He Calls You to a Whole New Life:
To a New Whole Life
Michael Wiley
December 28, 2008
Proverbs 6:6; 16:3; 21:5
Introduction:
We come to the end of another year.
It is time to look back, and reflect.
What changes have occurred in 2008?
Loss of job, new job? Etc..
We said goodbye to my mother in January and hello to our granddaughter in September.
We should reflect to remember, and to learn. We should learn from our mistakes and our victories so we can use that knowledge in the future.
So, as we look forward to another year if the Lord doesn’t return.
How should we approach it?
Are goals Biblical?
That is, If God is in control shouldn’t I just fly by the seat of the Holy Spirit?
Or
Does God expect me to set goals, make plans and focus on the future?
Should I make specific plans, to take specific steps, to reach a specific future?
Transition:
I was telling my CORE group recently how the Bible covers everything we need—Every topic, every issue—the Bible gives us guidance, And, it gives us guidance in answering our question today.
So the Bible promotes planning as opposed to two things: Laziness, and Hastiness.
First, we should plan and not be Lazy. Turn to Proverbs 6:6-11 – It says consider the ant so let’s consider it:
Today Scientists have categorized over 12,000 species of ants. (show slide of ant here) They live on every continent except Antarctica. You would think “Ant”artica would have ants, but it doesn’t, just like Greenland is not green, it’s covered in Ice, and Iceland is, well, Green.
Most all ants bite as a form of defense, but there are some ants that sting. There are ants in South America who’s sting is fatal to humans.
Have you ever sat and considered the ant? Have you ever watched as a stream of ants made treks back and forth from a piece of candy on the side-walk?
Contrary to what we find in cartoons and movies like, Antz, Bugs Life and Ant Bully, Ants CAN’T Talk!
BUT they can communicate. They communicate using pheromones. Since most ants live on the ground, they use the soil surface to leave pheromone trails that can be followed by other ants. In species that forage in groups, a forager that finds food marks a trail on the way back to the colony; this trail is followed by other ants, these ants then reinforce the trail when they head back with food to the colony. When the food source is exhausted, no new trails are marked by returning ants and the scent slowly dissipates.
When you consider the ant, you find a tiny little animal that plans for the future. The colony gathers food all year long to withstand the winter.
We see a great picture of this in Joseph’s Life.
Explain Joseph, in prison, interprets Pharaoh’s dream… Read Genesis 41:33-40
Verse 33--- Joseph said in his mind. “Here’s what’s going to happen (vision). Here’s what we need to do (Goals)… We will come back to this…
Laziness prevents planning and goal setting
And second, we should plan so we are not hasty.
Where as Laziness prevents planning, poor planning or goal setting requires us to live in hastiness --- Us reacting to things, instead of being pro-active
Turn and read Proverb 21:5
When you don’t make plans or set goals you have to act in haste. There are several places in Scripture that tell us that diligent planned work creates wealth, Laziness and Hastiness results in poverty.
So, let’s look at some principles we can use that helps us create plans and goals for the future.
1. You Must See it!
If you can’t see your target you can never aim toward it. Joseph seen it as God gave him the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. For you and I to see it, we must first ask ourselves a question
- Ask, where do I want to be / God where do you want me to be this time next year.
We call the answer to that question Vision
See you must always begin with the end in mind. We find vision and work backwards from there.
Author and speaker Steven Covey suggests we vision with our roles in mind.
My personal roles are: Father, Husband, Pastor, Friend etc…
So I have to ask, where do I want to be as a Father in Dec 2009 one year from now?
So I start with vision and then set goals to reach that vision
James Manktelow, CEO of MindTools.com suggest we think in categories like: Financial, physical, family, career, education and the like
Whether you think in roles or categories you have to create goals to get you there.
Verse 33--- Joseph said in his mind. “Here’s what’s going to happen seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine (vision). Here’s what we need to do (Goals)…
Here at The Vine we ask our leaders to create SMART goals
Setting a goal is like putting a target out there, making it a smart goal helps you hit the target.
SMART is an acronym
S. = Specific – I could say I want to be a better father, but that is not specific. To be specific, I might say, “I will spend one on one time with each of my kids.”
M = Measurable—Being a good father is not measurable, but spending more time is because I can measure it in hours.
A = Achievable – If I said, “I want to spend nine hours a day one on one with each of my sons – well – that wouldn’t be achievable and would set me up for failure
R = Realistic – I’m going to quit my job and spend all my time with my kids – that’s unrealistic. Like setting a goal to be an NBA player in one year
T = Time Sensitive – you could call this your deadline.
“I’m going to spend three hours a week one-on-one with each of my children” is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and realistic, but not time sensitive. That is in ten years I could still have that as a future goal sitting back in my chair listening to “Cat’s In The Cradle.”
Conclusion:
Ask God where He wants you in Dec 2009. Ask Him, "What do you want from me?" Then be SMART
