Express Faith With Your Goals Oct - 21

In order to fulfill your destiny you must make a faith commitment. It's not enough to just talk about your calling and set some goals. You need to decide to go for it, to say "I'm going to do this."

Esther knew going to the king was risky and it could lead to her death. She was afraid to go, but she knew it was the right thing to do. And she said, "If I perish, I perish." That's a faith commitment.

Until you know what you are willing to die for, you are not ready to live. You are just existing.

But when you understand your destiny and you know what God has called you to do, you're willing to go for it. You're willing to abandon everything.

Knowing what God has called you to do and making the faith commitment to do it means setting goals. The best way I can put it is this: You can only manage what you measure.

This is an important principle of life. If you don't have specific goals that can be measured, your goal will just be a pipe dream. You won't be any better, you won't be any different than you are today.

And above all else, make sure you set your goals with faith. Why? Because Jesus said, " Because of your faith, it will happen." (Matthew 9:29 NLT)

I can definitely relate to this message, as I tend to make goals for myself that are not specific, and I rarely lack the commitment to achieve those goals. The message from today's devotional snaps me back into reality- If I want to see change and actually meet goals I set for myself, I have to be focused and determined through faith rooted in God. Merely stating a goal isn't enough to make a difference. Rather, we have to act on our desire and faith and start working towards those goals we set for ourselves. Also I need to start making my goals specific and measurable, so I can see increments of improvement and change in myself as time progresses. For example, instead of setting the goal, "I want to become closer to God", a very broad statement, I can make a goal such as "I will do my QTs consistently (without skipping days)". Setting this more specific goal will help me get in rhythm with God and will allow me to observe how God draws me closer to Him in small steps.

It's no doubt that we want a closer relationship with God, just as we would want to get good grades. But realistically, if you say that you want good grades but you don't work for it, you don't really want it. You can't be on the fence, either want something or don't, that way you don't have to waste your time. Our passions should be backed up by our actions, just as faith must follow with deeds. Finding small goals that ultimately result in your vision is a great way to approach it, starting with a small foundation. And I love how Sam talked about the power of prayer this past week. Praying for something or someone will allow your heart to be filled for that person, or that certain goal. It shows God that we want it, there would be no reason why He wouldn't allow it to happen. Just like how we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we need to approach our goals with the same mentality.

When you find out what you're willing to fight/die for it defines a sense of purpose in you. It shows how far you're willing to go for something/someone, and the passion that drives that decision and strong will. I think this goes back to Sunday's sermon a few weeks ago about fighting/dying for what you believe in, and standing firm in your faith. If something to you holds so much significance, importance, and value to you, you're willing to do anything for it. This should be the same for what God calls us to do.
If you want to accomplish something, you must work for it. You can't expect to get far without constantly striving for something and putting in your best effort. If you put in only 50% effort, then be prepared to deal with only 50% of the results.
Also, we can't be idle in our faith commitment and advancing towards a goal that God has given us. We'll just end up stagnant with no results and probably end up giving up, without even trying.
Goals should be measured in the context that we can see our progress. We should be able to see a positive change (in some measurable form) when we pursue our goals. This, therefore, allows for more motivation for one to advance further in their goals and pushes them to try harder, as they are beginning to see results that they're happy with.  
Goals can show you how far God has brought you from a previous point in your life and can help all your faith, trust, and hope in God.

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

God won't give you your life's destiny if you're not ready.
An I always thought of it as a bad thing; not knowing what my purpose was. Really, I feel meaningless if I don't know what my life is for. So I wondered: what is this part of my life for?
I've thought about this once in a while and I think this is why:
The time given before your calling is the time to relect, learn, and grow.
You will keep on improving until the time comes. And you will be ready.
During your growing/learning part of your life, we prepare ourselves. Fear and doubt will not touch you when you're ready.
I've learned to have patience and have that intimate relationship with God.

~Audrey~

As much as we have to focus on reaching goals that we set, we have to set the goals in the first case.

As much as it seems like we're setting goals, we might just be setting down things we're gonna accomplish anyways. I guess we can call it "petty goals". I don't know about everybody else and whether they set goals or not, but I usually only set up goals that doesn't require change. It's usually within my comfort zone. Well, very seldom is it OUT of my comfort zone: which is the problem.

Goals should evoke improvement of some sort. Which is why it's absolutely necessary to set goals beyond our capabilities, to use that goal to extend our capabilities.

On the other hand, the goals should be practical. We shouldn't be aiming for something so abstract like: "I want to HEAR God." It should be something that we can do ourselves, like "I want to learn how to play *oh i don't know* the drums."

I mean, we can keep on making small goals 'til we can find what our ultimate goal is.

Whenever we set a goal, we have to put effort into to achieve it. We cannot just simply expect our goals to be achieved because we decided that we want this or that. Everything needs actions. if you have a plan, put it into action and do it. If you have a goal, do whatever you can do achieve that goal.
Say for example, if our for say, one of our goals is to get a deeper connection with God. We cannot just simply be like i want to have a more of a connection with God. Pray and then thats it. That is not enough. We can't just ask God, this is my goal can you help me achieve it? if we ourselves, don't do anything! How can we expect God to help us if we don't put in any effort at all! no pain no gain. Anything can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

Setting a real, sincere goal is often followed up with improvement.
Like asking God for something in our prayers, and not lifting a finger to realize our request/whatever we want, goals are not simply there as a decorative item.
It is there to remind us that there is always something we need to work on, step-by-step towards our Goal. We can't simply think that God will do all the work in our lives. Goals are defined by the amount of dedication, motivation, and sincerity; if it is half-hearted, it will end in half-hearted end results.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:7