Settling for Good rather than God

"A good thing becomes a bad thing when it replaces the best thing."

Good versus Best
I do a lot of good things.  I don't do a lot of better things.  My motives for doing and not doing these things vary from  pride, selfishness, fear, worry, and a whole laundry list of more things.  God has been gently calling me to himself through a variety of people and circumstances.  He has provided for me in ways that I can't explain except that it was ALL Him.

Settling for Good rather than God

God showed me on Sunday through Saul turned Paul's testimony the significance of a "good" person's testimony.  Saul was a Jew, a Hebrew of Hebrews from the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee very knowledgeable of the Jewish scripture and laws.  He was zealous for his beliefs so much so that he was willing to stop anyone that opposed his beliefs.  He was a "good Jew."  He was faithful and devoutly religious.  He followed all of the rules.  He did what he knew was right.

But God...
God interrupted Saul's religious devotion and law abiding goodness and showed him His abundant grace through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  God introduced the relationship that could if he chose to follow.  Saul gave up all of his accolades and accomplishments in his Jewish faith for the relationship he gained through Jesus.  Saul died to his rules and regulations and emerged as Paul, a sold out devoted follower of Jesus Christ with a real, relationship with God.  Paul was so changed by this relationship that he counted his previous life as a loss.  Nothing. Waste. (Dung in the KJV, which we all know is...poop).
My "good" is nothing without God.  It is waste.  I can't do anything without God.  I rely on God for my next breath.  I need to choose God rather than settling for my own "good."  I hope this is encouraging, and please don't settle for your good when God has what is best for you.  Draw close and be willing to trust Him and obey Him.  He is truly the best.

Walking by Faith,

Consistent Consistency

I want to get married someday, speak Spanish, write a book, travel the world, and know God and make Him known.  These desires seem so big and far away at times.  These things are all good things, but they require smaller steps of consistency over time to accomplish them.  If I were to make more friends, study my Rosetta Stone for thirty minutes a day, write for thirty minutes to an hour a day, save a few dollars a month for traveling adventures, and study and share the Word of God over a period of time; I would most likely be a whole lot closer to accomplishing the desires of my heart.  My dreams need to become goals, and in turn my goals will become accomplishments.  The bridge between my goals and accomplishments is a consistent consistency of  little steps of action that align with the direction of my goals.

My Dreams are the roles in which I seek to become.  My dreams will not be fulfilled and handed to me on a silver platter or delivered by the postal service delivery man.  God will not just hand me a husband, or allow me to speak Spanish fluently.  I won't wake up the next day with a best-selling book on the shelves of every bookstore.  I won't be able to hop on a plane tomorrow and go overseas.  I won't be spiritually mature ever this side of heaven, I will always be growing into the disciple and missionary God wants me to be.  There will not be this magical day where all of these desires are automatically fulfilled.  Every role or aspect of my life requires work on my part.  This is where my dreams must become my goals.  If my goals are to be a wife, a fluent Spanish speaker, an author and so on.  Then I need to break down these roles into small actions that can be executed consistently over time to get me to my goals.  These steps of completed consistency are the stepping stones for my goals to become accomplishments.  Once these goals turn to accomplishments, the journey is not over.  The role of wife will bring on new dreams such as mother and the steps of consistent consistency begin again just with another goal in mind.

My dreams turn to goals when I PLAN action steps to turn them into accomplishments.  My goals become accomplishments, when I EXECUTE those action steps consistently in accordance to my goals.

Dream BIG. Turn your dreams into goals and accomplish them!  Small steps lead to great accomplishments.

My Best Effort is NEVER Good Enough

Filling out a job applictation:  "Were you ever terminated or discharged from a previous job?  Why?"
I think long and hard on my answer.  My best effort didn't measure up.  My best effort...
As I ruminate how to answer this question, I hear the lyrics to Matthew West's song "Strong Enough" float around me and my answer hits me like a ton of bricks.  My best effort.  I can't do it on my own.

That is kind of the point...I can't do anything without God.  The days are a little fuzzy now.  I remember the stress.  I remember wanting to do everything well. I neglected God till the stress was overwhelming.  It was a different kind of stress...it wasn't a defensive kind.  It was a balance thing.

The stress of a more than full time job stopped.  The struggle now became what to do with my time. Yes, I have job searched.  Nothing.  I have been able to serve more at my church, go to women's Bible study, help out neighbors, make new friends, and more.  There is a certain flexibility with not having a specific job.

My best effort will never measure up in a job, a fitness and food program, or in church service.  I can't do anything on my own.  I am only good and can only do good through Christ.  Apart from Him, I can do nothing.  It is a daily surrender~a heart, mind, and spirit matter.  This is easier said than done.  I hope and pray that I will surrender each day, each moment, and each breath to my Lord.

For the Glory of God,

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

~Colossians 1:27

The Best Thing

What is the best thing you have ever done?  I can think of many things that I've done, places I have been, people that I have met that were awesome and amazing.  What was the best thing, you ask?  That would have to be recognizing my sinfulness before a holy and just God.  God was knocking on my heart and gently showing me that He sent Jesus to shed his blood for me and pay for my sins.  I accepted His gift and now know that the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, is now applied to the doorposts of my heart.

That has definitely been the best thing in my life so far.  My life has been filled with good things since then.  As I seek to know God more, I have been reminded that the good things of life can overshadow the best things.  God created us to please Him.  In order to please Him and know what is best, we must know Him not perform or do things for Him.  Good things done for the wrong reasons, are bad things.  Check your motives and make the best choice.  God deserves our best.