Just do it!

 A life without a clear goal is like a ship without a rudder. No matter how virtuous you are, your life goes in circles, leading to no fulfilment. You will be frustrated and stuck.

David prayed in a psalm:

“LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. Ps 39:4 NRSV

What are the secret dreams in your heart of hearts?

Your dream could be the key that opens the door to your destiny.
But your dreams will lead to nothing without God.

On the other hand, we all need order in our lives. We all have duties that we have to fulfil. Without discipline, without routine, life becomes chaotic. Without order, your dreams permanently remain just dreams.

If you have a goal, you have to act, you have to do something.
If there is no order, can a family or a business function?

A football team needs a strict training routine. Everyone has to be on top form. Daily discipline is absolutely essential.  

But what is the goal?
Fitness? Punctuality at training sessions? Always obeying the trainer?
No.
    - Your goal is to win football matches.

And what is your goal as a team member? To be a good footballer? Partly for sure.

A champion team never consists of eleven good footballers.
You need first-class midfielders, defenders, strikers and goalkeepers.

But even that is not enough. You need fitness coaches, physiotherapists, sports psychologists and, in today's world, computer technicians.

Are you a Christian?
Do you want to be a good Christian? What does your routine look like?
Are you faithful and reliable in prayer and Bible study? Are you punctual and regular in meetings?

There's nothing wrong with that.
But what is the goal in your Christian life?

Are you a midfielder or a goalkeeper? Are you a fitness trainer or a sports psychologist?

We need to win people for Jesus, but what is your role and where is your mission field?
Are you gifted to evangelise on the street or blog on the internet?
Are you called to serve as a nurse in a mission in Africa or as a social worker in California?
Are you called to work in an office and pray for your colleagues with genuine love?

What is your thing?

• Some fast a lot and pray for hours in intercessory service.

• Others help the homeless, asylum seekers or prostitutes.

• Are you a housewife or a retired widow?

• Maybe you have a mission as a friendly neighbour and intercessor.

• Our cities need friendly neighbours.

What's your thing?
If you're not sure, you can still start doing something.

• You can ask God to give you direction.

• You can pray every morning, ‘’Dear God, what is on your heart?

• You can pray, ‘’Who should I contact today?

• Or ‘’How should I pray for my family or friends today?

• Or ‘’What is your priority for my life right now?

When you get a clear impression, don't push the thought aside.

Don't let yourself be distracted. Do something.

If you have a goal, you have to act, you have to do something. But if you act without a goal, you will remain stuck despite all your efforts.

If you don't have a goal, you probably won't achieve one.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jer 29:11 NRSV

Don’t be distracted.
Ask God for wisdom and then ... Do something.

What is your Purpose in Life?

 Abraham was a strong old man, but still an old man, that is, no longer a virile bridegroom. His wife was also way past her used by date.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Ro 4:19 NIV

But despite everything, Abraham had a promise from God.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Ro 4:18 NIV

If you receive a promise from God and don’t see its fulfilment so quickly, you must cultivate the virtue of hope.

Human hope can be little better than wishing. If you harbour wishes, you can merely dream without really expecting any fulfilment. But with God, hope is an attitude and a way of thinking in which we truly expect God's blessing.

Genuine hope is a gift of God, but we must put hope to work in our thinking and in our lives.

Faith and love are the key to life with God, but you need to have hope to keep your faith alive, so God can use you for his purpose.

And what is God's purpose for you?

God's purpose for Noah was to preach, to warn his contemporaries, to build an enormous ship, to save many animals and his family from the Flood.  

Is shipbuilding your calling? Probably not.

God's destiny for Moses was to free two million slaves and lead them through the desert. You are probably not called to do that.

David was a shepherd, poet, musician, and then a soldier, general, king and prophet.

Esther was an orphan and then a queen.

So we can see that everyone has a very individual destiny and calling.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel. Jdg 3:31 NIV

Shamgar was obviously a cowherd or farmer. He was also effective as a soldier, but not with conventional weapons.

David was a soldier, but in the beginning he fought with a slingshot.

Maria Luise Prean-Bruni has written a brilliant book on this subject.

‘Come into your destiny. God created you as an original. Don't die a copy.’

God created Billy Graham but only once. Everyone is different.

What is your calling?

What are your Priorities

 What is important in your life?

There are people who do not pause to consider their priorities.

A well-known management expert taught that a company must have clear priorities. If you have ten priorities, you have no priorities.

Many organisations have many rules, but no clear priorities.

But what's it to you? You are an employee and you simply have to adapt.

But you also have your own life. What are your goals in life? What are your priorities?

All the main characters in the Bible had clear goals.

• Noah was to build a ship to save his family and all kinds of animals from the Flood.

• Moses was to save the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and he led them to the Promised Land.

• Deborah was to lead the Hebrews in a war.

• After the death of her husband, Ruth determined to provide for her mother-in-law.

• God gave Nehemiah the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

• Paul was given the task of missionary work among the Gentiles in the Roman Empire and to plant new churches everywhere.

  What is important in your life? Maybe you have clear goals and priorities, but maybe not.
  
  Many people have a vague idea that they should be good Christians. But otherwise they don't have clear priorities.
  
  What is a ‘good Christian’? If your ideas of the Christian life only come from Bible teachings from your church or your family, you will always be torn by other people's expectations.
  
  Again and again we read in the Bible how an apparently ordinary person had an encounter with God and received a calling for their life.
  
  Do you perhaps feel frustrated because you have no clear direction in your life? God loves all his children with all his heart. Jesus is the great King of kings. If you are a son or daughter of a great king, should you remain an insignificant nobody? God forbid!
  
  God has important tasks for you. If you are always busy fulfilling all the wishes of your family or your church or your boss, you will not be able to hear God's guidance.
  
  If you do not yet know Jesus as your Saviour and guide, you will either be enslaved by your own drives and desires, or you will be enslaved by other people.
  
  There are selfish, self-centred people who deal with all kinds of addictions, porn, alcoholism, drug addiction etc.
  
  On the other hand, there are virtuous people of duty who are enslaved by the desires of other people.
  
  Jesus wants to set you free, but not so that you can always satisfy your own desires.
  
  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Co 9:24 NIV
  
  But the Christian life is not a competition. Paul does not mean that only a hero of faith should win God's prize.
  
  Every Christian has a unique calling from God, a very special mission in life. If your life is based only on religious duty, you will never find out what God's purpose is for your life.

Your new life with Jesus

 If you have entrusted your life to Jesus, you have begun an entirely new life. .

Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. 2 Co 5:17 GW

You are no longer the same person. You are a son or daughter of the Father in heaven. You have eternal life.

    Your eternal life has already begun and will never end.

    You are already a citizen of the eternal kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God.

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 Jn 5:12 NIV

Jesus is the eternal Son of God. His life belongs to you and your life belongs to him.

    You have an eternal love relationship with God.
    You are IN Christ and the Spirit of God is in you.

Because Jesus died on the cross for your sins, you no longer have to die for your sins.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Ro 8:11 NIV

Because you are in Christ, God will not only provide for your needs. He will also bless you with amazing gifts of love.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Ro 8:31–32 NKJV

God's abundant grace has not been given to us to be selfish like spoiled children.

God gives us His heavenly power, wisdom, healing and love to save the world, to bless our fellow human beings, to rescue people from darkness and hell.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jn 3:16 NKJV

Jesus rose from the dead, but he did not remain on earth, but returned to his Father in heaven.

Now we are his representatives on earth.

    Jesus has no hands on earth except your hands.   

Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. Mk 1:40–42 NKJV

What Jesus began, God wants us to continue.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

... they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17–18 NKJV

Jesus' wounded feet are now healed, but you can still see the scars in the sky. Jesus is now walking on streets of gold.

Jesus now has no feet on this earth but your feet. Will you go now to those who need eternal life?

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Mt 28:19–20 NKJV

Finding Your Direction with God

What is your goal in life?
Do you have long-term goals, or a calling that is clear and distinct in your mind?

Or is your daily life dominated by duties often imposed on you by others? Without God's wisdom, you will not get far.

Are you at the helm of your life, or is it more like someone who is struggling to row your boat?

But some devout Christians might object that you should never be the helmsman. Jesus is your captain, and you just have to row obediently.

But we are not called to submit like robots or driven slaves.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NIV84

But this freedom does not mean that you should be self-centred. Such a life is meaningless. You have a high calling to take part in God's wonderful plan.

But how can you know God's plan and God's guidance for your life? We all have the same Bible. It is God's instruction manual.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 NIV84

But what is my part to play in this mission? What is your role in God's plan?

I was a language teacher and am now retired, but I am still active in God's mission. I read, study, pray and write blogs.

John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon were wonderful preachers. They had the same Bible, but they did mission very differently. John Wesley was an itinerant preacher and Charles Spurgeon was the pastor of a large Baptist church in London.

In a football team, not all are goalkeepers and not all are strikers. Some are also physiotherapists, coaches, bus drivers or managers. A sports club also needs accountants, groundsmen and security staff.

As Christians, we are on God's team. Your coach is not first and foremost your pastor, but Jesus Himself.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:10–11 NIV84

To follow Jesus, we need wisdom from God himself, hour by hour.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 NIV84

We all have questions that we can only answer with God's wisdom. These questions are often vital.

• "How do I see my situation now? Dear God. How do you see my situation now?"

• "I see on the screen of my mind a scene from my past, a rather clear memory. It suddenly comes to mind, unrelated to my present situation. What does it mean? Do I see a person? How should I pray for that person?"

• "My brother has been mentally ill for years. How should I pray for him?"

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26 NIV84

God has given us his Holy Spirit to help us as a comforter and guide. If we do not have this help, the Bible is only a dry religious textbook for us.

Don't Give Up. Hope Again.

Abraham and Sarah were way past their used by date but God had promised them a son.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Romans 4:19 (NIV) 

 

But Abraham refused to let go of God’s promise.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Romans 4:18 

If you have a promise from God and you get tired of waiting, you need to build up your hope muscles.

Human hope is often just wishing. Wishing so often leads to frustration and broken dreams but the hope that God gives has power to change your life.

When your hope is in God, you expect God to act. God can do it. If you belong to Jesus, you have an eternal hope. 

This life is a preparation for heaven. Death is nothing to fear. 

But this life is not just waiting to go to heaven. You have a purpose and a calling from God. God put you here on earth for a reason. 

God has a plan for your life but to fulfil God’s plan on earth, you need Faith and Love but you also need to Hope. God’s plans take time.

Noah was called to build a great ship with the help of a small family. He took many years but he finished it. 

God called Moses to take 2 million slaves out of Egypt and to lead them to the Promised Land.

David was a shepherd, poet, musician, soldier and then king.
Esther was a Jewish orphan who became the Queen of Persia and saved the Jews.  

Different people, different plans. Possibly you are not called to be a ship builder, a national leader or a soldier.

Often God calls unusual people to do unusual things in very unconventional ways.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. He too saved Israel. Judges 3:31 

David was called to be a soldier but he won his first battle by hurling a stone at Goliath.

I knew an unusual woman who said she was called to be an evangelist. Everyone knows an evangelist preaches on a platform with a microphone, so some people didn’t take her seriously. Then she left our city and travelled around the country, making connections to other unusual people and telling them about Jesus. 

I once read a book about this. “God made you as an original. Don’t die as a copy.”

God only made one Billy Graham but He also made you as one of a kind, a limited edition of one.

What is your calling?

FINDING DIRECTION IN YOUR LIFE

Where is your life going?
Are you choosing your direction, or are you reacting to life as it comes? Are you navigating towards your promised land or are you serving as a crew member on a ship going somewhere else? Do you know what your destination is, or who is directing your course? Is your life being pushed and pulled by your employer, your family or your church?


God designed you to be a unique agent of change, to impact this world for Him. God made you in His own image, not to be a second rate copy of your parents, your teachers or a preacher or leader. If you live to please other people, you have missed your reason for living.
Does that mean you should forget other people and just please yourself? Of course not. When you live only to please yourself and fulfil your own dreams, you make yourself the God of your own life. Any sensible person should realise that this is crazy, yet it is a popular idea today. And look what a mess people have made by playing God!
God created you in His love and He loves you. He has a wonderful plan for your life. He wants you to find Him and to work with Him to live out his plan. He won’t do it for you and He won’t do it to you. He wants to live WITH you and for you to live WITH him.
For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (TLB)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (ESV)
Why do you and I need Jesus? We have messed up this world. We have all contributed to the darkness around us. We often think there must be something better but we just muddle through by guesswork.


There is an amazingly good God who made this world for Himself. He gave this world to us, to be His sons and daughters but we have taken this world away from Him and messed it up. He wants His world back but He doesn’t want to take it away from us. But we can only share this world with God if we are reconciled to Him as our Father.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (ESV)
You may have heard that Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sins. If you turn to Him in faith, He will forgive your sins and you will have eternal life, and enjoy heaven when you die.
All that is true but God’s plan is much bigger than that.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Revelation 21:1 (ESV)
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
We often hear preachers invite people to turn to Jesus and receive eternal life. God has a wonderful plan for your life.
But after you turn to Jesus and join a church, no one talks about God’s wonderful plan for your life. You find yourself just pleasing people at home, at work and at church. You were saved from sin, from condemnation, from hell but where is God’s wonderful plan?


IT IS STILL THERE AND YOU CAN FIND IT.
But you must find it in God and walk that way with God. Only God can show you and only God can lead you in the way He has prepared for YOU.