5 Real Life Ways to the Life God has for You

What does it really take for a Christian to succeed? How can we go from where we are to the place that God wants us to go? There are some skills that are necessary for each Christian. Sometimes we can have such a broad generalization when it comes to our Christianity that we put everything under the umbrella of being a Christian and none of it protects us from the ups and downs in our life.

The following are skills that will help us succeed. They will help us get in the place of where we can go from just trying to be a better Christian to actually being able to see God change our lives.

1. Read the Bible.

Most times we treat this as a chore and not as a necessity for life. People struggle to read the Bible everyday because our approach to it is wrong. Instead of approaching it like a child that doesn’t want to do chores, we should approach reading the Bible as a kid opening gifts on Christmas day. We have to find a way to make Bible reading  enjoyable and not a chore. Bible apps such as YouVersion and BibleGateway are excellent tools for this.

2. Pray.

Prayer can become one of those things that we take for granted and don’t fully give ourselves to. Without it, we can’t get the best or the fullness of our relationship with God. He communicates with us through prayer. When we need to be encouraged or get direction, many times we get those things through prayer.

3. Write down what God says.

If you’re like me, there are have been plenty of times either during prayer or meditation when God will give me something. Some instructions, an idea, or inspiration that I need. Too many times I’ve told myself that I would write it down later. Only to not be able to remember what it was that was so important in that moment.

4. Take steps of Faith.

There have been many times where God gave me an idea and then I still fail to see it manifest in my life. I can get in my head where I want to see the big picture or I want to see what the end will look like before I take the first step. I’m continually working on this. To get over this, the first thing to do is to take a step. Just one step. Then another. Whether you call them baby steps or steps of faith, the point is to get moving in the direction that God is telling you to go.

5. Develop Consistency.

In the world that we live in, everything has to be done in the fastest way possible. We need things faster and faster than any time in the past. There are times when I get frustrated with my WiFi signal, and I have to remember the old dial-up signal and how slow that was. While there are times that God can bring things to us instantly, I have found that even in those times, I have to consistently seek God out. I have to be patient and make God a real priority in my life and not a genie in a bottle.

This list is not exhaustive when it comes to succeeding in life. These five things will, however,  set up a foundation to build on. I’d love to hear from you on the success and struggles of doing what God has called you to do.

Words, Words, Words

How Important are My Words

Are our words important? How does God view what I’m saying?

In the Bible we can see that how important words are to God. He created the world by speaking. He always emphasized the writing down of His words to His people.

There used to be a time in our culture/society’s past where all a person had to do was give you “their word” that they would do something and you could consider it done. Now it is almost a novelty that someone will do something solely based on their word. This should not be so.

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

–Proverbs 18:21

Our words are this important. Have you ever noticed that people who speak negatively or dwell on bad things tend to have bad things always pop up in their life. It seems like they go from one crazy situation to another crazy situation.

Don’t Be Scared

A word of caution here: Don’t be scared to the degree that you’re never going to say another word. That’s not what God wants either. Be encouraged that while we now know how important our words are, God also has given us the right words that we should be saying. Words that encourage people and not tear them down.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”zy971″ via=”no” ]Our words can bring Life or Death[/ctt]

Our words can bring life or death with them. Why would I want to speak death over the person that cut me off in traffic? Do I want to speak death on my boss for writing me up for something? In the moment that these things happen we may say “Yes”, we want to say something to these people. However, God has called us to be better than our feelings.

We Have a Choice

We have a choice in the words that we say. Will it always be easy? No, it won’t be easy and there will be times where people or situations will test us. Even in those moments, God has made a way for us to speak the right words.

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” –Psalm 91:1-2

This is an example of what we can say when times are hard or when we don’t know what to say. It helps us to remember to take time to go to God before we react to every person or situation.

How have you kept an eye on what you say?

Staying the Course

Where Are We Going?

Stay The Course

Many times as Christians we hear the phrase “Stay the course.” While it sounds great and most people would agree its necessary, few understand what it truly means?

Staying the course should start with “a course”. I’m currently writing this while I sit in an airport terminal. There is a hustle and bustle as the sea of people make there way from one place to another all with a specific destinations in mind.

What is the course we are on? Where are we going? Observing the people in the airport I notice a couple of things that I think can be applied to our spiritual lives.

FOCUS

1. The destination is the focus. Whether exiting from a flight, making a connection, or boarding a flight people are walking with a focus. There are signs, “Terminal C”, “Gate 27”, and as people look for the specific location that will take them to their destination they are determined to make it where they need to be. God has a destination and plan for everyone. We should pursue it purposefully like we do when we are in an airport.

DISTRACTIONS

2. Ignoring the distractions. Walking through an airport, people are so focused that they do not stop for the distractions that surround them. We know how important it is that we make it to our destination. We know the investment that we have made whether money or time and how valuable it is that we make our flights. There are so many times that we know God has given us something to do, but we let distractions get in the way. When it comes to doing what God wants, there seems to be a ready made distraction waiting.

 

TIME

3. The time is accounted for. By this I mean that when we know we are going the airport, we calculate the cost of our time. We think of how early we need to leave home in order to get the airport. We think of the car ride there, the weather, and how much time we will need to get through security. When we want to see God’s plan in our lives we need to do the same thing. Let’s think of the “cost.” Do we need to rearrange our schedule? How much time do we need to commit to this to see it come to pass? What other areas of our lives do we need to commit to God and what will it cost?

I don’t believe that staying the course is as hard as we make it out to be, if it’s important to us. We can absolutely finish, whatever it is. Let’s tell ourselves that it’s important and then treat it as such. The things that we value, we make room for in our lives. We can do this! Once we do, we’ll race to see God’s amazing grace and plan come into our lives.