A Plan for Success

I’ve noticed that some of my recent posts provide some good biblical advice, however, they are also things that I struggle with and need to work on myself.  Those of you that are new to reading this blog, may wonder where the name for my blog comes from, Exceptional Christian.  It is most certainly NOT a description of me.  It is my goal to be more like Christ each and every day, in words to become an exceptional Christian.  It is my bar I want to reach.  As I read those recent posts of mine, I see how far I have yet to go.

How do I reach that bar?

I’m not sure I’ll ever reach that bar entirely.  That bar is Jesus Christ.  Can any of us ever truly obtain his level of perfection?  I don’t think so.  But if we set our sights high, we’ll work hard to get there.   So now we know we all have a lot of hard work to do to even come close to reaching that prize.   But what do we do to get there?  Let me point out what I feel is the first and perhaps most important step (perhaps it’s the only step)

Ask God for His help!  Invite him to be a part of every activity of your day, no matter how big or how small.  God wants to be a part of your life in every way, not just when we are at church and not just when we are on the mission field or talking to a friend about Christ.  No he wants to be a part of everything we do.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him, and he will help you.  -Psalm 17:8

I full believe that God wants us to succeed at everything you do.  He is eager to bless us.  We just need to ask.  It may really be that simple.  I’ve noticed that as I’ve been making a conscience effort these last few weeks to commit whatever task I’m working on to him and ask for his help, those tasks have gone smoother, answers to problems have come quickly and easily and I find I come out feeling more satisfied with the work I’ve done.

It is an area I need to work on still.  In fact, writing this post, I wrote the first few paragraphs before God stopped me and I felt a prompting from him saying,””Here you are Jason, writing a post about inviting me into every activity, and I have yet to be invited to help write this post.”  Be assured, I stopped and asked for forgiveness and asked him to join me right away.

So what do I do now?

Well, stop reading this post and ask God now to help you build the habit of inviting him to help you in everything.  Ask him to remind you when  you forget.  Do that now, I’ll wait.

So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, realize that you just invited God to work with you on something.  He’ll come, he will help.  Now actively look at things you’re doing, no matter how mundane or simple and commit that work to him and ask him to help, and then TRUST that he will.

• Doing yard work?  Ask for help.
• Writing a blog post?  Ask for his help in providing the words to say (this is what I did moments ago).  It does not matter if it is a Christian blog or some secular topic, ask for his help.
• Are you at work?  Ask for help being the best employee your company could ask for.    Bring God to work with you every day.  Look at each project or task at work as an opportunity to work alongside God.  Remember, HE is the best at what YOU do for a living.  (God, is the ultimate software developer).
• Ask him for help raising your children.
• Ask him for help when you travel.

That list could go on and on….remember nothing is too small or unimportant for God.  He will not get tired of helping you do the little things.  And he will be there when the big things come along.  If you bring him along with you, things will go more smoothly, the results will be better, and you will experience more joy and satisfaction.  Try it and you’ll notice a huge difference.