Blog
Maximizing What God Has Given You For His Eternal Purposes
- February 11, 2023
- Posted by: Marcel Sanchez
- Category: Developing Spiritual Disciplines Spiritual Life
All that God has given you is a gift. And this gift is to be managed and maximized for God’s eternal purposes. In Christ, every part of your life belongs to God. It’s important to study what that means and why that matters today.
This book was originally designed to be used as a supplemental resource to the Sunday morning sermons delivered at Global Church in Miami, Florida (www.GlobalChurch.me). More specifically, it was designed to serve our Life Groups—our weekly small group gatherings that meet in homes, on ZOOM, and in the church building—starting in January 2023.
Do you love challenges? I know I do. This devotional was created to challenge you in your spiritual journey. It’s a personal challenge from me to you.
Who is responsible?
I remember the meeting like it was yesterday. I was hired by an international automotive company, along with my training partners, to help project managers improve their communication skills as they moved from one new project to another. These exceptional engineers had worked with the company for a very long time.
But after countless video calls, phone meetings, and emails among team members, communication had started declining and fast. And after a short period of time, deadlines were missed, and costs started to increase. Prior to our engagement, those that should have accepted responsibility for delivering on their commitments were not doing so.
At the heart of their issue was an unwillingness to define:
“Who is responsible?”
“What are they responsible for?” and
“By when?”—the due date for each commitment.
You may be asking at this point, “What do challenges within the automotive industry have to do with me being aligned with God?”
You have spiritual responsibilities given to you by God to understand, accept, and practice regularly.
A lack spiritual clarity and alignment
As with my friends in the automotive industry, many believers today lack spiritual clarity and alignment when it comes to defining their spiritual responsibilities before God.
Why is this so important?
If you don’t know what you’re spiritually responsible for, you won’t align your ways with God’s ways.
However, you remain accountable to fulfill your responsibilities before God. Consider the following questions as they relate to your life:
Is your life aligned with God’s eternal purposes?
What are you spiritually responsible for?
Who are you spiritually responsible for?
What is the purpose of your life from God’s perspective?
What relationships require more time, attention, and care?
What resources are you expected to maximize for God’s purposes?
How can you maximize your health to honor God?
These questions lead us to explore the five areas of our framework for aligning our lives with God’s purposes.
By clearly understanding what you’re responsible for from God’s perspective, you can adjust and realign your life to follow God’s ways with greater clarity.
Throughout this study, I would like for you to filter each area of our framework through the lens of one transformational principle—seek first God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:33).
God is first.
This is the order of divine blessing for your life and for every believer.
As you accept this challenge, you will experience God’s power, provision, direction, and protection in more ways than you can imagine.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
As an introduction to this study, let’s summarize each essential area of our framework. This framework will provide you with a biblical model to live your life in such a way that God is pleased. How can you do this? By living by faith in God through Jesus Christ as you follow God first and His will for your life in all things (Hebrews 11:6).
My Spiritual Life
Is God first in your spiritual life? Do you spend time with God before your day starts moving?
Your daily relationship with Christ is your most important priority.
Your inner life matters.
The quality of your spiritual relationship with Christ must be nurtured and cultivated (John 15:1-11).
To thrive spiritually, you need increasing measures of quantity and quality in your relationship with Christ.
Jesus came to change you from darkness to light.
He wants you to experience Him daily through an abiding relationship.
Practicing the presence of Jesus is powerful.
It’s what you need every day to thrive spiritually.
As you further develop your spiritual habits, your prayer life will change and so will your ability to connect people to Jesus.
Your spiritual life overflows into every other area of your life.
It will determine how you live out your purpose as a believer.
It drives how you invest in relationships to point people to Christ.
It directly affects the way you manage your resources. It moves you to act.
My Purpose
Is God first in your personal mission and purpose for living?
Do your values reflect God’s values?
Life is not about you.
You are not the center—God is.
You are not in charge—God is.
Your life in Christ has a specific purpose—to glorify God.
How do you do that?
You love God and you love people.
You serve God and you serve people.
You work for God and you work with people.
Your life was designed to glorify God by directing, working, serving, and maximizing God’s creation for God’s kingdom purposes.
My Relationships
Is God first in your relationships?
Relationships matter to God, and they should matter to you.
God wants you to be Christlike at school, with people at work, among friends, and with those in your family.
He wants you to model the character of Christ, even with those who regularly test your patience or even drive you crazy at times.
God’s desire is for you to develop rich spiritual friendships with His people and genuine friendships with those who don’t know Christ.
His desire is for you to coach and train believers in their spiritual growth as you continue learning from Christ and from His people.
My Resources
Is God first in the way you maximize His resources?
Do you consistently prioritize His kingdom and apply His principles in the way you manage and maximize what He’s provided?
God doesn’t expect you to manage or maximize what you don’t have.
But you will give an account for the resources given to you by God to expand for His glory.
Is God first in the way you maximize your time?
Your time on this earth is limited.
God has given you a measure of time to use for His eternal purposes.
You can waste this limited resource, or you can maximize it for His kingdom purposes.
You can’t buy more time or extend your day beyond twenty-four hours.
You must make the most of every day to do your best with the time that you have.
Is God first in the way you maximize your talents?
Are you making the most of your uniqueness, personality, preferences, and special abilities?
There’s no one else on earth like you. This is not accidental.
Is God first as you seek to develop your skills?
Are you intentionally using your education, training, and experiences to serve God’s kingdom purposes?
God has given you the capacity to thrive.
Make sure you’re maximizing what He’s given you.
You were formed in a special way by the Lord to fulfill His eternal purposes.
Seek to be the person God designed you to be so that others can clearly see salt and light expressed through your life every day.
Is God first in the way you manage and maximize your treasures?
There is no greater indicator of what’s leading your heart at this very moment than where you’ve placed your treasure.
Your heart always follows where you place your treasure.
God wants you to give, save, invest, and spend in ways that honor Him.
But as we’ve mentioned earlier, He needs to be first in every area, including your finances and material possessions.
My Health
Is God first in the way you care for your health?
Do you really believe that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)?
Living a disciplined life—in the way you manage your health and in other areas—maximizes your impact for God’s purposes.
It doesn’t honor God at all when you get lazy in this area.
You need to establish sustainable habits of exercise, nutrition, rest, and sleep into your schedule.
You need to replenish your mind and soul through planned times of silence and solitude.
If you consistently neglect to manage and care for your body in a healthy way, you will experience a physical, emotional and or mental health crisis in the future.
May this journey that we embark on together give you a more comprehensive—and biblical—perspective as to how God wants to bless others through your life as you seek God first in each of these areas.
Are you ready to start maximizing what God has given you for His eternal purposes and your good?
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