Friday, August 21, 2009

Digging for Gold

Americans today feel a need to find a deeper meaning to life. This is true of religious and non-religious people alike. I see at least 4 signs of this.

First, success and self-help literature is immensely popular. Apparently, people don't feel successful.

Secondly, Christian and religious success and self-help books are, if anything, more popular than even the secular market. The Associated Press published and article on May 20th, 2001 titled, "Writers Promote Bible as Self-help Manual". In fact, I recently visited a very large Christian book store and one of the largest sections in the store was called "Self-Help". by the way, one of the Christian books mentioned in the article was, If Men are Like Buses Then How Do I Catch One? Some of the more serious titles:

Half Time: Changing Your Game Plan from Success to Significance

The Gift of Peace (which sold 350,000 copies within 9 weeks).

So the literature is out there in vast quantities, indicating that people are interested in success and significance.

Thirdly, there is a rapidly developing new profession called "life coaching". At the August, 2001 World Conference of Christian Counselors, which I attended, more than 300 therapists, psychiatrists, and counselors gathered in a work-shop that hailed life coaching as an emerging trend. The definition of life coaching: a client-coach relationship that empowers the client to take action toward greater fulfillment in life. The fees are not inexpensive but people are signing up by the hundreds.

Fourthly, I know from personal experience the feeling that "there is something more to me than the world has yet seen." Do you ever have a feeling like that? Something great in you struggling to get out?

There is a deeply felt need among many Americans, no less in the church than out of it, to find a more significant and fulfilling way of life.

This need can be described as the quest to discover one's destiny. The Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer, in her book How to Succeed at Being Yourself, says, "I hope you have a dream of vision in your heart for something greater than you have now. Ephesians 3:20 KJV tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we can hope or ask or think. If we are not thinking, hoping, or asking for anything, we are cheating ourselves. We need to think big thoughts, hope for big things and ask for big things. I always say, I would rather ask God for a lot and get half of it, than to ask Him for a little and get all of it."

Finally, Joyce says, "There is a gold mine hidden in every life, but we have to dig to get to it."

Are you digging for the gold in your life? Have you even scratched the surface yet? Why wait any longer? Begin today thinking, hoping and praying for big things.

In the Beginning

In the beginning, God intended for you to pursue passionately His divinely ordained purpose for your existance. He designed that purpose for you and you for that purpose.

Your talents and fundamental characteristics, when fully developed and applied correctly, are the perfect tools for your specific assignment.

You experience a richness and fulness of life that cannot be improved on when you are pursuing this destiny, regardless of obstacles, pain or opposition.

People find themselves attracted to you because you radiate peace and contentment. You have meaningful relationships that are deep and strong. You accept the failings of others because you are happy with yourself, including your own weaknesses and shortcomings. You have been forgiven, you embrace your own forgiveness, and you forgive others.

In the beginning, God created you for a fulfilling destiny. Are you moving toward it?