life in christ

Our Planning Partner

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , ,

planning 3

Have you ever known anyone who pursued only goals that they knew could be achieved with very little effort?  They seemed to carry an attitude of risk aversion in everything they pursued.  They would only pursue goals that they absolutely knew could be achieved without any risk of failure.  Their objectives are always few and their resources are easily obtainable.  They rarely experience failure, but again, they rarely experience the thrill of victory.  Their successes are boring, routine, and unchallenging.  Mediocrity is the best that they have ever attained.  Sound familiar?

Imagine a world where God settled for mediocrity.  Instead of a vast, inter-relationship of micro systems with each one itself a masterpiece, there could have only been one.  There could have been only one mammal. one fish, one tree, one flower, one … get the point?

Someone once wrote that what the mind can perceive, it can conceive.  I believe it.  It is only a matter of the time that it will take.  It may not happen during your life but it will eventually happen.  History gives many examples.  The idea of a man on the moon was originally written in a fictional book in the 1800’s;  wireless communications was the mouthpiece of the old Dick Tracy comic strips;  the helicopter was originally designed in the 1500 – 1600’s.

God wants you to succeed in life. His priorities for you though may be different than yours, but He gladly works with you.  He is patient and understanding.  He realizes that we have needs since He did create them.  But His number one priority is to create a spiritual masterpiece in our life and the life of the church. His prime focus is eternity, not just the present.

Nothing is impossible for God.  He created the foundation of the impossible.  He can alter time, space, and circumstances when He so chooses.  When you became His Partner in life, He allows you to enter into His life’s mission.  He has big plans.  He thinks bigger than all people put together.  He wants you to become like Him in character, attitude, and purpose.  God’s plans may start out small to the human eye, but in reality, they are just one small piece of a much larger pie.  Learn after Him.  We are His disciples.  Let’s make our plans accordingly.

OURPRAYER

PRAY 21

Our Heavenly Dad, thank You for allowing us to be a part of Your plan of salvation.  Thank You for giving us the resources to live life victoriously.  Likewise, thank You for allowing us to have a relationship with You; to learn about You, from You, and to come to know You.  Help us to follow Your Will in all that we plan and do.  Help us to discover what our mission is as it relates to Your plans.  Help us to live in Your Kingdom now and to work fulfilling Kingdom business.  Help us see the plan You have for us.  Help us live it faithfully and zealously.  Help us pursue goals that require Your involvement in our life each and every day.  Let us not take You for granted, but live each day knowing how much we need You to help us live a victorious life.  Bless You in Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

Your Consultant & Coach for Christ-Centered
Business Owners & Executives

Dr. Mike

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God
Website: EnjoyLifeInChrist.com

Calluses on the Knees Are Our Medals of Honor

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , ,

PRAYER 1
A minister once made the comment that “Christ-followers are easily identified by the calluses on their knees.” As disciples of His, we have learned the power and refreshment of prayer. We, like the apostle Paul, have learned to pray unceasingly all day. Whether we are driving in the car during rush hour, walking around the block, or sitting in a restaurant, we find ourselves making short petitions to our Heavenly Dad.

However, we have also learned the necessity of private prayer away from the outside world and alone with our Dad. This is the type of prayer when we humbly in respect and awe bow down on our knees before the presence of our Lord and make supplications, petitions and plain talk with our Dad. This is quiet time to speak what is on our heart. This is communion time.

When we spend time on our knees, we invest in our relationship with our Heavenly Creator. We acknowledge His superiority and lordship in our life. We also acknowledge our dependency and faithfulness to Him. It takes time to pray this way. In our hyper active lifestyle, we find our lives busy to make the time to pray in this fashion. We justify it by saying we can pray anywhere, anyplace, at anytime. This may be true. However, just like having a diet of fast foods everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, our health will suffer. Likewise, if we live our spiritual life with the same mentality, we will find our spiritual life and relationship with our Dad suffering.

We know. In our younger days when life had fewer responsibilities, we could probably find more time to pray on our knees mornings and evenings. As our life becomes more demanding, we find ourselves too tired to pray in such a fashion. We know God understands. But, we have also acknowledged that He deserves our best.

In those younger days, our prayer life was probably more mechanical. It was us probably practicing the disciplines for discipline sake and not for the real reason we pray. We could easily pray for an hour on our knees without any outside interruptions or demands. But in our self-righteous way, we probably would pat ourselves on the back because of our superior spiritual practices.

Today though, when we pray on the knees, we probably pray as long as our knees and joints are able to handle the strain and before we are interrupted by the outside world. We again probably don’t count the time anymore but have learned to enjoy the intimate fellowship with our Heavenly Dad. It’s investing time with our Lover, Provider, and Soul-Mate. It’s speaking from our heart and listening with our soul. It’s humbly asking for personal help and praising Him for His Majesty. It’s petitioning Him on behalf of others, and asking Him how we may best serve His Kingdom. It is waiting with expectation and excitement to see how He is going to answer. No matter what the answer, He knows best. We know that He stills loves us and will always be with us, even when we stray from Him.

We are thankful He has called us to be His Disciple.

OUR PRAYER

PRAY 8

Our Caring Dad! Thank you for prayer. Thank you for creating a vehicle that allows us to commune with you. Your ways of living are so simple but so effective. Thank you for always listening to us. Even when our prayers are selfish and self-centered, your love is patient and understanding. You don’t harass us, but you slowly change us to become like you.
Thank you for revealing your purpose of prayer. Help us to pray like Jesus prayed. While we pray, change our heart, mind, and soul to become like yours. While we pray, transform us into your image. While we pray, let us see the situation through your eyes. While we pray, let us see your answers. Answer our prayers, not as we always request it, but as you know what is best for all parties involved. Help us in prayer to focus on expressing your life through us in any and all circumstances. If necessary, bless us with difficult circumstances that challenge us to cry out to you for help. There is no greater joy than to see you glorified through answered prayer. Though we may want our circumstances changed for the better, you know it is more important to change our heart, mind, and soul to be greater than the surrounding environment. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Let your glory shine. Jesus we ask. Amen.

Your Consultant & Coach for Christ-Centered
Business Owners & Executives

Dr. Mike

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God

Tamed or Adventurous Visions?

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , ,

 

“Play it safe.” “Don’t take any risks.” “Why rock the boat?” “It’s better to keep it dull and routine than expressive and unpredictable.” Or does it?

The older we become, don’t we deep inside generally seek a more predictable, dull, and routine way of life? Whatever changes we are typically confronted with only creates more work and effort on our part. So basically, our nature tilts towards laziness where we don’t want to make the effort. We would rather live life with contentment, peacefulness, and stability. But is that reality?

The scriptures teach us that a people without vision will perish. We need a mission to focus our life towards. Now our life’s mission could simply be to avoid all confrontation, to avoid being involved in other people’s lives, to live for ourselves without a care of the world around us. We simple live our life so that when we are gone no one will have missed us. We live as a world unto ourselves.

But is that the life of a Christ-Follower? Is that what the Kingdom of God is all about?  Didn’t Jesus forewarn his disciples that He came to bring division among families and people? Didn’t He predict that we would stand before courts and rulers as a witness to Him? Didn’t He compare our struggles with that of a pregnant woman in labor? Didn’t He threaten the status quo with His mission of preaching, teaching. and healing?  Didn’t the apostle Paul ·write that Christ-followers are turning the world upside down? Didn’t he cause riots in the streets with his message of One God? Didn’t his former religious partners seek to destroy him? Didn’t small armies pursue him with the purpose of killing him? How controversial was he in his time? Yet didn’t he preach a message of peace, contentment, and stability?

The Kingdom of God is not a tamed vision. It requires total surrender. It requires the death of selfish desires. It is not the path of least resistance. Instead, it’s a journey through battlefields. With the armor of God, we are proactive in our daily walk with Him. We do not know what to expect on any given day. All we know is that He is with us. Today may be a roller coaster of emotions, struggles with the self, darts from the evil one, or attacks from love ones. Through it all though we have an Advocate who is with us and we rely on. In prayer and with others we call for assistance. We move forward towards our heavenly call. Our mission is sure. Yes, we may desire the easy way out. But, as a disciple of His we have agreed to take whatever comes our way and handle it with His love. We may have initially desired tame visions, but in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God we take on more than we are capable of handling apart from Him. Yes, we like it dull, routine, and boring. But we gladly take whatever comes our way because it will make us stronger for the Kingdom, stronger for Him, and stronger for our love ones.

OUR PRAYER:

Dear Dad, glorify your name in all that we do. Let not our path be one of ease and comfort, but one of challenge and dependency on you. You are always with us. Help us always be with you. Make you the center of our life. Let nothing come between us. Help us capture your vision, to see your work, to accomplish your will in everything we do.

Help us be a living example of kingdom life in today’s world. Let your kingdom surround us and surround all the people we meet today. Let your glory shine through us and in us so that every person we meet today knows they have met you.  Amen.