for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  (Rom 11:29)

The holy language of the heart is a dialogue between a child of God and his or her heavenly Father. This ongoing conversation is rooted in the truth. God does not lie and His speaking to our heart will forever be a truthful one.

The power for the conversation of the heart is the grace of God. God’s grace has both the revelation of truth and the provision for whatever is revealed and needs to be acted upon.

Grace is the true heart of God whose nature is love and He always wants what is best for us and is ready always to empower that reality. Our role in the dynamic is to approach Him with humility. The Apostle James describes this in James 4:6:

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”” (Jas 4:6, NASB)

Humility is a quality of the transparent heart that recognizes our own weaknesses and God’s ability to perfect us in and through those weaknesses. The Apostle Paul said it this way:

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2Co 12:9, NASB)

This is very profound statement. If indeed God’s power is perfected in our weaknesses, as God spoke in this interaction, then weakness would be the source of true strength.

In our competitive ego-driven world weakness is attacked as a place of vulnerability. We are trained to cover-up and hide our weaknesses. This is called pride and James reveals that God opposes this:

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”” (Jas 4:6, NASB)

Wow! What a powerful statement! God Himself opposes our pride. What is pride? Solomon in Proverbs tells us:

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy Than to divide the spoils with the proud.” (Pro 16:18-19, NASB)

When I think of pride, I think of my need to look good. This is a knee-jerk reaction, like a reflex which colors my thinking and drives a lot of behavior. There is nothing wrong with desiring beauty of wanting to be admired and respected. It is a death trap however when we go from a healthy desire to be our best to a desperate need to cover up our imperfections in fear of being discovered to be flawed. This fear comes from shame and trying to hide.

The truth is we are ALL flawed intentionally! God made us imperfect. Why? To show us His love and to teach us how to love.

“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1Pe 4:8, NASB)

Covering sin does not mean denying sin. Quite the opposite. When we cover one another’s sin, we acknowledge the weakness in truth and the chose to love including the sin or weakness. We don’t love in spite of the weakness but because of it.

This is the pathway to our purpose in life.  Most believe it is strengths that reveal our purpose . If I am good at something, then that must be what God made me for. But I think it’s quite the opposite where I struggle is where God can move in my life. Now that doesn’t negate the value of giftings and callings but releases them from pride.

I mean how many times in our lives have we backed down from a new challenge because we thought in advance that we would fail? We could be super talented but still afraid to fail. In this reality our strength, our talent has also revealed the vulnerability of our weakness in that very talent.

If I compare myself to others and allow that comparison to intimidate me then the very talent I have been blessed with can hinder me through pride. You see excellence, true excellence requires humility. This is why James said:

“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (Jas 4:10, NASB)

This tells us that achieve greatness, requires humility. You see our destiny and purpose which is called an election, or a calling is vulnerable to the gift we carry, our weaknesses and ultimately to the grace of God.

We see this explained by the Apostle Paul when it comes to the salvation in the plan of God for Israel.

Turning to Romans 11:29

“for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Rom 11:29, NASB)

God gifts us and calls us with respect to His plan for us and this is irrevocable. This is the power of destiny and purpose. Our destiny is an anchor for our soul in the storms of life. Our destiny speaks to our heart by the Holy Spirit and as we respond pulls us towards itself.

This is the upward calling, the high mark. Paul describes this pursuit:

“Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14, NASB)

This is a description of the power of destiny, or divine purpose.

Our purpose has a voice. It is voice that whispers to our heart. How? In dreams and visions, in opening our spiritual eyes in our heart to see: Paul prays:

“For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might” (Eph 1:15-19, NASB)

The hope of His calling is another way of saying the promise of our purpose, our destiny. To God this is a treasure, an inheritance in the saints.

You see we didn’t get saved just to die and go to heaven, as wonderful as that is. No we got saved also to manifest a purpose. This divine purpose is speaking to us and God releases His grace towards that conversation. This is the strength of His might in and through us.

What is our purpose? How do we know?

First we do know through our inclinations, how we approach life. Do we approach life a series of problems to be solved? Do we approach life as a series of relationships? Is our life about helping nurture others? Is our life oriented to correctness and things being right? Is our life an adventure with a succession of fears being overcome?

All of these questions point to an equipping both in strengths and in weaknesses. Our desires and secret hopes whisper our purpose, our calling to us.

The eyes of our heart guide us. This is a description of seeing through desire. When we get a focus, the focus redefines our world. Think of this like looking for a landmark as you are driving down the road. Your heart and mind will tune out what is NOT the landmark and home in on the landmark.

It is the same with your calling, your purpose in God. Your purpose will change how you see life as you approach it with humility. God will empower the humility with His grace. Turn with me to Romans 12:1-2.

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,” (Rom 12:1-4, NASB)

Renewal of the mind is connected to proving the will of God, which is good, acceptable and perfect. What does it mean to renew the mind? I think it is revealed by the term to be transformed. This tells us it is a new heart reality, accessing the language of a transformed heart. One final clue, read verse three, which states it is the grace given which makes this whole process work. And Paul warns against thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to, because it is God who gives each of us the measure of faith, the purpose of our unique lives.

Activation: ask God to show you your purpose. Thank Him for His voice speaking to your heart. Evaluate your likes and dislikes in light of your calling. Don’t take for granted your inclinations because in humility they contain your greatness.