Drifting Without a Rudder

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.”

PROVERBS 16:3

 

PONDER THIS

You need a goal in your life, and it’s got to be specific. If you don’t have that, you’re like a ship at sea on a dark night without a rudder, without a chart, and without a compass. Most people don’t plan to fail; they just don’t plan anything! You may say, “Sure, you’re a pastor. You ought to have some goals.” Mothers ought to have goals. Teachers ought to have goals. Students ought to have goals. Athletes ought to have goals. Medical doctors ought to have goals. And a church, in general, ought to have goals.

Is your goal specific enough you could put it on paper this morning? What are you all about? What motivates you? I mean, what are you trying to do? If our goals are not from God and according to His will, even our success will be failure.

What are your goals for this year?

How have you sought to put your goals in line with God’s will?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to write out not just your goal for this year, but for your life. How will you submit this before God that He might establish you?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Godly Goals Before Expediency

PRAY OVER THIS

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” 1 Corinthians 6:12

 

PONDER THIS

An expedition is a journey. You’re going somewhere if you’re on an expedition. In the KJV, this verse is translated as “all things are not expedient.” The word expedient means, “something that brings you to your goal.” Every Christian ought to have some God-given goals. Every one of us ought to have a holy ambition in our lives. I have goals for my life. I believe they have been given by God, hammered out on the anvil of prayer, and they’ve become goals for my life. Now, I can tell whether a thing is right or wrong for me by assessing if it will bring me to my appointed goal or hinder me. Is this activity an anchor that keeps me out of God’s harbor, or is it something that propels me toward my God-given goal?

But if you don’t have any God-given goals, then expediency makes no difference for you. God has laid His hand upon you. This was the great goal of the Apostle Paul. He said, “that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12b).

What are your God-given ambitions and goals?

What are some things that have hindered you from your spiritual goals?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of some God-given goals that are on your heart today. Share them with a friend and find some practical steps to pursue these goals.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You Need a Goal

PRAY OVER THIS

“Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.”

(Proverbs 16:3)

 

PONDER THIS

You need a goal in your life, and it’s got to be specific. If you don’t have that, you’re like a ship at sea on a dark night without a rudder, without a chart, and without a compass. Most people don’t plan to fail; they just don’t plan anything! You may say, “Sure, you’re a pastor. You ought to have some goals.” Mothers ought to have goals. Teachers ought to have goals. Students ought to have goals. Athletes ought to have goals. Medical doctors ought to have goals. And a church, in general, ought to have goals.

Is your goal specific enough you could put it on paper this morning? What are you all about? What motivates you? I mean, what are you trying to do? If our goals are not from God and according to His will, even our success will be failure.

What are your goals for this year?

How have you sought to put your goals in line with God’s will?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to write out not just your goal for this year, but for your life. How will you submit this before God that He might establish you?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Godly Goals Keep You from Drifting

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”

Hebrews 2:1

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Have you ever written some God-given goals to keep you from being a drifter? Without goals, you’re a ship without a rudder, a compass, a sail, or an anchor. What kind of ship is that? One that is doomed for failure. Most people don’t plan to fail. They simply don’t plan. How can you tell whether or not your goal is a God-given goal?

Have you prayed over it and asked for God’s blessing?

Does it create in you enough spiritual enthusiasm and excitement to see it fulfilled?

Does it demand the very best in you?

Does it touch every area of your life?

No area of your life should be out-of-bounds from God.

ACTION POINT

Take time today—or surely this week—to seek God about the goals He wants you to set for your life. Write them down and think even of a mission statement focused on the following areas of your life: spiritual, physical, relational, intellectual, and financial.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers