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 © Copyright 2015–T. D. Jakes
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“Promoting Inspired Lives”

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 C ontents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 1 You Are on Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 2 Get Ready for Your Moment . . . . . . 29

Chapter 3 Experience the God of Purpose. . . . . 45

Chapter 4 Elevate Your Understanding

of Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Chapter 5 Find Your Place of Deposit. . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 6 Identifying Unrealized Potential. . . . 105

Chapter 7 Unwrap the Gift of Exposure. . . . . 123

Final Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

BONUS MATERIALS
Faithing It! by Cora Jakes-Coleman. . . . . . . . . . . 141
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Chapter 1 You Are God’s Book—Respect
the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
and a selection from
Strength For Every Moment Devotional . . . . 171

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 I ntroduction

So many people are intensely searching for pur-

pose and meaning in life. Maybe this describes
where you are right now.
Are you asking questions like, Why am I here?
What have I been put on this planet to do? What is
my destiny? Here is the problem with how many
people approach the question of purpose: many
are looking outside of themselves for their pur-
pose, destiny, or meaning in life. The very key
to knowing your purpose is discovering and cel-
ebrating your personal identity.
When you know who you are, how you have
been intricately designed by the Master Crafts-
man, and discover that you have been uniquely

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 IDENTIT Y

gifted to fulfill a divine calling, your eyes will

cease wandering to and fro, ogling over the
clothes Sally has or dreaming about having Jim-
my’s job or Mary’s husband or Bobby’s wife or
Susan’s house or Joe’s country club membership.
To fulfill your purpose, you must first know
and celebrate your identity!
In the age of social media, it seems like now,
more than ever, we are bombarded with images
that constantly tell us: “The grass is greener
over here.” This is exactly why we want Sally’s
clothes or Jimmy’s job.
What we don’t realize is:
■■ Social media is like the “highlight
reel,” often exposing us only to the
best of someone’s life. You only see
the ups and are rarely exposed to the
downs or the humdrum normalcy of
everyday life.
■■ Every moment spent envying
another person is a moment spent
living outside of your life purpose.

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 Introduction

God did not create you to be jealous

of who someone else is or what they
are doing; He created you uniquely
to fulfill your destiny.
It’s time to stop longing for what other peo-
ple have and give up trying to be anyone other
than you. Remember, as long as you invest your
time trying to be someone else, or pursuing
what others have, you are not being the person
God created you to be.
In the journey ahead, I give you permission to
stop looking at others’ lives and quit longing for
what they have. You are going to see from the
example of one of the most powerful Old Testa-
ment prophets, Elisha, that your identity is not
wrapped up in someone else—it’s distinctly yours!
In the pages of Identity, you will first become
reintroduced to the God of purpose—to know
and experience Him like never before. You will
also learn how to seize the destiny-defining
moments that will advance you further into ful-
filling your purpose.

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 IDENTIT Y

You will discover why it is so important to

invest your time, resources, and energies into
good soil that will ultimately produce a har-
vest in your life; this is about finding your place
of deposit!
Finally, you will receive a divine blueprint in
the lives of Elijah and Elisha on how to step into
the unique identity that God has crafted for you
and discover your unrealized potential.
In the same way that Heaven had unique
assignments for Elijah and Elisha, you have
likewise been awarded a specific and strategic
assignment that is absolutely exclusive to your life.
No one else can fulfill it. No one else can carry it
full term. No one else can steward and execute it
quite like you. Others may try, but they will fail
to grasp the glory that is reserved for you.
Discover who you are.
Celebrate your unique identity in Christ.
Fulfill your purpose and be the solution the
world is waiting for.

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 CHAPTER 1

Y ou A re on P urpose

For You formed my inward parts; You covered

me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
marvelous are Your works, and that my soul
knows very well. My frame was not hidden
from You, when I was made in secret, and
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the
earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet
unformed. And in Your book they all were
written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet
there were none of them (Psalm 139:13-16).

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created

us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good

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 IDENTIT Y

things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians

2:10 nlt).

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says

the Lord. “They are plans for good and not
for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”
( Jeremiah 29:11 nlt).

YOU HAVE A PURPOSE

Your hands have made me and fashioned

me… (Job 10:8).
■■ You have a purpose.
■■ You were created on purpose.
■■ You were formed, fashioned, and
knit together by a skilled Crafts-
man, not by some arbitrary cosmic
explosion.
■■ You are not an accident.
■■ You are not an incident.
■■ You are not a mistake.

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 You Are on Purpose

■■ You are not just a glob of protoplas-

mic material that is the result of a
reckless night or a weekend between
two passionate lovers.
■■ You are not just a mere mixing
together of dna.

You have a divine purpose. You were allowed

access into this dimension of life by the nod of
the Creator Himself, that you would be strate-
gically placed at this time, at this age, in your
gender, in your ethnicity, with your gifting, and
with your talent for God’s divine purpose.
Even the wealthiest person on the planet
could not offer up any suitable form of tender
that could purchase purpose. Surely they wish
purpose could have a dollar value assigned to
it, because then the relentless nagging of their
souls could be silenced. They could rest easy
knowing that the one unknown of life has been
secured. Purpose is priceless, while purposeless-
ness is very costly.

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 IDENTIT Y

You can live in this world and make all the

money you could ever dream of and be as beau-
tiful as you want and be as educated as you
please and accomplish whatever you want to,
but if you die without accomplishing your pur-
pose, you are a failure, a reject, and a fool.

THE ROOT OF PURPOSELESSNESS

The fool has said in his heart, “There is

no God” (Psalm 14:1).

The fool has said, “There is no God, there

is no purpose, there is no meaning.” He further
adds, “I can do my own thing, go my own way,
live my own life.”
The fool who says in his heart, “There is no
God” has essentially said, “There is no pur-
pose.” To divorce one’s perspective from the
reality of a Creator, a Master Designer, and a
Purpose-Author, one is rejecting purpose and
meaning as a whole. This is no small statement
because it is no small action.

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 You Are on Purpose

The repercussions of saying, “There is no God”

are far-reaching into every arena of our lives and
society. It is downright deadly to reject the real-
ity of a Creator, for it is that very Creator who
assigns value and purpose to the created. If the
created is without a Creator, then who or what
assigns value or purpose to the created? There
are no constants. There’s nothing certain. We
are without anchors. No one knows who they
are, because they are detached from the truth of
Whose they are.
When Genesis 1 becomes a fairy tale and
we are disconnected from the fact that we were
created in the “image and likeness of God” (see
Genesis 1:26), that we were in fact handcrafted
in the image of the perfect Craftsman, purpose-
lessness abounds. Now, more than ever, we need
this vision of the Creator and created; for as the
Scripture says, “Where there is no vision, the peo-
ple perish…” (Proverbs 29:18 kjv).
The world perishes because of the purpose-
lessness of its people; people perish because they

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live without vision. I want to invite you to con-

sider the vision of your Creator.

The value of your Creator

should cause you to reconsider
your own worth and value.

As mentioned earlier, you are not some type

of cosmic accident. You were handcrafted and
custom-made by a perfect Creator. The value
of your Creator should cause you to reconsider
your own worth and value. God did not make
you in the image of an animal. He did not cre-
ate you in the image of an angel. Rather, He
created you in His very own image and likeness.
Time after time, Scripture invites us to consider
the unlikeness of God.

Who is like You, O Lord, among the

gods?... (Exodus 15:11).
“Lord God of Israel, there is no God
in heaven or on earth like You…”
(2 Chronicles 6:14).

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 You Are on Purpose

Who is like the Lord our God, who

dwells on high (Psalm 113:5).

Because God radically stands out and above

everything and everyone else in created order,
consider the precious value that someone cre-
ated in His image and likeness carries. That
someone is you.

GOD CRE ATED YOU UNIQUELY

Then God said, “Let Us make man in

Our image, according to Our likeness…”
(Genesis 1:26).

Once you realize that you were created on

purpose, and created in the image of the Cre-
ator, you begin to recognize that there are
secrets stored up inside you. These are the very
secrets that must be discovered and unleashed to
a purposeless planet and a purposeless people.
There are secrets inside you that God has
planted—secret talents, secret gifts, and secret
wisdom—that have been divinely orchestrated.

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These gifts, talents, abilities, wisdom, solutions,

and creativities are uniquely yours. God the
Creator is multidimensional enough to create
you uniquely. Trust His design. The moment
you start to embrace how you have been formed
and fashioned is the moment you step into the
very purpose for which you were created.
God is not the author of prolonged purpose-
lessness; you are. One of the most prevalent
enemies to you stepping into your purpose
is the downright deception that “the grass is
greener.” In other words, something in someone
else causes you to reject and ultimately neglect
the unique purpose within you. This keeps you
exactly where the enemy wants you, and sadly,
where the world cannot afford to keep you.
You cannot make a difference sitting off in a
dark corner somewhere, wishing that you were
someone else.
Stop, stop, stop wanting to be somebody else.
Do not insult your Creator by insulting His
creation. You were fearfully and wonderfully

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 You Are on Purpose

made. Can you even fathom what the psalm-

ist is expressing by using those words—fearfully
and wonderfully? (See Psalm 139:14.) You were
created with awe. God didn’t just throw you
together, stand back and say, “This looks good.”
Because God fashioned you in His very image
and likeness, He has a right to stand back
and actually awe His own creation. Why? It’s
simply God standing in awe of His own handi-
work; God awing God. This is how He looks
upon you.
In fact, God considers you a “masterpiece.”
(See Ephesians 2:10 nlt.) God made you the
way He wanted to make you so He could use
you at a particular time in a particular way;
and if you start trying to be like somebody else,
you’re going to miss your purpose.
People don’t miss their purpose and bypass
destiny because God decides to take it away;
they miss purpose because they fail to invest in
their purpose. One of the greatest ways we fail
to invest in what God has wired into our dna

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 IDENTIT Y

is through rejecting who we have been uniquely

created to be and what we have been created to
bring to this moment in history.

YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES

His divine power has given to us all

things that pertain to life and godli-
ness… (2 Peter 1:3).

You have everything you need to do what

you’ve been designed to do and be what you were
created to be. I repeat, you have everything you
need to accomplish your purpose. If God needed
you to be tall, He would have made you tall. If
He needed you to be better looking, He would
have made you better looking. If He needed you
to have a voice to sing, He would have given
you a voice to sing. Everything about you was
designed with intentionality. In fact, your design
is directly connected to your purpose.
If you neglect your design and refuse to cel-
ebrate how you were made, you will never step

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 You Are on Purpose

into who you were made to be. We have no right

to question the Potter about how He fashioned
and molded the clay.
In Romans 9:20 niv, Paul directly confronts
this issue of questioning the Maker about how
the creation was made. He writes,

But who are you, a human being, to talk

back to God? “Shall what is formed say
to the one who formed it, ‘Why did You
make me like this?’”

God knew what He was doing when He cre-

ated you like He did. He gave you the right IQ
and He gave you the right personality. He gave
you the right temperament. Do not despise your
design, for the Designer made you a certain way
so that you could accomplish a certain purpose.
Like I said, the more you disregard your
design and continue to want to be like some-
one else, the more you distance yourself from
stepping into your created purpose. You, as you
are, have got what it takes to be who God has

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created you to be. Yes, get educated. Yes, get

equipped and trained. Yes, pursue knowledge,
learning, and wisdom. Scripture tells us to pur-
sue these things, as anyone can have as much
of these things as he or she desires. Just don’t
despise who God has created you to be.

The Designer made you a certain way so that

you could accomplish a certain purpose.

Start believing this. You won’t need as much

counseling. You won’t need as much therapy.
You won’t be as intimidated by other people.
You won’t be jealous of other people. If you
understand your purpose, you will live in that
purpose, and you will discover your gifts and
your talents and what you were put here to do.

DE ALING WITH THE LIE

Lead me by Your truth and teach me, for

You are the God who saves me. All day long
I put my hope in You (Psalm 25:5 nlt).

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 You Are on Purpose

And finally, whatever you’ve been through

and whatever weaknesses you have, and what-
ever issues you’ve had—do not allow those
weaknesses to abort your mission. Everyone has
failed. Everyone has messed up. Everyone has
slipped, fallen, gotten up, fallen again, gotten
up again, maybe wandered around in the dark
for a season, or moved on.
The devil is a liar, and he would love to
deceive you right out of your destiny. One of the
main tools he uses is reminding you of issues,
hang-ups, setbacks, and sins. Your comeback
should trump his lies every time. Your past is
under the blood of Jesus. Your sins were dealt
with at Calvary. God is not surprised by your
weaknesses; this is why He promises strength!
God is not caught off guard by your setbacks
and problems.

It’s never too late to get back

on the path to purpose.

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Remember, it’s not your weaknesses and

failures that have the potential to abort your
mission; it’s how you see and respond to them.
If you believe your weaknesses can abort your
purpose, you will live in agreement with that
lie. Nothing—absolutely nothing—can separate
you from God’s purpose for your life unless you
start agreeing with lies. It’s this type of agree-
ment that causes you to veer off the path God
has set for you. If you’ve been believing these
lies, I encourage you to start disagreeing with
the liar today. It’s never too late to get back on
the path to purpose.
I repeat—you have a divine mission to
accomplish. You cannot allow anything to come
between you and your purpose.
In the pages ahead, we are going to look at
the unique exchange that took place between
Elijah and Elisha. As Elijah’s time on earth was
concluding, it was Elisha’s turn to step up. If
you need an example of someone who refused
to let anything come between him and his

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purpose, this plowman turned prophet is your

model. In fact, he is your mandate.
I’m calling for a company of Elishas to rise
up in this hour, recognize their moment of
visitation, and start running toward the divine
purpose God has ready to release through
their lives.

Reflection Questions
1. In what ways is your design (how you
were made) directly connected to fulfill-
ing your purpose in life?
2. Why is it an insult to the Creator to
question the way He made you?
3. How can your weaknesses and failures
keep you from fulfilling your purpose?

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