New Year’s resolutions seem like a good idea, but by February 6^th they have often found their way to the side of the road, where we occasionally catch sight of them in our rearview mirrors.  That said, I often think about spiritual formation—specifically, how I come to be the woman God envisions when he sees me as the ‘apple of his eye’¹.  One thing I know—God is not interested in mediocrity, so I must not be okay with it either. 

Here’s my starting point, my basis of belief—my default mode:

         God created me, God loves me, God’s heart is good ~

         God has a plan for my life, and it is a b o l d adventure ~

                  I want to ‘be all about it’ ~ fully engaged, living

                                                      in the extreme, sold out.

As I have been reading, studying and praying about how to tell someone else how to get to God’s sweet spot for him, here’s what I came up with:

Believing these things . . . God created, loves, has a plan, etc.

1. I know that God wants all of me, he is not interested in sloppy seconds; he wants a sold-out follower.  God is calling me to surrender myself to him.  God is calling you to surrender as well—this I know.  [Starting with an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as my Savior--the pathway to life with God, a relationship with him while I live, and Heaven when I die]

2. Lately, a word that keeps coming to me is consecrate.  To be honest, the first time it came to me in prayer, I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant – it means to ‘declare or set apart as sacred’, to ‘dedicate myself to living an uncontaminated life’.  First is surrender, but then is consecration … letting go of whatever entangles, entraps, or deters me in my relationship with God.  To be sure, it is a process.

3. God wants his children to soar … to live victorious, not defeated lives.  What would enable you to realize the victorious in your life?

Let me help you get to an answer:

~What are your greatest dreams?

~What are your biggest fears?

~What do you want God to do for you?

         --heal your marriage? 

         --heal your broken heart?

         --heal your body?

         --help you breakthrough financially?