(Eph 3:20 NIV) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
It’s been a while since I sat at my computer to write Today’s Word. I think that is the longest break I have ever taken in the 14 years I have been writing Today’s Word and I am thankful that I did. I enjoyed the break and I pray you did as well. This year we may finally close out the series on Proverbs. I started it three years ago and I never thought it would take so long. The Lord has given me some spirit-led diversions along the way and I pray you have enjoyed them. My latest offshoot has been the “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life” series. This series has been well received and I am looking forward to closing it out within a few weeks. Before the Christmas break I gave you 10 Steps to Preparedness in Prayer and I received lots of positive feedback on it. I am truly enjoying teaching on prayer. However, before I get back to it, I want to spend just a few days teaching on Purpose and Vision.
For most of us, today marks our first day of work in 2012 and when we cross over into a new year the event serves as a logical point of reflection. New Year’s celebrations are normally followed by a series of New Year’s resolutions, as we think through the things we want to focus on for the new year, in hopes of progressing through life. Making resolutions without God involved in the process is simply an exercise in human will and those don’t normally produce great results. By March most people have forgotten what their New Year’s resolutions were as their life goes back into autopilot. But for the believer, these annual pauses can prove critical and beneficial. Why? Because if we would be honest with ourselves, our life is a product of our decisions. When we look at where we are right now, whether we want to admit it or not, good or bad, we are where we have decided to be. The greatest gift God gave to man was the power to choose. But the most dangerous gift God gave to man is also the power to choose. God honor’s man’s power to choose to the point where He actually allows us to choose against Him. Make no mistake, you are no puppet and God is no puppet-master. God wants to bless you richly, but He will honor your decisions if you choose to live beneath His best for your life or if you choose to reject Him and His Son altogether. While it pains the Father, He will allow you to choose to go to hell if that is what you decide. So when it comes down to maximizing your purpose and potential, your decisions have a lot to do with it.
If you decide to take the time to pray and seek God for guidance for 2012 now, in January, then the Father is capable of honoring your prayers and revealing to you, in your heart, through your imagination, what He desires to accomplish in and through your life this year. This process is also called Divine VISION. In essence the Father is able to bless you to see your future in your heart – to literally visit it and walk around in it – and after such an experience it is then incumbent upon you to come back to the present and make plans to get there.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. The harsh reality is that your decisions (good or bad) have brought you to where you are right now in life.
2. If you choose to seek God for VISION He can and will give it to you.
3. Once God shows you His best for your future, you still have to plan and follow up those plans with faith-filled actions in order to arrive there.
4. Success does not happen by mistake. You must purpose, on purpose, to succeed in life!
Closing Confession: Father, I understand the power You gave me when you gave me the ability to choose. I can make my own decisions and what I declare, by faith, is that I CHOOSE to align my decisions with Your best for my life. I will my will to serve You. I put myself through the mind-renewal process, to where my thoughts align with Your thoughts and my ways become Your ways. I seek You for divine VISION for 2012 and show You it to me. You bless me to walk around in July and August, You reveal to me where You want me to be in November and December, and I then come back from that experience determined to make plans to get there. I will receive vision, make the plans, and then follow up those plans with faith-filled actions in order to maximize 2012 and beyond! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
