You may not have had the Damascus Road experience that Paul had but God places a vision in each of us. God has a purpose and plan for each of us. There are things he wants me to do today. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, "for I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God has good things planned for us, "plans to give you hope and a future." I believe a purpose is included in that plan. God has a purpose for you. God has given you skills and abilities and expects you to use them for His glory. God has a vision for you, to order your steps and give you focus.

Like Paul, we have a choice to be obedient to the vision from heaven or to walk our own path. The way along God's path for you will probably not be the path of least resistance You will face trials and temptations and even some of Satan's roadblocks along the way designed to trip you up and make you question God's vision for your life. In the end will you be able to say, like Paul, "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven."

I encourage you to spend some time today thinking and praying about God's vision in you. Are you living the vision? Are you faithfully following the path? Do you have a good understanding about God's vision in you?

I would love to hear your answers to these questions—take a moment now and leave a comment. Who know how God may use your comment to bless and encourage other believers.

Blessings,

Tim

Click here to download this podcast.

This is a discussion about raising sons so they learn to honor God with their lives.  The special guests for this podcast are my wife’s brother, Jeff and his wife Karen.  They are very involved in the leadership of their church and serious about their relationship with God.  They have three sons.  Also in this podcast you will hear for the first time, my wife, Jill, and my daughter, Felicia.

I know you will be blessed as you listen to this discussion about honoring God.

Blessings

Tim

This is a great song by Crystal Lewis.  Seasons in our life do change.  The chorus says:

Seasons change and then they pass

No way to know how long they’ll last.

I’d love to know the reason why

But God knows

We don’t know why seasons change, why the things in our life don’t stay the same.  We don’t know why hard times come or why blessings seem to flood at other times.  We don’t know why others seem to prosper yet we face hardship after hardship. …but God knows.

We have to trust in Him above all things.  He knows what He is doing in our lives.  He knows how to put us where He wants us and the prepare us for what is ahead.

How do you honor God when going through a difficult season of life?  I believe God wants us to faithfully do what we know He wants us to do until He tells us something new to do.  When life gets hard, keep doing what God has told you to do.  Faithfully commit your life to obeying His call.

Honor God by doing what He has told you to do regardless of what season you are in.  The season will change in God’s timing.

May you be blessed by God today as you do His will.

Tim

It is vital to know yourself—your strengths and weakness. You must know what you are able to do and what you are not able to do. You must know the things you do well and the things you do not know well. This requires that you are completely honest with yourself which is sometimes very hard to do.

No experienced soldier would consider going in to battle with equipment or weapons they have never used or at least received any training on. An experienced soldier will know all about their abilities and equipment before they rush off to war. Soldiers receive extensive training in various weapons and hand-to-hand combat in addition to a vast array of knowledge in related fields.

On the other hand, Christians often enter into Spiritual warfare without the slightest idea what they are doing and as a result, often find themselves losing the battles they thought, for sure, they would win. We must know our strengths and our weaknesses. We must prepare for the battle.

In order to know our strengths and weaknesses we must get honest with ourselves and listen intently to the voice of God (our Commanding Officer). In prayer and meditation we must look at ourselves realistically and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of weakness which might be blatant sin or it might be more subtle such as a lack of faith or lack of commitment. We must be ready to receive what the Holy Spirit reveals to us. If you have a strong Christian friend or mentor they would be good choices to talk with about this. On other hand, if you don't have a mentor I would like to encourage you to find someone. We all need someone we can trust and seek for Godly counsel. Once the weakness is identified seek guidance from the Holy Spirit about turning that weakness into strength.

In addition to knowing and working on our weaknesses we must also know what our strengths are and work to gain a greater advantage by honing those skills into keen weapons for God to use as He works out His purpose in your life. Not only do we need to know what our strengths are and work to improve our ability in these areas; we also need to put these strengths to good use in the Kingdom of God. You may be thinking that is obvious. I agree it seems obvious that we should do something with the area we identify as strengths in our lives but I think you would be surprised to know how many people sit back and relax and don't put to use skills and abilities they would consider strengths. A quick little phrase that might help remind you of this is "Know it, Grow it, Show it."

In Ephesians 6, Paul gives us the famous passage about the Armor of God, which includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Paul finishes with "and pray in the Spirit." You may have heard it said that all the armor of God is defensive except the sword of the Spirit; I agree that this would be our only offensive weapon in the traditional sense. On the other hand, I believe prayer is a power offensive force that we need to utilize on a regular basis. Praying in the Spirit is not only telling God want we want, rather it is communicating with God in a Spiritual way regarding what we are to do in a situation. Communication with the Spirit of God needs to be two-way communication. We should do as much, if not more, listening that we do talking. Listening is hard, but it is necessary to know what to do.

I think we have additional offensive tools at our disposal—the gifts, skills, talents, and abilities God has empowered us with. When we use these with the Spirit's direction then we are moving in the offensive in our daily battles. When the Holy Spirit is working through us and manifesting His power through our God-given gifts and abilities we are truly taking ground for the glory of God. We cannot do this if we don't know ourselves realistically and according to God's wisdom.

I would encourage each of you to spend some focused time in discerning God's will and purpose in you—learning about you according to God's vision and plan for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you…" God has a plan for you. God knows you. God knows the potential you have and what you could accomplish working under His anointing and power.

When you know yourself according to God's understanding and plan you are able to honor God in a much greater way.

Blessings

Tim