Tips to Spiritual Renewal for the New Year Provided by Atlanta CPA...Taking Christianity Into the World

Tips to Spiritual Renewal for the New Year Provided by Atlanta CPA...Taking Christianity Into the World

I have been wondering (obsessed) what I could possibly say to people in order for them to have a better life. I do not really know why because my life certainly has not been what I would consider a standard for anyone to follow. But none-the-less, I am going to give it a shot.

I think there are three things people, especially young people, need to address from the day they begin working, or sooner. They are Vision, Guidance, and Wisdom. There is one other thing but I will address it later on. But if you seriously address these three things early on, then your life will be better in every aspect.  

Vision: What is it? Well, it is that ability to look ahead knowing where you wish to go whether it is education, financial, or spiritual. It is extremely important that every person or couple set goals for themselves. Without goals you just kind of wander around in this vast space we call life. There will always be ups and downs, but without vision of your goals those ups and downs will usually be totally out of your control. With vision you will recognize the ups and downs and be able to react, and in most cases to control them. By the way I think the ups can be more dangerous than the downs because you can become too complacent and not recognize an approaching down just as has happened to most of us at the present time. Give your goals a lot of thought. Make them challenging but make them realistic. If you make them unrealistic you will become frustrated and lose focus. I think most of your goals should be in increments of no more than five years, tweaking them as you go. The only exception to this is saving money for your retirement. It is never too early to start that and I think you should sacrifice other areas of you goals to maintain your savings program. The bottom line is, you must have a vision of where you are going in order to know how to get there.  

Guidance: This having control, management, and supervision of your vision. Daily supervision is the best way to realize you goals. There are many ways of accomplishing this. The best way is through a mentor. Talking to people you know who are successful is the best way that I know to get good advice. This can be relatives, friends, or people you do not know but who give out information via biographies, news articles or speeches. Most of this can be available for free. I also think the Wall Street Journal is an excellent source of information of what is happening and who is being successful in managing their affairs. Read everything you can about Warren Buffet because as ruthless as he is, you cannot go wrong by following his basic business and personal strategies. He always says it does not make any difference whether you are talking about $100 or a million, the same strategy applies. If it is education you need advice, then recognize your talents and seek out those of similar or same talents who are successful. If you use your education and talents collectively I am sure you life will be both personally rewarding and serve a great purpose to your community. I cannot imagine a more rewarding experience than helping someone else achieve their goals. To paraphrase, Ask not what people can do for you, but ask what you can do for them. I wish that I would have done this because I think I was born to serve others, but just never would take the time. It is a shame that something you knew all your life, but just never really admit it until late in life. What a waste! Anyway, guidance is extremely important for you to achieve you vision. Seek out some who is willing to mentor you in accomplishing your goals.  

Wisdom: In my opinion, wisdom would be the greatest gift anyone could have. Without it all the vision and guidance in the world would be totally useless if you do not have the common sense to apply what you learn to achieve your goals. I am sure you have heard people say, Yeah he is really smart, but he doesn't have any common sense. Well common sense will overcome a whole lot of ignorance. People with a lot of common sense may not be the most educated, or rich, but they seem to fill the otherwise void in this world that makes the entire system work. These are the people that live within their means, don't try to keep up with the "Jones's" and just make sure that their contribution to the world is to maintain the balance. I envy them because during these troubled times, they are the ones who seem to be doing just fine. They are not losing their homes, their jobs, and their families always seem to be close. I guess they just go about doing their business, knowing they will survive. So I guess the best thing I can say here is to say have the insight to live within your means and make your decisions using the best information you can get and applying just good old common sense. Remember advice is just advice and opinions are just opinions. The decisions need to be yours, because you are the only one who really knows your circumstances. In your vision, wherever you are, work every day to be the best person you can be, doing the best you can do, with what you have to do it with, to the glory of God.  

Finally as I said at the beginning of this rambling there is one other item that needs to be in you plan for a better life.  

GOD! Would it not be great to see our vision of our life through God's eyes? He wants all of us to have a wonderful and fulfilling life here on earth. We are His creation! We are His greatest love! He gave us His only Son! So why would he not want us to have a fulfilling life? By the way we can see our vision of our life through God's eyes. It is laid out in the Holy Bible, His Word. He wants us to fulfill our dreams. All He asks is that we do it to His glory! How hard is that? Very! He knew that and that is why He sent us our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ!!! We must all remember our vision is not a vision at all if we do not include The Heavenly Father as our sole purpose of having a vision of our life. Study yourself and when you are thinking of that dream home, job, or financial achievement you wish to accomplish in life, make sure that it is all to the Glory to our Heavenly Father. Your vision will never be totally realized without Him being the utmost benefactor of your vision.  

Where could you get better guidance for fulfilling you vision than from the greatest of mentors, our Heavenly Father? Nowhere! Psalm 37:4, 7 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass....Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him." It goes without saying that our timing is not necessarily God's timing. Pray and ask for His guidance. Don't be in a hurry, and He will give you the path you need to take that will fulfill your vision and His glory.

Except for our Lord and Savior, I think wisdom is our greatest gift from God. As Proverbs 2:6 says, "For the Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding." In all we are thinking about doing, we should pray to our Heavenly Father as to the wisdom of that decision. Although the Father gives us a discerning heart, I think the best wisdom we can have is to ask Him for confirmation of our decisions. Again, we must be patient, but we must be persistent through prayer. Having said that, a person, whom I love, reminded me that we should always be mindful that above all the Father's will be done. Be careful to pray for your needs. It is okay to have some of your wants, but the Father is most interested in fulfilling your needs so you can accomplish what His vision is for you.  

I read somewhere that the Bible has very little to say about our goals. I disagree. The entire Bible is in reference to the goal of living an everlasting life in the presence of our Heavenly Father. What greater goal can there be?  

With Love, Glory be to our Heavenly Father, Amen  

John Dillard is an Christian Speaker/Author and an Atlanta CPA. To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/  and for his latest book Overcoming Life's 9/11's: Job's Journey and a Voice of One: Nehemiah's Prayer visit http://www.john-dillard.com/  or call John Dillard CPA today at 770.814.9304 (All Rights Reserved) Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!

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