from January 2, 2011 prayer update

A new year is a great opportunity for new beginnings and for personal / organizational goal setting. There are so many good things to choose from for personal goal setting: spiritual life, character, work, personal ministry, marriage, parenting, health, finances, friendships, education, new skills, and the list goes on.

The things we set our heart on and direct our attention toward reveal a great deal about our values. What personal goals have you set for yourself in 2011? And what do they reveal about what you truly value?

Psalm 90:12 says: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 103:15-16 reads: “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”

I temporarily lost my dad to death 32 years ago and temporarily lost my mom 2 years ago. I am now the oldest surviving member of the McDaniel clan. If I live to be 80 (which is older than either of my parents lived) I have about 8700 days left. If I only make it to 70, that becomes about 5000 days. That is not a long time.

The apostle Paul did not fear death, He welcomed it. In Philippians 1:21 he said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” As I have gotten older, I too have begun to look forward to living in a sin-free environment in the very presence of God. This world does not hold the same allure it once did for me. But I also recognize that God created me for a reason, as He has every human that ever lived. I don’t want to depart this life without have accomplished what God uniquely created me to do.

Life is not about me asking God to bless me and mine, and to enable me and my organization to accomplish our personal goals. Life is about God and what He is doing in the world (today and throughout all of history). What a joy and a privilege to know that He has designed me to join with Him in His vast, timeless, and very significant mission.

As I embrace this view of life, my thoughts about personal goal setting change. I become less concerned about one year, measurable objectives (although certainly there is a place for these). I become very concerned about life direction, who I am becoming, and who I am living for. Because I am a slow and often a resistant learner, these translate into life-long goals. Four of the biggies that I can’t get away from are:

1) To know Christ more and more intimately as time passes -- thru the exchanged life, thru His Word, thru prayer, and through personal obedience to what I know to be true.

2) To become more and more like Christ as time passes. Boy do I have a long ways to go there (selfishness, lust, critical spirit, anger, . . . ).

3) To fully engage in Christ’s mission, which centers around seeking and saving those who are lost. Both in my natural spheres of influence and among the least reached globally.

4) To invest deeply in the lives of other believers who will eventually share these high level life goals. And to see my life impact multiplied as a result.

Would you pray for me as I continue to press toward the goal? And if you will share with me what God has challenged you to pursue, I would count it a privilege to pray for you. May 2011 be a year in which God receives great glory thru our lives.