In review of Ephesians 3:20 it says, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (The Message).
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within me, to accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever.
His power at work in me can do far more than I can ever dare ask or imagine. In my union with Christ and through his empowering Spirit, I can be complete. I have all the fullness of God available to me. But I must appropriate this fullness through my faith in Him and in my prayers as I live each day for him. I can ask the Holy Spirit to fill every aspect of my life to the fullest.
Setting goals is important because the Bible tells us that Jesus set goals. In fact, he often announced publicly what his goal was for the next phase of his ministry.
So why should I set goals? Here are three things I have come across this morning:
1). I need to set goals because it is a spiritual responsibility. If I don’t have goals for my life, I have already decided to let other people run my life. When I don’t decide in advance what’s important, I’m letting other people decide. I end up wasting my time and my life, because I haven’t clarified how I want to grow as a follower of Christ. The Bible says that to be spiritually mature, I have to set your goals and move toward them as I keep my eyes focused on them. Paul said in Philippians that, “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize . . . I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. All of us who are mature should think in this same way” (Philippians 3:12, 14-15 CEV).
2). I need to set goals because they are statements of faith. As a believer in Jesus Christ, when I set a goal, I’m saying, “I believe that God wants me to accomplish this by this time. This is what I believe God is going to do in my life.” Goals aren’t just a statement of faith. They stretch it. The bigger my goal, the more my faith will be stretched. And that pleases God. Ephesians 3:20 says, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (The Message).
3). I need to set goals because they focus my energy. Focus is the key to an effective life. If I spread my energy out and diffuse it over a whole bunch of things, I won’t make an impact at all. But if I focus my life, it’s going to be powerful, and it will change the world around me..
Afterall, I don’t have time to do everything. But here’s the good news: God doesn’t expect me to do everything! The key to being effective in life as a follower of Jesus is to do what matters most and forget everything else. Goals will help me maintain that kind of focus. “I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26 NCV).
Bottom Line:
His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine.
What this means to me:
By means of his power working in me, I am able to do so much more than I could ever ask for, or even think of.
In summary, His power at work in me can do far more than I can ever dare ask or image. I have the privilege of having all the fullness of God available to me. But, I must appropriate this through my faith in Him and in my daily prayers as I live for him. Setting goals is import, as Jesus set goals. I need to set goals because it is a spiritual responsibility. If I don't I'm letting others decide and I will end up wasting my time and life. I have to set goals and move toward them as I keep my eyes focused on them. Secondly I need to set goals because they are statements of faith. I'm saying I believe that God wants me to accomplish this by this time. I also need to set goals because doing so will focus my energy. This way I won't spread my energy out and diffuse it over a whole bunch of things and not make any impact. I don't have time to do everything, so the key to being effective is to do what matters most and forget everything else. Goals will help me maintain that focus.
As I reflect on the past year, I'm not sure I had goals of my own that I focused on. Especially at work, I let others decide for me base on not being focused on what I know I needed to do. I never really thought of goals as being a statement of faith in doing what God would have wanted me to do. Without my own specific goals at work, I was not able to focus my energy and make the impact I wanted to. I will consider today what kind of goals I need at work to do the things I know need to be done.
Father I thank you for your blessings and your never ending love for me. I pray today for your continued wisdom and guidance in my job, leadership and response to others. I ask for you to help me focus and have clarity on the goals I need to establish for what I know needs to be done at work. Also help me consider and do what I can to help out in ministry at church (perhaps a small group discussion leader at Financial Peace training.) These things I pray in your Son Jesus name, amen!
0 comments:
Post a Comment