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Monday, January 5, 2015

Goals Will Help Me To Do What Matters Most

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!”

Bottom Line:
God can do anything, far more than you could ever imagine, guess or request. Even in your wildest dreams.

What this means to me:
God is able to do and accomplish infinitely more than I could ever think or dare to dream of. He does this through his mighty power at work within me.

As the new year begins, it’s always a time for thinking about and setting goals for the coming year. The Bible shows us that Jesus set goals. He often announced publicly what his next goal was for the next phase of his ministry. Likewise it is good for me to set goals. If I set the right kinds of goals, God will accomplish much more through me than I could ever imagine.

First I need to make sure that I set goals. It a spiritual responsibility. If I don’t have any goals for my life, then I’ve ultimately decided to let others and circumstances run my life. If I don’t decide in advance what’s important, then I’m letting others decide it for me. Without focus, I’ll end up wasting my life, because I haven’t clarified how I want to grow as a follower of Christ.

The Bible reminds me that to be spiritually mature, I have to set a goal and move toward it as I keep my eyes focused on it. Philippians 3:12-15 say, “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, 14-15a CEV).

Next, I need to set goals because they are essentially statements of my faith. Its essentially 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 can be so much more than statements of faith; they call actually stretch my faith if I construct them properly. The bigger my goal, the more my faith will be stretched. And stretching and acting in faith 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!” (MSG)

Also, I need to set goals because they help me focus my energy. Focus is the big key to an effective life. If I spread my energy out and diffuse it over a whole bunch of things, then I won’t make any impact. However, if I focus my life, it can be powerful, and it can change the world around me.

In this life, I don’t have time to do everything. The good news is that God doesn't expect me to do everything! A key to being effective in life as a man of God is to do what matters most and forget everything else. Goals 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).

I think it’s important to set goals that will make a difference in the kingdom and not ones that are completely selfish. It’s also good to establish goals that help to build my skills, especially ones that can help others. Setting these types of goals reflect that what God desires is a high priority for my life. As I begin to set goals for the coming year, I will be important to focus my time and energy on things that will really matter. Setting goals is a responsible way to demonstrate my faith and to help me keep focused in the coming year.

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