I am somebody whether you don't think you're somebody or not. I give my 100% whether you give 20%. I'm gonna still be at 100%. - Welcome to Mind Matters with Dr. J. A. Jones. Dr. Jones is the head pastor of the Faith Community Church of God in Orange Park, Florida. Relationships, finances, our spiritual life, whatever it is, our problems start within our minds. Dr. Jones explores mental wellness through the application of God's word in our lives. It's just what the doctor ordered. Let's join him now and dig into Mind Matters because your mind matters to God. - Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back to Mind Matters. I hope you're having an amazing day. Life is what it is, but it's what we make out of it. Somebody said life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're gonna get. (laughs) But thank you for tuning in to this station, to this platform. This is a show where we get into the principles from the Bible that shape our lives and guide everyone of our decisions. Now we're gonna talk about part two about how to know your purpose. Last week we discussed several things as relates to what the book of Romans chapter verse, I mean Romans chapter eight verse 28 mentioned about we have been called according to his purpose. And I have first lady with me, you heard her saying, "Uh-huh, go ahead and say something to an audience." - Hello everyone, it is great to be here today with Dr. Jones as he transforms before our very eyes. (laughs) - Really? Oh my goodness, don't be putting no shade on me. Don't throw no shade in my way. I am transforming in a good way. - You're right, absolutely. Because I'm doing what Romans chapter eight verse, no, not Romans. Yes, Romans chapter 12, I love Romans chapter 12. I beseech you there for brother and by the mercies of God that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy except unto God, which is our reasonable service. I thank Romans 12 and two, say do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that we may prove whether it's that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. - So every day I'm being transformed like that caterpillar becoming a butterfly. We call that the metamorphosis, so I'm excited about that. But today is about how to know your purpose part two. We talked about our identity and we're gonna close out on that part because I do believe the first thing is our identity which represents who you are. - Yes. - Right, right, and our identity is first of all, having, when we identify or we find our identity in Christ, it begins when we give our heart to the Lord and we start to live for Him. And when we spend time in prayer with Him and He leads and guides and directs us daily, daily, not just once a week on Sunday or once a month on, you know, whenever we show up at church, but daily, when we spend that time with Him, it starts there where He shows us ourselves. He shows us what He has put in us and how He wants to use us. And so that's what we mean by, you know, my identity is in Christ. In Christ, the Bible tells us, in Christ, we are a lot of things and that's in general as His body. But then it's up to us to spend that personal time with Him so He can show us individually who we are in Him. - I would never forget, you took me back now memory lane when we were living in Anchorage, Alaska. I was at a church, New Testimonial Church and the pastor was conducting a Bible study on Wednesday night. I was a young, struggling Christian, young man, trying to do the right thing, trying to help myself in life and provide for my family, understanding security and all of those things. I was in the military at that point and I won't ever forget Him saying about a topic like what I'm speaking now, who you are. He actually pointed to the Bible study group and said, you are somebody in Christ. You are more than your past. You are more than what people say about you. This is what the Bible says about you. And we went through some of the scriptures about, we are complete in Him. We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Cindy is like, wow, the light bulb came on in my brain. I literally like, I was wide out in the back of the church. It's like, wow, you mean I don't have to live with low self-esteem any longer? I don't have to be critical about myself any longer. I don't have to be depressed any longer. I don't have to be a worry-holic any longer 'cause I was not an alcoholic. I was worry-holic. I was like, I almost stood up. I didn't stand up. I was still a young man, but it's like all of the weight felt like it was lifted on me. All the scales, the layers of the past, the layers of abuse growing up, the layers of neglect, the layers of just the struggle. And the struggle was real for me, but it's almost like, I don't have to struggle anymore. I don't have to worry about things as a young husband, as a young father, as a young man. I really felt like my identity was shifted from the past to in him because there's a scripture that says, we are complete in him. You know, relationships think it's 50/50, not, not. It is not. I understand that term because that's what I thought, but I am somebody whether you don't think you're somebody or not. - Right. - I give my 100% whether you give 20%. I'm gonna still be at 100%. And guess what? As the old statement goes when relationships are formed and you complete me, some people say you complete me and I get it, couples should compliment one another. - Right. - Not complete meaning, yes. I know we fit together like a glove. I know it's a good thing, but for example, if I tell somebody they complete me, what happens? - You depended on that person. - Okay, talk to me. - To be complete. - Right. - And that's not true. - No, the Bible just said in Colossians chapter two, 'cause we're talking about how to know your purpose audience. We are definitely talking about that, but we have to address our identity first in order to get to our assignment and get to our purpose. We're gonna unpack all of that as we go forward. But it says, and I believe what the scripture says, Cindy, I am complete in him. That means I lack nothing. - Yes. - That means I don't have to be insecure, even though I may feel it. That means I don't have to worry. Even though worry may come up, that means I don't have to be full of anxiety because the Bible said do not be anxious for anything, okay? So I'm just saying, we're gonna talk about that and flesh that out, but that was an important part as you were discussing what you were sharing with our audience today. - Yes, and the scripture tells us, in him I live and move and have my being in him. - Right. - In him. - Yes. - And so, like you said, we're complete in him. - Right. - In him. - Absolutely. - And so getting with him and getting to know him, getting into the Word of God and living that out, that he makes that individual. It's a personal relationship. - Yes. - It's not dependent on anybody else. - Right, yeah. - It's a personal relationship. - Absolutely. - That he develops with each, just like we experience. You know, we may have several kids and each child is different. You don't have a, well, we shouldn't have favorite children. - We do. Just tell the truth. Shame to do this on somebody. - We should not have favorites. - People still have favorites 'cause they had it in the Bible, remember? - 'Cause sometimes when a child is more like us, we might like them better, or they are the ones that get on our last nerve because they more like us. - Absolutely. - You know. - Absolutely. - We shouldn't have favorite children 'cause each child is different. - Right. - One may be more like you. One may be more like me. - Yeah. One may be outgoing, and the other may not be as outgoing. One may be more vocal, and the one may be more quiet, right? - Mm-hmm. - But yes. - That's right. - But you love them the same, and you recognize their gifts and abilities 'cause a lot of times they got a combination of gifts and talents from both of us. - Right. And then just need to develop. - Tendencies. - Right. - So we're talking about how to know your purpose, right? - Mm-hmm. - Know that you know that you know, right? How is the weight we know our purpose? - Right. - Now purpose is the reason we were created, the reason we exist. - Right. - Now the first part, we're talking about our identity, which is important. - Right. - Then we're gonna get to the point where your assignment, we're gonna address what is your assignment in life? What are your tasks given? Yeah, we can have tasks at work, we can have tasks at home. For example, my task is to take out the trash, right? - Yes. - Yeah, your task is to do what? - Everything else. - No, I don't think so. (laughing) Don't be untrue. - Throw some more shade, huh? - No, no, no, no. We share the responsibility at home. You know that right. - Oh yeah. - Yeah, yes. But I do take out the trash and I do do certain things and you do do certain things. You know, it ain't about the typical, okay, the wife got to wash the dishes and sweep the floor. But I do wash dishes. - I use to be it and make a laundry. - Yeah, absolutely. - 'Cause we can't be washed. - Right, no, we share that because of our schedule or because of life. - Yes. - Right, and we teach that in pre-mariner counseling about that and I think we do it very well based on the response of the people we have come from. - Yes, you have gotten better. - Yeah, oh my goodness, what are you talking about? I got better. - You have gotten better. - Okay, you want me to tell the audience how you leave hair? Different places to hear you bobby pins, different places. - No, we ain't gonna do all that alone. - Okay, but don't shade on me. All right, let's keep it going. So, we got to know our identity because we're talking about how to know your purpose. - Okay. - So, it involves our assignment as well and you alluded to several things about that. It means how you do what you do and when you do what you do. Then we're gonna get to ultimate what is my purpose, right? What are you created to do? Why did God put you here on planet Earth? - Yes. - The ultimate goal, the ultimate intention. Those were the intention, there are distractions. - You know, I had the thought of, but do we really know the ultimate purpose while we was here? 'Cause we have a lot of assignments and okay, I ain't gonna jump in here. Go ahead. - Your identity is found in what? A personal and intimate relationship with him. It's the vertical. As you look at the cross, the cross is longer vertically than it is horizontally. So, if you look at a cross, some people wear a cross, they have a cross earring or whatever that may be. They may have tattoos that shows the cross, but the bottom line, we should have a personal and intimate relationship with him. That's more vertical than horizontally, right? 'Cause we stay connected vertically, we stay plugged in just like, if you need an appliance to work for you, you gotta have it plugged in. We gotta stay plugged in vertical. We gotta look up to the heels with cometh our help. Every day, because the help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. We always gotta look to him. ♪ I look to you ♪ What's that song? ♪ I look to you ♪ ♪ That's about what needs you still ♪ - Okay, but I'm just saying, we just look to him, right? And that's so important, because you said, we gotta love the Lord. They're God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength, because that is the first in great commandment. And it's so key, right? Our identity is found, we talked about it in a personal and intimate relationship with him. The next thing is your assignment, okay? Your assignment is how you do what you do. And throughout those assignments, eventually we will discover or actualize our purpose. - Okay. - I'm getting excited about that. So thank God for assignments in a task. And that's so important. My mother gave me plenty of tasks growing up in Pensacola, Florida. Wash the dishes, sweep the floor, back in the rug. Those were my assignments given by my mother, which most of those I did not like. But I had to do what she told me to do, if not, you know. - Dr. Jones is the pastor of Faith Community Church of God in Orange Park, reaching a hurting world with the love of Jesus. We thank you for listening to Mind Matters, and we encourage you to show support for the many community outreach ministries that Dr. Jones and Faith Community Church tend to. You can give at Faith Communities website faithccop.org or just text money sign and the amount you want to give to 833-435-8022. That's 833-435-8022. We are blessed to be a blessing. Now let's get back to the program. - And then there were times when we did it right, but we didn't clean up right. It was a task given by my mother. So when I didn't do it, the way she wanted me to do it, yes, the rod was not spared, right? Spare the rod, spoil the child? No, the rod was not spared. - You need the belt. - I still, what now? - The belt. - Well, it's a rod, okay. A belt, a switch, whatever she use. Sometimes it was a water hose, but it is what it is. So I got through it, I got through it. But my point is this. We talked about identity, which is so important in going through the process of knowing your purpose. That's very important. Then we're gonna address assignments in life. It could be at home, it could be in your relationship, it could be even at work, it could be with your neighbor, it could be in your church, what you do. You're gonna eventually understand your purpose once you fulfill your assignment. 'Cause the scripture says whatever you find, your hands to do, do it with all your might. - Yes. - So your assignments of life are very important. Give me your thoughts, ladies and de. - Well, we wanna use Joseph as an example in the Bible. Joseph was the number 11 of a family of 12. - Okay. - Okay, he was 12 boys. I think they had sisters too, I'm not sure. But it was 12 and that came, they formed, that formed the 12 tribes of Israel. - Okay. - And so he was number 11 and he was a dreamer. And he- - Yes, he was. - He interpret dreams, you know. And so, and he also had, I'll say gifts of administration being a leader, those was part of his life. And so he had various assignments. His first assignment, well, he was loved by his father. - Right. - Yeah, he was kind of like the favorite son because he was the first son of the wife or the woman that his father really loved. - Okay. - His father got tricked and was giving her, giving him, given to him the woman he really loved was Rachel. - Okay, just summarize it, that's fine. - Yeah, and so, but he was giving Leah 'cause Leah was the oldest in that family. And the youngest can't be, can't get married before the older. - Right. - You know, traditions of men and cultures and things like that, they had their own personal rules. And so instead of, he worked seven years for one woman and he was tricked and given somebody else. But the one he really loved when the first child from her was Joseph. - Okay. - And that was the father's favorite. He loved him very much. He was in his old age when Joseph was born. - Right. - And so he taught, he spent a lot of time with Joseph and he taught him some things to honor God. - Right. - And Joseph held on to those things, but then he would also be sent out to check on his brothers and see what they was doing and come back and report to his father. - Right. - The brothers did not like that he was the favorite. - Right. - They did not like that he would come back and they'd be goofing off. And Joseph tells dad that they was goofing off. They didn't like him. - Okay, okay. - And so, but all of that resentment and bitterness and stuff that the brothers had towards Joseph led him to some different assignments in his life. - Okay. - The fact that Joseph had dreams and he was told his brothers his dreams. Y'all gonna be bowing down to me. Oh, they did not like that. - Well, who would? I wouldn't. - Right. - You know, they're simply talking about sibling rivalry. - Right, right. - That was for sure. Absolutely. - Mm-hmm. That was more of a pinnacle. And then he had another dream and told mom and dad that he was gonna be quite... - They was gonna be what? - They're gonna be bowing down to you too. - Okay, okay. - And so, that just put it more fuel on the fire. - Right. - But then the Bible says that his father held these things in his mind. - Okay. - Because he knew the child was special. Anyway, you know how some, you see different things in your children. - Yes. - 'Cause they're all different. - Right. - You know, so he kept this thing in the back of his mind. - Mm-hmm. - And so, as those of you that's familiar with the story of Joseph know that he went out one day to check on his brothers and they decided they're gonna kill him. - Okay. - But his oldest brother, which is responsible for everybody, decided, no, that's not killing. - Right. - Just put him in a pit. - Yeah. - And so. - Yeah. - They put him in a pit. - Yes. - And he was gonna go back and get him out. But when they see in the caravan, they went ahead and sold him. - Get some money. - Yeah. - There you go, money. - To some Egyptians. - Some money, money, money, money. - Right. - Back then. - And so, they sold him to the Egyptians. - Right. - And he ended up in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's seeing the leadership skills and the favor of the Lord on his life. - Right. - And he got something. - Right. - But we talk, you know, about having peace within the Lord. - Sure, sure. - And so, this is an adverse situation, but the word of God is always true. And one of the scriptures said, "Your gifts will make room for you." - And set you up before great and notable people. - Yeah. - And I think this is powerful what you're saying. And it is so important for our audience to know that. Well, hopefully everybody is doing well in our society. I know it's a crazy world out there. I think it's daylight savings time, right? At this moment, so what does that mean, Cindy? - We gained an hour. - We gained an hour. We fall back. So we can sleep an extra hour. - Just today. - Okay, I'm just saying. Okay, but the sun is not out there as much, right? Got more darkness, which I don't like. - Yeah, get darker early. - I'm a light guy. I like light. And there was light. And it was so-- - Well, setting the clock back. They call themselves saving the daylight. - I know. I know. I know you don't like to change. You don't like all of that at all. - I like this one. - Okay, you like this one. - Read the clock where it is now. - That's your thoughts, okay? - All right, well, that's your thoughts. You can live with it. But it's important to know, I hope everybody's well, and they're making this transition. Well, I know in years past, I've traveled. We recently came back from Germany a few months ago, and I've traveled to Nigeria. I was traveled to India, and that was like 15 years ago, and other countries. So you go through different time zones. My point is about the time zone or the time change, and sometimes that can affect you emotionally, and it can affect you physically. So hopefully everybody embraces what we are in life, because whatever happens, God knows about it. Whatever man tempers with, God still knows about it. That's why every day we have to trust him, and we have to put our faith in God. And we're talking about how to know your purpose, sir. Ma'am, if your husband, wife, mother, entrepreneur, leader, whatever your space is in life, a teacher, you work as a paramedic. Whatever you do, you can be going to school. God has a purpose for your life. But you do not exist without purpose. But on the way to your ultimate purpose, you have many assignments. Assignment. Yes. Now, when we say your ultimate purpose, does that mean? I didn't say it, you said it. (laughs) Well, let's put it this way. Because when I think about Joseph's life, after he accomplishes ultimate purpose. Right, which we're going to talk about later. Yeah. That's what that was. You're right. And then he died. Yeah, he died. And we're going to talk about what was his ultimate purpose, and it was powerful. Yes. Oh my goodness. It was amazing what he had to go through by doing his assignments in life. Yes. Many of those assignments were not pleasant. Right. They were painful. They were uncomfortable. And like you said, we got to go through the process. Yes. And in the process, I think those assignments are developing us. You know, like I said, yes, we'll make one with you in life. And so doing the various assignments in life, we're being to develop to accomplish that ultimate purpose. Right. We got to get to that. Right. But we need to go through the training and the process of being developed. Right. On the way to that. No, absolutely. I agree. I agree. I love the Scripture in Proverbs when it says, Proverbs 14 and 23. In all work, there's profit. Yes. But idle chatter leads only to poverty. In all work, we could use the word labor. Depends on the translation. There's profit. What I've learned, and you're talking about assignments that God gives us. Or life gives us that we have to accomplish because with every intention, there will be a distraction. In all work, either when we're stuck in a rut, when we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, it's either going to work on us or work for us. True. When we're talking about in all work, there's profit. A lot of times we don't look at it as profitability or profit when it's not working for us. No, no, that's a good thing. When it's not working, it's working on us. Okay. It's working on our part and on our mind. It's helping us to know what we are not doing and what we can do. It's showing us our limitations. Yeah. It's showing us what we need to figure out. I'm a maturity level. I like that. I'm a maturity level. So I want our audience to know in all work. Now, I didn't say it. Proverbs said it. It's Proverbs 14 and 23. One of my favorite passages in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs, we know it's the book of wisdom. So I want everybody to know as you talk. We're talking about how to know your purpose. We've already discussed our identity. And we're now on the part where we have to know our assignment. Okay. In all work, there is profit. Wow. Work means work. Oh, yeah. Because life can work on us, but not for us. That's why we live with the scriptures. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. Right. Life is about polarity. The law of polarity says there's always an opposite, right? There's nothing that does not have an opposite. A coin has an opposite. A dollar bill has an opposite. It's good as bad with the or evil. What, there's up, there's down, there's in, there's out. There's always going to be an opposite. There's always two sides to a coin. There's two sides of life. If you see positive things, negative is somewhere. Yeah. Come on. But we got to face it. Right. And you know, just like the word perfect too. Where you're talking about being complete and so forth. Yes. Many times the word perfect in the Bible is referring to maturity. Yes. They say complete. Absolutely. And so like you said, working on us, it's maturing us or completing us. So eventually it will work for us. No, it's gonna work for us, but go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, and that word perfect doesn't mean flawless. It means I'm maturing. Absolutely. Absolutely. I agree 100%. Thank you for being with me. On my matters. Say it again. Enjoyed it. Enjoyed it. I did tremendously. Next week, we're gonna talk about part three on how to know your purpose. I hope everybody has had a blessed day. Father, I thank you as we go through this series on how to know your purpose. I pray that whoever will listen and is listening to this message on how to know your purpose, that they will get to that space and know their identity and know their assignments. And eventually they will know their purpose. See you next week. Thanks for tuning into another episode of Mind Matters with Dr. J. A. Jones. Be sure to tune in next Sunday at 5 p.m. right here on Praise 107.9. For more insightful discussion about how God's word can get our minds right. You can also hear Dr. Jones preach in person Sundays at 11 a.m. at Faith Community Church of God at 1268 Gainell Avenue in Orange Park, Florida 32073. Thanks again for listening. Stay mindful and keep striving for improvement because your mind matters to God. [BLANK_AUDIO]
