Tag: goals in life

Focusing on the Process Not the Results

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

How many did you win? How many did you sell? How much profit did you make? These are the clamorings of men and women who trying to measure their success against their perceived plans.

Sometimes it pours over into the things we do in service to Our Lord. How many attended the 11am service? How much did we collect at the offering? How many responded to the altar call? How many were baptized? Man’s desire to satisfy/gratify his own need is insatiable.

Man’s desire to convert God’s work to his own plan is a common practice. Our Heavenly Father has a different plan. Almighty God does not call us to results. Jesus did not tell His disciples to go out and win souls. He asked them to go out and teach the people about having a relationship with Him.

Jesus did not give His disciples a quota, nor does He give us one. He simply asks that we teach the world around us about the relationship that we have with Him.

Let us go out and develop relationships with others so that they will be interested in knowing our story. Let us be prepared to tell them about Our King and His saving grace. Let us trust in the Lord to inspire our listeners to receive His eternal gift.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in knowing that it is Your will that no man shall perish. We thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus. We pray, Father, that You will use us to teach the world about Your wonderful salvation plan. We ask for the grace to set aside our own personal desires and plans so that we may fully submit to the perfect will and plan that You have for our lives. Through the presence and power of Jesus in our lives, may we make disciples of others. We ask all these things in the name of the One who shall have dominion, Jesus Christ.

The Price Paid for Self-Reliance

Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We have been raised in a world where goals, objectives and top line results are everything. We feel measured by the things that we have and the things that we have accomplished and pressured by the things that we are trying to accomplish. We have been trained to be independent and self-reliant. This is absolutely upside down from the kingdom of God. Our all-sufficient Lord promises that He will meet our every need.

Although Our Lord promises us that He will provide all that we need and all the desires of our hearts, we must realize that these promises are conditional. We must first seek His kingdom and the righteousness that living in His kingdom requires. Then all of these things will be given to us. Food, drink, clothing or whatever other worldly sustenance that we need will be given to us freely and liberally. We are able to receive these gifts without having to think about how they will come, without having to concern ourselves about the timeliness of their arrival and, most importantly, without due consideration of our own merit or our own capability.

Let our great goals in life be set based on our relationship with Jesus Christ. Let all of our objectives be directed toward putting our relationship with God first. Let us set aside our need to worry over our results. Let us receive the truly abundant life that has been promised to us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundant life that awaits us when we seek You first. We bring You all the honor and glory for being Our Provider. We ask Your forgiveness for seeking the things of the world before You. Teach us, Lord, how to prioritize our lives according to the principles of Your kingdom. May the Holy Spirit enlighten us so that we may live in Christ and not in the world. We ask all these things in the name of Our Promised and Abundant Provision, Jesus Christ.