"Live with the end in mind"

If I am working from the wrong map in my GPS, it does not matter how positive I am or how good an attitude I have, I will stay lost and never arrive at my desired location. There are many positive and uplifting teachers today. However, they are not teaching the right principles to truly transform lives. They have the wrong map in their GPS. The philosophies of this age have proven to be insufficient and ultimately only bring sorrow and disappointment. Just looking around proves that the world’s way is not working, look at all the broken marriages and the rebellious children. With the number of people who are slaves to their debt and an economy that is on the verge of collapse, it is clear that the world’s way is not working. So many people are depressed, or their lives are tormented by fear or anxiety. Many others are enslaved to addictions. The self-help, new age philosophy of our day is not bringing the joy and peace it promises but rather leading many down the wide path that leads to destruction.

Viktor Frankl survived the Nazi Death Camps by envisioning himself giving talks once he was released from his captivity. He stated, “those who have a why to live, can bear with almost any how” (Frankl V., 1997 p.123). One of the things that Frankl stressed was live with the end in mind. Do not let your traumas from the past or your current situation be tools that pull you down. Learn to live from a present-future perspective and prevent the past from blocking the ability to experience the love and grace of God in the present difficulty. Dr Ken Nichols, author of Masterpiece: Seeing Yourself as God's Work of Art Changes Everything, describes that “our new identity is based only and always on the unconditional, unmerited grace of God” (Nichols 2017, p18). Our temperament has a lot to do with how we control our feelings and our actions. (Carbonell, 2008). Having a guiding purpose statement (GPS) helps to live with the end in mind.

The Bible is my road map, it will guide me to the path I am to take. My current guiding purpose statement (GPS) is as follows: Seeking to be a follower of Christ, I am committed to become an ambassador of Christ (II Cor5:20). The GPS provides a deliberate and focused statement that will help me stay on the course that I have, prayerfully, dedicated to the Lord. In Psalms 119:105 we are told that “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (The Holy Bible: NASB, 2020). The GPS allows me to be deliberate in the process of staying focused. It specifically directs me to focus on the things that the Holy Spirit has impressed upon me which are important and timely. It helps me move from where I am now towards the me I need to become.

One of my life scriptures is John 10:4 "When he puts all his own [sheep] outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (The Holy Bible: NASB, 2020) Part of my mission statement has the proclamation that I am a faithful follower of Christ. The word follower brings to my mind that I am purposing in my heart to listen, hear, follow, and obey the voice of the Shepherd.

I know that I live in a fallen world and that I am going to make mistakes. The apostle John tells me in my walk I need to walk in the light, that I will mess up, but that I can receive forgiveness if I confess my shortcomings and failures to Jesus (I Jn 1:7-10). Paul tells me I am not a victim but a victor in Christ. I am an overcomer, and I can do the things God puts on my heart. I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. (Rom 8:31,37) My prayer, each day, is I will no longer allow myself to be conformed to this world’s passions. Father, transform me by the renewing of my mind, so that I may discern what your good, acceptable, and perfect will for my life is. (Rom 12:2).

As followers of Christ, we live in a fallen body on a fallen planet but the Holy Spirit dwells in us. As image bearers we are spiritual beings. The Spirit of God is dwelling in us and, while in communion with our spirits, we grow. As we grow as spiritual beings, that growth effects our heart, mind and will so that every aspect of our life is affected, and we bring glory to God. As I was reading my Bible, I see how Jesus spoke against external practices that do not achieve internal transformation. We must be willing to examine our hearts and go below the surface and go deep with God. Paul Pettit talks about the lifelong process of one’s life being transformed in the likeness and character of Christ while in the midst of a community of likeminded individuals (Pettit, 2008). Every experience in our life effects our future to some degree. John Ortberg says to grow spiritually we need to walk with God so that the rivers of life flow out from us and into the lives of others. The living water is not us but the Spirit of God flowing through us and into our life. This allows the Spirit of God to transform me from the me I am now to the me I need to become (Ortberg, 2010). During Jesus’s ministry on earth, people would tear off the roofs of homes to get to Jesus. They would drop everything they were doing to follow Him. Crowds would walk for miles to hear Him speak. Being aware of their soul’s deep thirst for union with God and the rivers of life Jesus promised, those followers pressed deep into Christ’s teaching. Spiritual formation is not about following rules. It is about growing in love, serving one another, and deepening in relationship with God so that rivers of life flow from us into the world. Growing in favor with God and others requires that we have a deepening desire for relationship with the Father. That we are willing to allow that relationship to change our inner heart (Issler, 2012).

References

New American Standard Bible. (2020). https://nasb.literalword.com/

(Original work published 1971)

Issler, k. (2012) Living into the life of Jesus. InterVarsity Press

Nichols, K (2017 ) Masterpiece. Liberty University Press

Ortberg, J. (2010) The me I want to be. Zondervan

Pettit, P. (2008) Foundations of spiritual formation: a community approach to becoming like

Christ. Kregel