Month: December 2007

Another dimension of Mission is considering any Prophetic Directives God may have given you. This includes any specific prophetic words God has given to you directly or from others, as well as any specific Bible verses God has quickened for you.

Listening to the Spirit’s directives and then following them creates a sense of spiritual momentum in your life. Spiritual Momentum answers the question, “What is God saying or doing right now?” Momentum comes from a combination of God’s work in our lives, along with our responsiveness to keeping in step with the Spirit.

Jesus continually sought to see and know what the Father was doing so he could align his life and ministry activities accordingly. In the same way, we should value the prophetic anointing and seek to continually live in tune with the Spirit.

What prophecies have you received over the years? Have you written them out? If so, review them today. If not, set some time aside to write them out. [For a document explaining the prophetic ministry, click here]

What Bible verses has God specifically given to you? Write them out and keep them somewhere close where you can review them regularly.

God has a unique plan and purpose for your life. As you take time to listen to his voice, he will speak to you and show you things to come (John 16:13). We’ll continue tomorrow.

Continue reading “Life Planning [Day 6]” →

Another aspect of Mission is Vision.

Vision answers the question, “Where?” Where are you going in the next period of time (3-5 years)? What is on the horizon and which way are you heading?

Leaders are called by God to communicate a preferred picture of the future that motivates people with passion to give their lives to make it a reality (see Prov.29:18 and Hab.2:1-3). Vision must be clear, specific and should lead us towards further fulfilling your mission.

Jesus had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish during his short ministry time on earth, as well as a long term vision of the future. This included the work of redemption (‘the joy set before him’), kingdom values, a leadership team, and a church in every nation (Acts 1:8).

At CityLife Church, after an extended time of prayer and discussion, we articulated a vision for the year 2010 back in 2002. We refer to it as our Vision 2010 Statement. It paints a picture of what our church could look like by the year 2010, by God’s grace and through our focused efforts. Our We Have a Dream statement achieves a similar thing.

There is also benefit in creating a personal vision statement – a picture of what you believe God wants your life to look like over the next few years.

Continue reading “Life Planning [Day 5]” →

Another dimension of Mission is Values.

Values answer the question, “Who?” Who are you? What is important to you? What are you building on and what do you hope to outlast you?

Jesus had specific values that he was building His kingdom on and he made them very clear to everyone. “You have heard it said that … but I say to you … (Matthew 5:21-22, etc).” In others words, “This is the way I want things done around here.” This is how I want my house and my kingdom to function.

Organizations, including churches, are encouraged to articulate their own core values. 

I think there is a benefit in articulating personal core values also.

Here are my Personal Core Values:

1. Intimacy – Knowing God personally is my #1 priority.
2. Family – Those closest to me deserve my primary care and attention.
3. Integrity – My life is my message.
4. Love – Life and ministry are all about people.
5. Vision – I will passionately pursue God's cause on the earth.
6. Faith – God can be trusted to keep his promises.
7. Courage – I will conquer fear and live life boldly.
8. Excellence – I will be and do the very best I can for God's glory.
9. Anointing – I will live and minister by the Spirit's power.

Take some time today to think about what matters most to you. What do you value?  Who are you? What is important to you? Write out a list of everything you can think of, then condense it down to 5, 7, 10, or 12 core values. We'll continue our discussion tomorrow.

Effective life planning involves SIX STEPS aimed at helping you to lead and manage your life well. Today we begin with Step 1. 

STEP 1 – Understand Your Mission

The apostle Paul tells us to “understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph.5:17). What is God's will? What is God’s purpose for your life? How has he made you and what are your desires? Gaining a clear perspective on God's mission for your life is essential. Otherwise, you will become very busy managing all the details of your life without any overall sense of purpose or direction.

There are a number of major aspects to your life mission:

• You are called first of all to be a child of God and to have a relationship with him.
• Secondly, you have a ministry to your own natural family.
• Thirdly, you have a ministry to fulfill within your own local church, the family of God.
• Finally, you have a ministry to serve and reach out to others. This usually includes your career or work, where you seek to make the world a better place through your efforts.

Each one of us must invest time in prayer and contemplation, as well receiving wise counsel, to determine the specific and unique outworking of these four areas in our own life.

Mission answers the question, “Why?” Why are you here and why do you exist? This is core stuff for every person. Jesus had a clear sense of mission. He declared it often – “The Son of man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10), “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).” He also gave his disciples a clear sense of mission when he left, referred to as ‘the Great Commission’ (Matthew 28:18-20).

Good mission statements are clear, memorable (short), and ‘big picture’ focused. Our church has a Mission Statement. I also think there are many benefits from crafting a personal mission statement.

Here is my personal mission statement, which I crafted quite a few years back (it has undergone a number of revisions – it's now a little more 'being' focused than 'doing'):

My purpose is to be an intimate friend and lover of God who knows his heart and mind. By faith, I will seek to please him and be actively involved in his work every day of my life.

Spend some time in prayer and reflection, then start to create your own personal mission statement – an expression of what you believe God’s purpose is for your life. Don’t be afraid to make a few drafts first, then over time craft the statement with words that accurately describe what you believe your life mission to be.

Over the next few days, we’ll unpack a variety of different aspects of God’s mission for your life. Then we’ll move on to the next five steps in life planning. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 4

To begin our life planning process, we’ll make use of a reflection exercise. Reflection is all about pulling aside from the busyness of our life in order to contemplate and think about a specific thing. It is related to the concept of meditation, a common biblical practice which simply means to chew something over and over in your mind.

Set aside 20-30 minutes sometime today and reflect on the following questions. This is not a test. These questions are simply designed to stimulate your thinking. Allow your mind to wander a bit. You might want to jot some of your thoughts down on a piece of paper or in a notebook.

• What ‘good news’ can you celebrate this year? Make a list.
• What was the highlight of this year for you? What brought you the most joy? Why? What did you learn from this?
• What was the lowlight of this year for you? What caused you the most pain? Why? What did you learn from this?
• What excites you most about next year? What are you looking forward to? Why?
• What are you worried about most when you think about next year? What are you afraid of? Why?
• What needs to change next year? What do you want to do differently? Make a list.
• What is causing you the most stress right now? Why?
• What relationships are the most important to you? How are they going right now?
• What challenges will you face in the near year? Make a list. How do you feel about each one of them?
• If you knew you had just one year to live, what would you focus on? What would be different?

These are all ‘big picture’ questions that get you focused less on day-to-day activities and more on what is happening in your overall life and where you are heading. Keep the notes you’ve taken. We’ll look back at them over the next few days. Talk to you soon.

"I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways." [Psalm 119:15. NLT]

"Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful miracles." [Psalm 119:27. NLT]

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." [Psalm 139:23-24. NLT]

"I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works. I think about what you have done." [Psalm 143:5. NLT]

"I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles." [Psalm 145:5. NLT]

"Let us test and examine our ways." [Lamentations 3:40. NLT]

Part 3

Many people spend more time planning for their holiday than they do planning their life. That’s a sobering thought! Over the next few weeks, I’d like to lead you through a series of daily reflection exercises aimed at helping you to make next year your best year yet. After all, leading your own life is your responsibility and it is the key to you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life while here on planet earth. What could be more important?

All successful people know their priorities and then focus their energy on them. They know what is important and they keep “first things first” (Matt.6:33). It is essential that we use our time wisely in order to accomplish what God has called us to do. We need to ensure that urgent things don't keep us from doing what is really important.

Where are you heading? What's most important? What’s your priority? What are you aiming to accomplish? The issue is not whether next year will be busy or not, but what it will be busy with. Lots of activity does not always guarantee significant accomplishment.

Our lives are lived out in time and each person has the same amount of it every day. The truth is that we cannot manage time. We can only manage ourselves in relation to time. We cannot control how much time we have; we can only control how we use it. We cannot choose whether we spend it, but only how. Once we've used the time we’ve been given, it is gone – and it cannot be replaced.

Listen to what Paul had to say about our attitude towards life and time:

"Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Eph 5:15-17. NIV)

Essentially, Paul tells us that there are two types of people. There is the wise person who understands God’s will and purpose, makes the most of every opportunity and, as a result, uses their time wisely. In contrast, there is the foolish person who doesn’t understand God’s will, misses opportunities and therefore wastes their time. He urges us as believers to be like the wise person who takes full advantage of each occasion, time and season.

I pray that you will be like that wise person who uses their time well and that, as a result, you will live a joyful and fruitful life. Talk to you tomorrow …

Thoughts on Planning:

• “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” [Psalm 20:4. NIV]
• “Commit your work to the LORD, and then your plans will succeed.” [Prov. 16:3. NLT]
• “Plans succeed through good counsel; don't go to war without the advice of others.” [Prov. 20:18. NLT]
• “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” [Prov.21:5. NLT]
• “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jer. 29:11. NLT]
• “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will …” [Eph 1:11. NIV]
• “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
• “Today’s actions determine tomorrow’s achievements.”

Part 2