Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. fulfilling our Kingdom Purpose means discovering how God wants us to minister in the paths and relationships of the daily lives he has given us. For all of us, it means determining that we will let God use us to impact eternity and leave a heavenly legacy on earth. There is another Artist—a Grand Master—whose attention to detail and whose interest in his creation far outweigh that of any artist you will ever meet in a gallery. The Scripture says, Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed (Psalm 139:14–16, NLT). Compared to the Bible study guide, the parts of this book feel more integrated – they all work together. I found the section on spiritual gifts much clearer than the study guide – it goes into more detail. A key point – you may not be able to discover your gifts without experimenting with different types of service. The introduction was initially off-putting – it’s a bit fluffy for me but may be fine for others – I found my mind switching off with the repetition and vague, hand-wavy American feel. Fortunately the rest of the book didn’t suffer from this. I want you to know, you are not alone in those feelings. As a pastor, I have worked with so many people who share the same longing. I have discovered that people truly want to be who God made them to be—and genuinely desire to do the work he is calling them to do. Most simply don’t have the tools to get there.

In this eye-opening, empowering, and liberating book, Rees shows you how to uncover God’s most powerful and effective means of advancing his kingdom on earth: your own irreplaceable, richly detailed personal design. The Bible says you are the special creation of God Almighty, made in his own image so your life could make a significant difference for his kingdom. The God of the entire universe began making a masterpiece of you even as you were taking shape in your mother’s womb. God himself is the one who breathed life into you. Filled with Scripture and real-life stories, S.H.A.P.E. presents a series of challenges that will guide you through the process of discovering your personal blend of:Do you see the importance of love when it comes to using our gifts for God? Paul tells us we may have wonderful and valuable spiritual gifts, but without love we are unusable. To determine what is truly propelling your spiritual gifts, ask yourself, “Who is the primary beneficiary of my actions?” If your actions benefit others, you are serving with love. If you realize you are the prime beneficiary of your actions, you need to immediately realign yourself with God. A love-driven life is the life God uses. In his book, Why You Can’t Be Anything You Want to Be, Arthur F. Miller Jr. talks about the danger of misusing what God has given us. “The dark 46 Kay Warren could be the prototype for anyone who wants to learn about hearts that beat for God. In her story I see five passion principles that can inspire us to dream big and think beyond our fears, in the process discovering our own unique, emotional heartbeats for God. They are: 1. Know what drives you. For Kay Warren, that is God and her desire to use everything he has given her to bring glory to his name every day of her life. 2. Know who you care about. For Warren, it clearly includes those impacted by HIV/AIDS. 3. Know the needs you will meet. For Warren, it includes spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. 4. Know the cause you will help conquer. For Warren, it is the desire to dramatically decrease the spread of HIV/ AIDS in the world through care, education, and medicine. 56 Allowing someone else’s opinion to stop you from seizing and sharing your gifts will create nothing but disappointment and sorrow in your heart. Give yourself permission to be who God gifted you to be, regardless of what others have said. S.H.A.P.E.: Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life helps the reader pinpoint his or her own life direction. As this book is written from a Christian perspective, the life purposes center around how individuals can use their unique gifts and experiences to serve God's purpose while on earth. Nonetheless, I believe that the framework of the S.H.A.P.E. model would be equally useful for Non-Christian individuals in identifying and seeking their life purpose or even those of the general public looking for career advice.

Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa, Beethoven created one Fifth Symphony, and God made one version of you. You’re it! You’re the only you there is. And if we don’t get you, we don’t get you. You’re the only shot we have at you. You can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do it. You are more than a coincidence of chromosomes and heredity, more than just an assemblage of somebody else’s lineage. You are uniquely made.... Ever wondered, ‘Who am I?’ Ever thought, ‘What is my purpose of life?’ I have great news: the mystery is over. Erik Rees gives you the tools to answer those questions so you can live the life you were created to live. Embrace S.H.A.P.E. with everything you have so you can discover not only how special you are but your specific purpose for life.” Dr. Gary Smalley Author of I Promise Tap into the secrets of what makes you who you are--passions, talents, experiences, temperament, and spiritual gifts--and you'll discover the path to a life of unimagined purpose, impact, and fulfillment. The fascinating thing to me is that literally everything God makes is unique—every human, animal, flower, tree, and every blade of grass. He didn’t clone anything. Even identical twins possess their own individual uniqueness. That ought to tell us that our individuality is a sacred trust—and what we do with it is our gift to God. Our best contribution in life—our utmost for his highest—can only be made as we allow God to finish his work in progress and perfect our uniqueness. To live without discovering our uniqueness is to not really live. I think God is heartbroken when his children miss out on the potential he has placed inside of them. ³ A main take away for me is this point by Erik Rees: the key to spiritual transformation is meeting God in vulnerability – the inclination is to show presentable parts – that’s like going to the dentist and only showing him your good teeth. Trust God to meet our shame, weaknesses and sin with his love.That very chapter of Scripture—Hebrews 11—lists many ordinary people who by faith accomplished extraordinary things for God, among them Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab. Over the years, I have had the privilege of personally seeing thousands of ordinary people live out their Kingdom Purpose through their confident assurance in God. It's all here: insights that can change the way you look at yourself and how you live your life and practical guidance for applying them. Discover how to apply your amazing array of personal attributes in ways that bring confidence, freedom, clarity, and significance that can only come from your Creator. From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: This verse helps us understand that if we want to discover our mission or purpose in life, we first need to look at the masterpiece God has made us to be. While self-help books tell you to look within, I’m saying the key to living the life you were meant to live is to look to God and ask him to help you discover your uniqueness. Once you discover who you are, then you can start figuring out what God has planned for you, the specific way he designed you to make a difference in the world for him.