Pathway to Victory

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Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day.

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This Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory, God has a.

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Story he's telling to the universe of his love and redemption through Jesus Christ.

But God also has a story he's writing in your life, a specific story to tell his story.

And that's what I'm talking about when I talk about discovering your unique purpose in life.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, the Bible often compares the church to a human body, but very few Christians really, truly understand where they fit into this intricate system.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shows us why finding our unique purpose in life is not only the key to our own fulfillment, but it's vital to the local church reaching its potential.

But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I hope the holiday season provided a few moments when you could reflect on 2025 with gratitude and a few moments to dream about the future as you look forward into 2026 with a spirit of anticipation. Along those lines, I'm going to address a relevant topic for this season with a fresh new year that's set before us.

Many people have their occupation at the forefront of their minds. Before we get started, I want to tell you about an extraordinary book by my friend David Green called *The Leg*. David Green is the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby and a role model in the business world. But building God's kingdom is David's greatest passion, and in his book, he helps us understand how to leverage our gifts, our talents, and our resources to advance God's agenda.

Now, most of us think of our legacy as something we leave behind, but David says legacy is what we set in motion. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll send you *The Legacy Life* by David Green. As a bonus, I'll also send you my book, *Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life*.

Okay, let's get started with today's study. In light of the brand new year, I decided to share a message about finding your purpose in life. At this time of year, it's possible you're asking God to guide you toward the perfect role, even the perfect occupation. I titled today's message *Finding Your One Thing in Life*.

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I want to share with you four important insights about discovering your unique purpose.

Truth number one: God created you for a great purpose. Now, we say that all the time, and we assume everybody believes that. News Alert: Not everybody believes that. Many non-Christians don't believe they're here for any purpose. Specifically, many non-Christians believe that their existence is due to a biological fluke that occurred. Do you believe that? Do you believe your existence here is by accident? That you're simply the product of some primordial chemical broth that oozed over the earth millions of years ago? You know, even non-believers sense that there's something more to life than what we see. We all long for that higher purpose. And there is a higher purpose. In Jeremiah 1:5, God said to the prophet, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." God has not only made you; he has set you apart for a great eternal purpose. Now the question is, what is that purpose? And that leads to truth number two: Your purpose is connected to God's purpose.

You know, so many times I see Christians kind of wandering around in a fog, asking, "Oh, what is my purpose in life? Why am I here? Why do I exist?" If you will grasp this one simple truth, it will help cut through the fog of perhaps your questions about your own life. Here's the simple truth: You were created by God, saved by God, selected by God, and gifted by God to fulfill his agenda and not yours. I came across a quote from writer Erwin McManus that I've never forgotten. It says it all. He said, "The question is not, 'God, what is your will for my life?' No Christian ought to ever ask that question. Instead, the question should be, 'God, what is your will and how can I give my life to it?'" See the difference? "God, what is your will, and how can I give my life to it?"

Well, how do you know what God's will is? Let me give you some scriptural clues to discovering what God's will is that we need to connect to. In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, it says, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires for all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth." You know what God's will is? It's for everyone to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior. God is trying to save as many, not as few as possible. That is God's will. In Colossians 1:13-14, God wants to deliver people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom, the presence of his Son. God is on a search and rescue mission. That is his purpose.

Now, what have we seen? First of all, God has created you for a unique purpose. Secondly, your purpose should be connected to God's kingdom purpose. And that leads to a third truth: Your purpose is to be centered within the local church. Your purpose is to be centered within the local church. Now, that statement is made with two assumptions. Assumption number one: every Christian is to be involved in ministry. Listen to Ephesians 4:11-12: "And Christ gave some to the church as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastor-teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ."

You know what my job is as pastor-teacher here? Ryan's job, Ben's job—what our job is here—it's not just to do the work of the ministry. It is to equip you to do the work of ministry, to give you the tools that are needed to go out and reach the people at your work, the people in your community, with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I see Dee Simmons down there. Nobody does a better job of being an ambassador for Christ in our church than Dee Simmons. This is the place she gets the equipment, the resources she needs to go out and fulfill her life purpose. Equipping the saints for the work of service. You see, God's plan was never for just a few paid professionals to do the work of ministry. We're to be equipping you to do the work of ministry.

You know, I think about the late Bud Wilkinson, a professional football player who, after he left the NFL, became the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness under Lyndon Johnson. At a press conference one time, a reporter asked Wilkinson, "Mr. Wilkinson, what contribution has professional football made to the health of the American people?" Wilkinson said, "Absolutely none." He said, "Think about it. In football, you have 22 men on the field desperately in need of rest, being cheered on by 80,000 spectators in the stands desperately in need of exercise." And you know, that's the picture of the average church. You've got a few people out there on the playing field—the pastor, the staff, a few deacons—but the members are in the stands.

Now, if the church is doing well, they cheer them on: "Go pastor, go staff, go deacons." But if the church starts to go south, there are no longer cheers, but jeers, boos, hisses, calling for the second string. Now, that may make for exciting football, but that is a lousy way to run a church. God never meant for just a few people to be on the field playing the game. God's purpose is to equip all of us, you, the saints, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. That's why I say every Christian is to be involved in ministry.

Secondly, our ministry is to be centered in the local church. You know, people have a funny idea about the local church today. They kind of think of it as a second-class Christian organization, an unnecessary evil. "Oh yeah, I guess we ought to support the church. But there's this group over here that's doing such an exciting work for God and this group over here that's doing this great work. This is where the action is." But you know, I'll give a little pittance of my time and money to the church, but this is where the excitement is. No, the Bible says the church is the one organization that God himself created to fulfill his great commission.

You know, there are many fine Christian organizations outside of the church, but they all have one thing in common: they were all created by a man or woman, and they all will end one day. Only the church of Jesus Christ was actually created by God. In fact, in Ephesians 3:21, Paul says, "To him, God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever." It was God who thought up the idea of the church. It was God who thought up the idea of a pastor and deacons. It was God that gave to the church the commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

In fact, when you read the New Testament, you can't find one person in one ministry or one missionary who was not under the authority of a local church. God's plan to fulfill his mission is through the local church. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't good organizations out there that do great work. There are. You know, that word "para-church"? That word "para" means alongside of. Some of these parachurch organizations do a great work of coming alongside the church to help it more effectively fulfill its ministry.

You know, I'm going to miss some here, I know. But a lot of the greatest parachurch organizations in the world today were started and are still run by members of this church, First Baptist Church, Dallas. I think of Ron Harris and Media Alliance Group that trains people to run radio stations and TV stations around the world. I think of Gil Strickland and Marketplace Ministries that was birthed by Gil as a member of this church. I think of Henry Morris and the Institute for Creation Research that helps people understand God's plan and creation of the world. And I think of June Hunt and Hope for the Heart that equips people to share God's practical teaching for problems.

But you know what's interesting about each one of those people who started those ministries? Every one of them has a ministry right here in this church. They are working in this church using their gifts, and they would see their ministries as a way to strengthen the local church in its ministry. Our ministry is to be centered within the local church. You know, we talk about that with giving. Our church ought to receive the bulk of our giving, but it also ought to receive the bulk of our time in ministry. God's purpose is to be lived out in the local church.

You say, "Well, then how do I find my ministry in the local church? How do I know what my ministry should be?" Let me share with you this simple formula that I think will help you find the unique place of ministry God has for you through his church. Simple equation: My gifts plus my passion plus the church's need equals my ministry. My gifts plus my passion plus the church's need equals my ministry.

Let's break that down. First of all, your gifts. What do I mean by your gifts? You know, when you were saved, you not only received the gift of forgiveness; the Bible says God gave you a unique spiritual gift, a divine empowerment to be used to spread his message to other people. In fact, in Romans chapter 12, the Bible lists the seven gifts and says that we have one of those motivational gifts. That is our basic motivation to want to share Christ's message with others. In fact, look at Romans 12:6-8: "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly. If your gift is prophecy, that's the first one, according to the proportion of his faith. If service, that's the second one, in his serving. If in teaching, according to his teaching, that's number three. He who exhorts in his exhortation, that's number four. He who gives with liberality, that's number five. He who leads with diligence, that's number six. And he who shows mercy, that's the final gift with cheerfulness."

So first of all, your place of ministry begins with your gifts. Secondly, your passion. My gifts plus my passion. You know, this is one of the greatest discoveries I ever made about finding God's will. One of the best ways to know what God wants you to do is to ask yourself, "What do I want to do?" The fact is, one of the ways God leads us is through the desires he places in our hearts. And it's true in ministry as well. You know, you may see that there's a need for workers in the seventh grade, and that may be a legitimate need. And you may say to yourself, "Well, you know, I'd rather have my left arm cut off than go work with seventh graders." But if the church needs that, I guess that's what I'll do.

Let me encourage you: Be kind to yourself. Be kind to those seventh graders and don't go teach there, please. If you don't want to be there, they'll be the first to know it, and you'll be the first to know it. No, if God is calling you to do something, he's going to give you a passion for it. You know why these wonderful men and women sing in the choir and play in our orchestra, devoting countless hours to doing it? It's not because they feel like martyrs and they have to do it. They love doing it. They get fulfilled by doing it. And that's the way it ought to be. You know why missionaries leave here and go serve in a third-world country? It's not because they're miserable doing it or they want to be martyrs. It's because they love doing that. They wouldn't be happy anywhere else doing anything else. There's nothing wrong with that. God leads us through the desires that he places in our hearts.

Pastor, where do you get that? In the Bible, Philippians 2:13. Paul said, "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." One paraphrase says, "For it is God who is working in you, giving you both the desire and the power to do his work." Ask yourself the question, "If I could do any one thing in the church, I would..." and fill in the blank. As you look around here, just ask yourself, "If you could do any one thing in the church, what would you do?" Your gifts plus your passions.

Thirdly, plus the church's need. Yes, you ought to look at where the needs are in the church to see where your gifts and passion can meet a need. Now, we've seen that every Christian has a purpose. Our purpose is connected to God's purpose. Our purpose is to be centered in the local church. Finally, living your purpose is the key to fulfillment in life. Living your purpose is the key to fulfillment in life. It's the key to present enjoyment in your life.

Psychologist Carl Jung, in his book *Modern Man in Search of a Soul*, wrote, "About a third of my cases are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their lives. This can be described as the general neurosis of our time." Even though Jung wrote those words more than 100 years ago, they're just as true today as they were then. That sense of purposelessness and meaninglessness. I mean, think about it. People are searching everywhere for meaning and purpose in life. Some people try their jobs. They spend 60% of their waking hours at their job, and yet they're not happy and fulfilled there. If you don't believe that, listen to these statistics: One third of Americans say, "I hate my job." Two thirds of workers say that they have chosen the wrong career. Most suicides occur on Sunday nights. Most heart attacks occur on Monday mornings. Not finding fulfillment in their work, people think, "Well, I'll try pleasure, I'll try addictions, or maybe I'll try accumulating money and having a luxurious life."

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But that's empty as well.

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Solomon, the richest man who ever lived, tried every pleasure under the sun. He came away saying in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, "All is vanity and striving after wind, and there is no profit under the sun." Why is it that people keep searching for some new pleasure, some new achievement, a new mate, but they never find that satisfaction? Here's the simple reason: eternal beings can only be filled with the eternal. Eternal beings can only be satisfied by that which is eternal.

Think about it. You couldn't fill the Pacific Ocean with a bucket of water, can you? It takes more than that. And it's the same with us. Solomon said, "God has placed eternity in our hearts." Whether you're a Christian or a non-Christian, you have a sense of the eternal. Only that which is eternal can fill that eternal void. This means we need an eternal companion, one who transcends this life.

Secondly, we need an eternal purpose to give our lives to. Living out our purpose is the key to fulfillment in this present life. But it's also the key to future reward, as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10. Therefore, Paul said, "We have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to God." Why? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one of us may be recompensed, rewarded for what we've done in the body according to what he has done, whether it is good or worthless.

We're all going to stand before that judgment seat of Christ, and we're going to be evaluated on whether we invested our life in fulfilling God's purpose or our own. I love the way Randy Alcorn has put it. He says, "Because this life is so brief, we might easily conclude it's also inconsequential. Our brief stay here may indeed seem unimportant, but nothing could be further from the truth. For the Bible tells us that while men may not remember or care what our lives have been, God remembers perfectly and cares very much. So much that the door of eternity swings on the hinges of our present life on earth. Eternity will hold for us what this life has invested in it."

What are you investing your life in, really? What are you investing it in? Where are you putting your money? Where are you spending your time? Where are you dreaming your dreams? Are those things invested in that which is temporal or that which is eternal? Is your life about fulfilling your dreams or God's dreams? Is your life self-focused or God-focused? It's one or the other; it can't be both.

On the wall of my study for many years was a little plaque that I looked at every day: "Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last." That's the secret to fulfillment in life.

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I truly hope today's message helps you determine God's purpose for your life. What could be more important than investing our God-given talents in an occupation that's fulfilling and makes a difference in our world? Well, earlier you heard me talk about David Green's excellent book. It's brand new and called *The Legacy Life*. In this new book, David challenges the idea that legacy is only about money. You see, every one of us is positioned to make an impact on our world that outlives us. All it requires is a willingness to shift our perspective from the here and now to the eternal home that awaits us. A copy of *The Legacy Life* comes with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Quick update: We've just closed the books on the December Matching Challenge and we're still tabulating the final results. If you gave to the Matching Challenge, you'll receive a personal report from me in the coming days if you haven't already received one. All to say, we're deeply grateful for your investment in God's work. In the last few weeks, we've received remarkable feedback from our audience telling us their amazing stories of life change. And when those notes and phone calls arrive, I thank God for people like you who stand with us by giving your generous gifts to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Together, God is using our partnership to pierce the darkness with the light of His Word.

Here's David with all the details.

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When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, or when you sign up to become a Pathway Partner, you're invited to request a copy of the book *The Legacy Life Plus*. You'll also receive the book *Choose Your Change, Change Your Life* by Dr. Robert Jeffress. To request both resources, simply call 866-999-2965 or visit online@ptv.org. When you give $100 or more, you'll also receive the audio and video discs for the teaching series *Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life*. Plus, we'll send you the study guide especially designed for individual or group study.

Again, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You know, a lot of folks prefer to contact us the good old-fashioned way, and if that's you, write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week for the start of the series *Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life* right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress, the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Experience a journey that will refresh your spirit and renew your faith on the Pathway to Victory.

Cruise to Alaska.

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Sail aboard Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam through.

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British Columbia's beautiful Inside Passage.

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You'll witness God's handiwork on full display.

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Call 888-280-6747 or visit ptv.org. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes.

We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go. Have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will.

Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visiting iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment. You'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.