Originally published Wednesday, 05 October 2016.
If I were seated across from you, right at this very moment, I would lock eyes with you over my steaming, hot cup of coffee and hang onto each word not just coming from your mouth, but from your heart. I would listen to your broken places, and then set my cup down to ask you a very pointed question: Do you believe you were born with a purpose?
Before you answer that, let’s dig into the word of God and allow me to prove why I believe through the power of scripture that God has designed you for a very specific plan. It’s a plan not only meant to glorify who He is, but also intended to give new life to who you are. Friend, we’re all in need of new life. Amen?
Rather than do this the traditional “blogging way.” I’m going to ask you to actually have your Bible in front of you when you read these posts throughout the month. If that means bookmarking this and coming back to it later, that’s fine. I want you to gain the most out of this study as possible. We’re on a mission. If you don’t own a Bible or have access to one, you can easily follow along online. I recommend biblehub.com or biblegateway.com. If you’re not a fan of those, you can google to find one that works for you. I will have the scriptures typed out, but the point is to get you deep inside His Word so that purpose is proven and then activated in your life.
Now that we have our Bibles in front of us, let’s begin…
For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
-Ephesians 2:10 (N.K.J.V.)
Let’s break this down: “For we are His workmanship.” Some translations use other words in place of workmanship such as, handiwork or masterpiece. Those are pretty words, and they make me feel good, however, there is something fantastic about the word workmanship that brings beauty to life.
Just as a side note, I will often look to either Hebrew or Greek word meanings to uncover significance in scriptures. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and so sometimes we will look to Hebrew meanings when discovering pieces of the O.T. The New Testament was written in Greek, which is why we will be working with a Greek word today.
In Greek, the word for workmanship is poiema. It’s an attractive sounding word that rolls off the tongue. For just a second, take a look at that Greek word and think about what English word you might see inside of it…
The word is poem. We get our English word poem from the Greek word poiema. Now, here’s what I want to do. I’m going to write the scripture again, but this time instead of using the word workmanship, I’m going to use the word poem instead. To clarify, the word poiema actually means a work of art, but because of the English word poem which is translated from it, I want to paint a word picture to help you understand the beauty of who you are to Him.
For we are His poem created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
-Ephesians 2:10 (N.K.J.V.)
To explain even further, the word we, means all of us: you and me. When the apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians, he was giving them a lesson in grace, speaking to them about why we are alive in Christ, and through it was being used by the Holy Spirit to activate purpose in the lives of not only those who his letter was intended for at the time, but in all of us who would read his sacred writings for centuries to come.
Sister, you are God’s poem. You are! And, there’s more good news! He prepared the works of your life, the path of your purpose, before time began. It not only says so here, but many other places in the Bible as well.
Tomorrow, we will look at some more scriptures to prove your purpose. Over the days and weeks to come, we will unravel the poem of your life and then answer some hard questions, because even though we have purpose ordained by the Almighty Himself, along the path we will inevitably meet brokenness. There is no doubt that we will become acquainted with grief. And, when discouragement sets in, you better believe there’s an enemy who loves to whisper lies to disprove the God of the universe and His plan for you.
I’m going to give you a little homework assignment: Please write down Ephesians 2:10 with the word poem in place of the word workmanship. Hang it in a place where you can be constantly reminded of your worth to God. Maybe you can display it on your refrigerator with a magnet, tape it to your dashboard, or write it in lipstick on your mirror so when you’re brushing your teeth you see it prominently in front of you. Get creative in activating your purpose! After you’ve written down your scripture, take a picture of it and share it on social media including the hashtag #ActivatingYourPurpose. This is a way we can encourage each other while on our pursuit to activate purpose. I can’t wait to see your pictures!
Love,
Jennifer
PS: For more information about this series, click here, to read the introduction, or scroll down to see titles and links about what’s to come.
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