8 Steps to New Year Goal Setting 2011

01.03.11

8 Steps to New Year Goal Setting 2011

If you or someone you know is human, you have probably experienced the power of flesh filled desires in your goal planning for 2011. 

For instance, if I become overweight ... erhummm... I said "IF".... I may look at my body in disgust and say I need to lose a few pounds!

Or perhaps someone is smoker, an alcoholic, or tied up into another form of desire filled addiction.  They might reason I'll cut down to _____, or I'll give this up by this date ______.  

And while I'm a big fan of goals in any setting, I would be remiss if I didn't introduce these 8 powerful steps that have impacted my 2011 perspective.

Psalm 119:33-40 (New Living Translation)

He

 ³³ Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
      I will keep them to the end.

 

Do you read God's word enough to know what He has to say regarding your life this year?  Perhaps this is a great starting point for your 2011 journey... 

 

STEP 1 • Read God's Word each day.

 

 ³⁴ Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
      I will put them into practice with all my heart.

 

As you experience God's voice through scripture, you may feel that "hearing it isn't enough."  It's time to live it.  James says "Faith without action is useless..."

 

STEP 2 • Sign up for one ministry serve opportunity this winter, at your local church.

 ³⁵ Make me walk along the path of your commands,
      for that is where my happiness is found.

 

Oh boy, this one is difficult.  We know WHAT to do, and may even know HOW to do it according to God's design... but to actually walk that path, consistently?  Wow.  Tough to go that road alone... 

 

STEP 3 • Approach a friend (same gender as me) and start an "Accountability Partnership."

 ³⁶ Give me an eagerness for your laws
      rather than a love for money!

 

Let's be clear here, God doesn't NEED your money.  But He desires your heart.  In our culture, money represents the culmination of our education, efforts, and successes.  To turn around and tithe it back to God's church essentially states (at the heart level) that God is Lord over my everything.  It is because of Him that I'm trained.  It is because of Him that I work.  It is because of Him that I succeeded.  I am only a steward of what He's invested into me...

 

STEP 4 • Tithe 10% gross wages, back to your local church.

 ³⁷ Turn my eyes from worthless things,
      and give me life through your word.^[a]

 

What would your day look like if you disconnected cable/satellite TV?  I'm serious.  Or let me ask it this way, what is the greatest life lesson you learned from television in 2011?  Is God able to provide you other ways to "unwind?"  Will you let Him?... 

 

STEP 5 • Disconnect cable service for 1 full year in 2011.  Re-purpose that time in other life areas.

 ³⁸ Reassure me of your promise,
      made to those who fear you.

 

After that last one, there will undoubtedly be a bit of anxiety in your spirit.  There was in mine.  But the good news is, God' promises are His to fulfill, even if we are anxious.  He invites us to cast our worries on Him... 

 

STEP 6 • Pray directly against my spirit of anxiety, stress, anger, resentment, __________, in the name of Jesus Christ.

 ³⁹ Help me abandon my shameful ways;
      for your regulations are good.

 

God's desire is not to control you with rules, but to offer guidance with love. His power offers hope, way beyond any weight loss program or new jello diet! 

 

STEP 7 • Accept God's loving guidance as authoritative in my life.

⁴⁰ I long to obey your commandments!
      Renew my life with your goodness.

 

By seeking His Word, we will essentially be enlisting a tour guide through this metamorphosis process.  Time to shed the cocoon of comfort, of fear, of familiarity... and FLY!

 

STEP 8 • Live the life God intended for you in 2011!

 

 

 

 

What I've learned is that goals from our own strength just don't have the muscle power to be sustainable.  WE NEED GOD TO SHOW UP.  

 

If we can begin to focus on feeding ourselves... our own spirit through the Word of God in relationship with Him... that energy will overflow into all areas of our life.  The natural byproduct of this is significance (as success is no longer our aim.)

 

Take these scriptures to heart as you plan your 2011.  Raise the temperature of your intimacy with our Holy King, who promises to provide an abundant life filled with joy to those who pursue him with their all.  

 

God bless you in 2011.