Career Location—Where will you live? What company or organization will you work for? Will the job be solid? Will the ministry “stay afloat”? Where will your family grow up? Who will your kids be friends with? What church will you attend? What community will you live in? Who will babysit your kids and influence your family? What school will you send your kids to? These questions have enormous implications on many parts of your future and family. You must get it right. You must believe there is a God-ordained purpose and plan for all that must be discovered.
Living Quarters—What kind of place will you put your family in? How much will you have to pay? When will you purchase a home, if ever? How? What does it take to get into an apartment? How do you know what is best when you’ve never traveled this road before?
Church—Will you go to church since your parents won’t be making you? What kind? Will you serve faithfully? Will you be what God wants you to be in your church family? Will you help to bring others to Christ in that church? Will you find a solid Bible-believing church home or will you choose a compromising, middle-of-the-road, never-leave-your-comfort-zone type of place? Be careful not to follow culture's priorities and make the decision to leave the church of your upbringing too easily and without proper consideration. The Lord blesses faithfulness to His church and you will not be happy if you leave God's will in order to follow your dreams.
Personal Walk with Christ—Will you know Christ personally and stay faithful to Him in your heart? Will your children follow your faith or leave it? Will God be a small part of your big picture, or will He be your big picture? Will God be that part of your life that you run to only when you’re in trouble? These decisions will have much to do with your own personal sanity as well as the spiritual health of your family for generations to come.
Showing posts with label Destiny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Destiny. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Understanding the Early Years of Adulthood - Part Four
Career Field—
What will you spend your life doing? There are many noble things to do with your life. Ministry is good. Faithful Christians in secular fields are vital also. The question is not “what do you want to do?” As we’ll see later, that can be a dangerous way to think. The question is—what is your destiny? What were you made to do? What fulfills your eternal purpose for being on this planet? When you answer that question, you will be truly happy.
Chances are you know what you want. Scary thing is you may or may not be right. I mean, what you think you want may be absolutely wrong for your destiny. In which case, you won’t know it until a few years down the road—probably after you exit the mistake zone. So, you will have to make a choice, but you have no real way of knowing that what you want is what God wants. Sounds too bizarre for reality, but it’s true. The world is full of elderly people who never really found their purpose for being alive. You don’t have to become one of them.
Marriage—
Who will you marry? What kind of person will you marry—I mean, beyond “pretty” or “handsome”? Come on, go a little deeper than that. How will you know this person is emotionally stable? How will you be guaranteed you won’t end up deserted, cheated on, or left hanging out to dry? Thousands of couples every year, who once stood at a wedding altar madly in love, stand in a living room beating each other’s brains out or stand in a courtroom fighting over cars and kids. People who once dreamed of living in love for the rest of their lives now live in hate. How can that happen? What makes you exempt? No one thinks it will happen to them.
Your marriage will not be perfect. At best it will be a solid relationship that forges through trials to become a refined lifetime love. That’s at best. No marriage is easy, and no marriage just falls into perfect place. Happy marriages and lifetime loves are discovered through years of commitment and personal change. But happy marriages are worth fighting for. They are always happier after the forging process than they were before it. The whole relationship gets better over time, but how will you know for sure that you’ve got someone committed to loving that intensely?
How will this person treat your children? How will they respond when you do something stupid? How will they spend money or keep the house? What will it take to really make them “ticked off.” Just what does this person do when he or she is “ticked off”? What will he or she want to do with the rest of your life?
All of these questions are huge, and most of them cannot be answered for certain until after you’re married! Isn’t that great news! You’ll get married, and then you’ll start to really get to know the person you married. About ten years later, if you are one of the few that make it, you’ll feel like you’re starting to get to know your spouse, and you’ll thank God you followed Him—or you’ll wish you had.
Don’t freak out and say something foolish like “I’m never getting married.” In reality, marriage is awesome. It’s just not what pop-culture would lead you to believe. It’s something much different and actually much better.
The great part is God has a plan for making sure you get the right person! I'll deal with that in another post. So for now, don’t sweat it and trust the Lord.
What will you spend your life doing? There are many noble things to do with your life. Ministry is good. Faithful Christians in secular fields are vital also. The question is not “what do you want to do?” As we’ll see later, that can be a dangerous way to think. The question is—what is your destiny? What were you made to do? What fulfills your eternal purpose for being on this planet? When you answer that question, you will be truly happy.
Chances are you know what you want. Scary thing is you may or may not be right. I mean, what you think you want may be absolutely wrong for your destiny. In which case, you won’t know it until a few years down the road—probably after you exit the mistake zone. So, you will have to make a choice, but you have no real way of knowing that what you want is what God wants. Sounds too bizarre for reality, but it’s true. The world is full of elderly people who never really found their purpose for being alive. You don’t have to become one of them.
Marriage—
Who will you marry? What kind of person will you marry—I mean, beyond “pretty” or “handsome”? Come on, go a little deeper than that. How will you know this person is emotionally stable? How will you be guaranteed you won’t end up deserted, cheated on, or left hanging out to dry? Thousands of couples every year, who once stood at a wedding altar madly in love, stand in a living room beating each other’s brains out or stand in a courtroom fighting over cars and kids. People who once dreamed of living in love for the rest of their lives now live in hate. How can that happen? What makes you exempt? No one thinks it will happen to them.
Your marriage will not be perfect. At best it will be a solid relationship that forges through trials to become a refined lifetime love. That’s at best. No marriage is easy, and no marriage just falls into perfect place. Happy marriages and lifetime loves are discovered through years of commitment and personal change. But happy marriages are worth fighting for. They are always happier after the forging process than they were before it. The whole relationship gets better over time, but how will you know for sure that you’ve got someone committed to loving that intensely?
How will this person treat your children? How will they respond when you do something stupid? How will they spend money or keep the house? What will it take to really make them “ticked off.” Just what does this person do when he or she is “ticked off”? What will he or she want to do with the rest of your life?
All of these questions are huge, and most of them cannot be answered for certain until after you’re married! Isn’t that great news! You’ll get married, and then you’ll start to really get to know the person you married. About ten years later, if you are one of the few that make it, you’ll feel like you’re starting to get to know your spouse, and you’ll thank God you followed Him—or you’ll wish you had.
Don’t freak out and say something foolish like “I’m never getting married.” In reality, marriage is awesome. It’s just not what pop-culture would lead you to believe. It’s something much different and actually much better.
The great part is God has a plan for making sure you get the right person! I'll deal with that in another post. So for now, don’t sweat it and trust the Lord.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Understanding the Early Years of Adulthood - Part Three
Friends—
Who will you hang around and spend time with? Who will you be like and be associated with? What kind of person do you want to become? Who will you decide you want acceptance from and why even care about acceptance? These issues are very significant. People will judge you based upon the people you spend time with. “Not fair,” you might think. Wrong. It’s completely fair, and you do the same thing. You’re human, and God makes it clear that man looks at the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).
“Yeah, but God looks at the heart,” you argue.
Yeah, but man looks at the outward appearance. People only have what you give them to formulate their opinion of you. If it’s a bad opinion, it’s probably your fault. Don’t go blaming everyone else for misjudging you. Take a look in the mirror and study what you’re giving them to work with. Start with a good look at your friends.
The fact is people are right in judging you this way because you will become like the people you spend time with. So rather than looking for who’s cool, who’s “in,” or who’s acceptable, start looking for who you want to be like and be associated with and make them your friends. Hopefully, those people will be people who are faithful to God and serving Him. This decision determines who you will be like which again has profound effects on everything else—who will marry you, who will hire you, who will help you in time of trial…on and on.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Understanding the Early Years of Adulthood – Part Two
Your job—
Where will you work through young adulthood? Most people get some small job in high school that causes them to face a lot of life-shaping questions. Will you work on Sundays? So many young adults get so infatuated with getting their first few paychecks that they will kiss Sunday church goodbye for the first minimum wage offer that comes along. They love the sound of being able to say “I have to work.” There’s something very adult-ish about that.
How much is God worth to you? You’ll find out when you get your first job. I’ve seen dozens of teens set God aside for a few bucks with seemingly no thought of it. I’ve seen hundreds of others take their stand for God, and God always meets their needs—always—usually with better jobs! In the process, their faith grows, and a solid foundation of faith for future decisions begins to form.
So, if you don’t have a job, before you get your job, even if you have a job now, choose now to stay in church regardless. Starter jobs are easy to find. Good workers are hard to find, and God will provide better for you than you will for yourself. Keep Him first, and watch Him work it out. If you have a job now that requires you to miss Sunday church, talk to your manager, get your parent’s and pastor’s advice, and even consider putting in your notice if you have to. Put God to the test, and let Him prove Himself to you. Stepping out in faith is easier now than it will ever be, and you’ll need the valuable foundation of faith for bigger decisions in your future. In other words, learn to trust God with $6.50 an hour, and it will be easier to trust Him with $80,000 a year, when your kids will be watching you.
People who refuse to trust God when they are young never develop the foundation of faith that they need when bigger storms and harder tests come their way. Remember David and Goliath? David trusted God with the bear and the lion, which made it easier for him to trust God with Goliath. The same principle will work for you.
You’ve got to realize that you need church! It’s God’s ordained institution for meeting your spiritual needs. You cannot be right with Him if you are not faithful to a Bible-believing, Independent Baptist church. It’s simple, and it’s in the Bible. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” What happens at church is what will keep you spiritually healthy and growing. You need church as much as you need your next meal—and a lot more than you need a paycheck.
On your job, will you stand for right? Will you laugh at dirty jokes and accept invitations to wild parties? Will you be a credible testimony for Christ, or will you quietly hide your Christianity for the myth of acceptance? What will you do for money? What will you do with your money? These values and more start coming into focus with the starting of your first job and will determine a wide variety of details about your adult life.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Understanding the Early Years of Adulthood - Part One
Most people believe that you just have to go through this “mistake zone,” (approximately ages 17 to 27) and you’ll learn the hard way. Of course, most young adults “box themselves in” by refusing to hear any advice from godly people who care. So, they are condemned to “learn the hard way.”
Honestly, adult life is a big enough adjustment, and there’s no sense in carrying baggage that you don’t have to carry. Over the next several posts I’ll examine each of the major decisions you’ll face in the upcoming years and try to grasp just what you’re up against.
Here are two BIG ONES:
College—This is probably your first major decision to conquer. Which one? What kind? Where? The college you choose will most likely lead to the person you marry, the career field you pursue, and the friends you keep. This will determine where you live, what you will do with the rest of your life, who you become like, and whose children you have. This will determine who your grandkids will be and who their kids will be…and so on. Whoa…big stuff. This is definitely a major decision that you want to get right!
Dating—What kind of person will you date? If “looks” are your primary criteria, you’re headed for a world of misery. (Although, I wouldn’t go so far as to tell you to marry someone ugly.) Believe me, when you meet God’s match for you, you’ll think this is the best looking person on the planet. That’s an easy one for God.
What guidelines will you follow in your dating life? Who will you give an account to? If you are “out from under” your parents, you need to give account to your pastor. How will you keep from ruining your testimony? Will your dating life reflect Christ and help you become a better Christian? These questions will formulate the basis for choosing a spouse, a life’s mate. This is huge!
Will you date a non-Christian? If God is real and your faith is real, then your family must be founded upon eternal values. God’s Word is the blueprint for the family and the glue that holds it together. If you don’t at least have true faith in common, you’re headed for sure disaster. God says in Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” and 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” By the way, don’t fall for the trap that you can date this person and win him to Christ. Win him to Christ, see him discipled to faithfulness—then date him. Very few people succeed with dating as an outreach. It’s never right to do wrong to do right.
Honestly, adult life is a big enough adjustment, and there’s no sense in carrying baggage that you don’t have to carry. Over the next several posts I’ll examine each of the major decisions you’ll face in the upcoming years and try to grasp just what you’re up against.
Here are two BIG ONES:
College—This is probably your first major decision to conquer. Which one? What kind? Where? The college you choose will most likely lead to the person you marry, the career field you pursue, and the friends you keep. This will determine where you live, what you will do with the rest of your life, who you become like, and whose children you have. This will determine who your grandkids will be and who their kids will be…and so on. Whoa…big stuff. This is definitely a major decision that you want to get right!
Dating—What kind of person will you date? If “looks” are your primary criteria, you’re headed for a world of misery. (Although, I wouldn’t go so far as to tell you to marry someone ugly.) Believe me, when you meet God’s match for you, you’ll think this is the best looking person on the planet. That’s an easy one for God.
What guidelines will you follow in your dating life? Who will you give an account to? If you are “out from under” your parents, you need to give account to your pastor. How will you keep from ruining your testimony? Will your dating life reflect Christ and help you become a better Christian? These questions will formulate the basis for choosing a spouse, a life’s mate. This is huge!
Will you date a non-Christian? If God is real and your faith is real, then your family must be founded upon eternal values. God’s Word is the blueprint for the family and the glue that holds it together. If you don’t at least have true faith in common, you’re headed for sure disaster. God says in Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” and 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” By the way, don’t fall for the trap that you can date this person and win him to Christ. Win him to Christ, see him discipled to faithfulness—then date him. Very few people succeed with dating as an outreach. It’s never right to do wrong to do right.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Welcome to the "Mistake Zone"
The 10 Most Dangerous Years of Everybody's Life -
If you are between the ages of 17 and 27, you are living in the 10 most dangerous years of your life. One leading author in the area of student ministries calls this time period the "Mistake Zone." It is the time of life when almost all of your biggest decisions will be made, yet it is the time of life when you are the very least equipped to make those decisions. Sounds scary? You bet. Can you avoid it? Absolutely not! Welcome to the "Mistake Zone!"
Thankfully, you're not alone. But before you make major decisions, take a look around you at the landscape of people who have been through the "Mistake Zone." You will find casualties no matter where you look. You'll find unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases. You'll find drunkenness, drug abuse, and chain smokers. You'll find divorce, custody battles, and broken lives. You'll find relational abuse, substance abuse, and sexual abuse. You'll find bad credit, lost jobs, and bad investments. You'll find school dropouts, down-and-outers, and even up-and-outers. You'll find casualties on skid row and at the Ritz Carlton. No one is exempt from the pain and scars of the "Mistake Zone". Not even you.
So think about it. Here's a list of decisions that you will probably make between the ages of 17 and 27:
1. College
2. Dating
3. First Job
4. First Car
5. Friends
6. Career Field
7. Marriage
8. Career Location
9. Living Place
10. Children and Family
11. Church
12. Personal Walk with Christ
13. Life's Purpose and Mission
14. Financial Values
That's a pretty long list. Most of these decisions will be made over the next 10 or so years. These things are gigantic! Furthermore, you're just starting out with no way of really knowing for sure which way is right for your future. At first it seems odd that God would throw these things upon you so early in life. He knows you are not ready, but He put you here anyway. Makes you wonder what kind of sense of humor He really has doesn't it?
Over the next several weeks I will post some thoughts on Biblical Decision-Making. Be sure and check back to this blog often.
If you are between the ages of 17 and 27, you are living in the 10 most dangerous years of your life. One leading author in the area of student ministries calls this time period the "Mistake Zone." It is the time of life when almost all of your biggest decisions will be made, yet it is the time of life when you are the very least equipped to make those decisions. Sounds scary? You bet. Can you avoid it? Absolutely not! Welcome to the "Mistake Zone!"
Thankfully, you're not alone. But before you make major decisions, take a look around you at the landscape of people who have been through the "Mistake Zone." You will find casualties no matter where you look. You'll find unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases. You'll find drunkenness, drug abuse, and chain smokers. You'll find divorce, custody battles, and broken lives. You'll find relational abuse, substance abuse, and sexual abuse. You'll find bad credit, lost jobs, and bad investments. You'll find school dropouts, down-and-outers, and even up-and-outers. You'll find casualties on skid row and at the Ritz Carlton. No one is exempt from the pain and scars of the "Mistake Zone". Not even you.
So think about it. Here's a list of decisions that you will probably make between the ages of 17 and 27:
1. College
2. Dating
3. First Job
4. First Car
5. Friends
6. Career Field
7. Marriage
8. Career Location
9. Living Place
10. Children and Family
11. Church
12. Personal Walk with Christ
13. Life's Purpose and Mission
14. Financial Values
That's a pretty long list. Most of these decisions will be made over the next 10 or so years. These things are gigantic! Furthermore, you're just starting out with no way of really knowing for sure which way is right for your future. At first it seems odd that God would throw these things upon you so early in life. He knows you are not ready, but He put you here anyway. Makes you wonder what kind of sense of humor He really has doesn't it?
Over the next several weeks I will post some thoughts on Biblical Decision-Making. Be sure and check back to this blog often.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Understanding Destiny
Destiny, as used here, is defined as the time God has you on this earth for the purpose of fulfilling His will. Here are some basic concepts to understand about your destiny:
1. Your destiny is unique to you.
2. Your destiny is awesome!
3. You will only be happy as you fulfill your destiny.
4. Your destiny will give you a true sense of divine security.
5. Your destiny represents true success.
6. Your destiny can be missed.
7. Your destiny is now.
8. Destiny arrives from God by faith on a need-to-know basis.
9. Destiny is a deliberate choice.
1. Your destiny is unique to you.
2. Your destiny is awesome!
3. You will only be happy as you fulfill your destiny.
4. Your destiny will give you a true sense of divine security.
5. Your destiny represents true success.
6. Your destiny can be missed.
7. Your destiny is now.
8. Destiny arrives from God by faith on a need-to-know basis.
9. Destiny is a deliberate choice.
Congratulations, You Need God!
God's best for your future starts at a point of need not a point of strength. If you view yourself in a position of need, if you see the decisions you face through the eye of humility and sincerity, then you will be driven to the Lord, to His Word, and to His guidance through godly counselors.
Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
