Excerpt from Common Sense, written in 1776 by Thomas Paine

I Do Not Choose To Be A Common Man... (OR Woman)!

I do not choose to be a common man.

It is my right to be uncommon … if I can.

I seek opportunity … not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen,

Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk,

To dream and to build. To fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;

I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;

The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence

Nor my dignity for a handout

I will never cower before any master

Nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;

To think and act for myself,

To enjoy the benefit of my creations

And to face the world boldly and say:

This, with God’s help, I have done.

All this is what it means to be an Entrepreneur.

Living With Purpose

 The process of spiritual growth—which is at the center of the entire discipleship conversation—is entirely driven by God. What we do in that process is very simple: we choose to remain engaged, allowing God to transform us.

We've spent time looking at the ways in which He leads us into a life with purpose. In this segment, we’re going to put some legs on the process, helping to define how we actually do this, by looking specifically at what the apostle Paul wrote about himself.

Here are two passages of Scripture in which the apostle describes his own personal experience:

 “All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness. . . . Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back” (Phil. 3:8, 9, 13, 14, The Message)

“The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8, NLT).

The Process. 

The first statement describes the process under which a growing Christian operates. Notice several significant elements:

1. Paul speaks of the attractions of sin as “gone from my life,” which he goes on to explain as a choice he is making each day, not some miracle of transformation. God is transforming him, but He is doing it one day at a time.

2. Specifically, Paul speaks of the battle he faces each day, in which he establishes and then reestablishes priorities (choosing Jesus over everything else), and then acts on those priorities.

3. He refutes the idea that he has achieved “perfection,” and replaces it with the concept of “keeping his eyes on the goal.”

4. Finally, he introduces the key element in the faith process: forgetting the past and choosing to focus on the future.

The Assurance. 

In the second statement, Paul affirms that he is near the end of his life and that he now understands several important things:

1. He has “fought the good fight,” which is to say he has remained engaged, resisting the temptation we all have to abandon the fight and give in to discouragement or despair. While salvation is a gift—always, absolutely and never deserved—it changes us, calling forth from us a desire to remain engaged with God in revealing to the world what it really means to be a Christian.

2. He further claims to have “finished the race,” and “remained faithful,” implying that he understands clearly the nature of the effort, that it is not about “winning,” as much as clinging to Jesus in faith.

3. Finally, he speaks about the “prize” he anticipates, but his language reveals that he understands fully that it is something to be “awarded” to him by the Lord, when all is said and done—something that comes entirely from the Lord as an expression of His grace.

The process of spiritual growth—which is at the center of the entire discipleship conversation—is entirely driven by God. What we do in that process is very simple: we choose to remain engaged, allowing God to transform us. We don’t “make it happen,” but we do “choose for it to happen,” and allow God to do the work. We do this with a full awareness that we will stumble and fall along the way, knowing that God is walking the path with us, and is eager to pick us up, brush us off, and encourage us to keep going, allowing Him to complete His work.*

*Provided by instepwithjesus.org

PRINCIPLES OF LIVING A LIFE ON PURPOSE

Just as we seek out other things in life, we must be willing to investigate, evaluate, and examine who we are and what our purpose is.  It is imperative that we choose to live a life on purpose and not just let life happen.  If we do, we may not necessarily like the outcome of what life brings us.  So, why not have some decision in what happens in your life.  The following is an article I came across that has helped me in my walk and way in this life.

We see in the story of the Prodigal Son the way in which allowing God to define us is far more effective than allowing others to do so. One of the great joys God gives us is the opportunity to make choices, with profound impact. The process by which we arrive at a more compelling definition of how to live looks something like this:

First, it’s important to re-evaluate our life purpose along the way.

If we don’t choose to define ourselves, often life forces us to. A crisis comes that requires an intentional reevaluation, readjustment, and refocusing. And sometimes, as in the case of Paul, we discover that we’re living with a less than meaningful purpose and need to change the focus. In other words, some purposes are more worth living for than others. And it would be tragic to come to the end of life and make that painful discovery. Better to evaluate now whether we’re living for a worthy purpose or not and make necessary adjustments. It takes courage. But it’s absolutely worth it to end with no regrets. Are you living the most meaningful purpose possible for yourself? Is your purpose in harmony with what God wants for you and what you were created to live for?

Second, to achieve your life purpose well you need to “forget” the past.

That is, don’t let the past define you, whether it’s your successes or your failures. We tend to do several things when it comes to our past: we glory in it in pride or we wallow in it in shame or we deny it in pain. Any of those responses fixates us in the past and immobilizes us from pursuing God’s goal for our lives.

A man complained to his rabbi of depression. His life had become a seemingly endless string of failures, disappointments, and missed opportunities. Why, he asked, had God condemned him to live such a frustrating existence? The rabbi listened carefully and after some moments of contemplation, he asked the man to reach behind him and remove a large volume from his bookshelf. Assuming this was some profound tome of spiritual wisdom, the man reached for the volume. He noticed to his surprise that it was an almanac of sports statistics. “Read page 543 aloud,” the rabbi instructed. And the man began reading the lifetime batting averages of baseball’s greatest hitters. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams. “Not one of them batted more than .400,” observed the rabbi. “That means more than six in ten times, the greatest of the great struck out, popped out, or flied out. More than six in ten times, they failed. Are you better than they were?” the rabbi asked the man. “Why do you expect more of yourself than they did?”

It’s easy to become fixated on our past. But that only immobilizes us from pushing ourselves toward the goal of our life purpose. We become conservative in our actions, afraid to do anything that might lead to failure again or that might make us look bad. We end up paying attention to things we ought to be overlooking. William James, the American philosopher, psychologist, and educator at Harvard University, in 1890 wrote, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

Third, we must point ourselves in the “right” direction.

If we want to live God’s plan and purpose for us, not just any direction or any goal will do. Some directions are much more meaningful than others. You’ve no doubt heard the phrase, “When you come to the end of your life, no one wishes they had spent more time at the office.”

That’s referring to priorities. Right focus. A worthwhile purpose typically revolves around relationships—building meaningful, significant, fulfilling relationships. And that kind of purpose usually involves using your resources to make a difference in people’s lives in some tangible way. The whole idea of service and showing compassion to others makes up the kind of life purpose that brings the highest degree of fulfillment and meaning.

Paul focused the second part of his life on following the example of Jesus and helping people experience Jesus’ love and compassion. And Jesus had once stated clearly His life purpose in this way: “ ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:45, NKJV). That example by Jesus is what empowered and motivated and shaped Paul’s life purpose. He kept his eyes on that picture of Jesus and refused to live the many lesser ways to live. He devoted his energies and skills and resources to serving others in the best way he could.

A life purpose that involves serving others (loving and giving compassion in tangible, meaningful ways) is the most satisfying in the end. It is congruent with the highest, strongest human value, love.

Jesus lived His life passionately on purpose, too—to serve and give Himself to others. A few days before He died, He was in a room with His twelve disciples to celebrate the Jewish Passover. Here’s what the story describes in that setting: “Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him” (John 13:1-5, NLT).

Notice that the way Jesus chose to show the full extent of His love was to kneel down and wash the dirty feet of His disciples (something the servants were supposed to do but apparently weren’t there to do that evening). Jesus’ willingness to serve was evidence of His love. That’s the most divine thing we humans can do: lovingly serve others. And notice what it was that empowered Jesus to serve via such a menial task. The story says that Jesus knew who He was, what His life purpose and calling were, and where He was going. His identity was completely clear to Him. He was living with clarity and full acceptance of Himself. And that confidence and profound self-awareness empowered Him to serve unselfishly and boldly and radically.

Four, to live out your highest purpose and calling, know yourself.

You must embrace your identity (as Jesus did) with confidence and complete acceptance, an identity that transcends your place in life and your various accomplishments (good or bad) and centers in your status as a fully loved child of God. That kind of self-awareness and acceptance is what empowers you to live “on purpose” through thick and thin, ups and downs, successes and failures.

Defining Yourself

When we consider who defines us, the different opinions of us that various people might have, what matters most is how God defines us, and the ways in which we define ourselves, in response to His definition. Who we are, of course, is complex, but much of it has to do with what we value and where we want to go in life.

There are several ways to discover your life purpose. One of the following methods could be an eye-opening experience for you. It could also add much value and richness to your life.

The Obituary: One way to approach purpose is to think about coming to the end of your life and looking back on all you've become and all you've accomplished. What do your actions and behaviors say about your purpose? If one knew nothing about what you believed and valued, what would they know about your life purpose based on what they observed you doing during your life? If you were attending your own funeral and someone who knew you well was delivering your obituary, what would you truly want to hear them say about you? How would you desire more than anything to be described at that moment?

The Personal Profile: This is another good tool to discover who you are and how you are wired; what are your strengths, gifts, talents, temperament, passion, values, and unique life experiences? Knowing your personal profile gives big clues to the unique purpose you are called to and equipped to live. Life purpose is the reason we are on this planet. It’s the thing we are meant to accomplish, the gift we are meant to bring. It’s not simply about a job or even a vocation. It is the round-the-clock, twenty-four-hour, every-day-of-your-life expression of who you are when you are reaching your full potential. Life purpose is spiritual in origin and uniquely shaped to you. So looking at how you are “shaped” helps you discover what your unique life purpose is, the special contribution you have been equipped to make in the lives of others and this world.

The truth is, when we are “on purpose” we are most fulfilled. We are contributing and making a difference in transformative and meaningful ways. We live with a sense of congruence and alignment with who we feel we really are. We consequently have a much higher level of peace and passion because we know deep inside that we’re living out our true purpose, our life, and not someone else’s life or the life someone else thinks we should live. Our life satisfaction level is profoundly high because we can see that we’re making meaningful contributions to others. We are living in harmony with God’s dream for our lives and that brings with it a profound sense of joy.

And the flip side is equally true: when we are “off purpose” we are discontented and unfulfilled. We feel off balance and rudderless, just kind of going with wherever the popular flow goes. We use up lots of energy that doesn't go anywhere. It’s simply spinning our wheels, going fast but going nowhere. We’re easily distracted by whatever voice shouts the loudest; the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We tend to say Yes to too many things and then get overtired. We lose our sense of direction and get easily confused. So we end up often feeling dead, disconnected, dissatisfied, and ultimately burned out too quickly and too often. And we come to the end of our lives and have lots of regrets. On the other hand, a clear life purpose is like a big neon sign that helps us find our way out of the swamp when we get stuck.

The Mission Statement: A third tool is to try writing your life purpose in one sentence. “For me, to live is …”(complete the sentence). “For me, to be fully alive is …” (complete the sentence). “My true life legacy will be …” (complete that sentence). It has been said that life purpose is a path. It is like East. You cannot ever get to a place called East—it is a direction, not a location—but you may be on a path your whole life going in that direction. There will be plenty of voices, internal and external, telling you to go in different directions. And sometimes you will listen, especially when you are unsure of your purpose. But finding and claiming a life purpose gives you the truest direction for your life. A true life purpose statement can make you virtually unstoppable.*

*Provided by www.instepwithjesus.org

The next stumbling block to living life victoriously is 

"Temptation" 

So often we have an “I want it now” attitude when it may not be good for us to have it right now because we are not ready.  However, we are tempted to get it now.  That is a stumbling block to living victoriously because if we get it now and we are not ready for it, we will ruin it completely.  But… if we are patient and wait and we allow “it” to develop into what it should be and we prepare ourselves be ready to receive “it” when it is ripe, then we have the full blessing of whatever “it” is meant to be.  We will also have the opportunity to develop a new state of mind that is not rushed but patient for the best.

Some types of temptations are not necessarily wrong.  I will give you my experience in dealing with temptation and how I overcame it.

Temptations can also be things that are ok for others, but not ok for you because of a negative impact. i.e.: Chocolate is a delicious treat when used in temperance.

MY EXPERIENCE:

About 18 years ago, I was completely addicted to chocolate like an alcoholic is to alcohol.  I could not control the eating of it. I was a slave to it and I allowed it to control me.

I asked the Lord to deliver me from that addiction and within 2 months, I couldn't even stand the smell of it, let alone the taste. I would have to be totally disgusted with chocolate and the addiction to chocolate in order to not eat it. To this day, I can’t stand the smell of it, nor the taste. It was a temptation and a stumbling block because it prevented me from reaching my goal in dealing with my weight and health. It was also a weakness in discipline that I needed overcome. Now, I have lived victoriously in overcoming it for over 18 years.

However, that was only made possible when I admitted that I had the problem of chocolate addiction and when I desired to rid myself of that addiction.  YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

ANOTHER TEMPTATION:

Then there are the temptations that are wrong according to God’s word and His 10 commandments. They are also very relevant in dealing with living a victorious life because they deal with how you treat God and how you treat others.

As we overcome temptations and stumbling blocks, we form a new state of mind.  One that is strengthened in our ability to overcome.

Let's take a look at how to overcome these many temptations.

We know that the temptations that we experience is because of what is desirable to us, that is why it is tempting sometimes ONLY to us. We must realize that we have strength in us to overcome temptations, but only if we choose to overcome. Whatever you WILL to overcome, you CAN overcome by power that is put in you. Then, once we have victory over the temptations, we must live in that victory and not become a slave to it any longer. Avoid places, peoples, pleasures, habits, or things that are going to cause you to slide backwards in your victory so that your victory will be a complete and utter victory.

Below, I have included the original Twelve Steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous, I found that these are very relevant for any temptation, addiction, obstacle, etc... Where the word alcohol was, I placed the word “temptation”.  As you read this, place the temptation, or obstacle that is preventing you, in the place of temptation.

        1. Admit that you are powerless over “temptation”—that your

            life has become unmanageable.

        2. Come to believe that a Power greater than yourself could

            restore you to sanity.

        3. Make a decision to turn your will and your life over to the

            care of God as you understand Him.

        4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself.

        5. Admit to God, to yourself, and to another human being the

            exact nature of your temptations.

        6. Be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of

            character from you.

        7. Humbly ask Him to remove your shortcomings.

        8. Make a list of all persons you have harmed because of this

            temptation & be willing to make amends to all.

        9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible,

            except when to do so would injure them or others.

      10. Continued to take personal inventory and when you are 

            wrong promptly admit it.

      11. Seek through prayer & meditation to improve your

            conscious contact with God as you understand Him,

            praying only for knowledge of His will for you & the

            POWER to carry that out.

     12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these

           steps, try to carry this message to others who are slaves

           to their temptations, & to practice these principles in all

           your affairs.

Again, once you overcome these temptations and obstacles, you must then continue to live victoriously by avoiding places, peoples, pleasures, habits, or things that are going to cause you to slide backwards into that obstacle or temptation that you have had victory over.  As you do these things, your victory will be a complete and utter victory.

As you conquer your own desires, temptations, addictions, and obstacles, you will not only change your own situation, you will also change your state of mind.  Cheers!