Sincere Prayers Will Bring You Close to God!

One way is to have a special time set aside to pray each day. Personally, I think that the morning, when they awaken, is the best. Then, they get the day started in the best feasible way. It is also important to pray often in the work of the day and night, at every opportunity.
   This may sound foolish, but to stay on target and not let my mind drift in prayer, I come to the computer, go in to Word, and start my morning letter to God.
   I am revealing this personal knowledge because I am desirous to give somebody reading this an idea. Perhaps you do this already, or perhaps your mind doesn't drift and you are of those focused individuals who can "stay on task" and keep your mind on what you require to do. If so, you are part of a special breed and I congratulate you honestly.
   I find that when I write a morning letter to God, I always praise Him and thank Him for everything. I also wish Him grand and glorious times.
   In my prayers I require Him to know that I'd like to reciprocate all of His love and kindness by doing His work and accomplishing His will.
   I also think it is vital to ask for the Holy Spirit to pray for the things I have no idea or keep in mind to pray for.
   It is me, but I feel a necessity to ask regularly for His protection and safety for all of our relatives, our friends, church members, and associates in every single place.
   thing I like at the top of the list is that I do know I cannot personally make much differenence in world situations, but I can try in prayer to do that.
   Who knows what great thing could happen as the result of a request that is in line with God's will?
   When you write a prayer letter to God each day, you start to recognize that They knows you are honest and require to communicate with Him. It is a feeling you get and you know it is true.
   I like to seek His guidance in making a difference in this "Earthly" place so that when I have gone on to great rewards that I'd like and I do hope for, what I have accomplished here on Earth is what was intended by God for me to do. I would not require NOT to do those things.
   On the same thought, would not all of us like to do "MORE" than what was intended?
   The tiny petty nuances of every day life are what interrupt our designs and lives. They do get to know that they pass and new days come about. One time they recognize that our pains and troubles pass, they get to know that they can focus on large and better things!
   Asking for forgiveness for all of our errors and mistakes is paramount to being close to God and they must always thank Him for Jesus and the remainder of His holy relatives.
   Repentance is the honest desirous to do better and God knows when they are serious about it because He is watching and noticing.
   His rewards are great and not like any other gifts. His miracles abound and it is in those tiny and profound miracles that they KNOW He is close, and they know They loves us!

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Posted in: Prayer

Leading A Significant Christian Life Is The Way To Almighty

Life in this world has both nice & evil. So they must take additional precautions to leave out the evil as much as feasible. That can be done only by prohibiting matters related to evil. So prohibition becomes mandatory to lead a proper life, otherwise what purpose would our life serve if they accept both nice & evil similar. Christianity is not about prohibitions, but Christian community has some prohibitions, which ought to not be seen merely as dreary rules. Every part of Christianity has a well thought out inner meaning & fundamentally serves to lead a disciplined life.

Christianity is summarized as loving God & our neighbor, & everything else is taken as a way to that finish. A typical Christian life involves number of aspects. of the main aspects is sharing with each other & supporting each other by spending time together in worship & other activities. By working together everyone gets to know about another.


All of us make mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. As life has become more materialistic, people are taking less time to repent their mistakes. But repentance is necessary in one's life; otherwise God does not show the way to correct our mistakes. Repentance is emphasized in Christian life as it helps to assess our mistakes in the light of God. Repentance is not only about our actions but also about our attitudes. Attitudes are the seed to our actions, so a wrong attitude definitely leads to wrong action. All of us know that repentance is not an simple task. They must discipline ourselves to face our faults impartially & also admit to others. On the other hand, if they do not repent then they are likely to forget our mistake, allowing it to grow like a poisonous tree within our mind without our knowledge.


Prayer is of the major parts of Christianity. Prayers are seen as the basis of relationship with God, so prayers ought to be from the heart. There's different kinds of prayers such as public prayers, relatives prayers & personal prayers. In today's world, it's become difficult to differentiate between nice & evil, as evil wears the cloak of goodness. So prayer is the only means to reach God & understand the truth.


Bible study is another important aspect of Christian life. Both individual study & group study are given equal importance. all Christian community has active Christian schooling, which focuses on educating church goers about Christian faith, church history, & other important topics about Christian community. This schooling is done on Sunday, along with regular worship.

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Posted in: Christian Life

The Bible Distinguishes Between True & False Christians

Jesus warned that there would be people who seemed to be Christians but were false. Jesus said that these persons would not inherit Heaven (Matthew Chapter 7). God is Love and gave His Only Son so we can inherit Heaven (John 3:16; Romans 8:32). The Bible clearly shows what a True Christian is inside and outside. This article reviews those scriptures where God informs what is needed (those fruits Jesus described) to enter the narrow gates of Heaven.

They had everybody fooled. The Church thought that they had given a big offering to God. God eventually revealed how false and dishonest they were (Acts 5:1-11). The King James Bible talks about wheat and tares. It can be very difficult to distinguish between (divide) a false and true Christian. The Bible is a sharp two edge sword which has no trouble dividing (distinguish) truth and falsehood (hyprocisy). This article gives the Bible's definition of both a false and true Christian.

In Matthew Chapter 7 Jesus differentiated between False and True Christians. Let's examine Matthew 7:13-20: 

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are raveningwolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them".

Ananias and Sapphira found out that God isnot interested in outward displays of Godliness. God is interested in the inward man/woman (person-who you really are). This inward part of you and me must be guided by the Holy Ghost of God (Acts 5:1-11; Matthew 7:15-16; 2 Corinthians 4:16).

So how do we change our "insides (who we really are)" to affect our outsides? We must ask Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior (John 3:1-16). We must also ask God for the Holy Ghost to help us change (Luke 11:13). We must also become familiar with the Bible. The Bible tells us what God hates and what God loves (Proverbs 6:16; John 3:16). We then must diligently strip off the things about us that God hates (Hebrews 11:6) and replace those things with the things of God's Spirit.

This article will list the six areas that the Bible counsels sincere Christians to cultivate intheir lives:

1) Unquestionable Trust In God (Which is Faith)

2) Things Christians Should Always Think About

3) The Fruit of God's Spirit

4) The Armor of God

5) The Mind of Jesus Christ 

6) The Peace of God

This article will now give a fuller explanation to the six areas of the Christians personality which is to be cultviated:

1) Unquestionable Trust In God-Seasoned Christian know to believe what the Word (the Holy Bible) says no matter what is occurring in the physical world. We walk by Faith and not by sight, sound, touch or anything perceived in this physical realm of God's creation (2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrew 11:1-5).

2) Things Christians Should Always Think About (Philippians 4:8)-Things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and/or praise worthy-We must totally eliminate anything from our minds, hearts, lives, thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:4-7) and who we really are that isnot on this Godly "list". We must constanly and daily feed (and retrain) our minds on what God feeds us. Prayer, the Holy Ghost, and Godly associations will greatly help us!

3) The Fruit of God Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith Meekness, Temperance- As we begin to "get our minds right" with God and cultivate the Fruit of God's Spirit, it will become obvious that we are really true Christians of God on our way to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14, 16-20; Galatians 5:22-23).

4) The Armor of God is Loins Girted with Truth (God's Bible Truth John 17:17; John 4:24), Breastplate of Righteousness (God's Righteousness), Feet Shod With The Preparation Of The Gospel Of Peace (Kingdom Of Jesus Christ), The Shield Of Faith (Hebrews 11:1), The Sword of God's Spirit Which Is The Holy Word Of God (Hebrews 4:11-12), Praying And Supplicating In The Spirit, Caring About And Praying For The Saints Of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)- Anything coming from Satan's Dark Kingdom will have trouble succeeding when a Christian becomes Spirit (John 4:24) as opposed to just being a Christian by name (Matthew 4:10-11).

5) The Mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-10)-is Humility, Shame For God's Will, Sacrifice Unto Death, Loving Others, Caring For Others, Dying For Others, Obeying God Unto Death, Total Devotion To God's Kingdom, Serving God, and Serving Others-When Our Mind and Will Is Always On Pleasing God We Will Of Course Produce The Fruits Needed To Enter Heaven (Matthew 7:13-20; Galatians 5:19-23).

6) The Peace Of God (Philippians 4:6-8)-The Bible Instructs Christians To Pray To God About Everything And Not To Worry About Anything. God Is The Father Who Loves Us (John 3:16) And He Promises Never To Leave Us Or Forsake Us (Hebrews 13:5-6). The Bible Also Advises Us To Pray For The Holy Ghost's Presence Which Is The Peace And The Wisdom Of God. The Peace Of God Is Total Calmness And Belief That God Is In Control And Will Work Things Out For Our Spiritual (And In Many Cases Physical) Benefit (Romans 8:28). You Can See A Seasoned Christian Face Death (Or Anguish) Smiling And Engaging In Fun Activities. They Have Placed Their Full Trust In God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Although we are are "born in sin" and don't always imitate Jesus Christ (Psalm Chapter 51, Romans 5:12), a sincere Christian is actually not hard to discern. The Book of James tells us that it is the Holy Bible which acts as a mirror to "expose" true and/or false Christians.

So what should we do when we realize that we are not removing sin from our lives and cultivating the Spirit (John 4:24)? Just smile and remember that God Loves You and Me (John 3:16). Right now pray to God and ask for His forgiveness of your sins and His Holy Ghost to help you become a Spirit filled Christian servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You can also use this article an any other Christian Bible based literature to become a Spirit filled Christian who is on their Way to Heaven with Jesus Christ (John 14:4-7; John 3:1-16; John 4:24).

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Who is Lord Jesus Christ?

More than two thousand years ago God beatific Jesus Christ into this world. He became one of us, but he did annihilation wrong. He showed us what God is like - merciful and kind. He healed the sick people, the  blind were fabricated to see, the deafened to hear, the bruised to walk. Some bodies followed him, and to them he gave a fresh way of Life - God’s way. But others hated Him because He was so good, and he apparent their evil ways.
              He gave his own life as a sacrifice, a acquittal for our sins. He died on the cantankerous to save us. Three days afterwards he died, Jesus Christ came aback from the dead. Now He lives in the ability of an endless life to accommodated your need, to be your Saviour, to absolve your sins. Jesus Christ is the alone one who can do this for you.

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Son of God. He is our Redeemer. The Holy Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ's mother was Mary, His father on earth was Joseph, that He was born-in in Bethlehem and aloft in Nazareth, and affected with Joseph as a carpenter. When he was turned 30 years, He began a three-year admiral of teaching, blessing, and healing the bodies of the Holy Land.He additionally organized His Church and gave His apostles "power and authority" (Luke 9:1) to abetment in His work.

Jesus Christ is the only way by which we can acknowledgment to alive with our Heavenly Father. Jesus suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world, giving anniversary of God’s accouchement the allowance of attrition and forgiveness. Alone by His mercy and grace can anyone be saved. His consecutive awakening able the way for every being to affected concrete afterlife as well. These contest are alleged the Atonement. In short, Jesus Christ saves us from sin and death. For that, he is actual actually our Savior and Redeemer. In the approaching Jesus Christ will acknowledgment to administration on apple in accord for a thousand years. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He will be our Lord forever.

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Four spiritual laws

Just as there are concrete laws that administer the concrete universe, so are there spiritual laws which administer your accord with God.


1. God loves you and offers a admirable plan for your life.
(References independent on this webpage are from the Bible and should be apprehend in ambience wherever possible.)

God's Love"
God so admired the world that He gave His one and alone Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but accept abiding life" (John 3:16 )

God's Plan"
I came that they ability accept life, and ability accept it abundantly"  (John 10:10).

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abounding life?

Because...

2. Man is sinful and afar from God. Therefore, he cannot apperceive and acquaintance God's adulation and plan for his life. 
Man Is Sinful
"All accept sinned and abatement abbreviate of the celebrity of God" (Romans 3:23).

Man Is Separated
"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

3. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY accouterment for man's sin. Through Him you can apperceive and acquaintance God's adulation and plan for your life.


Died in Our Place
"God demonstrates His own adulation against us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8).

Rose From the Dead
"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was aloft on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, again to the twelve. After that He appeared to to added than 500..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).


Way to God
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me."(John 14:6).

4. We must alone accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; again we can apperceive and acquaintance God's adulation and plan for our lives.


Must Receive Christ
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the appropriate to become accouchement of God, alike to those who accept in His name" (John 1:12).

Receive Christ Through Faith
"By grace you accept been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the allowance of God; not as a aftereffect of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
"Behold, I angle at the aperture and knock; if any one hears My articulation and opens the door, I will appear in to him" (Revelation 3:20).

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Did you pray this prayer?

You can accept Christ appropriate now by acceptance through prayer
(Prayer is talking to God)
God knows your affection and is not so anxious with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The afterward is a appropriate prayer:

"I need You, our Lord Jesus. Thank You for dying on the cantankerous for my sins. I open the door of my life and accept You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me abiding life. Take ascendancy of the head of my life. Make me the kind of being You appetite me to be."

                              "Thank you, God, for admiring me and sending your Son to die on the cantankerous for my sins. I now accept to accomplish Jesus the Lord of my life. Help me to be the affectionate of being that You appetite me to be. In Jesus' name, Amen."Does this prayer accurate the admiration of your heart? If it does, I invite you to adjure this prayer right now and Christ will appear into your life, as He promised.

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The Risk of Destroying My Mission

One of the greatest enemy’s of your life mission is envy; getting your eyes on what other people are doing rather than keeping your eyes on what the Lord wants you to do.  When you start looking at other people, you're in trouble.

Galatians 5:25-26 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

If you're following God's life mission you don't have to worry about what other people think, you don't have to envy other people, because you know that God's got a life for you. 

What is ENVY?

What is envy? 

It is resenting God's goodness in other's lives. 

It is ignoring God's goodness in my own life. 

The Bible says it is very destructive and it will cause you much pain in your life. 

Let me offer 4 reasons…

WHY I SHOULD AVOID ENVY? 

1.  Envy distracts me from my life Mission 

When I get envious and start looking at other people, I loose my focus.  I stop concentrating on what God wants for my life and I start looking at what other people are doing. 

I say, "If I only had their spiritual gifts, their heart, their personality, their experiences, their background, their money..." 

Luke 9:62 (Living Bible) "Any one who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him, is not fit for the kingdom of God." 

Remember the 84 Olympics and Mary Decker looked over her shoulder at Zola Budd and tripped.  Because she got distracted she lost the race and was disqualified.  Everybody had expected her to win. 

Would you agree today there are many things that can trip you up and cause you to be distracted from your life purpose?  All you have to do is turn on the television.  Advertisements are designed to create envy. 

2.  Envy causes conflict

James 4:1 "What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" 

When I want what you have, that's called envy and that creates conflict.  In envy I not only want my grass to be greener than yours, I want yours to turn brown! 

Remember playing I’m the King of the Castle and your….!  There's only room for one at the top.  Adults still play this game!

They just do it in more subtle ways.  Like by the kind of car they drive.  Or the colour of their credit card.  We play the game of one-up-man-ship.  That's envy and if you get caught in that rut you will miss God's purpose for your life, because you're focusing on the wrong things.

Modern Aussie culture has been built on envy.  We call it competition.  In every area of society - athletics, wealth, prestige, achievement - we are taught from childhood to compare. 

So we compare grades, clothes, schools, wealth, parents...

Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NIV) And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor.

It's because they envy the things other people have so they just keep overworking.

3.  Envy leads to other sins

James 3:16 "For where you find envy there you find disorder and every evil practice." 

Can envy cause a person to lie?  To gossip?  To murder?  Envy causes all kinds of problems in people's lives.  When you're green with envy, you're ripe for trouble!

Do you know why Jesus was crucified?  Why the Pharisees crucified him?  The Bible tells us in Matthew the Pharisees crucified Jesus because of envy.  They were jealous.  He was more popular than they were.  All of a sudden all the people who had been following their religious rituals were following Him.  "It was for envy they sought to send Him to the cross."  It leads to all kinds of other sins.

4.  Envy makes me miserable

It destroys your happiness.  It's self destructive. 

Proverbs 14:30 "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."

It eats you up.  Envy is worse than cancer.  It will eat you alive if you don't watch out. 

Did you see the movie Amadeus?  Remember Salari and the envy he had for Mozart?  He was so consumed with this passion and envy against Mozart and his ability that it drove him crazy.  It literally drove him crazy. 

Envy can do that.  You can get so preoccupied with fanaticizing somebody else's failure that you're envious of, you become the loser in life.  Envy does not work.  It is simply self-destructive.  It also promotes all kinds of pity parties.  "He gets all the breaks.  It's not fair.  He's the lucky one." 

Luke 12: 15 "Don't always be wishing for what you don't have." 

We need to treat envy as if it were a cancer.  If you had a growth on your body, you'd get it cut out as quickly as possible.  Envy is a cancer that will prevent you from taking the next step in the process of building your life mission. 

You have to just focus on what God wants for me, not what God wants to do in other people's lives. 

HOW Can I OVERCOME ENVY?

So how do I cut envy out of my life?  How do I get rid of it?  Five simple suggestions or steps. 

1.  Resist comparing myself to others

2 Corinthians 10:12 "We do not dare classify or compare ourselves.  It is not wise." 

One day after the resurrection Jesus was talking to Peter and John and tells Peter, "You're going to die a violent death in serving me."  Peter:  "Oh?" and looking toward John "What about John? How's he going to die?"  Jesus says, in the original Greek, "It's none of your business!"  He says, "What's it to you?  I have a plan for your life so what does it matter if John lives until I come back?  I have a plan that's unique to you.  Don't worry about what my plan is for somebody else."

Galatians 6:4 (Living Bible) "Let everyone be sure to do his very best.  For then he will have the personal satisfaction of work done well and won't need to compare himself with somebody else."

2.  Recognize my uniqueness

We spent all of the second series on that.

Psalm 139:13 (GNB) "You God, created every part of me.  You put me together in my mother's womb.

The Bible says that God designed you, specifically designed you, in your mother's womb - you have designer genes. 

Envy is an expression of inferiority.  And it is based on insecurity.  Envy occurs when you don't realize how unique you are.

There's nobody in the world like you.  When you try to be like somebody else that causes envy.  The antidote is to recognize your uniqueness. 

Psalm 139:15 (Living Bible) "You saw me before I was born and scheduled every day of my life before I began to breathe." 

God not only planned what you were going to be, but He's planned out your life.  He has a plan for it.

When you understand that do you see the stupidity of envy?  When God has a customized plan for you, you shouldn't say "I wish God had made me taller (or shorter, or darker, or lighter, or bigger, or smaller, or smarter, or dumber, in another country or whatever)."  He has a customized plan for your life. 

My suggestion is to focus on letting your life shine and forget trying to put everybody else's light out!

3.  Rejoice in what I do have

Ecclesiastes 6:9 (GNB) "It's better to be satisfied with what you have than to always be wanting something else."

Philippians 4:11 "I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

God says, I want you to learn contentment.  Don't try to be somebody you're not.  Don't envy somebody.  You're unique, you're different.  Rejoice in what you do have and don't worry about what you don't.

Some single people wish they were married, some married people wish they were single.  Paul says "I've learned to be content."

Contentment is understanding that God has provided all I need for me to be happy in my current situation, not tomorrow, not yesterday, but for today.

4.  Respond to others in love

Why? 

1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love does not envy."

Love is the opposite of envy.  You can't love someone and envy them at the same time.  How does that happen? 

Matthew 22:9 "Love your neighbour as yourself."

Is that natural?  No.  Is that easy to do?  No.  Is that what the world teaches?  No.  Is that what the best selling books tell us to do?  No.  But it's the key to happiness.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Learn to love other people.  How do you do that?

Romans 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." 

Envy naturally does the exact opposite of this.  Envy rejoices when they see somebody have a failure and weeps when somebody has a success.  But love rejoices with those who rejoice and weeps with those who weep. 

When you are envious you miss out on so much happiness in life because envy keeps you from sharing in other people's happiness.  When they have a baby, if you're envious of it, you can't share in their joy.  When they get married, if you're envious of it, you can't share in their joy.  When they get a promotion, if you're envious, you can't share in the joy.  If the only time you have joy is when things happen to you, you're going to miss out on an awfully lot of joy in life.  On the other hand, if you learn not to be envious, and you learn to enjoy other people's positive experiences, you'll be happy most of your life.  Because good things are happening to other people all the time.  And when you can share in their joy then you get to share it.  You benefit even though it didn't happen to you. 

5.  Refocus on pleasing God

Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things."

Look at life from God's view point.  Realize that material things are only temporary.  Focus on what's going to last forever.  Don't set your mind on things that are not going to last 10 years.  Focus your life on things that will last for eternity.  When you do that, competition becomes irrelevant.  When you do that, climbing the ladder of success becomes irrelevant. 

The antidote to envy is to be so caught up in fulfilling God's plan, God's purpose for your life, fulfilling your life mission, that every thing else is just unimportant in comparison. 

Proverbs 33:17 (GNB) "Don't be envious of sinful people; let reverence for the Lord be the concern of your life.  If it is, you have a bright future."

Prayer

Father, I don’t want to resent your blessing of other people, I want to acknowledge the unique way you have put me together…

I don’t want to be distracted from my life Mission, in conflict, and being led into sin; I know that envy like this makes me miserable.

Help me to resist comparing myself to others, to recognize my uniqueness, to rejoice in what I do have and to respond to others in love.

I just want to refocus on pleasing you Lord.

Lord, help me as I wait on you concerning my unique mission.  Amen

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Strengthening Your Cosmic Mission So You Finish It

For one reason or another, they die with unfulfilled dreams, with unrealized potential and without ever becoming what God intended their life to become.  That is a tragedy. 

Acts 20:24 “I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me.” 

1 Timothy 4:7 “I have finished the race.”     

Are you going to be able to say that about your life?   That you did what God made you to do?  That you fulfilled the purpose for which you were put on this earth?

This morning as we approach the conclusion of our series I want to give you the Rules of the Race.  If you want to make it to the finish line, if you want to make your life count, if you want to get into the winners box and stand before God one day and say, “God, I did what You made me to do,” you’ve got to keep these five rules of the race.

1.  I MUST REMOVE ALL DISTRACTIONS

Hebrews 12:1 (Living Bible) “Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.”

What is it that can distract you from your life mission?  What can keep you from being what God wants you to be?

• The opinions of other people can distract you
• The desire to get rich could distract you
• A good hobby can distract you from God’s life mission
• The wrong kind of friends could distract you from your life mission
• I have come to the conclusion that the number one thing that keeps people from becoming what God wants them to become is your past.  Frankly, many of you are stuck.  You’re stuck in your past - there are two things that make you stuck in your past – guilt and bitterness.

Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 

Paul had every reason to be filled with regrets.  Prior to becoming a believer, he was a religious terrorist.  He admits that he even participated in one man’s murder.  Yet he says…

Philippians 3:13 “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race.” 

I’ve got to remove all distractions.

2.  I must REMEMBER THE REASON AND REWARD

All the things that we’ve talked about in the last 9 weeks – establishing your value system, SHAPE, setting some goals, organizing your schedule around that and building the relationships and skills to supplement and support that life mission. That’s hard work men and women! 

It’s very hard and it takes a lot of energy to do that.  If you don’t know why you do what you do, you’ll never stick with it. 

The “why” always determines “how long” in life. 

The reason always determines your motivation. 

This is one of the reasons why we have so many discouraged, depressed people today.  They have no reason for living. You have to remember the reason why you do what you do. 

When I get discouraged, I’ve often thought, “I don’t have enough smarts to do this.  Somebody else ought to be the senior minister of a church this size.”  Whenever I get discouraged, whenever I feel like giving up, I remember two wonderful truths.  And they’re the truths you should remember:

1.  Remember your life mission comes from CHRIST

I didn’t just make this thing up.  He assigned it to me and He has a life mission for you.  That goes to say that if God gives you something to do; He’s going to give you the power to do it.

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2.  Remember Your’e going to be rewarded BY Christ some day

1 Corinthians 9:25, 26 (Living Bible) “To win the contest, you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best… but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears.  So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.” 

Internal Motivation…

External Motivation…

Eternal Motivation…

3.  I MUST RENEW MYSELF DAILY

2 Corinthians 4:16 “We do not become discouraged because our spiritual being is renewed day by day.”

The US Strategic Air Command is our nation’s defence system that flies 24 hours. At any point in the day there are airplanes in the air carrying nuclear warheads to be a shield of protection for our nation.  If they’re always in the air, how do they keep them full of gas?  In the military, they do what’s called mid-flight refuelling. 

You need to learn how to do that in your life.  Mid-flight refuelling.

Divert daily, Withdraw weekly, Meditate Monthly, Abandon annually.

The fact is it takes energy to do God’s will.  So what do you do when you run out of energy? 

Psalm 94:19 “Lord, when doubts fill my mind, and when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer.”

Take little mini breaks during the day

How do you defeat doubt?  When you begin to doubt yourself, you remember three things:

1.  Remember God’s goodness yesterday

Praise file. The attitude of gratitude is the healthiest emotion that you can have.  Doctors have proven this.  Gratitude is the healthiest emotion there is.  You make a list of things you can be grateful for.

2.  Remember God’s presence today

He’s with me right now.  I’m not alone.  I may feel like I’m alone but I’m not.  I’ve just forgotten that He’s there with me.  He says, “I’ve promised I’ll never leave you or forsake you. I’m with you right now in this crisis.”

3.  Remember God’s promises for tomorrow

Over 7000 of them in the Bible…

That’s the positive side of finishing the race.  There’s a negative side too.  There’s something you have to resist.  You have to fight.  At the same time you’re doing the positive, you have to fight the negative.

4.  I MUST RESIST DISCOURAGEMENT

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.”

There’s a big “if” there.

Discouragement is a deadly enemy of your life mission.  It is one of Satan’s favourite tools because it works so well.

The Bible says you need to resist discouragement. Don’t give in without a fight.  Nothing worthwhile ever happens without endurance and energy.  Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.  It always takes persistence. 

When a stone sculptor is trying to sculpt a masterpiece, do you think the first time they hit the chisel with their hammer that everything’s going to fall off and it will be a beautiful sculpture?  No they have to keep hitting it and hitting it, chipping away.  And that’s the way life is.  Nothing really worthwhile ever comes easy in life.  It’s like you keep hitting it, going after it and little by little your life becomes a masterpiece.

You’ve heard me say this before:  Great people are really just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination.  They don’t know how to quit.    

In a crowd this size I’m sure many of you came today discouraged!  Some of you came in here and you’re discouraged about a child, your marriage, your job, your finances, your health or about a prayer you’ve been praying but the answer hasn’t come yet. 

I want to say something to you.  It may sound mean.  It’s not mean, it’s the truth.  I say this in love.  If you’re discouraged this morning, that’s your choice.  It’s because you’re choosing to be discouraged. You don’t have to be discouraged.  Discouragement comes from thinking discouraging thoughts and you can change your thoughts any time you choose.

It’s what you choose to focus on – my purpose or my problems, God’s power or my weakness, Christ or my circumstances.  What am I going to focus on?  You resist it.  Great people fight discouragement. 

Tip: When you get discouraged, ignore it. 

Galatians 6:9 (Living Bible) “Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.”

Habakkuk 2:3 (Living Bible) “These things I plan [for your life] won’t happen right away.  Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. 

Just be patient.  They will not be overdue a single day.” God’s timing is perfect. 

Many of you recognize this verse as the verse we have basically claimed as a church for 15 years. Why did the Lord put us on 9½ acres of land?  He had a bigger plan.  God had a plan and slowly, steadily, surely the vision was being fulfilled.  And it continues to be. 

The same is true in your life.  God’s delay is not a denial.

5.  I Must RELY ON CHRIST

Your life mission cannot be completed by human power alone. 

Colossians 1:29 (Living Bible) “This is my work and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.” 

1 Peter 4:11 (Living Bible) “Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies and God will be glorified.” 

Where God guides, He provides. What He calls you to do, He equips you to do.

He can take a talent, an opportunity, a skill, a hobby and use it as part of your life mission to help other people.  But you’ve got to rely on Christ.

Some of you think, “John, it’s too late for me.  I’d do it the first half of my life but I wasted it. My race is half over and so I’m not even going to try getting back in the race.” 

As I’ve said earlier, you have stumbled, yes.  You have gotten knocked out of the race.  You may have even been pushed out by other people.  But the race is not over.  It’s not over.  And it’s not how you start the race of life that matters!  If you are like me you probably blew that part! It’s about how you finish it that matters. 

Philippians 1:6 (Living Bible) “God who began the good work with you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished.”

Hebrews 12:1-3 (Message) Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Finish the race.  For some of you, get back in the race.  For some of you, start the race today.             

Acts 13:36 “David served God’s purpose in his generation, and then he died.”

I don’t know a finer epitaph to have on a tombstone that you served God’s purpose in your generation.  That is my prayer for you.

Let me ask you a very frank question.  What are you going to do about the rest of your life? This series is almost over.  What’s next?”  Maybe you need to go out and buy the whole set of tapes and listen to them again and work through the assignments and take it seriously. What’s holding you back?  What’s distracting you?  What’s keeping you from giving it all?

Prayer

Would you pray this prayer in your mind?  “Dear God, I realize that You made me for a purpose and that You have a race for me to run.  Please help me to focus on the finish line. Lord, make the rest of my life count.  Forgive me for all those times I’ve gotten distracted.  Help me to resist discouragement.  Help me to renew myself daily by spending time with You and just being quiet. Help me to rely on Your power to do what You want me to accomplish with my life.  Most of all help me to remember how much Jesus loves me and that because of the sacrifice He made for me that anything I’d do would be small in comparison.  I want You to lead my life, God.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  

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Supporting My Mission

The fact is, best intentions are not good enough.  It takes more than good intentions.  So we’ve been talking about fulfilling your life mission.  Last week we talked about the habits and skills you need to sustain your life mission. 

There’s at least one problem with that.  It’s difficult to develop good habits.  It’s hard.  It’s easy to develop bad ones but it’s difficult to develop good habits.  So you need support.  It’s always easier to learn something new when you learn it with somebody helping you – a partner, a friend, a coach, somebody encouraging you.

How do I support my mission?  This morning I want to specifically give you four relationships that you must develop if you’re going to become all that God wants you to be, if you’re going to fulfil your life mission. 

I want to suggest that you need models, you need mentors, you need partners and you need friends…

If you don’t get anything else I say this morning, get this because this is the message in a sentence:

The quality of your life will be determined by the relationships that you choose to develop

1.  I NEED MODELS THAT INSPIRE ME.

Of course Jesus is the ultimate model for our lives. 

John 13:15 “I’ve given you an example to follow.  Do as I’ve done to you.”

Jesus is our ultimate model for life.  But He was perfect and you’re not. Paul understood this and in Philippians he says

Philippians 3:17 (Living Bible) “Pattern your lives after mine.”

Have you ever used a pattern in sewing or woodworking?  If you’ve ever done any sewing you probably have.  When you use a pattern it’s faster, it’s easier and you make fewer mistakes.  We always learn quicker and we always learn better by models.  It is human nature to learn by imitation.

1 Thessalonians 1:7 “You became imitators of us and of the Lord… and so you became a model for all the believers.” 

As a baby growing up, everything you learned you learned by imitation. There’s only one problem with that.  As a child you didn’t get to choose your models.  You had no choice. 

Put downs? Workaholism? Avoidance, do a runner? Negativity!

The good news is this: you can change your model.  Now that you’re an adult you can choose what you’re going to model your life after.  You can re-pattern and you can re-program and you can re-parent yourself through the Scriptures and reading biographies and tapes and seminars and conferences and personal contact with good models in your life.  But you’ve got to take the time to identify who they are.

For years it was said that no human being could ever run faster than a four-minute mile.  They said humanly speaking the body is not made to run that fast.  Nobody will ever do it. Until one day Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. All of a sudden the barrier was broken.  Then within one year twelve other people had already broken that same barrier.  It’s no big deal today.  Why?  Because a model showed that it could be done.

Who are your models?

Who’s my model in parenting?  In money management?  In spirituality?  In my career?  Know those people and write them down.  That’s the first key.  But you need more than models.

So you need models in your life that inspire you. 

2.  I NEED MENTORS to advise me

What is a mentor?  A mentor is a personal coach.  A mentor is a trusted counsellor.  A mentor is a trainer. 

We all need personal coaches and trainers.  Historically, in Christianity, these were called spiritual directors.  If you were to study throughout church history you’d find that for centuries people would have what they called spiritual directors.  They would say, “Would you be my personal coach in my Christian life?  Would you help me to get training to grow as a believer, to grow spiritually?”

What does a mentor do?  A mentor brings out the best in you.  They keep you growing.  They help you in three areas.  They keep you with your roles, they help your goals, and they help you with your soul. 

It’s interesting that in some professions we’ve always had mentors.  In medicine, doctors mentor younger doctors.  In music, musicians mentor other musicians.  I got on the Internet this week and typed in the word “mentor” and found out that all kinds of organizations are now using the mentoring process.  The military is now doing mentoring.  Insurance salesmen now have programs for mentoring.  Management people, sales people, all kinds of different organisations.  It’s amazing all the articles on mentoring that are in vogue.  Why?  Because we learn best by models and mentors. 

Proverbs 19:20 “Get all the advice you can and be wise the rest of your life.”

Proverbs 15:22 says “Plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed.” 

There’s two ways that you can get the most out of a mentor.

1.  Ask questions. 

Proverbs 20:5 “Counsel in the heart of man is like a deep well but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

How do you handle stress? 

What have been the greatest successes in your life and what are the causes of it? 

What were the greatest failures in your life? 

What would you do differently if you were doing over? 

What kind of books do you read? 

How do you manage your time? 

How do you manage your money? 

What have been the greatest lessons you’ve learned? 

What have been the greatest surprises in your life?” 

2. accept feedback.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 says, “It’s better to be criticised by a wise man than praised by a fool.” 

Proverbs 25:12 (Living Bible)“It is a badge of honor to accept valid criticism.”

So you need models in your life that inspire you, I need Mentors to advise me, and

3.  I NEED PARTNERS THAT ASSIST ME

I’m talking about co-workers, team mates, helpers, a network of people that are committed to a similar life mission.

If you are committed to living a Purpose Driven Life, you’re in a very elite group.  And I congratulate you. 

You’re in the 1% of the nation. 

Most of the people around you are going to do nothing about what we’ve talked about in the last seven or eight weeks.  It only goes in one ear and out the other. 

When you’re climbing a mountain you better choose your partners carefully.  Because you’re tied to them.  If they go, guess what?  You’re going to!  You’re hooked in to them.  You better tie yourself into some partners who will support you in developing the habits and skills and relationships that you need to really make your life count.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better off than one because together they work more effectively.  If one falls down the other can help him up.  If someone is alone there is no one to help him up.”

Romans 12:5 (Living Bible) “We are all parts of Christ’s Body, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do.  So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.”

Jesus – the 12…

The truth is God has designed an organization to give you the partners you need.  It’s called the church.  The church was designed to help you fulfil your life mission.  That’s why you cannot become all that God wants you to be without tying into a local church and saying, “That’s going to be my family.  That’s going to be my fellowship.  That’s going to be my team.

You hear me talking about small groups over and over until you get tired of it.  When everybody’s in one I’ll probably stop talking about it.  

Did you know that Ben Franklin had a small group?  He named it, My Most Ingenious Friends.  They met every Friday night for forty years.  He attributes most of his intelligence and brilliance and great ideas to the fact that he had a small group of people around him that met every Friday night to stimulate each other intellectually, spiritually and every other way.

Did you know that Thomas Edison had a small group he met with.  He called it My Mastermind Alliance.  Over a six-year period that one little small group came up with over 300 patented inventions.  Why?  He got like-minded people with a similar life mission together and said, “Let’s think through where we need to go.”  Three hundred patented inventions out of one small group! 

Success is rarely a solo adventure.  You can’t do it alone.  If you get models and mentors and partners. 

If you’re going to make it to the finish line, if you’re going to finish your life mission you need models to inspire you, mentors to advise you, partners that assist you and you

4. I NEED FRIENDS THAT SUPPORT ME

One good friend is worth a thousand acquaintances.  You didn’t get to choose your relatives, you’re stuck with them.  But you do get to choose your friends.  The best friend will give you three things that you need.

1.  They give you emotional support

Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times and helps in times of trouble.” 

2.  They will give you intellectual support

Proverbs 13:20 “He who walks with the wise grows wise…”

They make you think.  They stimulate you.  They don’t dumb down you.  They get you to go and to be creative.

3.  They give you spiritual support

They build up your spirit, they don’t tear it down.  They draw you closer to Jesus, not further away. 

Hebrews 10:24 “Let us spur on one another to love and good deeds.” 

You need someone who’ll pray with you and pray for you.  You say, “That’s great.  I’d love to have a friend like that.  How do I get a friend like that?”  Be one.  I attract what I am. 

I know this is going to be difficult for some of you but I need to say it, if you’re serious about living a life Guided by Your Cosmic Mission, there maybe some relationships in your life right now you need to end. 

You need to just cut off some friendships.  Why?  Because the Bible warns about being closely linked, teamed up in a very close friendship, with people who have conflicting values.   

2 Corinthians 6:15 (Living Bible) “Don’t be teamed with those who don’t love the Lord.  How can light live with darkness?  How can a Christian be a partner with one who doesn’t believe?” 

I’m not saying you shouldn’t have any non-Christian friends.  How are you going to tell them the good news of God’s love if you don’t befriend them.

But your closest friends, your confidants, the people you tell your hurts to and the people you spend the most time with better be headed in the same direction you are or they’re pulling you down.  They’re limiting your life mission. 100% for the Lord…

You need to ask yourself a very tough question.  Am I willing to disobey God, waste my life and lose eternal rewards in order to gain my friends approval?

If you’re choosing to put anybody in this world’s opinion above God and you care more about their approval than you do about God’s approval, that person has in essence become a god in your life.

The Bible calls that idolatry.  And psychologists call it co-dependency.  And it’s wrong. 

You need to ask yourself some tough questions about your friends. 

Are they helping my life mission or are they hindering it? 

Are they building my values or are they tearing down my values? 

Do they cause me to grow closer to God or do they cause me to grow away from God?  

Any friend that draws you away from God is no friend.  They’re not doing you any service.  Your life is too important to waste.  There’s one relationship that has to take priority above every other one.  That’s your relationship to God.

Romans 5:11 (Living Bible) “We rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God – all because of what Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins – making us friends of God!”

Today I want to encourage you to take two very important steps. 

1.  Commit Yourself to deepening your relationship to God.

2.  Commit Yourself to deepening Your relationship with God’s family of believers in His church.

Prayer

Lord, I thank You for Your word and for how practical it is.  Help me to find models to inspire me, mentors to advise me, partners to assist me and Friends that will support me.  I pray that You would help us find relationships that make a difference, to not waste our lives in relationships that drag us down.  For those in unhealthy ones today, help us to break them off and to commit to you. Help us to establish good, healthy relationships with You and with those who are going in the same direction.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  AMEN

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Sustaining My Cosmic Mission

Clarify My Values, Outline My Shape, Surrender to God’s Mission, Prayerfully Mapping out my Cosmic Mission Statement; Organize my time around my SHAPE and Life Mission and for the remainder of this series – Sustaining and Strengthening My Cosmic Mission.

“If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.”  Ecclesiastes 10:10

Mt Everest – every year they fail…

Great disappointments – People who crash and burn, who are seduced by the world and the temporary…

Today we’re going to look at four important skills.  If I want to become all that God wants me to be, if I want to fulfil the purpose He put me on earth for…

1.  I MUST MASTER MY MOODS

You’ve got to be able to not just do what you feel but do what’s the right thing to do regardless of how you feel. 

Have you ever known something would help you and you’ve known it would be good for you, but you just never could find the time to do it? 

Specific example: for the past six weeks, I’ve been giving you a homework project.  And I know you’ve had every intention of doing those but… I’ll tell you what often happens… We are manipulated by our moods.  Have you ever realized that most of what gets done in this world is done by people who don’t feel like doing it?  If I only taught preached when I felt like it, I’d be here about half the time.  And if you only went to work when you felt like it, you’d only go to work every once in a while.  True maturity is when you learn to do the right thing regardless of how you feel.  It’s learning to master your moods. 

1 Corinthians 8:11 (LB) “Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic actions now.” 

Proverbs 25:28 (Living Bible) “A man without self control is as defenceless as a city with broken down walls.”   

You’re helpless and hopeless if you don’t have any self-control in your life.  So how do I learn to master my moods?  There are two very practical ways…

1.  By guarding my mind

Because whatever you think about is going to determine your mood.  Your moods are determined by whatever you focus on.

The way that you think determines the way that you feel.  And the way you feel determines the way that you act. 

If you want to change your life, you don’t change your behaviour or change your emotions.  You can’t force emotions – I command you to be happy!  It’s like telling a little kid, “I command you to cheer up!”  You have to change your thought life.

Proverbs 4:23 (NCV) “Be careful what you think because your thoughts run your life.” 

If you want to fulfil your mission, it means you’re going to have to guard what thoughts you allow in your mind.

2.  By affirming God’s word.

Every time we sing a song here on Sunday morning, we’re affirming God’s word.  We’re affirming the truth rather than filling our minds with trash. 

Affirming God’s word means believing what God says about my life rather than what I feel about my life.  I might feel incompetent but God says, “You’re competent.”  I may feel unloved but God says, “You are loved.”  I might feel unworthy but God says, “You’re worthy of My grace just because I made you.  You’re a child of God.”  I may feel like it’s hopeless but God says, “With Christ there is hope.” 

So you begin to affirm what God says is the truth rather than listening to your feelings.

Feelings can lie.  I remember the night before I got married I had this incredible feeling.  Run!    If I had followed that feeling I would have made the greatest mistake in my life.  Feelings are often the result of something you eat.  Or they’re the result of the weather outside.  Have you ever been in a conversation and somebody says something and all of a sudden your mood changes?  Why?  Because thoughts determine feelings and feelings determine actions.  So if you’re listening to negative stuff all the time on the radio or you’re always around people who are always down, you can’t soar with the eagles if you run with the turkeys. 

A very important lesson on faith.  Faith is acting before feeling.  It’s doing the right thing whether I feel like it or not.  This is an amazing truth.  If you wait until you feel it, that’s not faith.  Faith is doing the right thing even though you don’t feel it.  The amazing thing about this is that motion creates emotion.  In other words, you can actually move yourself into a new mood.

Example:  Sit up straight, raise your shoulders a bit, lift your chin, take in a deep breath, fill your lungs way down low and let it out slowly.  Put a big smile on your face and grin at me. Laugh, chuckle!  Now do all these things and say, “Boy!  I’m depressed.”  It doesn’t work does it?  Why?  Your body will not let your emotions do the opposite of what your body says.  That’s why body language can be read.  So if you’re depressed, get up!  Move around.  Do some exercise?  Take a shower.  Do whatever it takes to get going because you can actually move yourself into a new mood.  Motion creates emotion.

Motion controls emotion.

Psychologists call this the “act as if” principle.  But God had a word for it years ago.  It’s called faith.  Faith is acting before you feel it.  It’s doing the right thing whether your mood says to do it or not.

Philippians 4:13 (Jerusalem Bible) “There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the one who gives me strength.”

Real practical: I have no doubt that in the last six weeks, God’s been talking to many of you.   You know that He’s been telling you to do something.  And you’ve been giving Him all kinds of excuses and you say things like, “God, I don’t have the time!  I don’t have the energy.  I’m too old…  I’m too young … I don’t have the money … I don’t have the education…  I don’t have the talent to do this.”  Stop making excuses and start affirming God’s word.

Here’s your homework for this week: I want you to take some little cards and write down some Bible verses that are important to you.  Fill your mind with TRUTH…

There’s a second skill:

2.  I MUST MANAGE MY ENERGY

Even if you know your life mission, if you’re tired all the time, it’s not going to get fulfilled. 

So you’ve got to learn how to manage your energy.  If you’re in a state of continual fatigue, you are likely to be grumpy; you will miss key opportunities because “I’m too tired to do that”.

There are two types of fatigue.  There’s physical fatigue and spiritual fatigue. 

Physical fatigue happens when your muscles are tired.  Spiritual fatigue occurs when your emotions are tired.  Spiritual fatigue comes from things like frustration, expectations of other people, conflict, resentment, worry and anger.  All these kinds of negative emotions create spiritual fatigue.  When you’re physically tired, all you have to do for that is get some rest.  You sleep, you wake up feeling better.  Spiritual fatigue takes more than rest to get recharged. 

That’s why a lot of people are all stressed out.  They go for a week to Margaret River or Bali and come back and they don’t feel any different.  They took themselves with them!  The problem was inside. 

That’s why you’ve got to get into a small group, talk it out with other people, get into God’s word, fellowship, do some ministry to help other people.  There are other ways to replenish emotional or spiritual fatigue.

How can I best manage my energy so I can complete my mission over the long haul?  A couple of suggestions to manage your energy…

1) eliminate non-essentials in my schedule

Those things that really aren’t important; eliminating the trivia; you need to be aware of time wasters. 

Proverbs 12:11 (Living Bible) “It is stupid to waste time on useless projects.” 

Make sure, in your schedule, the important things get done first before anything else gets done. 

2) by taking time to relax

Proverbs 14:30 (Living Bible) “A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.” 

There are three kinds of time that you have.  There is prime time, grind time, and unwind time. 

Prime time is when you’re at your best.  And you ought to use the best part of your day for God and for the things that are the most important tasks. 

Whatever you’re really good at, whatever you really need to get done first, schedule that in the prime time of your day.

Grind time is when you have to do the stuff of life that everybody has to do.  Obviously, not everything you have to do in life fits your life mission.  It’s just stuff that has to be done.

Unwind time - you need to schedule time to relax.  You need to know what relaxes you.  Maybe it’s going out and having a hit of tennis, some other sport, come home and roll around and wrestle with your kids on the carpet.  (If your kids are out of the home, do it with your wife!)

Most of you know I have a saying: divert daily, withdraw weekly, meditate monthly and abandon annually.  That’s the secret to lasting. Jesus sleeping in the boat…

If I am to sustain my Mission I MUST MASTER MY MOODS, I MUST MANAGE MY ENERGY and…

3.  I MUST MAXIMIZE MY ABILITIES

I must maximize my abilities, the ability that God has given me.

We’ve been talking during this series how each of us have a God given shape or abilities and we can see in that SHAPE and abilities the way that God wants to form our life mission.  We are to steward this…    

1 Timothy 1:6 “Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you.” 

It’s like feeding a fire, putting the fuel in so that my abilities can be all that God wants them to be.

How do I do that?  There are two life long habits we can develop that will enable us to do that are through the…

1) habit of continual learning

Proverbs 19:8 “Do yourself a favour and learn all you can.  Then remember what you learn and you will prosper.” 

Life Journal – Notes Pages… Blank Pages at the back…

A second key to maximizing my abilities is through…

2) continuous serving 

1 Timothy 4:15 (Living Bible)  “Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so everyone may notice your improvement and progress.” 

How can I help somebody else?  Serving is the essence of the Christian life.  Jesus, when He came, said, I came not to be served but to serve.  I came to give My life.”  If I want to follow His example, I’ve got to give my life in service to others too.

God very clearly tells us that it’s through serving others we develop the abilities in our lives. 

There’s an aqueduct that the Romans built in 109 A.D. outside the little city of Segovia in Spain.  It served that city for 1800 years, bringing water into the city.  After that long they thought of it as a museum piece.  They built some pipes into the city and stopped using the aqueduct.   As soon as they stopped using it, as soon as it stopped serving, it began to dry up and crumble.

We’re made to serve.  We’re made to make a difference in this world.  So don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “I’m put in this world to be served by others.”

If I am to sustain my Mission I MUST MASTER MY MOODS, I MUST MANAGE MY ENERGY 3.  I MUST MAXIMIZE MY ABILITIES and

4.  I MUST MAINTAIN MY FOCUS

I told you in the very first week of this series that nobody intentionally plans to waste their life.  I’ve never met anybody who’s said, “I’m planning to fail.   I’m planning to just blow off my life and waste it.”  People, who waste their lives, do it by default.  And the problem is we get distracted.  It’s human nature to get distracted.

Luke 9:62 (Living Bible) “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder.  I have it, we all do!  I have ADD!  It’s interesting that recently I was taking some rubbish out to the bin… I have to walk thru the garage! Jordy’s tricycle needed a repair, paint brushes needed a wash, a sprinkler needed fixing, my bench needed tidying – 2 hours later!  We get distracted.

How do you keep from getting distracted from your life mission?

By having your quiet time with your journal and also having your diary nearby!!

Establish a daily review!  It’s where you take a regular time each day where you sit down and review that list of values (that you haven’t made yet) and then you look at your life mission statement (which you haven’t completed yet) and then you compare it to the goals you’ve set for the year (which you’re planning on doing) and then you sit down and look at it in light of your schedule and say, “Am I doing what I believe God has said is important to me?” 

The quality of your life will be in direct proportion to the kind of questions you ask yourself.  Successful people ask themselves the tough questions that unsuccessful people never even think about asking.  Questions like, “Why am I doing this?” “Why do I do what I’m doing?”  “Is it leading me to the right direction?” 

You ask yourself those kinds of tough questions, then you take God’s word and read it and let Him speak to you, talk to you back. 

You say you don’t remember what you read, you don’t have to!  It’s like eating a meal.  Two weeks ago on Tuesday you don’t remember what you ate that day.  All it did was get you through to the next meal.  That’s spiritual nourishment for that day. 

Three things determine the quality of your life: my commitments, my values and my relationships.  You better figure out what those are in your life or you’re not going to have a quality life. 

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 “The quality of each man’s work will be seen when the day of Christ exposes it… the fire will test it and show its real quality.  If (it) survives, he will receive a reward, but if it burns up, he will lose it…”

I want to put things on the line today!  I am fearful for some of you because it’s not like you don’t know what to do.  This is the basic life message of this church that God has a purpose for your life.  I shudder to think that one day you will stand before a Saviour with nail pierced hands. He asks “What did you do with your life?” and you say, “I had every intention of following my life mission but… in my entire life I never could find a single day to sit down long enough to pray and write down the values I thought were important that I ought to build my life on and build into my children.  I couldn’t find a single day to sit down to think through the four purposes You made me for and how that applied to my life, what my goals ought to be in my life as a result of that.  I never sat down and considered how those goals ought to be fit into my schedule.  I’m sorry.”  I shudder when I think about that.  One day God is going to do an audit on the quality of your life and I want you to be ready for it.

Prayer

I want to invite you to pray a prayer with me right now.  Say this I your mind, “Father I want to live a quality life.  I want to fulfil the mission You made me for.  I want to build my life on the values that are important and will last.  Jesus Christ, I need Your power to do what I know is best to do.  I need Your help in becoming what You intend for me to become.   Please help me to master my moods.  Help me not to live based on feelings but based on truth.  Help me to live by faith, to do the right thing even when I don’t feel like it.  Help me to take action on what I know is right and to affirm Your truths and promises so that my mind can be renewed.  Help me to fill my mind with Your word so that the scales will be balanced to the good side of truth not trash.  And, dear God, please help me to manage my energy, to make sure that the most important things get done.  Help me to maximize my talents, to never stop learning, to never stop growing, to never stoop serving.  I realize that all I am I owe to Your graciousness and I want to use the rest of my life learning about You and Your plan.  I want to use my gifts and talents to help other people.  Most of all, Father, I ask You to help me maintain my focus, to keep a close watch on my lifestyle and to not let a day go by that I don’t take some time, even if it’s just a few minutes, to sit down and talk to You about my life and look at it seriously and let You talk to me through Your word.  I ask You to help me in these areas.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen

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