Set Your Goal to Know Christ....and Reach Joy!

               Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Set a goal to find joy in the Lord each and every day!

                Setting goals is a good thing….most of the time.  We can, however, set unrealistic goals and become discouraged.  The key is to set goals based on God’s leading and His wisdom.  It would be unwise for me to set a goal to become the next Olympic gold medalist...in ANY event!  I have not prepared, I’m too old, & I’m not athletically inclined in the least! God would not tell me to set my sights on Rio in August!  But He will place in my heart other types of goals that, with His help, I can reach and are in His plan and purpose for me! And the same goes for you!

                Charles Stanley writes that “Prior to his conversion, Paul was focused on the destruction of Christian believers. His goals were of his own creation and were not of God.  After his conversion, Paul was focused on a new set of goals—goals that were in keeping with God’s desires for his life.”

                Just as with Paul, God is willing and able to put goals in your heart & mine….and to equip us to reach those goals. But we must not miss this important truth: “Paul’s foremost goals were knowing Christ in His fullness and experiencing everything he could of Christ.”  (Charles Stanley) These should, also, be our goals. Are they? 

                When we set our goals to “know Christ more fully”, we can be assured of abundant JOY in Him.

Press On Toward the Goal of Joy

                Have you had your Joy Juice today?   Set a goal to find as much joy in this day as possible….starting with your relationship with Jesus! 

                Regardless of how young or old we are, setting goals is important for success.  We like to experience success in all areas of our lives, but today let’s focus on spiritual success.  Charles Stanley wrote a book entitled, Success God’s Way.  The subtitle brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart: Achieving True Contentment and Purpose.  Isn’t that what this life is all about?  Being content and finding God’s purpose for us here on earth?  In order to do that, we must be in the center of His will, setting goals to reach that plan God has for us.

                One of the best examples of a goal-setter in the Bible is the apostle Paul. Look at the passage in Philippians 3 that brings his goal clearly into focus: 

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… 

And then in verses 13-14 he spells it out: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

            May we each “press on toward the goal” and find JOY in the Lord by achieving true contentment with Jesus Christ.

Be Set Free and Be Joy-Filled!

                Have you had your Joy Juice today? God will not make you drink it! It’s your choice.

                Though our loving heavenly Father is all-powerful and could MAKE us do whatever He would like, He does not work that way. We are not puppets or robots who can’t think for ourselves.  He gives us choices.  He wants us to choose to love and obey Him. 

                In the book of Exodus we read about the Israelites who had been held captive for years and years in Egypt. When God set them free, He instructed Moses to build a tabernacle so that they could worship Him there. God gave specific instructions about who was to build the temple and how it was to be built.  He wanted only those with sincere hearts toward Him to be a part of this project. 

                God still wants sincere hearts today. But how often we fail Him!  Many times we are preoccupied with unimportant clutter that takes our focus off the One we should be worshipping. Just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt so that they were free to worship him will all their hearts, He wants to set us free from the things of this world that hold us captive and keep us from worshipping Him single-mindedly and whole-heartedly. 

                Priscilla Shirer warns against the “pharaohs” that may enslave us….the pharaohs of religious boundaries, the need to please, a relationship or even comparing ourselves to one another. We don’t have to be enslaved….Ask God to set you free and fill you with joy.

                John 8:36 gives us a joyful truth: “ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”