SETTING AND ACHIEVING GODLY GOALS

01 Apr SETTING AND ACHIEVING GODLY GOALS

_{SETTING AND ACHIEVING GODLY GOALS}

_{To set a goal is to the take the initiative, that given the perceived available resources, and the given circumstances, one desires a particular  outcome and one goes for it. Goal setting is the art of purposing in ones heart what exactly one wants to achieve or accomplish. It has many benefits as it helps us steward our time and possibly our potential. All through the bible we see goals set and achieved, even though the word “Goals” was not written in the bible. No great achievement was done without it being set as a goal, even if it is not described as or called a goal. Goal setting can become a tool to help time management as well as inspire productivity and help accomplish great eat things in life. It can be used by an individual or any organisation and the results have been phenomenal when used properly. When written down, goals can become like a blueprint for the process we chose to go through to accomplish great projects.}

_{GOD THE FATHER HAD GOALS.}

_{God set goals from creation. Even when we read the conclusion of things in the book of Revelation, we see that He has set goals too. Jesus, in all his life on earth also set goals from age 12 till the cross, His goal was set to do the will of the Father.} 

_{Genesis 1:24-28}

_{And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.}

_{And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.}

_{Jesus said He finished the work that the Father gave Him to do.}

_{John 17:4}

_{I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.}

_{John 4:34}

_{Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.}

_{John 9:4-5}

_{I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.}

_{For us believers some goals have been set for us in the bible. They are character and service goals.}

_{Romans 8:29-30}

_{For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.}

_{To be conformed to the image of the Son, is to be transformed in character, intimacy with the Father as well as in demonstration of God’s power in our lives. Our Lord Jesus becomes the example by which we measure our progress in the things of God. He also gave us the mandate to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. He promised us that signs will follow our ministries, as we lay hands on the sick and cast out devils.}

_{Matthew 28:18-20}

_{And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.}

_{Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.}

_{Mark 16:15-18}

_{And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.}

_{We need to take these goals of global soul winning as well discipling the nations, then break these down into little chunks of goals that will lead to the overall picture. We have actions goals as well as outcome goals. We need action goals that will lead to the overall results we expect. A goal like reading the entire bible in year will bring us closer to God as we meditate in the scriptures we read and broaden our knowledge of the Word of God.}

_{IN THE MINISTRY OF OUR LORD JESUS ON EARTH.}

_{Many in the ministry of Jesus who demonstrated their faith in His ability to heal them can be seen as setting faith goals.. Actually goals are faith statements and faith needs goals for effectiveness.} 

_{Matthew 9:20-22}

_{And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.}

_{Matthew 9:27-31}

_{And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.}

_{Their faith needed the goals they set for God’s power to move in on their needs. “What would you have do?” ‘That I may receive my sight”. Their faith needed to be clear as to what they wanted accomplished and they needed to speak it out. The principles of faith includes, believing it’s the heart, speaking with the mouth as well as acting like the word is true. Wrong beliefs also affect the operation of faith. Believing in the word of God is a choice we make.} 

_{2 Corinthians 4:13}

_{We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;}

_{So we see our choices affect how and what we believe. Our beliefs affect our thoughts, decisions and actions. Our actions eventually affect the outcomes of our lives.  Why don’t we see what the bible says, make a commitment to the saying , doing and acting on the word, that is set goals to do these things and then commit ourselves to doing them and watch the outcomes of our lives.}

_{SOME BENEFITS OF GOAL SETTING}

1. _{GOALS bring about focus in our lives. They determine what to do and what not to do. Daniel is an example of focus in the bible. He purposes not to defile himself in chapter one of the book of Daniel, and in chapter six, he had purposes in his heart about his praying times.}

_{Daniel 1:8}

_{But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.}

_{Daniel 6:4-5}

_{Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.}

_{Daniel 6:10-11}

_{Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.}

_{Daniel lived a focused life. In the face of adversity he remained focussed. He had set goals, based on his understanding of the will of God for him, he had set himself some goals and they governed every part of his life.}

_{It is known that when light is focused, it can penetrate of break steel. When not focussed, it does little damage, if any at all. That’s how it is with us, we accomplish more when we are focused than when are diffused, doing whatever comes our way. A life that is focused is a more productive life than one that is not focused.}

2. _{Goals bring achievements. When we set clear specific goals we can measure our achievements. We should learn to set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible as well as timed goals. If there is no time for accomplishment, it is just a wish not a goal.}

3. _{Goals bring balance to your life. There are different areas of our live where we can set goals. The Lord Jesus Christ grew in stature, in wisdom, in favour with God(spiritual)  and in favour with man (social).}

_{Luke 2:52}

_{And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.} 

_{So if we set goals spiritually, relationally, as well as our leadership and personal development goals, and we put a workable plan to these goals, in the light of our peculiar circumstances, we can see growth in all areas of our lives. Otherwise we lat other areas suffer for some as we neglect vital aspects of our lives in view of other desires we may have. Many have let key relationships suffer as they went about their businesses or ministry. We need physical goals for fitness, right weight and proper dieting. We need career goals too. But we also need soul winning goals as well spiritual growth goals.}

4. _{Goals bring about discipline in our life.  Write your goals, Acheive them and enjoy doing so. Review your goals from time  to time to set ones that are demanding on you as you improve different aspects of your life. Keep growing as you allow your goals to bring discipline into your life.  God set the goal to work for 6 days and rested on the 7th, you also should have goals for resting at least one day out of 7. Remember goals can be the blueprint for the life God wants you to have, if you set them according to His word and after thorough praying through. Goals for sharing your faith, for your service to benefit others and your spiritual growth will all bring discipline to your life.}

5. _{Goals bring about creativity. When someone sets a goal to read 25 books in a year, the person suddenly realises that there are many ways to read books like audio books while driving etc.  Challenges bring about creativity when we give ourselves to take them on. Watch out for creative ideas as you set goals.}

6. _{Goals bring about growth, bring about new levels of faith as well as excitement. Fun goals also bring about enjoyment.} 

_{Growth has to be intentional. Spiritual as well as mental development demands intentional engagements. Reading, meditating in the word as well as reading other healthy books to add to your knowledge understanding and wisdom.}

7. _{GODLY GOALS BRING ABOUT GODLY RESULTS. They stretch your faith and bring glory and honour to God. Godly goals should be birthed in prayers so that God’s will is established. It is crucial that we align our lives with God’s purposes for our lives. God reveals His purposes through His word and by His Spirit and also by the Godly desires He plants in our hearts.}

_{Romans 12:3-8}

_{For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.}

_{PRINCIPLES OF GOAL SETTING.}

1. _{Make sure your goals are statements of faith.}

_{2.Following the instructions in God’s word, set goals that help you accomplish them. Set short term and long term goals.} 

_{To be conformed to the image of Christ, goals need to be set for bible reading, study and meditations daily. Also prayer goals will be necessary for quality time with the Father God by the help of His Spirit. Praying in the spirit regularly will call for goals set as per time to do so and duration, daily, if possible. The great commission was given to the entire church but each person and each church need to have times dedicated to soul winning, discipleship, market place training and special outreaches. These demand goals.}

3. _{Goals help build anticipation and energy. Goals give us something to look forward to.  When we set goals we need to identify what we need to do, need to overcome and every other thing necessary to accomplish the goal. We may need to count the cost of what it takes to accomplish the goal. Can we afford to pay the price? We must learn to from goal to goal without any loss of enthusiasm. We need to set greater goals after we accomplish the ones set already.}
4. _{We set goals for what they force us to become. The becoming is one of the greatest benefit for goal setting. So we set goals for what they force us to become to accomplish the goals. When we set the goal to read the entire bible throughout the year, what do we become by doing so? We get closer to God, know more about Him and be really affected by the word of God. So we become more spiritual for a devotional goal of reading the bible daily and completing the entire bible in one year. We become more like Jesus. To Acheive is usually preceded by becoming. Things change for good when we set these kind of goals. We know more, see more things in the spirit and therefore can be more Christlike in our character.}
5. _{We need to set goals that out of reach but not out of reality. We need goals that can stretch our faith, stretch us but not goals that are out of reach or beyond our reality. The size of your goal should reflect the size of your God. Take it in little bits so we do not get presumptuous but rather stay in faith.}

_SUMMARY

_{Purpose in your heart that you will be an effective steward of your time and talents. Make up your mind that you will take responsibility for what happens in your life and future as much as it lies with you. Embrace God’s picture for your life from His word. Learn to speak to yourself according to the provisions of Calvary not the opinions of negative people around you. Begin setting Godly goals so that you can grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Keep a journal or two for recording goals, answers to prayers and other insights you learn as you grow in the Lord. Set goals for the use of your time, for the future you desire in God. Set goals to study the bible, pray, win souls and help others become better disciples for Christ.} 

_{God will reward your life with excellence in all areas of your life. Amen}

_{Rev. Kola Ewuosho}