Category: Reflection

3 Essential Spiritual Goals for Lasting Growth

At the start of a new year, many people create goals they hope to achieve by year’s end. But let’s be honest—by now, many of those goals have already been forgotten or abandoned. While there’s plenty to say about the value of goal-setting and the reasons we fall short, I want to shift the focus to something more eternal: your spiritual goals.

Spiritual Goals Aren’t Measured by the Calendar

Unlike career or fitness goals, spiritual growth isn’t defined by how much you accomplish in a year. The real measure is how you’ve lived when your life is complete. As Christians, our ultimate goal is eternity with Christ. That means our focus should be less on ticking boxes each year and more on whether our daily decisions are sowing into eternal life.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting deeply on what it truly means to have godly ambition. I’ve realised that the vision I carry can’t be limited to a 12-month framework. I want to tell the world—literally the entire world—about Jesus. I long to lead millions into salvation, to create resources that nurture a vibrant walk with Christ, and to inspire men, women, and children by the way I live and love. If that’s truly my goal, then I need to examine how I live today.

God has been showing me areas where I’m not aligned with the level of discipline and devotion required for that kind of impact. The truth is, my current pace of life—comfortable and familiar—won’t produce the fruit I long to see. Real spiritual transformation requires intentional sacrifice and radical prioritisation.

In all of this, one scripture keeps echoing in my heart: John 15. I’ve read it many times, but I now realise I’ve missed the point. “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” That’s Jesus speaking. And if He’s right—and He is—then I must prioritise time with Him, hearing His voice, and living in obedience. These are the three pillars that sustain any meaningful spiritual journey.

1. Listen to His Voice

In a world flooded with opinions, ideologies, and noise, hearing God’s voice is not just helpful—it’s essential. I love the dynamic between Jesus and His mother Mary. She was wise and full of faith, yet still very human. After searching anxiously for a 12-year-old Jesus, she finally finds Him in the temple. His response? “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?”

Even those closest to us—our mentors, parents, or friends—may not always understand or affirm God’s call on our lives. That’s why we must learn to hear from God personally. Yes, He speaks through spiritual leaders and those in authority, but their voices should never replace the voice of the Holy Spirit in your own life.

Think about it: how will you discern divine direction from distraction if you can’t recognise God’s voice? The internet, schools, workplaces, and even entertainment constantly promote their own values. These voices aren’t always malicious, but they often reflect agendas that aren’t aligned with your God-given purpose. What we listen to shapes our mind, emotions, and ultimately, our spiritual destiny. Guard your ear gates and tune your spirit to God’s frequency.

2. Prioritise Time with God

There’s a popular saying: quality time over quantity of time. But when it comes to building a relationship with God, quantity often leads to quality. It’s hard to develop intimacy with God on leftover minutes and rushed prayers squeezed between errands. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule for when to spend time with God, but there is something powerful about setting aside focused, uninterrupted time each day. When we prioritise our quiet time with God, we give Him space to speak, correct, encourage, and lead.

Ask Him to guide you. Ask Him to stir a hunger in your heart. And as you commit to carving out that sacred time, you’ll find that quality begins to blossom in the midst of quantity.

3. Practice Obedience

Hearing God’s voice is one thing. Obeying it is another. Yet the fruit of a Spirit-filled life is found in doing what God has said—not just hearing it.
Isaiah 1:18-19 offers us an invitation: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.” God’s instructions are not burdens—they’re blueprints for abundant living. He’s not trying to restrict us; He’s guiding us toward our best and most fulfilling future.

Still, obedience often feels unnatural. We’re used to living life a certain way. Change is uncomfortable. But here’s the good news: when we say yes to God—even while trembling—He supplies the grace and courage we lack. Don’t wait until obedience feels easy. Ask God for help, and declare, “Lord, Your Word is important to me. Strengthen me to follow through.”

The Bottom Line

There are countless tools, strategies, and spiritual disciplines we’ll explore in future posts. But before anything else, God desires your ears, your heart, and your time.

Make space daily to hear His voice. Choose to obey, even when it’s hard. Spend time in His presence—not as a task, but as a lifeline. If you can commit to these three spiritual priorities, everything else will fall into place. And you’ll find yourself not just setting goals—but actually growing into the person God created you to be.

http://buymeacoffee.com/growinfaith

January in Summary

I have spent the better part of January praying and waiting on God for what he has for me. I don’t have all the answers but, I have made a conscious choice to make sure that I am in a place where I can get the answers and directions, I need to ensure that I end up in the place where God has destined me to be. I can’t achieve the dreams God has given me by myself. I need the interference of someone who knows better and someone much stronger than me to help me get to my desired destination. My natural self is prone to discouragement and inconsistency. Without his divine assistance I will lose strength and momentum along the way. Because I know this, I have given myself over to prayer and supplication and focused more on receiving what I need to excel this year and the decades to come.

With the month rapping up I have confidence that God has my back because I have taken out time to make the necessary sacrifice that will enable me to excel this year. Of course, there is the requirement for ongoing, supplication further down the road, but for now I know that it is time to begin the journey and take that first step in Faith. Faith that God has heard your prayers and that he is with you and won’t let you take steps in the wrong direction. You can only have this assurance if you have really spent time in surrender to God in prayer.

Another thing I have been more deliberate with, which I will certainly continue to practice is reading the word and praying it back to God. The Bible in one-year plan on YouVersion has been a great resource in maintaining this. The plan gives you 4-5 chapters in the new and old testament to read daily and encourages you to write your thoughts and take away points at the end of each daily reading. It is spilt up in monthly portions so you can catch up here with February, if you would like to join. You are also able to invite others to join you with your daily reading habit and turn it into a group bible study. It’s also a great way to get your family members involved and keeps you accountable. It is a very useful and helpful tool if you are seeking to develop discipline in this area of your spiritual growth.

Finally, I’d like to encourage you to review yourself each month. How did your January go? Did you pray more like you said you would? Did you stick to your goals? Did you commit your goals into the hands of the Lord and trust him? Did you write down the words and instructions you received from him? Are they in line with the Word? Which scripture spoke to you the most this month as you read the word?

As you continue to ask yourself questions that evaluate your journey into 2020, think of what you can do better or differently in February and set yourself small targets to do things that will further develop your spiritual life. Yes, I am asking you to prioritise your spiritual goals above every other goal. This is what Daniel and his friends did. Their spiritual goal was to please God and worship him alone and to fulfil the requirements of the law of God even if that meant going against the customs, norms and legal decrees of the Land. Instead of their health, education, careers and finances declining, they flourished, prospered and excelled in all that they did. I strongly believe that if you prioritise your spiritual goals and do what is said in the scriptures you will also begin to experience flourishing in your finances, relationships, career, health and wellbeing. This is what God wants for us and what he is willing to give us.

Reflecting at Christmas

This is by far the busiest times of the year and it’s not because of all the shopping. Actually, according to Shopify, November is the busiest commercial month of the year. I think it’s all the end of year rush, last-minute work targets and personal goals we want to achieve all between now and the 31st 23:59 which gets us all worked up. And on top of all that we want to enjoy the festivities and rest. We will soon discover that we cannot rest if we don’t eliminate the stressors in our way. At this time though I would say that one of the most important and beneficial things you can do for yourself is to spend time in reflection. When I’m reflecting or journaling it is in these moments when I’m most aware of what God has been teaching me through the day or the year. We need to intentionally create moments where we have epiphanies based on what is happening. Significant changes do not happen with the turn of a calendar it happens when we allow our minds to receive and engage with what is happening in our environments. We are praying for God to change our stories in the new year or decade, but we must ask ourselves what God has been engraving on the tables of our hearts over the last year or even decade that we haven’t paid attention to.

Beyond the feelings and the goosebumps, we might get when we encounter God, there are notable changes that take place in less spectacular ways inside of us. Being a lot more reflective, has help me understand that I ought to look for the mundane. Looking for God in the silence and seemingly insignificant is how Elijah got his life back as he stood on the mountain of God at the brink of depression.

I’m thinking about my life and things I want to focus on improving and things that I should keep and be more consistent with. Reflectively, I can say that I have grown over the last year. One of the key areas I have experienced growth and change in is how I think about giving and receiving love. It’s important to regularly reflect on how we relate with people and things.

Earlier in the year I had a conversation with someone that helped bring the thought process to mind and I can say that on reflecting on my understanding of extending love and hearing what the other person had to say, I found myself thinking that maybe I didn’t quite have a full understanding of what love – the God kind of Love – is. Maybe my limited understanding of how vast God’s love is keeping me from receiving all the wonderful gifts of God’s awesome love. I’ve begun thinking of love in a different way which has led to changes in how I practice love. Nothing drastic or dramatic, but significant enough for me to desire and chase after more of God’s kind of love in my heart. It is the kind of love that chases you and woos you regardless of how you are or what you’ve done. That love, loves you just because and nothing you could do could make it grow or diminish. Can I be that way towards myself and the people in my life? Can I be more loving regardless of what if?

At this point, I can say that any work that you catch me doing is related to reflecting and checking that the plans I make for the coming year are in line with the work that He has already begun in me. After all, what good is a perfect gift if I don’t take out the time to enjoy and use it?

Christmas blessings!

Don’t settle for Good

I’ve just realised something – The prayers and diligence of my parents can make me a good person. But to be more than good will require knowing God myself.

I have met people who have put a lot of time and effort into raising there children and not just with principles but also with praying power. Their children are good people and have done well for themselves. However, when it comes to deeper character issues that distinguish a christian from a non-believer there is not much to show.
I’ve noticed my mothers prayers have strengthened and upheld me. Yet, the thing that makes the difference for me is knowing the power and the grace of God for myself.
Our parents can make us good, but only God can make us great. So, I’m aiming for great.

A Higher Calling

I’ve been thinking about my calling lately. 

Actually, it has been at the back of my mind since 2015. I’ve always thought that a ‘calling’ is that one thing I was meant to do because I was either talented or particularly gifted in a certain way. I constantly looked for the talents and strengths I had to anchor me to a particular field or purpose. 
I watch out for my interests and dislikes and personality traits to find what God wanted me to do. 

But in recent times I’ve found that I’m not always completely sure about the path I’m taking. Sometimes it’s because it’s too restrictive and it feels like I can and should be doing more. Other times, I just do not feel the fulfilment in what I am doing and wonder whether I missed it somewhere. I worry that my indicators are off. And at other times I think that how I feel is an example of my unsteadiness and inconsistency a flaw in my character that keeps me form working harder and pushing myself to fulfilling my call. 

However, as I have continued to think and pray about it I find that the problem is not my attitude and a possible personal or emotional lack of consistency, it is in my understanding of what it means to be called. 

A calling is not a one time discovery of an assignment. A calling, in truth, is not about you. Instead it is an awareness of the person who is calling you. 

Moses, when he was called by God at the burning bush, was completely shocked and afraid of the responsibility of having to get people out of the land of Egypt. The massive weight of that responsibility coupled with the fear of having to return to a country in which he was a criminal fugitive to face and challenge Pharaoh’s authority, was to big of a challenge for him. 

God knew this. He knew about all Moses’s limitations and weaknesses. He knew that he was not a talented speaker. He knew that he had murder on his criminal record and he knew that he had not lived amongst the people of Israel. 

We often get excited in sermons when we hear about how God used this same Moses who by every standard should have been a good for nothing, was used to accomplish something so mighty. God made something marvellous out of nothing and he is still doing the same today. 

We often forget that our little becomes a lot in the hands of the maker, not because he is seeking to perform wonders but because he is seeking relationships. Let me explain that a little more. 

Moses was not chosen because he was a sorry case and God wanted to show how merciful he is. Or because he had been through so much. Moses and everyone else who has a calling is called for the purpose of relationship. 

Moses was called to join the covenant relationship of his forefathers and his people. He was called because where he was with the Midianites was too far from where he wanted him. He was not spending time in the mountains praying and having face to face conversations with God about the future and destiny of the Children of Israel. This came much later after he had found his calling which was to worship God by being in relationship with him. 

God’s number one aim is to draw us closer. Whatever that does not draw us closer to him is not part of our calling. Our calling is about the one who is calling us (God) and not about the assignment he is calling us for. We can be called to do anything, but the reason behind why we are called is God’s priority. The joy of being called is getting to know God. 

“Many are called but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
That’s because we are all called to a face to face relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But few get chosen to perform wonders because we focus more on the assignment rather than on God.
We can’t part seas without God, we can’t fight Pharaoh’s army without him at our sides. We can only encounter discouragement in our assignment when we focus on the assignment instead of getting the assignment done with him. God gives us these assignment to draw us closer to himself and to bring us back to the place of our purpose.  

Like Moses God’s call to us is to draw us out of obscurity and isolation into love and friendship with him. So, as long as I daily answer the calling, I will find my hands doing exactly what it is I am meant to be doing. Yes, my gifting are indicative but the greatest gift is to be both found and lost in the love of God. 

Tiny Gifts with Big Impacts

As Christians we know what the meaning of Christmas is. We might need to be reminded of what the reason behind our gift giving and celebration is, but we generally know what it means to celebrate Christ’s birth. Whether the 25th December was actually His birthday or not doesn’t matter in the broader scheme of things. What matters is that the promise of God to humanity was finally fulfilled with the birth of Jesus. All things in perspective, I think that the more complex problem we face on a yearly basis is what we should give as gifts for Christmas. I know that I am busy trying to come up with some nice gift ideas and it’s proving to be a little difficult. 

I’m working with a tight budget this year, but will like to give my friends and family gifts that have a personal touch and that will be useful. Giving gifts for me are always an opportunity for me to appreciate the people in  my life. I always want my gifts to communicate meaningful things to the recipients. In thinking about what I can give, I thought about the small things that we sometimes do that go a long way, which reminded me of how active early Christians were when it came to giving. Giving in the early church was a regular and well exercised practice, today we look for excuses not to give, especially to the local church. Paul celebrated the Macedonian Church for their willingness and gladness to give even though they were poor and needy (2 Corinthians 8:1-6). As I began to think about this I realized that not having is not a suitable excuse not to give. These people were poor but still gave and even begged to give. I also note the immense generosity in which they gave. They could not have given gold, silver and precious stone, but their given was still impactful, because they generously shared what they had. Generousity is not measured by how much you have to give, but by your willingness to give what you have. 

I’m also reminded of the little boy with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. He gave little and it became enough to feed five thousand men, alongside an additional number of children and women plus enough to spare. It doesn’t say, but if the little boy were to be compensated for what he gave, he would have gone home with at least 2 basket full of the 12 basket they collected. What are 5 pieces of bread and 2 fish compared to 12 baskets of food. Sometimes we get so hung up on how little we have that we miss out on the great impact what we have will have on others. What we think is too small, can go a long way in blessing others. 

Just sharing time with a person can do so much. This is one of the reasons the Bible admonishes that we do not forsake assembling and fellowship with one another as believers. Spending time with people goes a long way in communicating love and value to them. 

Thinking about all of this and reading 2 Corinthians 8 again has encouraged me to be more intentional about my giving, not just over this Christmas, but how I give in general. 

Prayer and Hearing God

In my last post I touched on the process of practicalising our worship through thanksgiving, using my stuck in traffic scenario.

Firstly, I’d like to add that worship is a deliberate act expressed through behaviours and gestures and not a spontaneous moment lead by feelings and emotions. It is a [practical] lifestyle not an occasion or event or a segment within a church service. Importantly, it is a form of prayer to God, which Jesus highlights in Luke 11:2. (Our father who art in Heaven hallowed be your name.)

The beautiful thing about prayer is not only that God hears us but he also speaks to us. It is a conversation between you and God and not a monologue directed at God or soliloquy spoken out into the atmosphere. Hearing from God is the most exciting thing and also one of the main things that keep you coming back to the place of prayer. Unfortunately, people don’t wait to experience that part.

I have found that as I have grown in my Faith and continued in prayer I hear God better and much quicker and I get answers through the most unexpected mediums, sometimes almost instantly. It was not always like this. I sometimes still find that I have to seek and wait for my answers, but more often than not I enjoy a well paced flowing conversation with God  more regularly that I used to. So what changed and how did I get here?

I’ll use my experience of today as an example. So, I’ve been mulling over some information I got at work and I was wondering if I should pursue the idea. I muttered a few prayers while eating my yogurt and left it knowing that I would get directions about what to do next. On my way back to my desk I looked through my Instagram feed (praise God for Instagram) and the first post I saw said this “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for”, in bold black colours. In the caption it had Matthew 7:7. This was the answer I needed. To confirm this (out of the mouth of one or more witnesses will God confirm his word – 2 Corinthians 13:1), I saw another scripture based post taken from Romans 8:31, which says if God be for us who can be against us. This was a clear direction as to what I needed to do. I knew it was God because it spoke directly to my situation and what wasn’t sure I was meant to do and it was also confirmed. I instantly felt the courage and the opportunity for me to ask opened up.

Even before I prayed whilst eating my cherry yogurt I sensed God telling me not to be afraid, to take the plunge and not allow fear to get in the way of my progress. My prayer was only a continuation of the conversation that was already taken place in the spirit (the heavenly realms) and I was apart of.

About ten years ago I didn’t have this experience and if I did, I was too unaware to have noticed it. The more your spirit engages in the conversations of the Spirit, the more you learn to assimilate the conversations of heaven and pick up the signals that are being transmitted to you.

I can hear God better and quicker now because for a long time I deliberately listened out for God, trying to distinguish his voice from the many other voices I was exposed to.

Practical Worship

Situations such as heavy traffic are designed to test and strengthen your godly character.

You wake up in the morning get dressed, feeling good, looking like heavy bling and then you get out of the house only to discover that traffic has built up outside your house and you can’t get out of your road let alone into town to catch your train. You try to walk and catch up with the bus in front, but the driver refuses to open the door, mouthing something like he is in the middle of the road and not at the bus stop. Then he turns the other way, brings out his sandwich and takes a hearty bit.

When you prayed this morning, you were not given the update about traffic making you late for work. Maybe if you had been informed you would have set out much earlier and arrived ontime. Maybe even a little earlier to impress your manager. But you’re not impressed. In your head the verse of the day is ringing, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoce and be glad in it”. So you force yourself to smile and not join in with the building crowed that is murmuring and complaining about the situation.

It’s hard, but you know you have to give thanks in all things. So, you internalize a prayer of thanks. You think about it and role over it in your mind until you are able to verbalize it and formulate it into words. Slowly but surely you realize it isn’t such a big deal and you find yourself thanking God you were not in the car crash that caused the traffic in the first place. Your thanksgiving some how made you see the bigger picture. That maybe your safty is more important than being on time to work. That your punctuality was given in exchange for your perfect peace and protection. That providence wasn’t sleeping when it heard your prayers sending the presence of God ahead to make rough paths plain.

Sometimes something as trivial as traffic can be big enough to cause an obstacle to your worship, but “I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise”.

This is worship in Practice.

Reflection: Walking the Straight and Narrow

 

The thing that held me back in my journey with Christ, without me even realising at first, was a compulsive need, an overwhelming desire to fit transformation and everything that comes with change in one day. Where the pressure to be an over-night perfect-holy-being came from I can’t exactly tell. But it was there. I was completely consumed by a false belief I had convinced myself was true: that Christianity was for the righteous. Only those that could keep their heads above water could wear the name ‘Christian’ with pride. So I strove to be an ideal instead of accepting the proposal of a life transforming relationship. The beauty of this revelatory truth that so eluded me was that the transformation comes as a natural addition. The first liberation was realising that surrendering need not be and would not be in a single day. In fact, every day was another day to lay down something else. There are also times where I needed to lay down something that I thought I had already dealt with.

The greatest journeys aren’t exactly easy. In complete contrast, they test your strengths expose your weaknesses, build your character in the most uncomfortable ways. You loose familiar things of sentimental value to gain great assets. The fact is, great journeys, the Christian journey, takes you through a process that demands one hundred percent disclosure and full acceptance of grace.