Goals: Being prepared for eternity

Because we're trapped in time, it's really easy to have our focus on the here and now. Rightly so because if we don't take care of ourselves, our families, our responsibilities we'll find ourselves in need or impoverished without cause.

But this life is merely an internship for the next life. There will be an end to this age and we'll be launched into a time where Jesus reigns on earth as a just King and making right all the wrongs.

We could spend hours, days, even years debating end time theology. But I don't have the heart or the time for it -- and frankly, some of the debating and hairsplitting isn't holy or benefitting. We can read the Bible and know! God's Word is not for the ivory towered intellectuals. It's for all of us.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God has written eternity on our hearts. We're supposed to want to "live forever" and "be immortal." But we must pass from this life to the next either by 1. Death or 2. Jesus return while we're alive.

Either way, we have to be ready to stand before Him and give an account of our lives. There is a reward system. I don't completely understand it, but I know God will reward even those who've given a little one a cup of cold water. Matthew 10:42.

He loves to reward. Don't feel like you have to "earn" it or something, He's looking for and recording as many things as He can to reward us. It's not like my old boss who insisted I write reviews on my team with a criticizing focus. She was never concerned about listing their success, only their failures.

Not so with Jesus. In fact, He's looking to turn our failures into successes. So here's the deal. Let's not be afraid to live life, to take a chance, to go for God's will while we have the time.

Let's not be bogged down by the passing pleasures of this world. Turn off the TV. Put away foolish things. Cut out friends or things that hinder your run in race. Set your heart and mind on Jesus. Trust me, He'll put you to good use.

He's not going to sign you us for the team because He needs another person or two on the bench. Nope, Jesus needs a team of quarterbacks, tail backs, tackles, lineman, offensive guards, defensive tackles. Punters, kickers, special teams.

You know, some guys want to play football so bad they go out for the team with a "sign me up, Coach" attitude. Remember Rudy from the movie... Rudy? He wanted to play Notre Dame football so bad he was willing to be a scrub, beat-the-crap-out-of-me practice player. He was on the team only to make the real players better. He didn't even get to suit up on game day.

But he hung in there, he endured an extreme time of testing so that... what? He might win the prize! And win the prize he did.

Do you know any other Notre Dame football player's names from those Rudy years? I don't. But I know about the too small, too inadequate player who finally had his moment of glory on the field.

We must live this life with eternity in mind. With our own moment of "glory on the field" to come. We must be prepared for whatever play Coach calls. By the time Rudy was called up, he was one tough son of a gun.

Be ready. Live your life with purpose. You do not know when God's going to say,

"Rachel, you're up, get in the game."

"What? Lord, I'm 50 years old. You don't want to use me, do you? I've waited all this time. I've gotten fat and lazy. I haven't read the Word or prayed consistently in years and... and... I've been living out my destiny by watching American Idol and Oprah."

"I need you in the game. This is your moment."

"Coach, I don't know the plays. I'm 50, remember. Most players are called up in their 20s and 30s."

With a kind sadness, He gazes into her eyes. "But I've been waiting for this moment for you. I've had this slotted since the foundations of the earth... for you. Didn't you know? Don't you remember all the touches on your heart where I reminded you? You actually thought I forgot you?"

"No Lord, but it seems I forgot about the destiny you wrote on my heart."

Don't give up! Live with eternity on your heart. If for some reason you're not called into the game in this life, you most certainly will in the next. Be ready. Hold fast. Stay in "training."

JOY!

This week, yeah, I know where I'm going

I've never been a super detailed person, but I've always set goals and figured out who and what I wanted to be.

Most of us set goals too large. Too loose. Too undefined. Like, "I want to be rich by the time I'm 35." Okay, cool, what's the plan?

Or, "I want to get married and have kids." Awesome. Family is the fabric of life. What's the plan to marry a good, compatible spouse? How do you plan to feed, cloth and educate your children?

Me? Those big long range goals and plans hardly ever pan out. I mean, do you see my name on the New York Times Bests Seller List? Or has Oprah called? Hollywood -- well, once but that's another story. More to come on that hopefully.

So, we set these big goals and we end up disappointed and discourage because some pie in the sky didn't land on our plate. More likely, it landed in our faces.

When I asked my good friend Stuart Greaves how he set his heart for the big things God has for him, he said, "I just don't picture the outcome."

So wise. So much truth. I've begun to offer up the large expectation of my heart back to Him and forget about the out come or what "that" will look like.

In my gut, I know there's more to come. I know God has more for me. I've felt it. I've had people mention pretty incredible things to me, things they see or feel from God for me. But I cannot make any of them happen. I cannot!

I can only do what God gives me to do today.

And what is that? Finish a book. Help a couple of writer friends with ideas. Write a short piece for Southernbelleview.

This week, I know I have to finish The Wedding Dress, keep up exercise, hang with Jesus and clean my house. That's it. I have room to juggle in case something unexpected comes my way, but I know what this week is about. That's what God has for me. That's my goal. That's what I'm doing.

Set goals you can see and obtain. Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.

Next week, I'll reassess, set new goal, start thinking of things I can't think of when I'm finishing a book. Getting to The End is pretty consuming -- time, heart and mind!

Don't live by the tyranny of the urgent. Live a designed life!

The week in between

The week between Christmas and New Years. I'm never quite sure what to do with this week.

Work?

Play?

Vaca?

Piddle around between work and play?

In my corporate life, I had this week off and it was play and vaca time. I'd visit family and friends. But now that I'm self employed and work at home, this is the oddest week of the year.

What to do with the "week in between?"

I have a deadline for March 1 and am a few thousand words away from finishing the first draft. I really need to use this week to finish. And I will. I will!

BUT, my husband is home, on break from church and school. He's asking me if I want to "go to lunch" or "see a movie." Ahhh, yes!! But, um, No!!

This is the week I assess my life. How did I do last year with my goals and disciplines? What do I want to do differently next year? What do I need and want to change?

During the "week in between" I feel like I can do anything and everything. Yes, I can exercise an hour a day with Tony Horton five days a week. Yes, I can eat salad for lunch every day. Yes, I can spend at least an hour a day in prayer and the Word. Yes! I can write the best book EVER in six weeks. Yes, Yes, Yes!

Then January 2nd hits. I'm sluggish and tired, and I don't want to spend an hour with Tony Horton making my body hurt. I don't want salad for lunch, but a sandwich. What? Write the best book ever in a month and a half. Fergettaboutit.

But hanging with Jesus? I must! I will! I can do without all the rest. But not Him. I'm not perfect by any means at carving out time for prayer and the Word. I get distracted, tired, even bored. Not with Him, but with myself.

The best things in life come with discipline, focus and setting goals. Being determined. Yet even so, we need God's grace and vision for our lives to enable us to do the very things He's put on our heart to do.

So, what will I do with this "week in between?" Write. Assess. Pray. Get ready for 2011 knowing God is good. Knowing He loves me.

My biggest goal for 2011? To tap into His divine nature. After having a "joy attack" over Thanksgiving, I'm realized I can do more, be more, than just existing and surviving. I don't have to "not" have a panic or anxiety attack, or worry attack. I can actually engaged God's divine nature and experience JOY and PEACE, and LOVE at a holy level.

Look here: 2 Peter 1

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

³seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

That is an unbelievable statement. We can become partakers of His divine nature! That's my goal for 2011. To gain understanding and insight into this.

What about you? What's your plans for the "week in between" and 2011?

Setting up for success over failure

I am a fan of goals. They are vital sign posts on our life road map. No goals, no plan leaves us in debt both physically and emotionally.

Far to often we let the tyranny of the urgent or the power of our weaknesses rule our lives. We want to live for the moment instead of living toward the overall plan. We let circumstances, the emotions and will of others dictate to us.

After high school I dated an FSU man (I know, what was I thinking?) who asked me to marry him. At nineteen, I wasn't ready for marriage even though I loved him. See, I had a plan. College. Career. Living on my own, becoming my own woman.

Marriage was for the "some day" the future would bring 'round. I always had this sense I would be older when I got married. Hubby proposed a few months before my (our) 31st birthday.

I made a lot of mistakes and wrong decisions in my life, but I honestly believe more bad decisions were thwarted by having plans, goals, and dreams.

As a Christian, I always consider the God factor. What is His will? What does He need and want me to do? His Kingdom come, His will be done. Yet, I'm convinced following and surrendering to God does not require me to be a limp rag, kind of muddling through life waiting for "God to speak."

God speaks way more often than we are willing to listen. But far too often, not as much as we'd want. Or in the manner we want. I don't stub my toe and ask, "God, what are you saying?" Beloved, we really need to learn to discern, be lead by the Spirit. Connect with the Spirit of God that lives inside you! Col 1:27.

For me, following God requires complete surrender, but surrender of specifics. My heart and mind, my desire for college, for marriage, for a writing career. I put it all at His feet.

I even surrendered my right to have children. He asked for it. I gave it. And in this life, He didn't return my surrender to Him like he did marriage or writing. But I'm going to live forever (Ecc 3:11) and I can't even imagine what He has in store for me in the realm of motherhood! Can't wait.

This life is a vapor. We can't get to wrapped around the axle of wealth and beauty, fame and acceptance or what others think because the age to come is beyond our comprehension. We need to live for the eternal not the temporal.

So back to goals. How can we make the most of this life so we are prepared for the next? Are you facing 2010 with a realistic view of yourself, of God? Are you like me, tend to want to do everything? After watching the One Thing Conference from Kansas City via the web, I was ready to be a full time intercessor-singer!

But God has called me to write as well as pray.

Most of our soulish eyes are bigger than our soulish stomachs. We bite off too much in January and by March are sliding down the mud hill of failure. I suggest we avoid that this year!

Here are my thoughts on setting goals for 2010.

1. Get before the Lord in prayer. Pray with your Bible open, reading and talking to God. Getting Divine inspiration from the Word.

2. Evaluate what's already on your heart. What do you love? What passions are humming beneath your skin? Answer this question: "Whenever I hear (x) my heart skips or I get glow of excitement." What's (x)? If you don't have the (x) factor, ask the Lord to awaken your heart.

3. Believe God has a destiny in Him for YOU. Believe He has called you, He loves you, He has good for you. If you don't believe it, say it, pray it until you do.

4. When you feel confident about a few things, write down your goals. One or two. I'd say no more than five major goals. Spread them out so you aren't starting all five at once. NOTE: I highly recommend you do not start dieting and exercising at the same time. If you are already doing one, sure, add the other. But if you are a couch potato intent on shedding a few pounds this year, choose one to start out: exercise or diet. Not both. You'll fail at one, then the other and quit. Unless you go on the Biggest Looser. Then you have no choice.

5. Share your goals with one or two other people for the purpose of accountability and encouragement. Cause sooner or later we all stumble along the trail.

So, what are some of your goals for 2010. Be specific. Last year, one of my goals was to complain less. I think I did pretty well. Not perfect. But I did repent a lot of complaining!

This year, I plan to be more intent about prayer and the Word. I am really focusing on being diligent with my time. I don't have TV, and we don't watch a bunch of movies so I have plenty of time to write, read and serve the Body of Christ but I seem to waste time on email and Facebook. Perhaps for me, I need a realistic plan about the part of my writing life that involves communication with readers and maintaining a cyber presence. Food for thought.

Well, there's one from me. What are you all doing?