This morning I sat down to read, opening to 2 Timothy. I am preparing for a sermon I will preach in a couple of weeks, so I read with extra attentiveness Paul’s words to his friend, Timothy.
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1, 12
It strikes me that Paul lived with the end in mind. He was convinced of his calling and everything he did fell in line with that purpose.
What determines the trajectory of your life? Are your actions haphazard or directed by the end goal?
The strategic planning exercise we participated in at Ashland University challenged me. I had done the same type of activities in other settings, but our instructor simplified it for us.
He suggested the process to get from where we are to where we want to be includes three elements:
No matter what we are hoping to achieve, this simple formula can be applied.
Read: 2 Timothy 4:7-8
I love the confidence Paul had knowing he had reached his goal. As I keep my outcome goal before me, I want to be able to say that I, also, have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have remained faithful!
How about you?
There I sat with a colossal mess! Dave came home and I sheepishly told him that I understood if he was upset. There was no blame coming from me if he was. And I led him to the chaotic mess in our backyard.
And he loved it! Not the mess so much, but the idea and where I was going. He was in line with the end goal. Now I had someone to help me take it from an idea to a reality.
He quickly suggested a couple more items that could help with the leveling and we started up the tractor. Away we went! By the end of the evening, we had something that looked much more like a level fire pit area complete with two boulder retaining walls.
If you begin with the end in mind, it helps to narrow down what you want to add or subtract in your life to help you reach the goal. Along the way, you just might run into someone, like my husband, who sees where you are going and can mentor you on the way.
Years ago I participated in a study of Rick Warren’s book “Purpose Driven Life.” During that time, I crafted a purpose statement for my own life. It goes like this:
My purpose in life is to reflect God’s character and further His loving purposes in the world around me.
I agree, that is a broad statement. But it is this broad statement that has guided my life and practices for many years. If I am considering a change, I filter it through this sieve. Along the way, this statement has been narrowed and tweaked, but for the most part, it remains constant.
If that is my end goal, how will I reach it? If I am to understand God’s character and his purposes for the world, I am motivated to read scripture, looking for those answers. And then ask myself: What part do I play in his story?
Read: Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 86:15; Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:25-26
There are many other tools necessary to develop a sense of God’s character and his purposes. Hanging out in a community of people who love God is vital. Listening for God’s voice everywhere I go and then doing what he says cannot be ignored. Time in solitude and silence, reading spiritual writers, listening to music – all have played an important role in my development as a child of God.
Yesterday, I asked you to consider the question: What do you want to be true of you? Today I ask you to ponder what tools you need to get there? Does something in your life need to change? Something added? Something deleted? Do you need a mentor? Someone who shares your vision and can walk with you for awhile?
Remember, anything left to chance will disintegrate, not flourish.
A few years ago I attended a conference at Ashland University in Ohio. The presenter gave us a strategic planning exercise to develop our spiritual lives. His first admonition: begin with the end in mind.
Soon after we moved into our house, I decided I wanted a fire pit area. Dave was home for lunch and we discussed where we would put one. As soon as he left to go back to work, I recruited my oldest daughter to assist me in the construction and I got busy. I was certain I could be done before dinnertime.
I first gathered some power tools – the chain saw, brush cutter, rakes, shovels, etc. Then I realized I also needed the tractor, so I brought it out. Emily and I started cutting and blazing a trail in the area we had selected. Soon I was able to use the tractor to start pushing the dirt around, digging out brush roots as I went. After a couple of hours, Emily had to to go to work and I was left alone with the tractor and my power tools.
I continued working, but soon realized I was going to need help. Discouraged, I turned off the tractor and my power tools and went in to await Dave’s arrival. I was sure that if anything would tip Dave over the edge, it would be the mess I made trying to create a fire pit in one afternoon.
Part of the problem was I didn’t really know how to get where I was going. I had a slope of land covered in bushes and undergrowth. I gathered tools appropriate for the task. I wanted a fire pit. But I hadn’t really considered the sloping terrain or how difficult it would be to get the ground level. I didn’t consider how to get to my end goal.
Where are you hoping to be in one year, five years, ten years? Do you have a vision for what you want to achieve, but haven’t considered the process of getting there. Failure to plan translates into failure to thrive. That is true for any part of our life – physical, emotional, spiritual or relational. Anything that is left to chance will disintegrate rather than flourish.
Let’s begin with the end in mind. Here is a question to get you started:
What do you want to be true of you?
Read: Psalm 15 – this psalm might give you some ideas to get started if you aren’t sure. I’d love to hear what you want to be true of you.
The focus at our house the last week has been the landscaping. Memorial Day means different things to different people. For some it is graduation, for others a wedding, for others remembering a fallen comrade. For me, it is my deadline to have the landscaping cleaned up and mulched. This spring has been slow in warming up with a few warm days scattered among many more rainy, cold days.
Today is a day for remembering and honoring those who have given their lives in support of our freedom. To those who have loved ones who lost their lives fighting for our freedom, I honor you and give thanks. May today be a sweet time as you remember your loved one.
This day, for many, has expanded to include remembering loved ones who have gone on before us. Many people will take flowers or other symbols to decorate headstones at gravesides. If you are one of those today, I stand quietly with you as you remember the life of your loved one.
This year will be the 10th anniversary of the passing of my father and I want to honor him today. He was a quiet man with strong convictions. He loved his family and he faithfully followed Jesus in all he did. He knew no stranger, only a friend he hadn’t met yet. He was stable, strong and loving. I still miss him and will occasionally wonder, “what would Dad do?”
Dad had a favorite verse I would like to share today.
But I am not ashamed of it (the gospel), for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
2 Timothy 1:12
I want to live with the same kind of confidence and strength I saw in my dad. May your day be filled with good memories of those gone before and may those memories be filled with peace!
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13
This is an awesome reminder. Too often I see obedience to Christ as a powerfully difficult job. But in reality, when I am obedient to what God says to my heart, I increase my sensitivity to his voice. And the desire to do what pleases him grows as well as an increase in the power to do it. This is all work he is doing on my behalf while I focus on obedience.
May your Sabbath today be sincerely restful, renewing and filled with joyful surprises of His presence and power!
I contain the treasure of God in a common clay jar. Troubles come and go, but nothing is here to stay. I fix my gaze on what is eternal rather than temporary. I am a new person because of Christ so I don’t look at myself or others from a human view point. Because of God’s work in me through Christ, I am sent out as an ambassador for God. I invite others to experience the life changing power of Christ!
Read: 2 Corinthians 6:1-2
It’s unnerving to know that I can receive the best news ever and then ignore it – live as if it wasn’t true. And that is just what I do some days.
I live as if I am an ordinary clay pot containing only dust from when I was formed on the potter’s wheel. Subject to the trouble that comes my way, I live under a cloud of doubt and despair. I forget I am a new creation, commissioned to be an ambassador for the Almighty King of heaven and earth. It is no wonder I drag around like Sadness!
Today is the right time! Today is the day of Salvation! Live like you were meant to – filled with God’s Spirit, destined for greatness in His Kingdom!
Image credit to: https://media3.giphy.com/media/SXCQWrsob9TGg/200w.webp?cid=790b76115ce56914434770674d185e83&rid=200w.webp
We are common vessels containing the brightest treasure.
Troubles come but they are passing through.
We are new in Christ and cannot be evaluated by human standards.
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
In our government, an ambassador is the highest ranking individual a president can send to a foreign country to be his representative. In the reading today, I learn that I am God’s ambassador. I represent him here on earth and promote his message of peace and reconciliation. I invite people to return to God!
I imagine not all ambassadors to foreign nations are in complete agreement with our president’s mission. In fact, I imagine that some don’t represent him well at all.
Unfortunately, as a followers of Jesus, we don’t always represent him well. For that, I offer my sincerest apology. We do not always do well. We forget who we are and what we have to offer. We forget not only to share the message entrusted to us, we often don’t know it in the deepest part of our souls.
Today, I invite you to take a fresh look at Jesus. He said no to sin and autonomy because I wasn’t able to. He made it possible, by taking my place in death, to reconcile me to God. And he offers to make me new, heal my wounds, restore my joy and give me purpose. He is as interested in my life right now on earth as he is in spending eternity with me.
I am his ambassador and as his representative I cry: Come back to God! He waits for you.
Here are my takeaways from reading in 2 Corinthians 4…I am a fragile clay pot containing a great treasure – the glory of God. When I invited Jesus into my life, he filled me with his presence, the Holy Spirit. He shines in my heart. I am priceless because of him. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
Troubles will come my way…guaranteed. But they are small and will soon pass on – like the storm clouds. The sun will shine again. In the meantime, I am changing and growing into the likeness of the One who lives inside me. I fix my gaze on the things I cannot see because what I can see will soon be gone. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:15-17
My takeaway…Jesus died for everyone and gives his Spirit to everyone who believes. Therefore, I cannot look at people in the same way. I am a new person, changed forever. My purpose, goals, lifestyle are all impacted by the one decision to live for Christ who died and was raised to life for me. The same is true for you.
How often do I evaluate myself and others from a human point of view? I employ the criteria of our culture to determine value, creativity, usefulness, productivity, beauty, lovableness and purpose. Well, that’s just silly! Today it makes me smile inside to know that human criteria cannot begin to determine my worth. I may look like a common vessel on the outside, but inside I am packed with treasure. And so are you, friend!
Out of the Chaos 