God wants you to become the best possible version of yourself. That version of you emerges as you: 1) Purposefully deny your own selfish/self-centered agendas in favor of God’s agenda for you, 2) Commit to pursue God’s mandates to Love Him with all your heart and to Love your neighbors as yourself, and 3) Transition  yourself to be led by the spirit into the life He intended when He put you here.

Each person is on their own journey but there are a few key steps or stages along the way.

Here is a sort of check list for progression on this journey. How far down the list are you at this point?   

• God Exists – He created the heavens and the earth, He was, is, and will be.
• God Is Love – He rewards those who diligently pursue Him
• God is Truth – Truth brings order out of Chaos, The Truth sets you free
• The Bible is God’s divine word – It comes alive and performs work as you embrace it.
• God created man in His image, in perfect harmony with Him in the garden.
• The image was tarnished by Adam’s sin – Adam’s desire to become like a God, made him Self-Conscious and Self-Centered which separated Him from God.
• I inherited Adam’s sinful nature, I have sinned, the wages of sin is spiritual death, I need a savior.
• I am a spiritual being in a temporary body. My soul will spend eternity somewhere.
• I have free will, my choices matter – I am fully accountable for how I live this life.
• God formed me in my mother’s womb, He put me here for a reason.
• God Loves Me – He Sent His Son to restore what was lost through Adam
• Jesus was born as a human to a virgin mother
• Jesus died as an innocent sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
• When you accept Jesus as Lord and commit to follow Him, your spirit is reset, born again, the Image of God is restored in you,
• Jesus blood washes away Your past. Your sins are forgiven. You can focus forward.
• The Father sees you through Jesus, He sees you innocent and righteous thru Jesus’ blood.
• I Accept Jesus As Lord of My Life
• I Deny Myself – No self-serving agendas, This life is No Longer all about Me
• I Commit to Live Worthy of Jesus Sacrifice – I am IN the world not OF the world.
• I Embrace My New Identify – I am A Child of God, Brother of Jesus, God’s Friend
• He Knows Me – We spend quiet time together; I take Him with me throughout the day
• I Know Him – His Word yields understanding, My mind is transforming, I know His will.
• I Approach all things with Prayer, Supplication, and Thanksgiving
• I Am Led by the Spirit – I Ask, I Listen, I Hear, I Follow
• I Love God with all my heart – I am a good ambassador for Him
• I Love My Neighbor as Myself
  • I see each person as a child of God struggling in the fallen world
  • I flow Gods love out to everyone I encounter -smile, pleasant, encouraging
  • I focus on finding ways to be useful to others, especially those who have less
  • I forgive those who sin against me
  • I Pray for “my enemies” to find God, His love, His truth for their benefit
• I Profess the Promises
  • All things are Possible with God
  • Eyes to See from His Perspective
  • Ears to Hear and Understand His Word
  • Mouth to Speak His Praise
  • Hands to Do His Work
  • He Protects Me From Evil
  • He Gives Me Strength
  • He Helps Me Overcome All Things
  • I Ask and it is Given, I Seek and I Find, I Knock and it is Opened.
  • My old self is crucified with Christ, My new self is raised with Him into life
  • It Is No Longer Me That Lives, But Him Through Me
  • The Spirit That Raised Jesus From The Dead Lives Inside me
  • By His Stripes I Am Healed
  • People see God when they see me in action

Finding God:

Many folks these days only discover God when they reach the point of desperation.  When they finally realize they cannot get themselves out of a mess, or they are exhausted while trying to endure something; or they finally realize the severe consequences of things they have said or done. The good news is He is waiting patiently for each of us to eventually come to Him, and He is ready willing and able to help us once we do.  Your opportunity is to discover Him long before you become desperate, and to realize more of the benefits in this life.

Loving Him with all your heart means making Him lord of your life. Yielding yourself completely to Him. Inviting Him to come and live inside you. Living your life as a temple worthy of his presence. Transforming your mind by learning and understanding His word, and using your body to do good works for His kingdom. The mental image is that God is pure love. His love flows to you because He sent His son. This love is perfected when it flows through you to others. It can only flow when you get your selfish agendas out of the way. When you do this you shine as a bright light in this dark world, and you will be a beacon for others to see the kingdom.

If you want to avoid some suffering and having to get all the way to the point of desperation you can take the opportunity to work through it now. But one warning, You must be serious about it because God hides himself so only those who genuinely want to find Him will do so. That keeps the riff-raff out of the club.

The first concept to wrestle is the spiritual nature of our existence. God created the heavens and the earth out of invisible spiritual matter (Gen1, Heb 11:3). The spiritual world is all around us and it actually controls what happens here. What appears to us as a series of physical struggles is actually a massive spiritual battle going on behind the scenes (Eph 6:12).  Think of it this way: Our job while on this earth is to 1) Discover we are in a spiritual battle, 2) Recognize we were innitially asigned working for the bad guy, 3) Get ourselves realigned and declare our commitment to the good guy, 4) Dedicate ourselves to becoming an effective force for good. There is no middle ground.  You are either continue to be a pawn used and abused by the bad guy, or you are fully committed to actively work for the good guy.

So in practical terms;  You are a spiritual being in a physical body. You are actually a  three part being: Mind, Body and Spirit. This earthly life is a womb to develop your eternal consciousness. What you do in this life has consequences. God wants to help you get on the right path. He can connect with your spirit to flow into your mind and heart to help you learn and grow, but He can only do it when you invite Him in. It is natural for you to be led by your rational mind. It is unnatural for your mind to release control and become led by the spirit but that is the only way to open up to God’s inflow and realize your full potential. It takes practice to get comfortable doing it, but first let me push the boundary a bit.

It may be hard to believe but you are entirely dependant on God. You can do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING without Him. He is the source of everything. His is the power that drives every living thing. Picture being 100 ft underwater with a scuba tank and the air runs out. God is highly invested in you: He has plans for you, He formed you and put you here, He has more thoughts about you than there are sands on the beaches, He has provided you with gifts and talents, He is continuing to provide evey breath you take, and He promises to reward all who diligently persue Him. He uses an analogy of a grape vine in a vineyard: you are a branch and He is a vine.  The branch withers and dies if it is cut off from the vine. The branch can do absolutely nothing without the vine. (John 15:5). You need to take Him very seriously. The consequences of ignoring Him are not pretty and they last for eternity.

He calls us to love Him will all our heart. Loving Him with all your heart involves acknowledging Him, Recognizing and celebrating His roles in your life, Spending time getting to know Him personally, continuously engaging in discussion with Him in prayer, Asking Him for guidance then listening for His voice and going where He leads you, and the giving Him credit for His hand in your life.  

Loving your neighbor as your self involves viewing all others as children of God who are struggling in this fallen world. Treat each of them with respect, Be positive and encouraging, Be helpful when ever you can. Pray for them when they exhibit harmful behaviors. When you pray for them, make sure to check your selfish agendas, you are to pray for them to discover and embrace God’s path for their lives so they can become better , not so they will stop being a problem for you.

Let Him lead you.  Be led by the spirit not the flesh. You are a spiritual being living in a physical world controlled by the spiritual world. God will lead you through the challenges of this world if you tune in to hear His voice. His way is different; It is not the way that seems reasonable to a man. He already has a path in front of you, you need to discover it and go where it takes you. He will flow information to you if you ask. Pray for insight on His path forward: “Lord, I know you have a path for me, give me eyes to see it.” This takes some practice….

Let’s try it right now: Get comfortable somewhere, Close your eyes,  Quiet your mind. Imagine Jesus sitting next to you. Reach out with your right hand and hold his hand.  Ask Him out loud: “Jesus, You offer wisdom to those who ask. I want to be led by the spirit and not the flesh. Please give me a message to guide me on the path forward. I ask this in Your Holy Name.” Stay quiet and focused on Him until you receive the message. It will be a distinct thought, or a specific word, or a mental image, or even an audible voice.  When you get it, speak it back to Him. “Lord, I believe you are telling me…xxx”.   Reflect for a moment on what that message means to you and what you should do now that you have it, and then thank Him.  Many times the first message will be.. “I love you’, especially if you have had doubts about that. Or “I want to be a bigger part of your life” if you have been excluding God from your daily routines. Or maybe “I don’t know you” if you have not spent much time in private personal discussion with Him. Or “I want you, not your money” if you were treating God as a wishing well rather than the person who laid down His life for yours.

Put your life in his hands: ex:“Lord, You provide food for the birds, you bring rains and you raise the sun. May your face shine down upon me, May your hand never leave me. Guide me and keep me all the days of my life.”

Yield your burdens to Him: Draw near to Him, Give Him the burden of worry. Give Him your cares. He promises that His yoke is easy and that righteous believers will never be moved.

Approach every day as an opportunity to shine. Be thankful for what God has done for you and what He is doing for those around you. Keep a thankfulness journal if you need help recognizing what God has done and is doing in your life. This will help keep you humble and in the right perspective.

Stay focused on Him in prayer. A serious session at the beginning and end of each day and at key junctures as you go through your day.  Make sure your prayers focus is on benefiting others for their sake and for the kingdom not just to benefit you. This will keep your heart oriented in the right direction.

View all those around you as children of God struggling in a fallen world. Your job is to flow His love out to those around you. Be bright, pleasant, and encouraging at every opportunity. You will never know what difficulties someone is facing and your smile my help them get through it.  Love your enemies. If someone is being difficult, they are likely struggling with something. Pray for them to find God’s love and God’s truth to help them realize their full potential. Avoid praying to fix  someone for your benefit – that will not get you very far.

View every day as an opportunity to get to know Him better and to become more like Him. View every engagement as an opportunity to flow His love out to someone, and for someone to get a good look at Jesus when they see you.  You were put here to be an ambassador for God and as you get your self out of the way and let His love be perfected in you, you will shine as a bright beacon for His kindgom.

Supporting Scriptures:

You are a Spiritual Person In An Invisible Spiritual World

 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:3

You are in a Spiritual Battle

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

You are entirely dependent on God

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John15:5

Be led by the Spirit:

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

Engage in Prayer:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Put your life in His hands:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”  Numbers 6:24-26

“My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.” Psalms 31:15-24

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26

Cast your burdens on the Lord

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

“…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Love your enemies

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:43-48

Shine like a beacon

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16