Tag Archives: Goal

God’s Plan for You

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plansEver feel like your life doesn’t have a plan?  Like you are drifting with no purpose or even reason for being around?  I know that we can all feel that way sometimes.  We can be in a place, at a point, where just aren’t sure what it is that we are to do, we can be unsure of even God’s plans for us.

And that feeling can gnaw at us.  It can make us question ourselves, our worth, our ideas, our dreams, everything.  It can make everything seem wrong, it can make everything seem pointless.

It can make us seem like there is no reason for any of this.

When we feel like that, let’s not live just where we feel.  Let’s take those feelings and compare them to what God’s Word says.  Listen to what we are told today in Isaiah 49: 1-3:

Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

God tells Isaiah – before you were born, I knew you.  Before you were born, while you were still in the womb, I call you.  You have a purpose.  You have a cause.  You have a reason.

You do.  Now, the specifics of your life, I don’t know.  I’m not sure of that.  But I know God’s plan for you.  I really do.  I am 100% certain of God’s plan for you.

Want to know?  It’s right there in verse 3.  You are God’s servant.  And He will receive glory through you.  That’s God’s plan for you.  That’s your purpose.  That’s your reason for existing.

To bring glory to God.  Now how does this happen?  By living the way that God would want.

And what does that look like?  Jesus tells us – to love God and love our neighbor with all that we.  That’s the entire point of it all. That’s what you are here for.  That’s what I am here for.  All of us.  To love God and love our neighbor.  That’s your purpose.  That’s God’s plan.

Now the specifics, I don’t know. But you know how you’ll find out?  Live out your purpose.  Love God.  Love your neighbor. And God will show you the specifics.

God has amazing things in store for you today and through your life.  Amazing.  He has a plan for you.  May we be faithful to the plan that He has shown us.  And in doing that, may He shows us the specifics of our life!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

What Counts

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flat,550x550,075,fEverything in life demands something of us.  Our time.  Our resources.  Our heart.  Our passion.  Our work.  Our sweat.  Our schedule.

Everything in life that’s good, that has a purpose, that can accomplish something, it demands something of us.  Everything.

Everything.

So, the question is not will you give of your time or your talents or your gifts.  It is not will you give of your resources.  The question is this.

To what will you give these things to?  Will you give these things to things that are passing, or will you give these things to things that counts.

Jesus poses it this way in Matthew 16: 25-26:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

So, if you give everything, and gain everything, but in that process lose your soul, what have you really gained?  If you give yourself to your work.  Or your hobbies.  Or your whatever . . .

And you lose your soul, what have you gained?  Nothing.

Are you giving yourself to what counts?  Are you living for what counts?  Are you focused on what counts?

Today, we will give part of ourselves, our stuff, our everything away.  Are we giving it to what counts?  Are we living for what counts?

Cause if we can everything that this world has to offer, but focus on the wrong thing, what have we done?

Faith, family, friends.  These things.  They matter.

May we live for what truly counts.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Goal

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Yesterday at Asbury, we spent some time teaching what it is that Christians believe? What is that we hold to? What is the foundation of our beliefs? We didn’t dig into specific “doctrine” but looked at the basics of what Christians believe and hold to.

And we talked about how we are not “saved” by doctrine, but saved by grace through faith, lest no man can boast. So, if you have to believe just the right thing to be a Christian, guess what just happened. You had to “do” something to be a Christian and thus you earned your salvation. You salvation is dependent on you doing something right, not through faith. So, as important as doctrine is, it doesn’t save us.

So then, what is the point? Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy today in 1 Timothy 1:3-5:

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

GOAL-BLOCKPaul tells him to make sure that people aren’t teaching false doctrine of things that don’t matter. Why is this? The goal or aim of the command is this – that love arises from a pure heart and good conscience and sincere faith.

The goal of belief, the goal of theology, the goal of doctrine is to make you a better disciple. Is to make you love God and love your neighbor better. Is to help you to be faithful in knowing His grace and sharing His grace.

That’s the point of it all. That’s why we do it. That’s what we are here for. To know grace and show grace. To share God’s love. To point folks to the freedom and power in Jesus Christ.

Today, don’t let differences in small things separate us a Christians. Let’s hold to Jesus. Let’s hold to things that truly matter. And let’s point others to Him.

Today, the goal of our beliefs is to love God. And love neighbor. That’s why we hold them. That’s why we believe them. That’s what they are about and for.

Today, may we be faithful. May we show that love to all that we meet.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What is our Goal?

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Sometimes in our lives, we feel like changing ourselves and our actions can be a hopeless cause. What can we possibly do? What can we do to make ourselves better, or more holy, or more obedient?

When we try, we fail. We try to be good. We try to behave. We try to do right. And when we do, we find ourselves falling time after time after time.

As CS Lewis said – “No man knows how very bad he is until he has tried to be good.” The frustrating thing can be trying so very hard to do good, to do right, to get it right; and then we fall down

So we quit trying. What’s the point? We’ll never do it right. It will never happen. There’s no reason. We’ll never be good enough to get it right.

Strangely that’s what God is saying through Ezekiel 36:25-26.  Listen to what He says in this passage.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh

Notice, God doesn’t say that you will do this, you will do that. God says, I will do it. I will sprinkle you clean with water. I will give you a new heart. I will remove your heart of stone.

God says I will do it. You can’t do it on your own. It’s not possible.

So, who does it? God does you.

You can’t change yourself. God can change you. So, today, you goal shouldn’t be to be a “better person.” Your goal should be to draw close to God.

If we draw close to God, He will do the rest. He will take care of the rest. He will clean and change us.

Being perfect a daunting goal. Drawing close to God, that’s a goal we can do today. He will clean us, He will change us.

Today, our goal is to draw close to God. May we do that will all that we have!