Setting Goals With The Kingdom In Mind!

Your kingdom come...

It is the beginning of the year. So first, Happy New Year to you! I am sure you have seen all of the new journals, planners, pens, and stationery to start out the year. 

Many (including myself) are setting up their goals, resolutions, and systems to tackle the next 12 months. 

This is great! The Bible even agrees with hard work. "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." Proverbs 6:6

I love the saying, "If you don't plan, you plan to fail." So, I, along with the rest of the crowd am marking up those pages girl.

DON'T FORGET GOD!

One of the things I want to remind you is the temptation to forget God. It is easy to plan too tightly and strictly. Sometimes, we set unreasonable goals on ourselves.

Having a clean slate to start out with is refreshing, but we should also look at things realistically. What happened this year was that another day passed! Yep...that is what made it a new year!

Now hold up, before you leave and call me a party pooper! You should know, I am loving the opportunity to see this as a new start. But, in the Kingdom of God, there is eternity.

LOOK AT GOD MORE!

God isn't bound to our time system. (With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8)

A healthy mindset can do us good. The goal to our planning is productivity, not to become our own slave drivers.

Before you know it, the fun planning can become a cage and the year slowly becomes a dread, as it progresses.

Sister, don't look at your goals, calendars, or resolutions more than you look at God! 

GOD IS STILL KING!

He is still the King. He is still your Father, and He is still worthy of your attention and praise.

As you plan, readjust from 2018, make better habits for this year, and schedule what you feel led to do, remember you are living for God's kingdom, not your own! You should desire God's will to be done, not your own! 

It will be good for us to examine our hearts to see if any area of our life is against God. To see if there are things that happened in 2018 we can learn from so that we won't carry those same habits into this year.

(By the grace of God of course!)

EXAMINE MOTIVES!

Pinpoint the motive of those things you are writing in your journal/planners at the beginning of this year.

Look for selfish reasons and places where you are focusing on yourself, instead of bringing God glory? 

Sister, no matter how well you plan, the Bible says "pride comes before a fall!" Therefore, it is important to live in humility!

Examine and see if some of your goals have to do with the approval of man? 

Are you trying to be successful so that others can see, or is it so that you can point others to the only One worthy of applause?

YOUR TIME!

Look at your time management. Will most of the time be spent doing things that will better your body (the temple of God), relationships, the church, your mind, and heart? Or worldly things?

We should focus more on the things that truly matter. God has called us to be salt and light on the earth...even for this 2019!

What does that look like to you? Pray about it! Ask God to reveal His heart to you about your goals. He will!

WHEN THE WATERS COME!

I pray this year will be a great one! There will be many seasons. There is a time for everything, right (Ecclesiastes)?

I challenge you to write that in your planner because when everything breaks loose and nothing makes sense with the planners and your pretty colored systems, Jesus will be there!

Jesus is steady when our lives get interrupted. Life is so unpredictable, but God is so good.

We can trust His love when our strength is gone! We can't depend on ourselves.

We sure can't depend on a schedule (and that's coming from a girl who spent hours on her bullet journal for 2019).

OPEN HANDS!

So, let's hold our goals with an open hand! I am going to put my effort into keeping my plans and schedule. But, I am also going to be flexible.

Girlfriend, go hard at what you have set up, but if you feel God leading you another direction, follow Him. Even, if you don't understand!

Christians plan differently than the world! We have a Shepherd-King and I am so glad about it! I have also found it helpful to pick a 'word for the year.'

My word this year is THANKFUL. I am praying that God will help me to be intentionally thankful. Last year my word was ABIDE, and I learned so much.

GOING DEEPER!

If you want to pick a word and go deeper, I have created a 2019 Word Of The Year Guide for you to download! And it is free! Click here to download.

Take a snap of your word and post it to your Instagram Story (with @josephinedrose) so that I can see it!

If you would like to join my blog and mailing list, click here. You will find it at the bottom of the page. This year, I am getting intentional about sending weekly newsletters and making more resources available each month! 

Blessings, sister! Here's to another year of following Christ (I am waving my coffee to ya)!

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!