Can you believe it is already March of 2019? It is hard to believe that we have already seen two months pass by this year. Time is sure moving faster. (By the way, time stays the same, we just miss it because we get so busy.)
How are you doing on your spiritual goals?
Some people set spiritual goals at the beginning of the year, were you one of them? If so, how much progress are you making towards your spiritual success?
Whether you are making progress or you simply need a reset, allow me to offer a few suggestions to get you back on track for this year. Below are a few simple suggestions to help you continue on the track of spiritual success. Take a moment and see which one will help you.
A Proverb a Day – Did you know that Proverbs has 31 chapters and several months have a total of 31 days? Take time and read a chapter of proverbs a day. (Example: on day 1 read Proverbs 1; day 2 read Proverbs 2)
Make Service A Priority – To really grow as a Christian, you will find that attending services will help you grow in two ways: (1) Closer to God and (2) closer to your brothers and sisters. The Hebrews writer says that brethren can “stir up one another.” (Hebrews 10:24)
Pray like Daniel – Reading through Daniel, you find that Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). As a result of his prayer life, you see the benefits of strength. Schedule sometime to pray at least twice a day and make it a goal to achieve at least three.
Teach the Young Ones – From the beginning, the Lord wants us to teach the young people about Him and the riches of His blessings. Teaching the young of the blessings, begins in our daily conversations. Take a moment and read Deuteronomy 6:1- 9. Make it a goal to mention God daily.
Remember to Teach Others – One of the goals for every Christians should be to teach others the lifestyle of Christ. Paul mentions to Titus that the younger should teach the older in Titus 2 and this is a great pattern to learn about the walk of a mature Christian.
Be Thankful – As the Lord blesses us each day, let us thank Him for His continual blessings. The blessings we have come from the Father (James 1.5). Remember to thank God daily in everything He has provided. (Colossians 3:17)
Moving is a mixed bag of emotions. When you begin to move, you begin taking an inventory of everything you own as you pack them into boxes. If you have ever moved once, you understand what it is like to find things you forgot you owned and find things you never knew you had.
Beyond the boxes, are the small, but important technical details like changing phone services, hooking up utilities, changing insurance and a variety of other things. Throughout the moving process one of those things you cannot forget is to leave a forwarding address.
A forwarding address makes sure that your mail will arrive at the right house, but it also is for others to know where to contact you. Leaving a forwarding address is a key for many people because they want to be sure people know where they are so they will be able to have them visit and stay in contact.
While we are packing, moving and settling in to our home, the preaching mind I have could not let it pass without thinking, “Where is our spiritual forwarding address?”
Do your family and friends know where you are going?
The Bible speaks of our citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). I believe it is this reason that Paul encourages Christians to set their minds on things above and not on this Earth (Colossians 3:2).
Even Jesus left his followers a forwarding address of sorts,
“Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe on God, believe also on me. In my Father’s house there are many abodes; were it not so, I had told you: for I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be.
“And ye know where I go, and ye know the way. Thomas says to him, Lord, we know not where thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus says to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father unless by me.”
(John 14:1-6; ESV)
Does your family know your spiritual forwarding address?
Alzheimer’s has robbed Michael Joyce of his memory, so he forgot he’s married to his wife of 38 years.
Uniquely, he knows he loves her, so he asked her to marry him. Linda agreed, thinking he would soon forget, but he didn’t. The next morning the 68-year-old Michael asked, “When are we doing this?” That question began the process of putting together a plan for the married couple which live together in Frankton, New Zealand, to once again wed.
Michael woke up on their wedding day and proclaimed, “Today’s the day!”
They exchanged vows at a scenic lake near their home on January 20, 2018 with friends and family gathered to support them. The 64-year-old wife/bride wrote, “Amidst the often sad and frustrating times living with Alzheimer’s… there is joy!”* The resilience of love has a way of pleasantly surprising us.
Love is more than just a feeling, it is actions founded upon the commitment one has for another. The original language of the Bible uses different words for love. Each word has their own meaning and their own purpose.
In the marriage relationship, the commitment one has for the others is shown, not just in the word, “love” but in the actions shown. Those actions consist of honor, respect, commitment, protection and grace. Take a moment and read through Ephesians 5.21-33 and notices the actions of love between husbands and wives.
Further, notice how the love of a husband and wife is compared to Christ and the church.
Lisa Brennan-Jobs is the daughter of Apple’s famed founder, the late Steve Jobs (1955-2011). She recently wrote about her final visit with the father from whom she was often estranged. About a month before he died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56, Lisa heard words of regret spill from the emaciated, dying icon.
He told her, “I didn’t spend enough time with you when you were little. I wish we’d had more time.” She told him it was fine, but he replied, “No, it’s not okay. I didn’t spend enough time with you. I should have spent the time. Now it’s too late.” He looked into her eyes, teared up, and then said, “I owe you one.”
During their final weekend together, he repeated that phrase over and over, “I owe you one.” Sadly, regrets often leave us with an overwhelming sense of impossible indebtedness.
Have you read of Peter’s regret? Remember Luke 22.61-62 – “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Peter’s regret for his decision did not mean he stopped living. In a few short weeks, it would be Peter’s words to echo throughout all time on the day of Pentecost.
Do you have any regrets?
If so, are you letting your spiritual regrets stopping you from knowing Jesus? Peter didn’t. Even though he made a mistake, he knew there was much more in store for his life because of Christ.
Most people have heard of Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet is not only among the world’s wealthiest individuals, but he’s also established himself as one of the biggest philanthropists by giving away over $30 billion.
Being the most successful investor of all time obviously seems complicated, but Mr. Buffett has stated, “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”
Mr. Buffet’s statement apples to many areas of life. While he was speaking of investing, the concept can be applied to spiritual things as well.
Take the statement that people can make easy things difficult and apply it to evangelism. Many times, Christians have made evangelism more difficult that it is. People can develop systems, procedures, checklists and techniques, but many times the greatest results are found in the easiest ways.
Do you remember John chapter 1?
In John chapter 1 a personal invitation was given to go and see Jesus. There was no class or checklist, it was the simple passion that someone had as they met Jesus.
Have you mentioned Jesus to anyone this week? Have you, out of your passion for Christ, shared with them the gospel?
Let’s not get so weighted down with techniques that we forget to speak from our hearts about Jesus.
Possibly from the time many of us were younger we heard the word “priority.” We heard it in school regarding studying and paying attention in class. In church services we heard it when it comes to putting God first. At work, we heard it used regarding projects that needed to be accomplished.
A little “priority” history – In the 1400s, “priority” came into the English language. It meant the “very first thing,” and was singular. It wasn’t until the 1900s that people began to pluralize this word and speak of “priorities.”
The word “priority” is of Latin origin and there does not seem to be any plural form of the word. In fact, the term “priorities” in Latin is a different word.
The singular nature of the word meant there was one thing greater than all the rest. Rather than having one priority or one first thing, it was illogically believed that we could have multiple things that were of greatest importance.
In truth, we can create the illusion of having many things being our priority but in fact we’re declaring nothing is. Sometimes we even us the term, “multi-tasking” to give us a reason for multiple priorities.
Regarding Bible translations, the New Living Translation of Matthew 6:33 captures this idea well with, “make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” Everything else is secondary – maybe very important, but secondary.
