"Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We have all found ourselves, at one moment or another during our life, wandering around wondering what we should do.  Should I change jobs?  Should I pursue a specific relationship?  Should I quit or continue on?  Honestly, I don't think God cares as much about those specific decisions as we do.  What He does care about is that we make a decision to follow Jesus and that we rejoice in everything, pray always and give thanks for all that we have.  That is God's will.

Lord, thank you for being clear for what Your will for my life should be.

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men." - Colossians 3:23

Not the most compassionate or sensitive comment but that is really what God is saying.  We tend to act on feeling.  I like doing something so I am enthusiastic about it.  I don't "feel" like doing something but I have to do it so I do it begrudgingly and half-heatedly, complaining along the way.  No matter how we "feel", we need to be enthusiastic about it.  God doesn't feel like hearing all of our moaning and complaining but He does listen and we are grateful for that.

Lord, help me to be motivated by what is right and not by how I "feel".  

"Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:13-14

As students prepare to head back to school and we all transition from the summer routines to the fall schedules, it is a perfect time to remember to look forward and to be intentional about what is ahead.  There is little to nothing we can do about our past.  We have a lot more influence and control of our future.  God wants us to look forward and live in the present and to not let our past limit what we are able to accomplish.

Lord, thank you that my past does not need to be my future.

"You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?"  Galatians 5:7

The one thing I learned in Driver's Ed class ... IPDE (Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute).  As we drive, we must identify the problem, predict what will happen, decide what we will do to avoid the accident, and then execute.  The first step is to "Identify".  The first step in avoiding any incident or mistake or error or problem in life is to identify.  If we can't identify the problem, we can't find a solution.

Lord, help me to be aware of the things in my life that cause me to stumble and fall.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  1 Thessalonians 5:11

Do you see others as a teammate or as your competition?  It is unfortunate that many of us see even those who are closest to us as competition rather than as our teammates.  Life is hard enough that we don't need to find more conflict or obstacles to overcome.  Life should be a team sport and not a solo adventure.  Our competition should be the challenges of life and not others.  We should provide a hand to others, as we would want others to provide a helpful hand to us.

Lord, help me to see others as my teammate and not my competition.

"No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13

Sin is selfishness.  Every sin that we could ever commit comes back to our self serving nature.  Love is selfless.  We can talk about love in a lot of different ways but it basically comes down to one thing, putting others before ourselves.  

Lord, help me to love more and sin less by being selfless and not selfish.

"The diligent hand will rule, but laziness will lead to forced labor."  Proverbs 12:24

Being intentional and proactive is better than being lazy and reactive.

Lord, help me to see the benefit of being on the offensive, rather than on the defensive in all aspects of my life, including my relationship with You.

"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God." Philippians 4:6

If I am lazy or don't really care about much, including success, there would be little reason to worry.  We worry because we don't have control over a result.  We worry when we feel that we can't determine an outcome with complete confidence.  We worry because we feel that we are the only one who can do anything and when we don't feel that we are able to do what we should or need to, we worry.  People who feel as if they are not very talented or not good at anything typically don't value accomplishment and thus there is no real need for them to worry.  Those who have success unfortunately feel as if their success is completely up to them and fail to see where God fits in the equation.  Worry is a result of our belief that we are more in control of things than God is.  

Lord, help me to realize that You have given me all that I have and I need to realize that You have much more to do with the outcome than I do so I need to trust more and worry less.

"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."  Jeremiah 29:11

One of the benefits of getting older is coming to the realization that every day matters but every day is not crucial to the outcome of our lives.  There are "throw away days" and "throw away moments".  We will still come to the same result, even if things don't always go as we have planned.  God's plan is a "long term plan" not a "today plan".  We get confused by thinking that what we feel may be right as being the only way to achieve our purpose in life.  God sees the end and His plan is much better than ours.  We need to realize that although something may not go our way today, it doesn't mean that our life is ruined or that we won't reach our goal, and most importantly, God's goal for our lives.  

Lord, thank you for having a plan that is about "hope" and my "future" and not just short term gratification.