29. GOD GIVEN GOALS. John 3 v6.

We all have been given Goals in life and the appropriate giftings to achieve them, Our God is the giver of both. In the above scripture Jesus said “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. (John 3. 6.) When you have a desire that is born of the flesh, don’t expect God to fulfil it. Its okay to admire and learn from gifted, successful people, as long as you don’t try to duplicate them. It’s all right to emulate their good character and qualities even seek their input, but you need to go to God the architect of each of our lives and ask Him to show you His blueprint for your life. Even though David’s desire was to build The Temple, God told him his son Solomon, would ultimately build it. David’s job was to raise the money and materials for the project. If you’re a make-it-happen sort of person, that will go against your grain. But if you let Him, God’s Spirit will lead you as He did Paul (see Acts 16.6) when he (Paul0 attempted to go to Asia, Bithynia, and Troas. God spoke to him in a vision telling him “No, I want you to go to Macedonia Instead. God will come to your help if you keep in communication with Him. This happened for me...When My Husband John was thirty nine years old he was diagnosed with a serious Heart condition, We had a growing family of seven. John had been successfully running his own Brick laying business in Christchurch for several years. We prayed a great deal about his condition, and eventually in October 1988 the Lord led us down here to Waimate, where John could have a quieter life. After a few years of lifestyle farming, his health worsened and in 2016 The Lord took him home. That left me stuck out here, with no licence, (The result of very poor eyesight a problem which I have had since berth) and no bus or taxi service. Although friends and family were and still are very good to me, I didn’t feel much use to God or anyone else. So I prayed and asked God what He wanted me to do with the rest of my life. At the age of seventy something I started writing, sat, quietly and studied, I gained a couple of diplomas through correspondence and here I am writing for God, I will never be a great author or anything like that, but I can occupy my remaining years by passing on the knowledge and experience I have, and hopefully fill the goal God has put in front of me. I didn’t ever dream God would use me in this way, but Like Abraham I looked at what I had. I came from a Christian Home, had A Good Christian Education, I have travelled a bit, married a Christian and brought up seven children. I have always been interested in learning Scripture and writing stories. I gained two diplomas, and have written a couple of books. So it wasn’t too difficult to see where God was leading me. And so it will be with anyone who wants to see where God is leading them, see what gifts and talents you have, God gave them to you to use in the furtherance of His Kingdom. Let Him set your goals and You will be heading in the right direction. Book shops are full of volumes telling you, you can be anything you want to be, and while there’s some truth in that, it’s not the whole truth. The Truth is;-- God has gifted, talented and enabled each of us to accomplish different achievements for the benefit of His Kingdom. If you want to be a pianist or Oprah Singer but hate all the practise it entails to be one, forget it, you wont succeed, but if you are quite happy to dig up dirt all day and search for archaeological remains, take it to God and ask Him if that’s what you should be doing. God will only empower you to be what He has gifted enabled and equipped you to be. God told Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah replied “Alas Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me “Do not say I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1;5-9). That was the Scripture I received from the Lord, when He first asked me to follow Him, I told Him I was almost blind and for that reason found learning very difficult, within a week I was given a special magnifying glass and also a large print bible. I found that God doesn’t ask us to do anything without equipping us and giving us the grace to do it, so that His will can be accomplished.. It’s hard work yes!, and can only be achieved by His Will, Grace and Input. Also He chooses the most unlikely and ill equipped people to do such work. Why? So neither Jeremiah nor I or anybody else can claim the Glory which belongs to Him alone. When God equips you with one talent, He doesn’t give you a five-talent assignment and vice versa see (Matthew 25;14-15) and here’s the good news the one talent person and the five talent person will stand before Him and hear the same commendation “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25.21.) All He wants is our cooperation, He’ll do the rest. When you recognise and embrace God’s plan for your life you will tap into the power you will need to fulfil it. Keep trusting in God, Yes, You will make mistakes, but don’t let that derail you, or gravitate you to false humility which will handicap you spiritually, mentally and emotionally. In ” (Prov.18;21)”As surely as the tongue can bring death or life” You must learn to speak God’s word over the vision He has given you. It’s a mistake to think you can play God’s role or that He will play yours. But once you understand your personal assignment and tap into His power, you can start believing for success, regardless of what obstacles may stand in your way. When you know you’re in the Will of God, doing what He told you to do, You can stand confidently on the following Scriptures. (Zechariah 4;6) (Joshua 23;10) (Psalm138;-3). And you will know you are not alone, God is with You. (Isaiah 43;4.) “I will give men for you and people for your life.” God will always send people to help you with your assignment. Personally speaking I am eternally grateful to God for all the friends He has given me over the years that have helped me, not only with my Handicap (lack of sight) but also with what I believe is my God-given assignment. Without such friends and family, many of the things I have done would not have been possible. I am forever grateful to them for answering God’s call and to my God for sending them my way. We need to ask God to send people who belong in our life. In Exodus 17, we read, as long as Moses kept his hands raised Israel’s armies prevailed in battle, but when he grew tired the battle went the other way. So Aaron and Hur stood by Moses and held up his hands until victory over the Amalekites had been achieved. You need people who will hold up your hands and strengthen you. Paul took an entire chapter of the New Testament to acknowledge and thank all those who had made it possible for him to succeed in his calling. Some of us are stubborn and self-centred; and hold the philosophy ‘it’s my way or the highway’ with that attitude you will burn through people, don’t do it! When God sends gifted people into your life, acknowledge, respect, train, motivate and reward them, by doing that, you will fulfil, your goal and create a win/win situation for everybody. Discern who belongs in your life and who doesn’t. One of the toughest parts of reaching your goal is discovering that some of the people closest to you don’t share it or want to be part of it. You can spend years trying to convince them. You may even be able to buy their short-term loyalty, but eventually they’ll leave you, often breaking your heart in the process. (In 2 Timothy1-15.) Paul writes..”All those in Asia have turned away from me” One can almost hear the heartache and disappointment in his words. When God gives you a great goal you may experience the same thing. Somebody once said “In prosperity our friends know us; In adversity we know our friends” How true!! Here are some scriptural references you may like to look up (Job 19.19) (Psalm 38.v11.) (Proverbs 25.19) The truth is people who don’t respect your goal will detract from it, and if you insist on holding on to them, they will end up hurting you. In (Matthew 10.14) Jesus tells us “If you are not welcomed in a place, shake the dust of that place off your feet.” In order to reach your God given goal, sometimes you have to do that. God told the Prophet Habakkuk “Write down the vision and make it plane...So that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay” Note the word delay, God can give a vision overnight. But usually it wont be fulfilled overnight. You’ll face disappointments, discouragements and delays. Because your vision always costs more than you estimated and takes longer than you planed, it can become blurred by your circumstances and emotions. That’s why it’s so important to write it down and keep it in front of you! Why did God tell Abraham that his children would be as numerous as the stars in Heaven? Because stars are something you can physically look at and count. (Proverbs 29.18 ) tells us “Where there is no vision the people perish “ the word “perish” suggests something that’s slowly decaying. And that’s what happens when you don’t keep your God-Given vision in front of you. With a clear-cut written goal, You’ll always know where you are at, and remember what God has called you to do. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “God’s Goals For Your Life” by following the principles I’ve mentioned, and allowing God to go ahead of you, you will succeed. Pray Often, Keep Faithful, and “Fear Not”...Then He will go ahead of you, and be your Rear Guard as well. … God Bless and keep us all in the palm of His hand. Phaline. -----------------------