Grace in Galatians (Part 213) – How Grace Changed The Way I See My Purpose

https://youtu.be/JSik1O7JpMs?si=MC6h6Aqc0pyVcf2T

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

We are closing out our Grace in Galatians series with a handful of final messages on how grace changed everything in me. So far, I have told you how grace changed the way I see God, the way I see myself, the way I receive, and the way I handle pressure. Today, I want to tell you about the fifth great change. Grace changed the way I see my purpose.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Galatians 1:15 TPT“But then God, who had chosen me from my birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to unveil his Son in me so that I would proclaim the good news of him to the non-Jewish people.”

Galatians 6:4 TPT“Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what’s right and being themselves, and not in being affirmed by others.”

Supporting scriptures:

Jeremiah 1:5 ERV“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I chose you for a special work. I chose you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:16 TPT“You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.”

Ephesians 2:10 TPT“We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!”

2 Timothy 1:9 ERV“God saved us and chose us to be his holy people, but not because of anything we ourselves did. God saved us and made us his people because that was what he wanted and because of his grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began.”

Philippians 1:6 TPT“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the one who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of your union with Jesus Christ!”

Setting the Stage:

I grew up in poverty in Brooklyn as the son of immigrants. My mother told me many times that she came to this country so we could have a better life. The context was basically that my future was something I had to build. I had to make something of myself. I had to hustle. I had to grind. I had to put in the work. I have been working since I was 13 years old, and I have a work ethic that was ingrained in me by my family. This mindset followed me into the Army and even into ministry. I thought purpose was something I had to figure out and construct with my own two hands.

Then I got a revelation from the Bible, rooted in God’s grace, that God chose me and called me before I was born.  The more I studied this, the more I saw it all over the Bible, and the more it changed my life. I discovered that purpose predates presence. I discovered that God planned for me before He placed me in my mother’s womb. Then I stopped trying to create a destiny and started discovering the one God already wrote. Let me show you what grace showed me.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. My Purpose Was Established Before My Performance.

Paul says God chose him from his birth and called him by grace. Let that sink in for a moment. Before Paul preached one sermon, planted one church, or wrote one letter, the calling was already in place. Furthermore, this also means that Paul’s destiny was set before he persecuted one Christian and had countless Christians killed. Before he did anything right, and before he did everything wrong, God had already made His decision. That is how grace works. Your calling is not a reward for good behavior. It is a gift that was wrapped before you were born. Your purpose was established before your performance, which means your performance was never the foundation of your purpose. Grace was.

How this applies to you:

— Galatians 1:15 TPT says God “had chosen me from my birth and called me by his grace.” Before the resume. Before the failures. Before you took your first breath, the call was already on your life.

— Purpose predates presence and performance. 

— God’s plans for you were finished before you ever got started. He planned you before He placed you on this planet.

— Destiny is not something you can decide because it is something God decided before you were born. 

— God did not look at what you became and then decide what to do with you. He decided first, and then He formed you to match the decision.

— Jeremiah 1:5 ERV says, “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I chose you for a special work.” Your assignment is older than your existence.

— Psalm 139:16 TPT says, “Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.” The plan is already written. The days are already recorded. It’s already done!

— Your life is not an accident; it is an assignment from Heaven.

— I joined the Army as a kid from Brooklyn, trying to make something of my life. Years later, I discovered God had already made plans for my life before I showed up. There had to be a moment when I stopped and thought, “Wait. I was never building my future. I was walking into one that was already built.”

— This is what THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY is all about. You do not create your destiny. You discover it.

2. I Could Not Disqualify Myself From What I Never Qualified For.

Here is the part of Paul’s testimony that destroys performance-based religion. Right before verse 15, Paul admits that he persecuted the church and did his best to dismantle it. The man was a terrorist against the cause of Christ. And then comes the most beautiful word in the passage: BUT. “But then God, who had chosen me from my birth…” Paul did everything possible to disqualify himself from his calling, and he could not do it. Why? Because you cannot disqualify yourself from something you never qualified for in the first place. God qualified Paul by grace before Paul could earn it or lose it.

How this applies to you:

— Bad performance can not cause you to be disqualified from something that good performance never qualified you for.

— God’s foreknowledge included every mistake you would ever make, and He called you anyway. Your failures were factored into His decision, not excluded from it.

— If persecuting the church could not disqualify Paul, if killing a man could not disqualify Moses, if adultery and murder could not disqualify David, and if prostitution could not disqualify Rahab, then your struggles will not disqualify you. Please don’t judge your future by your past. 

— Your worst moment cannot cancel what God predetermined before time began.

— 2 Timothy 1:9 ERV says God chose us “not because of anything we ourselves did… That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began.” Before time began. You cannot lose in time what was given before time.

— When the enemy reminds you of your past, do two things. First, remind him of his future. Second, remind him that your calling was established before your past existed.

— Stop living under the fear that you blew it. The call of God is not that fragile. Romans 11:29 says the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. And the word irrevocable means exactly what you think it means. 

— God has not changed His mind about you.

3. Grace Gave Me The Work Before I Ever Applied For It.

Galatians 6:4 contains a word most people read right past: GIVEN. Paul says everyone should be devoted to fulfilling the work God has GIVEN them to do. Your assignment was not imposed like a sentence. It was given like a gift. Before you had a resume, before you had experience, before you had qualifications, God had already given you the assignment. You did not apply for it, you did not interview for it, and you did not earn it. Grace handed it to you. When I saw this, my assignment stopped being a grind and became a gift, and gifts are received with gratitude, not resentment.

How this applies to you:

— Galatians 6:4 TPT says to be devoted to “the work God has given them to do.” Given. Not earned, not applied for, not won in a competition. Your purpose is a grace gift.

— Grace is a gift. Stop trying to pay for a gift. Receive it. Walk in it. Enjoy it. 

— Ephesians 2:10 TPT says, “We have become his poetry… Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!” Your life is not random. It was preplanned. Every line, every verse, and every chapter has purpose.

— Notice the order: God GAVE the work first, and then you fulfill it. He always moves first. Your calling did not start with your decision to pursue God. It started with God’s decision to create you for a purpose for you before you were born.

— Stop measuring yourself against someone else’s assignment. The verse says your joy is in doing what is right and BEING YOURSELF, not in being affirmed by others. God did not call you to run their race. He called you to run yours.

— When you walk in the authenticity of your assignment, there will be moments when you are celebrated and many when you are misunderstood. As long as you don’t live for the approval of others and you remain focused on what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do, you will arrive at God’s pre-planned ultimate destination for your life. 

— The world cannot define you because the world did not design you. Just go ahead and be who you were created to be.

4. Now I Live To FIND, FOLLOW, And FINISH My Divine Purpose.

Once grace changed the way I see my purpose, it changed the way I live my life. I am no longer wandering, hoping my life adds up to something. I live with a clear mission, and I can give it to you in three words. FIND, FOLLOW, and FINISH. 

How this applies to you:

— You FIND your purpose by revelation, you FOLLOW it by faith, and you FINISH it by grace.

— Only the Author can reveal the assignment. This is why prayer and fellowship with the Holy Spirit are not religious activities for me. They are how I get my marching orders.

— The key to Jesus’ life while he was on this planet was that he did not live his life on his own terms. He got his orders from headquarters every day. He only said what he heard, and he only attempted to do what was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. This is how we’re supposed to live. 

— When your alignment meets God’s assignment, you become unstoppable. Opposition cannot stop what God predetermined by grace. Paul faced beatings, shipwrecks, and prisons, and he still finished his course, because his calling was powered by grace, not his own power. If Paul did not have the grace of God, he would have quit a long time ago. And the same can be said for us. 

— When you operate in your grace-given purpose, you stop striving and stressing and start flowing. Your work becomes worship, because you are doing what you were created to do.

— Philippians 1:6 TPT says, “the one who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process.” God is devoted to finishing what He started in you. Your devotion is simply a response to His.

— Excitement gets you started, but it takes the grace of God to get you finished. Without God’s grace, you will ultimately cave to the pressure of opposition. 

— Walk into today knowing your purpose was written before your problems ever existed. Find it. Follow it. And do not stop until you finish it. Tomorrow, I will close this series with the sixth and final change: how grace changed the way I finish. This is #TheGraceLife.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that You called me before I was born!

My purpose was established before my performance!

I cannot disqualify myself from what I never qualified for!

My failures were factored into Your decision, not excluded from it!

My life is not an accident. It is an assignment!

My work is a gift from You, and I receive it with gratitude!

I refuse to measure myself against someone else’s assignment!

I am here to FIND, FOLLOW, and FINISH my divine purpose!

What You started in me, You will finish through me!

I am walking in plans You wrote before time began, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!