Praise JESUS CHRIST!!!!
Greetings, my beloved friends and family! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me today as we continue on our ordained journey to finish what we start! It is my absolute joy and privilege to be able to speak into your hearts and minds the wonderful Word and strategies of our Beloved Savior and LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Today we must discuss the topic of not only starting each day GREAT, but also FINISHING GREATER than how we began. With this in mind I would like to verbalize what I believe is the key to not only starting and completing each day with the Greatness of The LORD, but also the key to enduring a successful and profitable life, as we walk with Jesus as our number one Ally and Friend along this road we call LIFE!
The key to living a fulfilling life is utilizing the God-Given ability we possess to set and finish strategic goals. I say strategic because we have to set a strategy as if we were preparing for a battle that we could not afford to lose! Actually we are preparing for a battle. As a Christian, we are given the Wisdom of Almighty God that we are in a Spiritual Warfare. Sometimes, just our having survived yesterday, and waking up today, still thanking God, is a battle that by the Mercy of Christ we have won. Life is a series of battles. Some are lesser than others, but with every battle, although we may have come out victorious, more than likely there will be some sort of wound or bruise. Our total healing from all of life's trials and tribulations can only be found in the Grace and loving Countenance of Jesus Christ. However, I'll reserve that topic for a future blog. Be sure to remind me!
In this collection of faith-filled words, my intent is to get you started in the right direction of becoming a vessel apt for the Master's use, and creating not only an innate desire to fulfil the Will of God in your life, but to also accomplish every dream, goal, and Christ-like intent in order that you might rejoice in The LORD daily no matter what satanic opposition comes against you, and that you may be the Salt and Light Jesus designed you to be so that the world would see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. The impetus to get you started on the right path of attaining your desires, is the effectiveness of setting, maintaining, and fulfilling your goals!
The first step in goal setting is to decide what exactly you want. It is very difficult to attempt to prepare a plan of action if you don't know what you hope to attain as a result of the action! Before we begin the act of preparing our goals, I would like to emphasize that there are Spiritual Goals, Personal Goals, and Corporate goals. I would suggest that you prayerfully consider not only what the Will of God is in your life, but also ask Him to show you what talent's He has already placed at your beck and call in regards to His Will, Plan, and Purpose for your life. The best and easiest was to find out the Will of God for your life is to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness in His Word. The Holy Bible is the only accurate and true source of the intents of Jesus's Heart. We not only learn the attributes of our Savior by intense reading of this 'gameplan' for life, we also learn about ourselves, as we see close range the triumphs, mistakes, pitfalls, and tragedies of other men and women of like passions as we. Simply put, before we talk about any personal or corporate goals, we must discuss the imperative matter of pursuing Spiritual Goals!
Spiritual goals will vary from person to person. A spiritual goal may be your endeavoring to read the entire Bible in a year. It may also mean that you would set a goal to spend 20 minutes in the morning, evening, and night in fellowship with your Creator. It might mean you've decided to not leave a conversation with anyone without talking about the Goodness of God. Of course each of us is different in our spiritual walks with God, so you do whatever God places in your heart. But remember, in order to live a successful and fulfilling life, without regrets, we must have Spiritual goals! I know and believe the most important goal we as Christians should pursue is to live a life pleasing to God. I'm not saying necessarily what man says is pleasing to God. I'm saying what God's Word says is pleasing to Him. This is why it is imperative to KNOW His Word for yourself, and your spirit will soar on the beautiful heavens of the Will of our Creator!
The next category of goals is Personal Goals. Personal goals involve, but are not limited to, what you would like to accomplish in your own personal life. These goals include such things as writing a book, losing weight, quitting smoking, spending more time with loved ones, finishing college, having a successful business, attaining a certain amount of wealth, and the list continues. These are all worthy goals, and should be pursued, according to the Will of God in your life. This is one of the main reasons we need to have our Spiritual lives in tact before we pursue our BIG dreams and desires!
The last category of goals is Corporate goals. These aspirations involve what you would like to accomplish with the community of individuals God has placed in your life. These include family goals (i.e. - Having a movie, or family night with your spouse and children weekly), Church goals (i.e. - planning with the Pastor missionary trips, fund raising, feeding the homeless, visiting the sick, communing with the imprisoned, etc.), business goals (i.e. - having performance incentives in the workplace or at your business, partnership, or corporation), or community goals (i.e. - planning block parties for your neighborhood, having barbecues or swimming trips, taking a group of underprivileged children to Church or the movies, etc). These Corporate goals in a sense are more worthy than personal goals, however, we must have our personal lives in tact before we can effectively minister to the masses!
I mentioned earlier that before you can plan your goals, you must know exactly what you want. What do you want in life? What would you like God to accomplish in your life by this time next year? What resources are available to you to accomplish your goals? Will the goal be an immediate goal, short term goal, or long term goal? Will you need the assistance of others to accomplish your goal? Do you possess the necessary funding to achieve your goal? Do YOU believe you can accomplish this goal? These are all questions that must be considered when you are striving to accomplish something great! These are only a few questions. I'm sure you can think of many more. This is why you MUST know what you want before you can create a goal setting plan. This takes prayer, and may take soul searching. But it can be done! Remember, you can do ALL things through CHRIST which strengtheneth you (Philippians 4:13)!
Now, before I delve deeper into how we are to plan, perfect, and pursue our goals and to discuss what IMMEDIATE, SHORT TERM, and LONG TERM Goals are, I want you to first spend some time in prayer, seeking and listening to God. Ask Jesus to give you Wisdom even as you rest tonight about what He would have you do. Ask Him to clear out all clutter in your minds and hearts in order that you are sincerely ready to pursue all that He has envisioned for your life. Read your favorite Bible Chapter tonight before you retire for the evening. If you don't believe all that the Bible states about Jesus being our only Way to Salvation, I would suggest that you read in the Holy Bible (preferably the King James Version) The Gospel according to St. John Chapter 3 tonight. You may accomplish goals in life seemingly without belief in Christ, but when the goal is accomplished, without this belief, you WILL NOT garner real peace or fulfillment!!!!
If you are just joining us on this journey of Finishing What We Start, I would suggest you take the time to read our previous blogs. These will help you effectively manuever the roads, peaks, valleys, and mountains of life. Remember, we are Starting Great, and Finishing Greater in EVERY aspect of life. Please join us tomorrow as we discuss the intricacies of proper goal setting. You won't want to miss it! Thanks again for joining us today and everyday, and leave a comment, share the link to these articles on your various social media pages, and make your friends and family members aware that this blog is on line! Remember, we deal exclusively with REAL POSITIVITY! That REAL POSITIVITY is maintaining a life focused on The Only REAL POSITIVE we have, JESUS CHRIST! Be Blessed!
(c) 2011 Writings With The Finger of God
Tomorrow: Delving Deeper into Goal Setting
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