come to do your will, O God.' That's my purpose in life. That's why I live. That's what my life is for. That's why I'm here, to do the will of the Father.'"

Consider Him, subordinate, surrendered, submissive to His Heavenly Father, in eternity past, in creation, and then as He came to earth in the incarnation, coming to do the will of the Father.

Throughout His years here on earth, we see that Jesus maintained that posture of surrender to the will of God. Think about His childhood. You know virtually the only insight that the Scripture gives us into Jesus' life from the time He was twelve years old until He reached manhood, the only insight we have in the Scripture was that He was obedient to His parents.

He was a surrendered servant. He knew that by obeying His earthly parents, He was living a life of surrender to His Heavenly Father.

Luke 2:51 tells us, "And he went down with His parents [this was at the age of twelve] and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them."

Did you know that the willingness on your part to be submissive to God-ordained authority, whether as a young person under the authority of your parents, as a wife under the authority of your husband, as a church member under the authority of the church leaders, in the workplace under the authority of your boss—the willingness to come into submission to God-ordained authority is one of the greatest evidences of whether or not we're in submission to God.

Jesus demonstrated His surrender to God by being in submission during His teenage years to the will of His earthly parents. Then we see Jesus in His adult life as He gets ready to begin His earthly ministry, He is subjected to a period of intense temptation in the desert.

What was the underlying issue that Satan used to tempt Jesus? It was the issue of surrender. It was the issue of control. You see, Satan was attempting to get Jesus to surrender to Him rather than to God.

And so he started as he did thousands of years earlier in the Garden by appealing to Jesus' physical appetites, "If you're the Son of God, turn these stones into bread."

What was he saying? "You decide what You want to eat and when. Be Your own master. Have it Your way. Control Your own life; Your own eating habits."

Now Jesus, as we know, had not eaten for forty days. In spite of that fact, He refused to operate apart from the direction of His Heavenly Father, even in a seemingly insignificant matter or something that humanly would have made a lot of sense. I deserve to be able eat now. But He was not going to eat if it was not the will of His Father to eat at that moment.

As I was working on these notes last night, I found myself just wanting to eat. I wasn't hungry. It was late at night. I didn't need to eat. And this little battle ensued, "Do I eat; do I not?"

The question is, “Who's Lord?” There's nothing wrong with eating at night if God gives you freedom to do that. In that moment, I knew, however, it was just my flesh wanting to have its own way.

And the issue was really one of surrender. Am I going to surrender to His Lordship in my life or am I going to run my own life?

Well, you know how Satan then attempted to get Jesus to bow before him. He showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. Matthew says, "If you'll just bow down before me, you can have all of this" (Matt. 4:9 paraphrased).

Well, keep in mind it wasn't Satan's to give. He didn't own any of this. It all belongs to God. But Jesus acknowledged only one King. He was fully surrendered to the will of His Heavenly Father; and therefore, He would not for a moment concede control to the Father's archenemy.

He was not going to bow before another so-called king. He had determined His course. He was going to stay surrendered to His Heavenly Father.

And then through all of His earthly ministry, we see this thread through the Gospels particularly in the Gospel of John. Let me just read to you several verses. I won't give you the references, though we'll have them on the website on the transcript. But let me just read these verses and catch the flow here.

Jesus said, in John 5, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing" (v. 19). Surrendered.

Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. I see not my own will but the will of Him who sent me.”

In another instance, he said, "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38). These are all in the Gospel of John by the way.

He said, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me" (John 7:16).

"I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me. I always do the things that are pleasing to him" (John 8:28-29).

"I came not of my own accord, but he sent me" (John 8:42).

John 14, "The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works" (v. 10). "The word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me."

"I do as the Father has commanded me." (John 14:31) Jesus said these words as He was on His way to the Garden of Gethsemane where He knew He was going to be betrayed by one of His own disciples and what did He say? "I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here." (John 14:31)

What made Him go to the Garden when He knew what was going to happen there? It was the fact that He was a surrendered servant, submissive to the will of His Father. That’s why He came to earth, to do the will of His Heavenly Father. He knew that ultimately that would require that He offer up His own body as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. But never for a single moment did ever He resist the will of God. Not for a moment.

His life just demonstrates complete, glad, wholehearted, consistent surrender.

Dannah: Jesus’ mission was to stay surrendered to the will of the Father. We saw that when He was tempted by Satan in the desert, and we saw it before He went to the cross. Remember the words He cried the night before He died, "Not as I will, but as you will." He surrendered to His Father.

Have you been thinking about your purpose, your reason for being here?

We all have various jobs and roles in life. Some of us are wives and moms, some of us are ministry leaders or business executives or doctors or nurses. The assignment God has given me is to invite you and your daughters or granddaughters to abide in God’s Word.

But in saying all of this, I want to remind you that while we may have different ways our purpose is lived out, we have more in common than you might think.

Melissa Kruger sat down with Erin Davis to talk through a mom’s existence here on earth. Think Whack-a-Mole, the arcade game. One need pops up and you hit it with a mallet, bam. Another pops up and wham, you go after that one and on and on the game goes. Needs, needs, needs, they are everywhere, and you spend all day taking care of them.

If you don’t have children at this time, listen to Melissa and Erin’s discussion through your lens of a job or your daily activities. Melissa says that in meeting these daily needs there are a couple of things that can eat away at us if we aren’t careful. They keep popping up, like that Whack-a Mole game.

Melissa Kruger: I think two things happen. I think one, the Whack-a-Mole game really does become just that. It has no purpose. We forget, "Why am I doing all this?" It just feels burdensome, "One more thing down." There's little joy because apart from the Lord we start losing our way. "Why does this matter? One more diaper to change. One more day all of the Legos spilling all over the floor and we're picking them back up. One more day of these mundane tasks."

But I've found such a difference when I see it in light of doing it for the Lord. It changes everything. If someone important asks you to do something, if the President of the United States asks you to get a cup of coffee, you're thinking, Sure! I'll be happy to get that for you.

Erin Davis: Yes sir, Mr. President.

Melissa: Yes. No problem. So to think the Lord of all the Universe has asked me to love this child, that infuses it with meaning.God has entrusted me with this soul to know Him, to share about Him with. It's a huge calling, and it changes everything about how I view it. It's not mundane anymore. I'm being the hands of Jesus to love this child in the Way. That is where He's asking me to pour out kindness and patience and mercy and to reflect His love to me to this little life. That changes everything.

And then the second thing, just think . . . I love Psalm 19. It says, "The Law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul; the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right giving joy to the heart." Well, do I want joy? Do I want revival? Do I want wisdom? Yes, as a mom. He says that's in His Word.

The things I want the most I tend to chase. And maybe if I could just have a spa day, or I could just get some time alone. But His promise is actually in His Word. So if I want to feel joyful about that Whack-a-Mole game, if I want to feel revived for my daily tasks, the best place to go is actually God's Word to find that.

Erin: I don't think a mom ever gets that elusive full night of sleep and then thinks, I don't need another full night of sleep again. Or you go on vacation and then you need a week to recover from your vacation. You know those things that we think will restore us—not that they're bad or we shouldn't rest—but I think you're right. What really brings restoration is the Lord. Without Him you're going to be running on fumes very, very quickly as a mom.

Melissa: That's right.

Erin: Don't you think that's what can often lead us into our mom sins of being short-tempered and being angry and being bitter and being whatever it is. Those are mine. Yours might be different. That's me on Monday, every day. When we don't have that rhythm of time with the Lord, we're running on fumes and then we're harsh with out children. Then we feel guilty that we were harsh with our children. So then maybe we don't want to have time with the Lord because we're afraid He'll put His finger on what we know we're doing wrong as a mom. So it can be a little bit of a vicious cycle.

Melissa: Yes. It really can.

Erin: You say, "More than anything in my life, motherhood has exposed my need for grace." Which I agree with. I say, "It's the hottest refiner's fire I've ever been in."

Melissa: Yes.

Erin: And yet, what I'm hearing from moms is, "I know I should be praying. I know I should be reading my Bible." But they're feeling more condemnation and failure than hopefulness. I'm wondering how moms can flip that switch to see their personal time with the Lord as a pipeline to needed grace instead of seeing it as another thing on their to-do list or something that the Lord is going to be angry with them if they don't do. What's the heart change that we can help momma's make?

Melissa: I love the verse, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." I think some tastes are acquired. So I really think that time with the Lord is an acquired taste. You might have a bite of something and say, "Yes, that was okay." But sometimes we grow in our love for something. I think the more time we spend in the Word, the more hunger we get for it. It's not a quick fix. I think sometimes in our society we're looking for really quick fixes. We want to work out once and lose all the weight or whatever.

Erin: Yes, we do! I do.

Melissa: I know. So do I. So we want to, "Well, I ate well one day" . . .

Erin: Right. So now I'm going to go each cheesecake in the pantry.

Melissa: Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Time with the Lord is something that's savored, and it has effect over time. It's really an act of trusting the Lord to say, "I'm going to spend this time even though I may not understand." Transformation is a process.

I can say I started really studying the Word when I was fourteen years old. So it's over twenty-six, twenty-seven years ago. That started a daily habit for me that has continued through all the seasons of my life. I can say there has been nothing better in my life. The most real moments of my life have happened with the Word open and in prayer.

That has infused every other part of my life with meaning. I want to tell my friends who are moms, "Come to the waters and your soul will delight in the richest affair." It's almost that we have to continually keep testifying to one another.

Just like I'd say, "Hey, I got new shoes at a great department store. It was a great sale." We're very quick to tell each other those things. But to say, "Come meet with Jesus. This is where we're going to find life." I think that we have to keep speaking that truth to each other and encouraging one another in that because the world promises us so much and it really provides so little. But the Word promises us much and it actually does provide so much.

Dannah: Oh, I love how Melissa Kruger said, “Come meet with Jesus. This is where we’re going to find life.” So whether you are a mom busy wiping snotty noses all day, a clerk ringing up someone else’s groceries, a nurse taking someone’s temp, a waitress serving someone else’s food—whatever the job—we all have a mission, to surrender to God’s will. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King. 
Let every heart, prepare Him room.
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and heaven and nature sing.

No more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessing flow.
Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove.
The glories of His righteousness.
And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.¹ 

Dannah: Okay, I’ve got the Advent wreath out here again. The Advent wreath and the Advent readings are a way we prepare our hearts for Christmas.

Jeremiah prophesied of the coming King in Jeremiah 31:13, "I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."

We are on the third week of Advent. The first was hope. The second was peace. Today, we’ll take a look at joy. I’ll light the third candle now. This candle reflects the joy that comes through Jesus’ arrival. Let’s read from Luke 2.

The shepherds were out in their fields taking care of their sheep, and suddenly an angel appeared! And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (vv. 10–11)

Imagine being those shepherds. They had heard from the prophets and priests that one day God would be sending a Savior, but they were usually the last to hear of any news. You see, shepherds had a lowly job. No one set out to be a shepherd in life; they were considered unpolished, dirty, and sometimes even outcasts. 

But God chose to share this good news with them first. Talk about a double dose of joy for them! The Savior of the world was born, and God saw them as significant to share this news with them.

Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of your son Jesus and the joy that He bring to all who seek Him. Thank You.

Again, we have a list of Scriptures that help us think on the joy Jesus brings this season. Those Scriptures can be found on our website ReviveOurHearts.com/weekend. Look for today’s episode, “Our Purpose.”

Jesus brought so much joy, and we want to share it with women all around the world. That’s why Revive Our Hearts exists: to share this good news, to call women to freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Jesus. And I know there’s joy that surrounds a life that’s surrendered to Him.

This month we’re asking God to provide $2.8 million dollars to continue reaching women around the world, and want to reach even reach more than we’re ministering to now. Some wonderful friends have stepped in and will be matching every gift given this month. So every dollar you give will be doubled, up to a total of $1.4 million.

I wonder if you would consider giving a gift today by calling 1–800–569–5959, or go to ReviveOurHearts.com/weekend and click on today’s episode. It’s called “Our Purpose.” 

Have you ever been lonely during the holidays? Maybe you’re there right now, and it hurts, doesn’t it? Next week, we’ll talk about what to do when those feelings of loneliness and other emotions threaten to overtake us. Please join us for the next Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

Thanks for listening today. Thanks to our team: Phil Krause, Dylan Weibel, Rebekah Krause, Justin Converse, Michelle Hill, and for Revive Our Hearts Weekend, I’m Dannah Gresh

Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

¹“Joy to the World.” Sandra McCracken. Christmas. ℗ 2019 Integrity Music.

²"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Come Adore. ℗  Revive Our Hearts.

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