God Prepares the Way

Dr. Mike Life in Christ

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Ephesians 2:10 ESV.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

One of the joys of walking with the Lord is knowing He goes before you. Instead of manipulating circumstances or people which causes division and relational conflict, Christ-followers have the distinct honor of leaning on their heavenly Father in searching out the best means before them.

The fact is God has an eternal investment in you and wants you to succeed in life. However, not the way many people think of success. His desire for you and me is to build Christ-like character which leads to a productive life. The problem is most people want a productive life without the character.

When you know that God cares for you more than you realize, wants what is best for you, and has already prepared the way for you, your only challenge is to discover it and walk through it. How does one discover it?

Simple answer: By growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ; not only intelligently, but relational. We need to hunger for a love relationship so intimately with Him  that we can rest our heads on his “bosom and hear his heart beat.” We need to develop a relationship with Him were we know how He communicates with us. Whether through His Word, Spirit, our conscience, that slight nudge, or that inspired thought that comes outside our mind, we need a thirst for more of Him and less of us.

Biblically we see how John the Baptist prepared the  way for Christ. How His Father led Jesus through planned events which fulfilled scripture and proved that He is the Messiah. We see how the Spirit led apostle Paul throughout his ministry. We see the same with many others throughout the Bible. Even Jesus mentioned that he is preparing an eternal place for us.

In summary, you were created to do good work which God prepared beforehand for you to do (Eph.2:10).  Lean on Him and He will unwrap it for you.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Accountability – Maybe

Dr. Mike Life Tools
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity…Heb. 6:1 ESV.

Imagine if God didn’t do his job. If He decided to take time off and leave the universe operating by itself; without anyone accountable or responsible for its maintenance. Some in fact believe that is precisely what God has done. These are our deists friends. They believe God created the universe, walked away, and then left everything for us to operate and finish the work. Yet we are reassured throughout Scripture that God is on his throne and continues to be involved in the lives of his children. He is not an absentee parent. He takes personal responsibility for the rearing of his children.

Now some of us may prefer to have him neglect his involvement in their life, but I for one appreciates his graceful, untimely interventions. Otherwise this life may have been over a long time ago.

Yet all this leads to the question, “how accountable are we in our relationships and responsibilities?” Do we accept personal responsibility for the development of the relationship or just expect everything to fall into place without effort? Are we accountable too others for the contribution of the relationship or expect the other side to do all the giving and we just take?  Or are we control freaks who need to dominate and control the relationship?

If we haven’t taken the time to understand the impact we have in the lives of others, maybe it’s time to evaluate. Are we carrying our share of the load or leaving it for others? Maybe it’s time to accept personal responsibility for our actions and be held accountable by others. Maybe it’s time to grow up and become the person we were designed to be.

A part of maturity is accepting our role in the lives of others. That would include our mates, parents, siblings, neighbors, work associates, fellow citizens, and yes, even God. He’s done most of the work already. We just have to accept our role in the matter. Is it too hard of a matter to be held accountable by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? It’s His story. We have the privilege to participate with him and hold up our side of the relationship. And our relationship with Him includes everyone else in our tiny world. So maybe being accountable to others isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe it’s the one thing still holding us back from experiencing life the way He designed it to be.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Faith, Freedom, Flourish

Dr. Mike Kingdom Paradigms, Life Tools
 “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 2 Peter 2:19 ESV.

Faith leads to freedom and freedom allows people to flourish. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that “wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” He also wrote that “freedom is not to indulge the flesh, but to serve one another humbly in love” (Gal. 5:13).

 

Ever notice where countries have the freedom to live out their faith, the people usually flourish? Whenever you can choose your future without dominant external influences, you have the opportunity to fully express your God-given gifts with others. Otherwise, in countries (and companies) where people are controlled by others, the people’s behavior are typically measured without the activation of the inner heart. People may go through the motion without being engaged in the process.

Today many people may think they are free, but their actions truly define them. Ask yourself, are you the master of your smart phone or the slave of it? Are you free to select what you wear today or subject to the approval of others? Are you in control of your time today or do you allow your watch to dictate your every move?

These are only a sample of questions you can ask yourself to determine how free you truly are. No matter your answer, remember we are actually free in Christ. He made it so. You can choose to follow him or not. You can decide to live with Him or apart from him. You can surrender your desires to him or allow your lusts and cravings to rule you. You are free to decide and act upon it.

We all have more freedom than we realize. The question though are we truly living as free people and experiencing its rewards or have we blindly enslaved ourselves by living outside the faith of Christ. For remember, Christ-like faith leads to freedom and freedom allows people to flourish.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved