Think Ahead: 7 Decisions You Can Make Today for the God-Honoring Life You Want TomorrowSample

I Will Be Devoted No one ever gets close to Jesus by accident. Right? Who has ever said: * I didn’t mean to, but somehow I’m stronger spiritually today than ever before. * I’m not sure what happened, but all of a sudden I know God’s Word and sense His presence. * I was just doing my own thing, minding my own business, and suddenly I’ve become full of spiritual power and confidence in Christ. We will never accidentally get close to Jesus, so instead, we will choose to think ahead and pre-decide: I will be devoted. Because of who God is and what He has done for me, I am willing to do anything and give up everything for Him. God is first. We won’t accidentally spend rich and meaningful time devoted to Jesus. So, we will pre-decide to be intentional. Our strategy will include three things: * A time * A place * A plan In Mark 1:35, we’re told how Jesus spent undistracted time with His Father: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” With Jesus as our example, because devotion matters, we will intentionally eliminate distractions so we can connect with Him in a deep way through solitude, prayer, Bible study, personal worship, Scripture memorization, or whatever allows you to come to Jesus and give Him space to work in your life. A Time Jesus invites us to come to Him and do life with Him all the time. While that is true, most of the time we have lots of distractions keeping us from really focusing on Him. If we want God to be first, we can’t give Him the leftover time in our day. We give Him the best time in our day, every day. You’ll want to find what time will be best for you. Let’s name it. Prioritize it. Plan for it. I seek Him in the morning. I seek Him in the evening after the kids go to bed. Whatever it is, you will pre-determine a time for connecting with Jesus. A Place It doesn’t always have to be the same place—you may have some special days where you can go somewhere different. But for the most part, having a consistent place to pursue Jesus will probably help you do this consistently. My suggestion? Choose a place you will love. Make it as comfortable, or as functional, or as attractive as possible. It’s the most important thing you’ll do every day, so do everything you can so you don’t want to miss it. Create an environment you’d be sad to miss. Let’s name it. It’s your bedroom. It’s the back porch. It’s at your kitchen table with your coffee. Prioritize it. Plan for it. You will pre-determine a place for connecting with Jesus. A Plan Pre-decide a time, a place, and also a plan. If something is important to you, you plan it out ahead of time. You might plan a first date, a vacation, or a special anniversary dinner. So, instead of showing up at your time and place in a disorganized way and then feeling like you don’t know what to do, you will pre-decide a plan. Your intention is to encounter Jesus. He has invited you into that time and you’ll be open to whatever He wants to say to you or do in you. You will be flexible, but you’ll develop a plan. It may be through a book of the Bible. It may be a YouVersion plan. It may be with worship music. Whatever it is, you walk in with a plan. Let’s name it. Prioritize it. Plan it. You will pre-determine a plan for connecting with Jesus. As you start prioritizing this time with Jesus, something is going to happen. Your time with Jesus will start seeping out of your time with Jesus. You might devote those 15 or 30 or 60 minutes to Him, but as you do that day after day, your connection with Christ will grow outside of that time. And you’ll realize something in you has changed. God will no longer feel like just a part of your life. Instead, you’ll discover that God is your life.