Divine Design Part 2

August 21, 2013
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god creating

In his book, The Call, Os Guinness beautifully defines the term calling basically as this:

Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and  everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.

Do you believe that you were designed by a unique God for a unique purpose?

Last week, I ended my Divine Design Pt. 1 post asking this question:

How do we now live as we grow in our understanding of how we were divinely designed?

Perhaps I’ve sought to understand this more now that I have kids.

I see my children, particularly my oldest, having certain bents toward certain skills and passions.  I yearn with all my heart for them…to not become jaded and to continue to live that out into their adult years with the same gusto they have now.  I want to give them to society one day prepared completely to interact with the world using their unique gifts.

I see it happening already in my seven year old.  Everything he interacts with in his little world is impacted by his desire to build, create and transform.  My heart leaps for joy when I see it.

I wonder if my heavenly Father leaps for joy when He sees me living out how He made me.  Saying yes to something I’m made for. Making the time to explore what it is I’m created for.

I asked myself a few times this week if this topic fits into my blog theme.  I’ve come to the conclusion that yes…it does fit with my theme.  For one of the ways I see God work restoration and renewal in our world and lives is through His people.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Prepared beforehand.  Does that give anyone else the chills?
If our Creator has indeed created good works for us beforehand then perhaps you too long to seek out what those are.  Or maybe you have but would like to look at this issue again.  This is one way we can live as we grow in our understanding of how God uniquely designed us.  By seeking to understand more and more.  I’ve sought out numerous books on spiritual gifts but the most life-changing process I’ve ever gone through to discover and understand how God wired me was this:
This is a free resource for you.  I can’t take credit for it though.  While my husband and I were in seminary, we had the privilege of assisting Dr. Phillip Douglass, Professor of Practical Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary.  Dr. Douglass knows what it means to be a child of God, what it means to be in union with Christ and how to understand how God has gifted and created us as unique creations.
He developed this tool for his classes and he told us to use it in ministry with those who were interested.  I recently asked him if he’d allow me to share it on my website for any and all who are interested and he kindly agreed.
I’m so thankful for this workbook because it enabled me to come up with a clear mission statement and implementation plan.
I almost didn’t include the following paragraph in this post.  It was difficult for me to do.   I felt embarrassed that it could be taken as I am boasting about myself.  Please don’t take it as that but as a desire from me to show that a certain process has lead me to be able to produce a very clear and concise mission statement for myself.  I want others to want that as well.
These are not my gifts, they are the Lord’s gifts given to me for a time to be used as He sees fit.  I only boast in Him.  The One who made this woman, dead in her sins, alive in Christ.

Personal Mission Statement

Amy Jung is gifted in Wisdom, Exhortation, Teaching, Mercy/Compassion and Craftsmanship/Artistry.  She is called by God to help people grow in their walk with or towards the Lord through one-on-one lay-counseling/mentoring and through writing.  She is particularly called to those who are in need of emotional and spiritual healing.

Implementation Strategy

I will continue producing promotions and writings for my church and seeking out women in the church to counsel/mentor; taking one or two classes at Covenant Seminary per year in order to have a good theological foundation for counseling and writing; and practicing writing.  I will begin taking Christian writing classes and looking into the possibility of training in lay-counseling.

Five years after writing these two paragraphs, I can say that I still feel this information is accurate, though my implementation strategy continues to change.  This is what you will end up with at the end of the process though.  A statement that resonates with what you have always known in your heart but perhaps haven’t put words to.

The Equipping the Saints workbook is to be done over time…not overnight!   It is a bank of tests about yourself based on personality, spiritual gifts, talents and virtues.  When completed, you are to put the wealth of information together to form a mission statement and plan.  Perhaps you could work through a section once a week for a month or two.

However it is completed, it doesn’t matter as long as you get to the end it will be well worth it if you haven’t worked through a process like this.

Blessings to you as you live out this one unique you designed by God!

Image: Michaelangelo, The Creation of Man, illusionsgallery.com

Linking up this week with:

Just WritePhotobucket The Alabaster Jar Heart Reflected1-Minute Bible Love NotesMissional WomenFF Z Font Fellowship Fridays #45Womanhood With PurposeThe Watered Soul I Choose Joy!PhotobucketImparting GraceThrillingThursdayFeatured At The Fontenot FourNanaHood.comsaving4sixthrive @ home blue SimplyHelpingHim wfmw-300x198WHHWButton200X200Family Home and LifeDeep Roots at HomeA Royal Daughter whimsical-wednesdays_edited-1walkwithhimwednesdays2-1

Categories: Divine Design
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