God Has a Plan for Your Life

God Has  a Plan for Your Life


All the days ordained me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16)


How can we be assure of becoming a success in this life of our?
• By doing things God’s way!


Why must we do God’s way?
• It’s because God has developed a perfect plan for our life.
• A plan which IF FOLLOWED, will lead us to a fulfilled and a meaningful life!
• A life in which we will have contentment and joy in everything we do.


So what exactly is success?
• One definition could be: “success is the continuing realization of a worthwhile goal.”


What does continuing realization mean?
• Each day as we take a step (no matter how big or small it is) forward toward realization of one of our objectives or goals, then, we are already successful for that particular day!  With this as our definition of success, each of us can be successful every sing day for the rest of our lives!


What is a worthwhile goal then?
• Worthwhile, could simply relate to the objectives and goals we set for ourselves because they are reflective of the things God really wants us to do!


Why should the goal be reflective of the things God really wants us to do?
• Because God knows what is best for us!


Overcoming Procrastination and Inertia


There are 2 areas where we need to overcome before we can discover and live by God’s plan!  They are: a) PROCRASTINATION and 2) INERTIA.


The Dangers of Procrastination
• Put off doing one thing and another thing gets piled on top of it, on and on until you have a mountain of things to do!
• Inertia will sets in!


The Dangers of Inertia
• We are so overwhelm from the pile of works to be done (because of procrastination) that we do not know where to begin!
• So we simply do not start to solve the problem and inertia sets in!
• Before long, anxiety becomes a factor!


Both procrastination and inertia were leading to stagnation and defeat! Do not underestimate the dangers of procrastination and inertia!


How do we take actions to overcome procrastination?


First, Make a List


The first step to overcome procrastination:
• Identify those areas in our life where we have been procrastinating.
• Begin by making a list of the various areas of our life.
• Examples are: God, Family, Jobs, Relationships, Finances, Future Ambitions.


The second step would be:
• Make a list of all the things we have left undone in the key areas of our lives.


Other possible hurdles and challenges that will stop us from taking the first step:-
• The Pain of acknowledging some of certain affected key areas  of our lives could be intense that we cannot even put them on a list!
• Denial that we are not procrastinating.
• Lying to our self that we do not have this problem.


How do we overcome this?
• Ask God to help us begin to be honest with our self.

Areas of Procrastination	Priority
	A-C-B	1-2-3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

A:  Areas of procrastination which would relieve the most pressure.
B:  Areas of procrastination that do not give the most or the least pressure
C: Areas of procrastination that would relieve the least pressure.
1: The Highest Priority to be carried out
2: Neither Highest nor Lowest Priority to be carried out
3: The Lowest Priority to be carried out


First identify all the areas of procrastination by A, B, and C.
Then set a priority number to the Abs, and follow to the Bs and Cs.
 
Now Move into Action


• After identifying the areas of our life that are bogged down due to procrastination, we need to CODE IT so that we know what needs priority and what needs not!
• The next step now is to decide WHAT to do and WHEN to do them!
• Look at all the A-1 areas of procrastination, develop a plan for doing all of them within a certain time frame
• Tackle those items which take relatively little time quickly.
• After resolving them, the achievements would be a source of encouragement to get them done and out of the way!
• The key with each one is to take the first sep and then decide what other next step is and when we will take them and overcome procrastination one step at a time!
• As we move through the list, we will gain more and more confidence and encouragements.
• Note: we might discover that some of the tough items are not so tough  at all! Or those that we set as high priority are not as important as we thought! Or certain things should not even be on the list to be done at ALL!!! So we need to decide wiser when we list down the next day list to overcome! 


What is the key to success in overcoming procrastination for life?
• We need to set aside the time in advance to deal with each areas of our life that are affected by procrastination.
• Dedicate a certain time each day, at the same time, to clear the list!
• Once we gain traction and a sense of momentum, we need to maintain it!  This is called discipline!


The fruits of overcoming procrastination
• We know the relief and pleasure that come from overcoming procrastination
• We became more diligent in getting things done first thing first
• We are more focus in our day-to-day planning
• We can free more time to do other more rewarding things
• We are free to move forward in obedience to the plan God has prepared for us.
Remember: Procrastination is always dangerous – in the realm of the spirit and everywhere else!


Setting Goals: Signposts to the Future


Once we have overcome procrastination, the next step is to SET GOALS which we believe to be consistent with God’s plan for us.


How do we define “goal”?
• Our definition is, “a very specific objective, measurable in time and quantity.”
• The more measurable it is, the more effective it will prove to be a device to move us in our intended direction!
• Goals are MOTIVATORS OF LIFE! It is something that keeps us moving forward instead of stagnant like what procrastination did.
• It is the setting and pursuing of goals which move us from KNOWING God’s will to DOING His Will.


What is the difference between a PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE and a GOAL?
• When we have a general idea of what we want to do, that is generally our “Purpose”.  
• As we put our time, resources, hand and feet to that general idea, we would be able to get more FOCUS.
• As we focus more and more on the  details of what is involved to accomplish the purpose, we tend to identify various GENERAL OBJECTIVES or THINGS to be achieved.
• Here, we would define some VERY SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES which are measurable in time and quantity.
• These are the SPECIFIC GOALS, which will lead us to the fulfilment of our PURPOSE!
• Without GOALS and achieving them within certain time frame, the PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE would continue to be something that we intended to do, not something that we had done!


Applications
• Purpose is to write a Blog
• I then broke that purpose down into specific GOALS (i.e. develop an overall outline of the book by a specific date; first draft; certain amendments, etc) all within a specific time frame.
• All of the GOALS are aimed at the same PURPOSE, to write a BLOG!
• So we need to go through the PROCESS of determining what should be OUR GOALS, because we are not going to discover what would and would not work that could achieve our PURPOSE realistically!


Exceptions!
• It is important to note that just because we set particular goals did not necessarily mean we had to achieve them!
• We might find that some were not realistic, some were not advisable, and some were just not necessary!


Why do we need to set GOALS?
• It is because the way God works is that He gives us little parts of the puzzle of life.  
• Then as we begin to work on one part, he gives us another.
• We never have the really big picture, although we are likely to have increasingly large glimpses as the pieces of the puzzle come together.


What are the specific elements or requirements of a GOAL?


1. It needs to be in WRITING.
• Write a “goal statement” in which we commit our goal to paper as accurately and succinctly as possible.
• Spell it out so we know exactly what it is we hope to achieve!
2. It ONLY has ONE OBJECTIVE.
• To focus in the achieving each goal and moving on to the next goal in line!
3. It needs to be SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE.
• So we know when it has been achieved and if not, WHEN can we achieve it!
4. It must have a DEADLINE attached
• The purpose of the deadline is to assist us in knowing when we’ve PLANNED to act or accomplish or achieve something.
• This should increase our ability to identify and work toward achieving God’s Plan at the correct pac.e
5. It has to be REALISTIC
• The objective and the deadline must bear some semblance of reality ot the ability of the person to achieve the goal!
• All goals should be ACHIEVABLE!
--
How to Set Goals for Your Life


• In order to know the answer we must first discover what Scripture calls “the desires of the heart” that God has placed within our self.
• These are things we want to do or be or become that GOD wants us to do or be or become
• They are tied to God’s long-range plans for our lives, and as we identify them and set goals to move toward them, we’ll be moving toward reaching our God-given potential.


How do we know if they are God-given?
• Those that are not from God-given could come from either: 1) Desires of the Flesh or 2) Satan’s manipulation.


What are some desires of the heart from God?
• Marriage, work, callings in serving your home church are some of the desires of the heart that are God’s inspired!
• Take them before God to determine if they are from HIM! Affirm them!
• Ask God about each desire in prayer
• Check it against God’s Word to make certain it is not inconsistent with Scripture.
• After we have determined that our idea, thought, or desire is not inconsistent with Scripture, we need to determine whether we have “the peace... which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) with respect to it.
• A simple rule of thumb.  If in doubt, don’t do it!


After acknowledging they are from God, what then?
• If the desire is consistent with Scripture and you have peace with respect to it, then you may safely proceed to plan and achieve the goal associated with the idea.


What happen if we no longer have the desire or lose peace after God did says it is from Him?
• You may have to decide whether God wants you to persevere in order to overcome obstacles, or whether He wants you to re-evaluate your direction.
• Suffice it to say that if you continue to have the desire and the peace, and if you do not become aware of an inconsistency with Scripture, you may continue to assume that you are hearing God’s voice and proceed on that basis unless and until He tells you to the contrary!


What if you know God want you to do something, but you don’t have the desire to do it?
• Ask Him to give you that desire.
• The first thing would be to focus on the objective that you are motivated to achieve and which you believe is reflective of God’s will for you.
• You want this objective with all your heart, and you know beyond question that God wants it for you.
• Focus on the objective of obtaining an attitude of obedience in the area of disobedience.
• Spend certain time with the Lord over a number of days a week.
• During this time, specifically ask Him to give you a desire to be obedient and read the Bible.