PURSUE - Chase Your Dreams 1

Welcome to Turning Point. Does life leave you feeling empty or fulfilled? Knowing your God-given purpose makes all the difference. Today, Dr. David Jeremiah shares Biblical wisdom for seeking, appreciating, and understanding God's unique purpose for your life, also known as your dream. From the series forward, here's David to introduce today's message, Pursue, Chase Your Dream. I hope you will follow along as we teach.

Well, let's learn about what it means to pursue, to chase our dream. He wrote a song that propelled the family to stardom, and the group became a global sensation. With money and fame came great opportunities, like singing in stadiums to 250,000 screaming fans.

In time, Paddy moved into a 17th century castle. He traveled by private plane and helicopter. His family was near him in his pursuits, and he was never far from their love. Yet something strange happened. Paddy felt empty. He felt lost. The higher he rose, the lower he felt. He asked himself a haunting question. If all this doesn't make me happy, then what is the sense of life? Why do I exist?

He eventually retired to a monastery in France seeking answers. Joseph Schooling is one of the best swimmers in the world. His youthful face and friendly grin make him a crowd favorite, especially after he won Singapore's first ever Olympic gold medal in 2016.

He's one of a small group of people who breathe the rarefied air of being the best in the world. But how does it feel to be a gold medalist? According to Schooling, there's a feeling of emptiness.

Schooling concedes he didn't know how to respond to fame and pressure. I should have taken more time away from the pool, he said. I had to change my mindset as I was no longer chasing. I was being chased. I needed to find my why for what I was doing. Like Paddy Kelly and Joseph Schooling, millions of people are searching for their purpose, the why of their existence.

Maybe that includes you. Your purpose is about meaning and motivation. For purpose stabilizes your life. It's the reason behind your actions and decisions. It answers that nagging question why. Why am I pursuing this dream? Paddy Kelly knew the what of his life, singing.

Joseph knew the what of his life, swimming. But they could neither one figure out the why. Was it for applause? Was it for money?

Was it for achievement, self fulfillment, national pride? Do you ever end a day like that? Do you ever end the day or the year asking yourself, what was all that for? What did I really accomplish?

What difference did I truly make? When you find your purpose, you stop chasing things that will never satisfy you. Instead, you find the joy of pursuing the next steps God has for you. What Paddy Kelly and Joseph Schooling longed for, Jesus possessed. He knew he was on this earth for a reason, and he pursued his God-ordained purpose at every step. In Mark 138, he told his disciples, let us go into the next town that I may preach there, because for this purpose, I have come forth. In John 12-27, he said, now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose, I came to this hour.

The apostle John said, for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. You see, as you read these passages of Scripture, you discover Jesus knew his purpose in life, and he was compelled to fulfill it. You also can have this sense of certainty to move you toward your goal, and you can do what Jesus did. You can live the rest of your life with no regrets. How do you discover your why? Your journey begins by committing your life to God.

Present yourself totally to God. Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing. Yet along with his fame came gambling and sex and money and parties. But his heart was as vacant as a boxing arena after all the people go away, and the lights are turned off. He said, I felt empty.

I had money. I could do whatever I wanted, but I was empty in my heart. One night while walking in a forest, the Filipino boxer was convicted about his lifestyle. He knelt down, and he cried out to God, asking for forgiveness and help. He later said he felt like a light was shining on him, as bright as the sun, but he couldn't raise his head. He was on the ground crying out to the Lord.

He felt like he was melting. That night, Christ came into Manny Pacquiao's life. The Lord changed his heart, and that's what he said. Pacquiao's life took on new meaning. He became involved in public service, and today he serves in the Philippine National Senate.

During the coronavirus pandemic, he donated hundreds of thousands of masks to those in need, along with five buses to transport healthcare workers around Manila. He felt such an immense burden for the poor that he determined to care for them, even if he died in the effort. He told his constituents, we should continue praying and believing in the Lord. Let's draw strength and hope from him. You can't find your purpose in life by focusing on yourself and leaving God out of the picture.

Pacquiao found that out. Life isn't about using God for your purposes. It's about God using you for his purposes. It's about the Lord Jesus showing you how you fit into his plan, and you do fit in. He has a lifetime of purpose stored up for you and for me. Perhaps you're thinking, I'm not sure what I want in God's plan. What if I don't like it?

Oh, you will. It's what you were made for. If you don't embrace God's plan, you'll miss the purpose for which he created you. The Bible is very clear about that. This is what Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. When you follow God's plan for your life, you will be walking in the divine wattage of God's light. There's no other source of ultimate purpose. All pursuits lead to darkness and futility. If you're still afraid to present yourself totally to God, do you think he'll mess up your life by telling you to do something you don't want to do?

Or go someplace you don't want to go? I can tell you by my own testimony that everything I ever dreamed of doing in my life, I found in God's purpose for me. I cannot imagine doing anything else than what I've done as he has led me.

So many of my dreams have come true, plus quite a few dreams I never even knew I had. So the first step in pursuing your God-given purpose is to present yourself totally to God. He loves you. He wants the best for you.

You can trust him. Sign your name at the bottom of the page and watch God fill it in. Secondly, you need to understand your uniqueness. The second step in discovering the why of your life is coming to grips with the unique you. Every single person on this planet can celebrate their uniqueness because God didn't create any two people, not even identical twins who are exactly alike. We all have different bodies, different faces, different fingerprints, different backgrounds, different gifts, and different talents.

There is no one exactly like you. Only you have the unique plan God has designed for you. Here's what Ephesians says, For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The living translation says, For we are God's masterpiece, he has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Now stop and read that again. You are God's masterpiece. Before you were born, he designed a set of tasks for you.

He created you for your life's purpose, and at the same time he was creating your work. Not for anyone else, just for you. So for that reason, be very careful about comparing yourself with others. There's almost always someone who seems more gifted or more successful than you. And if you're not careful, you can slip into imitating that person even without realizing it. But you are not an imitation.

You are the original, the only you God ever made. As a young pastor, I studied homiletics from Dr. Haddon Robinson. He was the preacher teacher at the seminary. He was a master in the pulpit. I also took a lot of classes from Howard Hendricks, who was the best communicator I'd ever heard. And sure enough, without realizing it, when I prepared and preached my early sermons, I sounded a lot like Haddon Robinson or Howard Hendricks.

A very, very poor imitation. I didn't realize I was imitating them, but one day my wife noticed it and she said, you have to be yourself, David. You have to be the person God made you to be. You don't need to be Howard Hendricks.

You don't need to be Haddon Robinson. You need to be the best David Jeremiah you can be. If you look at somebody else for the pattern of who you should be, you'll miss it. Because God made you special, and then he threw away the plans. Thank him for your strengths. Thank him for your weaknesses. Make your strengths stronger and work on your weaknesses, your blessings and your burdens, your gifts and your talents, your experiences and your adventures.

All of them are for your use, for his glory, and they will make you better. Once you understand the uniqueness of you, you'll be well on your way to pursuing the purpose God created you for. So, first of all, present yourself to God and then realize, I am a unique creation of Almighty God. He made me alone, threw the plans away. There's nobody like me on planet earth.

He has a special thing for me to do. And then thirdly, realize your responsibility. The next step is to realize that your uniqueness implies action. The Bible says it this way. As each one has received his gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. In other words, God has given you a gift, and with that gift comes a responsibility to use that gift to bless others. Many people resent having responsibilities placed on them.

Don't let the devil deceive you. Your responsibilities, the ones that come from God, are blessings. They reassure you of your usefulness. Someone said responsibility is your response to God's ability. You see, the church is this big circle made up of all of God's children, and every one of us has a responsibility.

The Bible says a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. And Jesus said, I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day, for the night is coming when no one can work. So let yourself develop a sense of responsibility for reaching others and serving the world. And make that decision before night falls on your life, before it's too late. Present yourself totally to God, understand your uniqueness, realize your responsibility, and then pursue God's plan for your life. If you've presented yourself totally to God, if you've grasped the wonderful fact of your uniqueness, and you've realized that you have a responsibility to serve the Lord and others, then you're ready to pursue God's plan for your life.

And now the task is to chase that plan. You have to run in the direction your purpose leads you. When I sensed in my heart that God was calling me to preach the gospel, I immediately made an appointment with Dr. Robert Gromacki, a teacher in the Bible department of the college that I attended. He had graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, and he helped me make connections there that I pursued so that I could have the training necessary to obey God's call. When you begin to sense God leading you in a certain direction, don't be apathetic or passive about it. Be active, ask questions, make visits, garner advice, read, study, look for the next steps and take them.

Don't wait for God to interrupt your television program with a special bulletin telling you what to do. David Groves was the chief of police in Hartford, Wisconsin, capping off a career in law enforcement. As he approached retirement, he thought, but now what do I do?

His entire life had been devoted to public safety, and because of the dangerous and rigorous nature of his job, many police officers had retired earlier than other professionals. David felt he still had many productive years ahead of him, but what should he do? He and his wife began to pray. Knowing God had blessed them both throughout their careers, David began to wonder if his experiences might be helpful on a church staff. As chief of police, he learned the principles of good management, strategic planning, participatory leadership, wisdom, empathy, and vision to accomplish a mission.

He'd learn to manage a budget and get along with competing factions. So David began researching the possibility of becoming an executive pastor in a church. He studied job descriptions to learn more, and the more he pursued God's plan for him, the more he saw opportunities.

Today, this former police chief is the executive pastor of a church in Wisconsin, and you better not speed past his sanctuary. If you're not dead, you're not done when it comes to serving the Lord, David said. As far as God's nudge goes, it'd be hard to share all the times we have seen his hand in this process.

Over and over in my former line of work, we would call these things clues. That's a great way of looking at it. In a sense, God gives us clues about his purpose and plans for our lives. As you consider your next steps forward, remember, if you're not dead, you're not done. Keep pursuing God's good, acceptable, and perfect plan for your life. Look for indications, notice circumstances, follow leads, and take initiative.

Look around you right now. Do you see any clues that God is dropping for you to follow? Once again, present yourself totally to God. Understand you are unique. Realize you have a responsibility. Pursue God's plan for your life and obey orders from God's word. That brings us to the next critical element of pursuing God's purpose for your life. You have to obey orders from his word. His will for your life never deviates from the word he has given you in Scripture. You'll need instructions for the journey, and God's instruction manual is your Bible. Joshua 1-8 says it this way, The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Notice the phrase observe to do. It's easy to pass over these words like they were unimportant, but this is one of the great concepts of the Old Testament. We're not to read the Bible just for curiosity or intellectual reasons.

We're to study it in order to do it. We're to read it in order to heed it. David describes this principle in his first Psalm. He says, His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

Popular author Eddie Jones has a park bench beneath a willow tree at his house, where in his words he goes to get orders every day. Even in the winter when the garden feels more like a popsicle than a paradise, he opens his Bible and he asks God for a ray of light on his day and a beam of guidance for his steps. Here's what he prays. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth and in my life. In the same way your will is done in heaven, lead me to where you would have me to serve you today.

And then Eddie opens his Bible and he says, I study every verse of the scripture before me. I search for promises, I look for commands, I watch for warnings and praise and prayers and words of comfort. And when I sense his voice speaking to me, whispering in my spirit, pay attention, this is important. I highlight the verse and I write it in my journal and I ponder its meaning for me that whole day. Now you don't have to sit in a cold bench, you don't have to do anything unique like that, but you do need to find your own process. As you pursue God's purpose for your life, there are going to be times when you really don't know what to do next.

That's happened to me over and over again. You'll be confused, sometimes even disoriented. And it's in those times especially that you will learn to love the word of God. That's so important to have a daily habit of Bible reading and meditation.

It's not that you'll find a Bible verse that says, today you should volunteer at the homeless shelter. Rather, it's a matter of walking in fellowship with God and as you read, study, meditate, apply his word each day, you'll find the needed wisdom for every single opportunity he puts in your place. Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz describes her strategy like this, I just try to faithfully follow the Lord step by step, day by day.

Ten years from now, I just want to look back and know that to the best of my ability, I've been obedient to God's call on my life. We have to get to the place where we understand that God has given us a manual. And when we're trying to pursue our dream and we don't know what's next, we have to realize the answer to what's next is in that book. And if we will absorb ourselves in that book, if we will just allow ourselves to let that book wash over our soul, God will show us what to do. I've never asked God what to do next, that he hasn't in some meaningful way directed me.

You know, that is the answer to the bigger question that we hear so often. How can you know the will of God? I remember someone telling me one day, all you need to do is walk in his will each day, and you will always be in the will of God. He will take you where you need to go one day at a time. Most of us somehow feel the need to know where the end is, and we may not always know that.

But if we determine that every day we're going to do everything God tells us to do, it's impossible that we won't end up where we're supposed to be. I'm so excited that you joined us today. We'll be back tomorrow on this good station as we continue to talk about what it means to chase our dream.

I hope you join me then. I'm David Jeremiah. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's current teaching series, Forward, please visit our website, where you'll also find two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly magazine, Turning Points, and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. When you do, be sure to ask for your copy of David's powerful new book, Forward, Discovering God's Presence and Purpose in Your Tomorrow. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard Version, the New International Version, and the New King James Version.

All are available in a variety of handsome cover options. Visit davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio for details. I'm Gary Hoogfleet. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Forward. Join us here on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.