By Botsio
YOUR SELF TEN YEARS FROM NOW
In the early hours of this Monday morning, after a long weekend of activities, I got up and was challenged by a question and a statement I had heard in a sermon. It went something like this: “What would yourself, ten years ago, be saying to you now about what you had planned to become?” That was the question. Before I add the statement, let us be clear: this is a question to which some of us will have a positive response; if so, keep moving, my brother, but go hard still and be constantly improving. God has more for you, and it is about Him anyway.
If you are not satisfied with where you are now, take heart; this article may be able to help you. In the sermon, the preacher/teacher said something to this effect: “Work on becoming that person that your ‘ten years from now self’ will be saying, “We did it!” Then you continue to implement God’s original plans and purposes because life is never about arriving, but rather about continuing.”
GOD HAS PLANS FOR YOU
Kingdom Men, God has plans for you—yes, even for you, who are wondering if God even notices you. Yes, He does, and He has a plan and a purpose for you. Here is a verse that applies to all who are born again: “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” (Jer. 29:11).
Your “self” ten years from now can either be saying, “Wow! You connected to those plans once and for all and you worked them out with God, and now look at what has happened! He has done exceedingly, abundantly above all you thought and imagined!” Or, that “ten-year-from-now self” could be disappointed if you do not start (or continue) right now to develop a deep relationship with God through His blessed Holy Spirit. From this relationship, you can hear from Him the plans He has for you and, with Him, work out the systems and structures of divine protocols you need to put in place so that your success becomes an automated guarantee.
WRONG HABITS
Let us face it: it is the wrong habits that have brought us here, where we feel we have so much to do and have not been systematic in working them out with God. Note the term “with God” and get used to applying it to everything you (and I) do. If Jesus can say, “By myself, I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (Jn. 5:30), why would we try, or rather, why have we been trying to do anything in life without God? Jesus said, “By myself, I can do nothing…”
Let us stop doing things by ourselves. It is a ridiculous way to live, and we seem to be doing this unwise thing day in and day out and expecting to see God working in our lives. Notice I said “we” because I am at the front of the line. Even if I had it all together, I would want more from God. We cannot continue to live as though we don’t have a Father Who is from everlasting to everlasting, and a role model in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has exposed to us the secrets of the kingdom of God for us to partake of, apply, and reap the benefits thereof.
DEVELOP A DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH ADONAI
I was thinking recently that if relationships are critical to our success in life (and they are), then the most obvious means to massive, amazing, far-reaching success in life is to develop a deep and meaningful relationship with the most important Person in the universe now and forever. He is the Lord God Almighty, Adonai, Yod Hey Vav Hey (YHVH). This is easier than you think (but requires that you consistently nullify your self-will and allow God’s will to be done, just as Jesus taught us with His life and in the Garden of Gethsemane). We have spoken of this elsewhere, but since we have run out of time (space in this column) for this week, let us continue next week.
Kingdom Men, we shall make a commitment to seek hard after God and get from Him His plans and purposes for us, if we don’t know them as yet, and to acknowledge Him in all we do (by doing everything with Him), just as Jesus taught and did while He was here, demonstrating how to live a successful kingdom (of God) life.
Until next time, Shalom!
