SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

GOALS - Day 8

In a sense, the topic of this page should be something more like spiritual growth.  Where the focus of my heart is shifted from myself and things I seem to occupy my time with, toward God and following His will for my life.  As the overall theme of this "project" is transformation, both spiritual and physical, I will just let the title stand for the sake of consistency.  Along this journey, I am sure I will make and meet many goals, fail at others, and simply make progress (or not) in some.  That leads me to the point of this post.  I am purposely setting some simple, achievable goals.  Primarily so that I might gain some forward momentum in the leg of the journey.  As a long distance runner may not sprint out of the gate, I am approaching this leg at a slow jog.  It is very important to me that I am able meet these initial goals.  I will not quit, but I also don't want to fail this early in the game.  So here goes:

SPIRITUAL GOAL THE FIRST - Pray every day.  How simple it sounds.  Even with no time parameters, suggestions for content, or organized plan.  I want it to be just like breathing.  I don't wake up and think, "Ok, today I canNOT forget to breathe."  I want to change my habit of praying only when in the presence of others or when I put my kids to bed, to an actual conversation I have with God about the issues in my heart and reality of my life.  I will pray for people I care about.  I will pray for issues I hear about in other parts of the world.  I will pray, every day.

SPIRITUAL GOAL THE SECOND - Memorize a bible verse every month.  Practice them daily.  I will confess that I have a bit of a head-start on this one.  I just finished a study that required me to memorize about 35 verses.  Admittedly, I only put them in short term storage for each week to get that particular verse "checked off" but could barely even summarize most of them by the end of the study.  So, I wrote them all down on index cards and will practice them daily, each month adding another.  I'd like to leave room in here for improvement, perhaps bumping it up to one verse a week or something like that, but let's just see how one per month goes for now.  I have chosen 2 Timothy 1:7 as my verse for this month.  If you see me around, don't hesitate to quiz me on it.  I appreciate the accountability.

SPIRITUAL GOAL THE THIRD - Daily Devotional.  I found a great app on my phone to help with this.  In fact, the theme of the current devotional is "spiritual growth."  I thought it would be a safe place to start.  Spending a few moments in the Bible each day, and making it a habit, can only help me build a strong foundation for future growth and development.  Basically, if I truly want to follow God, I have to read the Book.  Probably a few times.  More than likely for the rest of my life.  Daily.

I am going to make a chart and actually check off each of the areas each day.  If I make it to December 1st without missing a check mark, I will reward myself with a new journal.  (Spoiler alert: any ideas what my goal might be in December?)  If I miss a day or two in an area, I won't quit and I won't be walking around with a defeated look on my face, but I do want to make it at least 30 days in a row before I reward myself.  An instinct of mine is to accept some failure as part of the journey, let it go and jump back on the horse.  My experience has shown me that missing one day turns into two, three days into a week, two weeks into losing my devotional all together.  I heard a very wise man say, "Salvation will get you into heaven, but the work you do for God on this earth will determine how much you enjoy it."  He made an analogy about two men who go to a symphony.  One had studied music theory and had become proficient at many instruments, the other barely listened to even some of the most common masterpieces.  Both men will enjoy the music of the orchestra, but which man will have his heart filled with joy and peace and love and passion at the beautiful sound?  Of course it will be the man who put in the work before he got to the show.  I am on this journey because I already have my ticket for the show, and I really want to enjoy it.