Part 6 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

    As you develop relationships with other people, one of the most important types is one whose main function is accountability. We live in a world where most people don’t want to be held accountable for anything. Why? Yet one day we’ll give an account to God for all that we’ve done (or haven’t done). It’s important to find that special person(s) who can hold us accountable and help keep us heading in the right direction. 

    The Bible says in Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way...” The Bible calls us sheep because we’re prone to wander. That’s why it’s valuable to have others help keep us on track. Two lies that many people believe are "I can do it myself," and "this is just the way I am." The truth is, we were not created to do it by ourselves, and God is never finished with us. We must embrace the truth that, without accountability, we’re vulnerable.  

    Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down his friend can help him up. I pity the one who falls and has no one to help him up.” The phrase “help him up” comes from the Hebrew word quwm. It means “to lift again, to hold up, to raise, to make stand, to stir up or strengthen, or to help succeed.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." 

    I view accountability a lot like insurance. In case I’m involved in an accident, I pay insurance in advance for my car, so that everything will be covered.  Accountability, to me, is preventative insurance. It keeps me from getting into an accident. If you’re seeking an accountability partner, ask God to reveal the right person (or people) to you. Look for someone you respect and who is willing to speak the truth to you. Use common sense in choosing appropriate partners. For example, if you’re trying to overcome lust, don’t seek a hot accountability partner of the opposite sex. Also, I suggest you make an agreement to meet regularly as a time to expose all your weaknesses, express all your goals, pray aggressively and, importantly, keep everything confidential.

The following guidelines will help produce effective accountability meetings:

1. Agree to ask the hard questions.
   Some accountability meetings turn into a social time rather than a spiritual developing time. When one of you does sin or stray, confess immediately and fully. I suggest you not wait until the next scheduled meeting. Get on the phone or email, and confess as soon as possible.
   

2. Penalize failures.
   If failure occurs in an area where you’ve requested accountability, make it cost something. I heard of two accountability partners who were seeking God to help them overcome a pornography problem. They both agreed that anytime they slipped, they’d give $100 above their tithe to God’s work through the church. These guys were able to become victorious! Had they simply fallen, confessed, and agreed to try harder next time, they may never have succeeded. Falling into sin will cost you “big time” in the long run. Why not experience a small, more controlled cost early on, and eliminate the bigger, uncontrolled cost in the future?
   

3. Help your accountability partner to do the right thing.
   Don’t allow tolerance to override truth. Confess not only to each other, but also to God. The Greek word for confess means to acknowledge (sin)—that is, to agree with God (regarding sin). Then, thank Him for His forgiveness. Pray together, asking the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you to resist the enemy. James 4:7 says it this way: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." 

Questions

• What area(s) do you need to have accountability in?

• When are you going to start being accountable?

Part 5 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Matthew 5:14 - "You are the light of the world."

God wants to use you to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus asked that you share Him with others, that you evangelize. For a lot of people, when they think of an evangelist, they think of someone on TV who wears an expensive suit, has perfectly combed hair, jewelry, funny ways of preaching, and asks for money. Truthfully, evangelism boils down to relationships more than anything else. If you have a relationship with someone who does not know God, He wants you to lead them to Him. In Bill Hybels’ book, Contagious Christianity, he presents six ways to share your faith. You might not be comfortable with some forms of evangelism, but God has put you in the right place to reach the right people, in the right way. Try exploring these different ways of sharing your faith:

1. Confrontation

   Similar to the Apostle Peter’s approach, one way to evangelize is to be “in your face,” boldly witnessing without hesitation. In the Bible, Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He didn’t think about it, beat around the bush, or ask others for advice. He blurted it out. He was direct and bold, and he confronted people with the facts. It’s no wonder God chose him as His spokesman on the day of Pentecost. God may put you in a situation with someone where the Spirit of God moves you to confront him boldly about his standing with God. If you feel God moving you in this way, open your mouth and watch as God gives you the words to share.

2. Intellect

   Paul regularly used an intellectual approach with others. You can read the entire book of Romans and chapter 17 of Acts to observe how Paul expertly presents sound explanations regarding God’s nature, our sin, and Christ’s solution. He had an organized mind and was highly educated in debate. Paul asked, “Shall we go on sinning, that grace may abound? By no means! We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?” Many people reject Christ because they can’t find anyone to answer their questions. They might have become followers of Christ, if someone would just have explained who Christ is. If God gave you an intellectual mind and the ability to easily defend the gospel, ask God for opportunities to use this intellectual approach in leading people to Christ.

3. Testimony

   In John 9:25, we read about a man who was blind from birth. After Jesus put mud on his eyes, He told the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam. In response to doubters, this man said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see!” This man refused to enter into a theological debate, and he wasn’t confrontational. He simply knew that Jesus had changed his life, and he told his story.

4. Interpersonal

   Luke 5:29 says, “Then Levi (this is Matthew) held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.” Matthew didn’t confront, intellectually challenge, or tell stories. He simply built relationships. He cared about people. God wants you to reach out to people who don’t know Him, show them His love, and watch them come to know Him personally.

5. Service

   Acts 9:36 says, “In Joppa, there was a disciple named Dorcas, who was always doing good and helping the poor.” Her work was so important that when she died a premature death, God raised her back to life. Maybe you’ve heard, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Once you build trust, and people know you genuinely care for them, they will be more likely to listen when you talk about Christ.

6. Invitation

   After Jesus prophesied to a Samaritan woman about her life and offered her living water, she realized He was the one everyone had been expecting. In John 4:29 she said to her friends, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” What did she do? She invited people to come and meet Him. Anyone can invite people to church. A church attendance study revealed that four out of five non-Christians will come to church when invited by trusted friends. As you begin to share your faith, always do so prayerfully. Ask God to give you wisdom, sensitivity, and the right words to say. Let the Holy Spirit use you to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

Questions

• What’s your story? Here’s a challenge: Practice telling a one-minute version of the story of your relationship with Christ. Be prepared to introduce someone to the subject at any time. Ask God to give you opportunities to share this story, and, using your testimony, lead people to Christ.
  


• How many people who are not followers of Christ are you intentionally developing relationships with? List some practical ways you can intentionally share God’s love with them.
  


• Think about people you could invite to church, expose to the presence of Christ, and let God touch their lives. List three people, and prayerfully commit to ask them to church this month.

Part 4 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Acts 2:42 - "devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer."

God is a relational God. One of the best ways we can experience Him and relate to Him is through community. It’s sad that most people have a lot of acquaintances, yet they can be in a room full of people and feel very alone.

Why?

You may know many people you call friends, but none you call deep and committed Christian friends. Very few people experience genuine biblical community. Christians have asked, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?” That’s a good question. Perhaps a more biblical question would be, “Do you have a shared relationship with Jesus?” Because Jesus is significantly experienced in community. Scripture illustrates the importance of a biblical community in Acts 2:42, when the first followers of Christ met together. These first believers did four things together:

1. They studied the Bible together. Reading the Bible on your own is very valuable, but experiencing the Bible with a group can give multiple layers of insight. Something especially powerful takes place when the Living Word is experienced in community.
2. They experienced life together. Most people skim through life, rather than doing life together.
3. They shared meals together. Scripture shows that mealtime was a very intimate event. In biblical times, those sharing a meal would often recline and rest their bodies on one another, which made mealtime intimate and relational.
4. They prayed together. Praying personally to God is important and effective. However, according to Matthew 18:20, a different principle is put into play when believers pray together. This scripture states this promise: “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am with them.” Shared prayer can draw you into the presence of God in a supernatural way.

Acts 5:42 says, “Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news; that Jesus is the Christ.” Notice that they met in the temple courts, which is similar to what we do in public worship on the weekends. It also says they met from house to house, which is comparable to our Life Groups. Acts 2:44-45 says, “All the believers were gathered together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone, as they had need.” The incredible thing about their biblical community is that any and every need was met by God’s people. The Bible goes on to say in Acts 2:43, "Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." So many Christians want the world to know us by our doctrines, by our buildings, or by our belief systems. God wants the world to know us by something else. John 13:35 says, “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples; if you love one another.” When a lost and dying world sees that we genuinely care about one another, people will be drawn to the love of God that is shown through us. God is relational. He wants you to share His goodness in biblical community.

Questions:

• Evaluate your current relationships. Are you experiencing biblical community as described in the four steps above?
• If the answer is “yes,” which of the four areas could be strengthened?
• If the answer is “no,” ask God to direct your steps in forming relationships with fellow believers, where the power of God can manifest.
• What would be your biggest fear in forming deeper relationships?

Part 3 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Team work is essential in all areas of life. Playing sports and even at home. Parents need to focus on building up their children, teaching, ministering and all the different aspects of life as they grow. Today we look at the word and how to build this team that will be strong, God fearing and will come through your TEAM building of your children.

Acts 10:2 - He (Cornelius) and all his family were devout and God-fearing…

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve “to be fruitful and multiply.” The Bible says children are a reward from God. Not only are children a reward, but they’re also one of the greatest responsibilities God puts in our trust. If God has blessed you with children, or does so in the future, the most important responsibility of your life will be to lead your children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. One of my favorite verses is about a man I’d like to emulate. Acts 10:1-2 says, “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing.” That last sentence grabs my heart. Imagine what it would be like if people described you this way—that you and all of your family, every generation to come, feared God and were devout to His ways.

Remember, God calls us to lead our children to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

I like to say that part of our call is to build “family esteem.” The family unit is one of God’s greatest teams on earth. An effective team works toward a common goal, is committed to continuous improvement, cooperates rather than competes, communicates openly, and resolves conflict effectively.

God’s greatest teams will glorify Him in all they do. Building a great “es-team” boils down to four things:

 

T - Teaching

Job 27:11 says, “I will teach you about the power of God. The ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.” As parents, God calls us to teach our children about Him. Proverbs offers us seven great things to teach our children. Teach them to:

• Fear God. (Proverbs 1:7)
• Guard their minds. (Proverbs 23:7)
• Carefully select friends. (Proverbs 13:20)
• Control their lusts. (Proverbs 2:16-19)
• Watch their words. (Proverbs 4:24)
• Be responsible. (Proverbs 6:6-8)
• Manage God’s money. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

 

The church is not responsible for teaching your children. The school system is not responsible for teaching your children. You are! Teach them about the power and goodness of God.

 

E – Encouragement

The Bible says in Hebrews 3:13, “Encourage one another daily as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Our children can easily be deceived by sin. Encouragement is our greatest weapon against sin. As parents, it’s tempting to always find fault, and it’s easy to do more correcting than encouraging. Make it a goal to encourage your child ten times more than you correct them. In a climate of encouragement, correction is much more fruitful. Encourage and love your children toward God in everything you do.

 

 

A – Affection

2 Corinthians 6:12-13 says, “We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange I speak as to my children; open wide your hearts also.” Please do whatever it takes to openly relate to your kids. We need to show affection with our time. I read in an article recently that the average dad spends thirty-seven seconds per day in meaningful conversation with his children. That simply won’t cut it.

 

 

M - Ministry

Psalm 34:11 says, “Come my children, listen to me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” A great family will see great opportunities to minister together. Prayerfully find a place to serve in church. Seek projects that will minister to your neighbors. Go on a mission trip together. Children learn by example. When we’re kind to cranky clerks, stop to help someone with car trouble, or visit shut-ins, this is ministry. Involve them in these everyday ministry opportunities.

1. Develop a plan for spending one-on-one time with each child. Something as simple as walking around the block with him/her and listening can produce great benefits. As you develop this plan, exercise accountability! Write down your plan and give it to your spouse, other relatives, or close friend to hold you accountable.
   
   
2. What are you doing to minister together as a family? Make a plan for this month to participate in a ministry opportunity together. Be specific and make sure everyone gets it on their calendar.
   
   
3. Take advantage of “teachable moments.” For example: Share when the Spirit speaks to you about an issue or a task. Your children, in turn, will learn to seek and hear God’s voice for themselves. Begin today incorporating this into your daily life.

 

Part 2 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Proverbs 29:18a - Where there is no vision, the people perish…

The Hebrew word that’s translated as vision is chazown (khaw-zone). It means a dream, revelation, or vision. Without vision, there’s no passion or purpose. Most people I know are living life without a vision.If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there.Jesus had a vision. John 10:10 and 18 say, "I’ve come that they may have life and have it to the full…No one takes my life from Me, but I lay it downof My own accord." His life on earth has passion and purpose. How do you uncover your vision? Let’s review these questions:

• If money were no object, and you could do anything you wanted for the rest of your life, what would you do?
• Besides ministering to your family, what do you believe is the number one thing that God wants to accomplish through you?

Let God speak to you through these questions. God has placed within you His chazown, His vision for your life. Let the Holy Spirit draw it out of you. Here are three clues to help you discover your vision:

In the first circle, you’ll see "Core Values."

• What do you stand for? What angers you?
• What do you love?

The second circle represents your "Gifts."

• What do you do exceptionally well?
• What are the gifts and talents God has given you?

The third circle is your "Experiences."

• What are the life experiences that God has given you to prepare you for your future?

Proverbs 14:22b-23 - "…But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Many people are all talk and no walk. They’re all show and no go. They’re all bark and no bite. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Remember, mere talk only leads to poverty, but those who plan and work hard will find a profit.

In 1 Chronicles 28:19, when David was seeking God’s will for the temple, he said, "All this I have in writing from the hand of the Lord upon me, and He gave me understanding in all the details of the plan." God knows the end from the beginning. God has a plan and a purpose for your life, and He will give you the details of the plan. The question is, how do I get from here to there? How do I move from where I am to where God wants me to be? The answer is, you rely on God to get you there one step at a time. As I always say, "Take baby steps." One small step after another will take you from where you are to where God wants you to be. So how do we devise the plan? We’re going to set short-term goals for long-term victories. 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "So we make it our goal to please God, whether we’re at home in the body or away from it." What’s your goal?

When you set goals, there are three things you need to keep in mind:

1. Goals must be specific.

   When you’re setting a goal, don’t set a vague target. Don’t just say, "I want to get in better shape," say "I want to lost ten pounds," or "I want to start working out three times a week." Ask God to show you a specific goal.

2. Goals must be attainable.

   If I set a goal to become a singer/recording artist that is not going to happen, why because we all I know I don’t sing, that goal would not be realistic. When you set goals, make sure they’re attainable.

3. Goals must be written.

   This is very, very important. What is written and measured is far more likely to be accomplished. "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets, so that a herald may run with it."

Before you set your goals, embrace this thought: You cannot change what you are willing to tolerate. Ask God to give you a divine discontentment for where you are and a deep desire to fulfill His plan for your life. As you’re seeking God’s direction for your goals, here’s where I suggest you start: Seek God and list three to five significant goals that you believe He wants you to accomplish in the next three to twelve months. Start with short-term goals for long-term victories. Make sure your goals are specific, attainable, and written. Be honest with yourself about where you are. You must know where you are before you can get where you’re going. What needs to change in your life? What is God calling you to do? Devise a plan. Then attack it. You will never possess what you are unwilling to pursue.

Part 1 of 6 - Life Development Plan

Can you imagine someone setting out to construct a building without a plan? Picture going on vacation without knowing where you’re going. Many people go through life without any plan, without any direction, without any vision. Everyone ends up somewhere, few people end up somewhere on purpose. In Isaiah 46:10, God tells us that He already knows the end before the beginning ever starts. God knows His plans for you. He knows where He wants you to end up. God has known what He wants you to accomplish since before you were even born. My goal in the Life Development Plan is to tap into God’s purpose for your lives. We want to define what His plan is for our lives, and then we want to accomplish that plan. The Bible tells us that where there is no vision the people perish.

Answer these questions about your life.

• What’s your vision?

• What kind of vision do you have for your relationship with God?

• What’s your vision for your relationship with other people?

• What’s your vision for your finances?

• What’s your vision for your health and your physical life?

• What’s your vision for your work life?

A vision will bring at least three benefits to your life.

First, it will bring focus. You’ll know what to do. You’ll know what the next step is. You’ll be motivated. When you have focus, you’ll also know what not to do because what you’re supposed to do is always in front of you.

Second thing a vision brings is endurance. Why do people endure four years of college? They persist because of the vision of a better job or a better life at the end.

Third thing a vision will bring is peace. You’ll have the peace to know that you’re following God’s plan and becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Remember, Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

What’s your vision? When you wake up in the morning, you know what to do—and what not to do—because God has given you the vision. The vision brings focus, endurance, and peace.

I would encourage you to look deep within your life and see where you are at in the areas mentioned, and see if you are perishing. If you are, make the changes necessary to get yourself and your family on the right track. Write it down, put pen to paper and be focused.