[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

[Ken7]

God's purpose for our lives is that we Praise Him by good works …by bearing fruit and by Spiritual Unity. We have a lot of work cut out in each of our churches, don’t we?

Matthew 5:13-16 …our Christian influence speaks for itself. It is either salt – or it is absent. Just do it.

[Helenmm]

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

A prince has an inheritance from his father who is a king. This is recognised even though he is very young. As he grows he is taught how to take care of his inheritance and eventually he matures and manages it himself to a major degree, even though his father is still alive. Society recognises who he is and the power that he has in consequence of who he is. He is constant news to the paparazzi because his high rank in the land sells papers. He is considered the most eligible bachelor in the land, but to join his family you have to be selected. To be selected is the highest prize in the land. He is constantly watched until the selection is made, and then the limelight falls on the selected one who is invested with a whole new status in the land. Her other destinies are forgotten as she adopts the purposes of her prince. He surrounds her with his opulence and suddenly her clothing is brighter and better than before, as is her power in the land. Her person takes on a new radiance in her marriage and she is offered many tributes. In some respects she is separated from her former friends who now treat her as a princess, and her circle of people and influence changes in a big way. She has more power to become an effective influence in the land and uses what ever wisdom she has in this regard.

We are like this princess, invested with the power of the Name of Jesus and the status of sons and daughters. Our position and relationships consequently undergo major change and we look at life from the new perspective of royalty. However, our king is a servant king and so we are not grandiose, but answerable and humbled imitators of his sacrificial love. The glory of His kingdom is reflected in our servanthood as we walk in the works that he has prepared for us to walk in - miracles and love.

We are not here to be ineffective in our community, but to stand clear for truth and justice, the call to righteousness and the care of each other and the weak. We are to be seen attending to these things systematically and reliably, so that there is no excuse for those who know us concerning their relationship with Jesus.

[pickledilly]

We were created with the intended purpose of magnifying God's glory by being and living as praise. We're to reverence, adore, thank, bless, honor, obey, and worship Him exclusively and wholeheartedly as a lifestyle. When other people see the way we live everyday life, they should be in awe of the LORD. Believers have been sealed with/by the Holy Spirit of God as a guarantee of the inheritance awaiting us and we have every reason to live lives of praise that reflect His glory.

Just as salt and light were created for useful purposes, so are we Christians (Matt.5:13-16). But if not used, salt loses it value. Light cannot dispel darkness if hidden. The good works/deeds of believers cannot demonstrate God's glory and generate praise for Him if they are never accomplished. I believe my life was created with specific purpose and if I never live out that purpose (led and empowered by the Spirit), then some specific praise that was meant to come through me will be robbed from the LORD. Who knows the cascade effect that is designed to come through me? Who can imagine how many people after me that are supposed to be impacted by the glory of God seen through my life offered as living praise? I should just be a window through which His glory shines and refracts His light like a beautiful rainbow onto others. The ultimate would be that nobody even notices me!

[Jezemeg]

According to Eph 1:11,12, God's purpose for our lives is to be one of worshipping and praising Him through our very lives and the way we live them, not through any special mangiven qualifications. As I remember being told once by a very learned person, the best preaching is done without using any words. Our own lives are testament enough to God's Grace. This purpose is once more explained in Matt 5:13-16 where Jesus encouraged his disciples to live their lives openly, don't hide away what God has given to them, don't act as if it is a secret only available to a few. But just as a light illumines an entire area, we are to spread the message of what God has done in our lives to everyone, and those who will hear, will turn and discover the Glory of God for themselves

[Linda Stanley]

Gods purpose for our lives is to offer salvation to the world.God created us and we belong to Him.We need to go out into the world,with Gods Power(Holy Spirit in us)and reach lost souls.Share Gods word to the people who are lost.A lot of people are searching for peace and happiness in the wrong places.We must let our light shine.When people look at us they see a person who is full of life(Jesus).Let them see all the good in us.
Love someone when they are hard to love.Pray for those that needs prayer.Lay hands on those who need healing.
Matthew 5:13-14,As Christians if we make no effort to affect the world around us,then we are of little value to God.This does not mean God does not love us.We can not change the world by ourselves;we change it together,as one body made up of many diffrent gifts(preachers,teachers,disciples,and so on),what God calls us to do, we do it for God's kingdom.We should affect others positively,and bring out the best. Share Jesus Christ with others and let them know what God has done for you.

[BJB123]

#1 God's purpose for our lives....we who were the first to trust in Christ should Praise God and glorify Him.
God loves the praises of His people. Praising God draws us near to Him

#2 We need to praise God and worship Him and live our lives in such a Godly manner that others can see Christ in us, that others can see God's holiness in us.

#3 Regarding Matthew 5:13-16---As christians, we show our love of Christ by doing things to help others, by sharing God's Plan of Salvation with others. Through our works, others will see Christ in us.

[Blessed Me]

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives?
God's purpose for our lives is to bring praise to Him, for He is worthy of our praise. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you Lord.

What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose?
We were created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. How do we do this? Keep His commandments, for by so doing we become a light that shineth in a dark world we live in. If we no longer have the sweet taste of God's word feeding our soul, we will not have the hunger to share this food, the salt of God's word with others, than what good are we, if all we are interested in is satisfying oneself?

How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

An everlasting covenant is called, a Covenant of Salt.
Num 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to Jehovah, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, by a law forever. It is a covenant of SALT forever before Jehovah to you and to your seed with you. THE GOSPEL IS AN EVERLASTING COVENANT OF SALT.

Lev 2:13 And every sacrifice of your food offering shall you season with SALT. And you shall not allow the SALT of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your food offering. You shall offer SALT with all your offerings.
The grace of God by Christ Jesus is represented under the emblem of SALT, because of its relishing, nourishing, and preserving quality.

Col 4:6 Let your speech be always with grace, having been seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Christ has given to us the salt of His Word to be used, He has given to us His light to shine in the darkness. Christ lives in us, so His light would be seen to those living around us. Salt means, prudence, prudent means using good judgment, being careful of ones conduct, for we are representing Christ to the world. How do we praise Him? By being the salt of the earth and a light that shows the path that leads to life everlasting.

[sally7857]

Question 3: God's purpose for our lives is that He wants us to Praise him. We need to be a light for God. To show our light to those around us We are the salt of the earth, we are the essence of life, we are to be there for God and for Him to use as He will. We do it in the name of his Son our Savior.

[Eudora]

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives?

His purpose is to prepare us for His Kingdom by renewing our minds into truth and redeem us from the lies of this world. To share with us His unfailing love and for us to teach this same love to others by our transparent actions and genuineness here while we walk upon this earth. This is His praise. When He saved us from certain death as we have all shared in previous posts, we all have come to the same conclusion, that with out His intervention in our lives and our trust and belief in Him to do so, we would all be lost.

Now, because of His intervention and us calling upon Him to intervene, we have shown Him our faith in Him and because He is faithful, we sing His praise to all who will tip there ear to hear what we have to say about this wonderful saving and graceful God.

It truly is a blessing to go before The Lord and enter into His presence with praise, giving Him thanks and blessing His Holy Name.

What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose?

Keep doing exactly what we are doing. Seeking His will in our daily lives and singing His praises for every hurdle He carries us over and thank Him immensely when we fall because it shows us our failings and reminds us that with out Him, we can not get back up and this of course brings about more praise from our lips and as we share these times of learning of His grace, people hear us praise our King and He in return , is blessed by our praises.

I love The Lord Jesus and I adore the fact that He loves me too. For the rest of my life I will live it, knowing that He trusts me to do His good will and that He loves me and believes in me. This knowledge has given me the greatest feeling of His love because He chose me for such a time as this. I could have been a prophet who lived 150 years ago or even a women in need of a Savior a thousand years ago who stood beside a well.

But God chose that I would live now in the latter days because He chose that I live in the latter days. My life is no less important and no more important than the woman at the well. But my life is very important to God and He believes in me to fulfill His purpose in His plan. This is so very awesome and knowing that I am just a piece of dust, a vapor, I am thankful that I am still a vapor in His realm and that He chose for me to have His breath and He believes in me.

How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16? We are His light and we continue to shine for His glory and honor. We don’t pat ourselves on the back because with out Him, we are nothing and it is because of Him that we have a light to shine.

I pray that those who do not know of His good will for their life, will seek Him and that they will find Him when they look at all of us and hear our stories of redemption. I thank everyone here for sharing their testimony as we are all a testament to His loving and saving grace. If there were another book to be written here on earth, it might very well have been a book all about stories like ours. Perhaps that is why the book has been called The Book of Life.

[PCHRIS]

We were created by God to have a relationship with Him so we should lavish Him with praise and adoration, serve Him by using our gifts and proclaiming the good news to others who dont know Him

To keep doing what we must do... keeping Christ as the focus thats whom we draw our strength from, the Holy Spirit is whom that convicts us when we happen to stray. To show the fruit of the Spirit and this all ties into Matt 5:13-16--we are to be the salt of the earth-- not to hide our light under a bowl--but to show the light so men can see and praise God.

[janet]

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 17 2006, 11:52 PM, said:

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

God's purpose for our lives has always been for us to have eternal life and to be with him forever. To fulfill this purpose we have to accept the. invitation for the gift of salvation, with that acceptance we much be obedient to him. This pupose relates to Matthew 5: 13-16 in that we should what to share the gift and invitation of salvation with others, the gospel is good news. verse 16 sums it up very well "16 Let your lig ht so shine before men that they may SEE your good works, and GLORIFY your Father which is in heaven.Emphasis applied KJV

[kiqstart]

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

So that the we shall live for his prasie and glory.
We need to let everyone see that Christ is alive in us and live a life filled with Christ.

[JustJeff]

Isaiah 43:21: "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." Undoubtedly God created us for His good pleasure, to spend eternity in glorious praise, worship and adulation of Him. He is the Almighty! This is our purpose, this is our destiny, and we who accept this calling and this adoption and live by His commands, allowing ourselves to be sanctified and washed by the blood of His precious Son, will fulfill this calling.
As we regenerate through the process of sanctification our light becomes brighter. That is, we become more Christlike in our nature and character. This then, is a refelection of the One who came to bring glory to the Father, which is now accomplished in us and through us and we show forth His praise. Glory!

[Diane44]

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 18 2006, 01:52 AM, said:

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

God's purpose is for us to glorify His name. According to Matthew, in order to have this happen we shouldn't hide our light for Christ, but let it shine among the world. So even in our small little cubicles/offices, while shopping, etc. we should look, touch, sound like a diciple of Jesus Christ and in doing so we will fulfill verses 11 & 12. We must try to keep in mind at ALL times that we are predestined by God. This is unbelievably difficult in our day and time. Even many in our churches have adopted worldly views.

[heavenlymann]

God created us to glorify Him. to fulfill His purpose we need to remain in Him. We are His light in the world. If we don't remain in Him(follow His leading, not taking our eyes off Him) we will lose that light. We either remain in Him or become like the world which is in darkness.

[johnd]

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 18 2006, 06:52 AM, said:

Q3. (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives? What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose? How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

God's purpose for our lives is to offer salvation to the world.

We are to bring praise and glory to God.

Mathew 5:13-16 We are to be the salt of the earth just as seasoning brings out the best flavour in food. If we live for Christ we will glow like lights. We should not be quiet when we should speak. We should not go along with the crowd. We should not deny the light. We should not let sin dim our light. We should explain our light to others and not ignore the needs of others.

Regards,
John.

[Patricia A. Conti]

God's purpose for our lives is to have a people to praise him and live our lives the wat Jesus lived. Then when people see me or see you, they see Jesus in us. In Matthew we are told to be a light for all to see - our actions are always out there and need to reflect Jesus no matter what the circumstance - home, work, play, etc.

[Sgt_Z_Squad]

Q3a.) (Ephesians 1:11-12) According to verses 11 and 12, what is God's purpose for our lives?

Q3a.) To live our lives as a worship of praise to God.

Q3b.) What do we need to do to fulfill this purpose?

Q3b.) An attitude of loving the Lord our God with all of heart, with all of mind, with all of our soul. Jesus always did His Father's will.

Q3c.) How does this purpose relate to Matthew 5:13-16?

Q3c.) We are told to preach the Gospel daily and if necessary, "USE WORDS!" Yet, if we are Christ-like and being led by the Spirit, we will not be acting as man without the Spirit acts, and this is noticed by those who are not led by the Spirit. "What is different about you?" THEN YOU HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO SPEAK INTO THEIR LIVES, ABOUT WHY.