Tag: Growing Deeper

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.

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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!

Psalm 118 and Prayer: Thanking, Asking, Declaring

God in his word commands that in all things we must give thanks (Ephesians 5:20). This can be really challenging when we are faced with problems for which we need solutions, and needs we desperately want met. The Psalmist, I think, is brilliant in how he combines thanksgiving with petitioning and declaration. He combines praise with his petition and declarations, based on his confidence in God, with thanksgiving to God. The Psalmist shows a God-awareness and a God-consciousness, that sets God’s will and omnipotence at the center of his prayer and the situation he finds himself in.

God’s place is always meant to be at the center of our lives, problems, hopes and aspirations. This God consciousness should influence our perspective causing us to defer back to God. After many points of thanksgiving and declarations he adds a sacrificial offering to his prayer, which he binds with cords to the horns of the alter.

The horn of the alter is the might, strength and power of the alter. Every alter has a horn. By tying his sacrifice to the horn, he makes God his source of strength and power.

He secures the backing of God when he proclaims that he will destroy the nations  against him (his adversaries) in the name of the Lord. He makes the name of the Lord work for him through this act of binding.

This sacrifice is a living sacrifice, because he does not ask for it to be burnt or pierced in the manner in which sacrifices were made. Implicitly, the psalmist himself is the sacrifice. This is a prophetic act as the concept of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices is not totally established until after Christ. Our ability to be a living sacrifice is based on the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. The psalmist prophetically speaks in anticipation of what will be possible through Christ Jesus, the stone the builders rejected.

When we tie ourselves, our bodies and our souls to the alter we make God the source of our strength and power and because he can never run dry he must supply us with the strength we need.

For he will supply all your needs according to his riches in Glory. (Philippians 4:19)

What great news that our power supply is connected to the omnipotence of our God! The more we demand the more He supplies. Just like this Psalmist let us resolve to build on our demand daily, so he can supply to us daily, according to our need.

So, when we Pray,

  1. we pray with awareness and confidence that God is holding our lives and is listening to us.
  2. we pray with hearts filled with thanksgiving and appreciation on our lips.
  3. we pray making declarations based on his words and promises to us – in sync with God’s heart.
  4. we pray with the earnest fervency of all our faith, knowing that we are willing to make the sacrifice for what we are asking.
  5. we pray for the Holy Spirit because he is our supply
  6. and when we pray we pray daily.

Psalms 118    

(Praying in Thanksgiving, in praise, declaration and prophecy asking but always thanking God.)

1Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2Let Israel now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

3Let the house of Aaron now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

4Let those who fear the Lord now say,

“His mercy endures forever. “

 

5I called on the Lord in distress;

The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

6The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7The Lord is for me among those who help me;

Therefore I shall see my desires on those who hate me.

 

8It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

9It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

 

10All nations surrounded me,

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me:

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

12They surrounded me like bees; they were quenched like a fire of thorns;

For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

13You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the Lord helped me.

14The Lord is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation.

15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

16The right hand of the Lord is exalted;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

 

17I shall not die, but live, And the declare the works of the Lord.

18The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

19Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord.

20This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter.

21I will praise you,

for you have answered me, and have become my salvation.

22The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

23This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.

24This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

25Save now I pray, O Lord;

O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

27God is the Lord, And he has given us light;

Bind the sacrifice with Cords to the Horns of the alter. 

28 You are my God, and I will praise you.

You are my God, I will exalt you.

29Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

 

New King James Version   © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. 

 

Keeping it Personal: How does Jesus do it?

Writing in the morning can really help get your brain juice working. You come up with stuff and you wonder where it comes from. It’s the same with meditation or just sitting down before talking to anyone in the morning and just thinking. Anyway, I was doing my usual morning devotion and after praying I decided to just sit and listen to what God had to say and he spoke to me about a few things in my life and about a few people. Isn’t it amazing when we just sit down that we realize that our answers to our prayers can come immediately? But how often do we get the chance to just patiently wait for His answers?

After listening I decided to write in my personal Journal since I haven’t had a moment to write in it for a few days and I usually write in this particular notebook in the evenings. I thought I’d share an excerpt from my Journal entry this morning and how I discovered another amazing trait about this Wonderful Jesus.    ……I’m still sitting in bed. I love the quiet peacefulness of the morning and how it feels like to be alone. Just me and God. I don’t like breaking it. That’s probably why people sometimes think I’m cranky in the morning. … Once I’ve spent time in the morning or during the day praying or studying the word, I have no desire to get into any long conversations about money or what somebody did or said or didn’t do. It spoils the little slice of perfect heaven I’ve come back with. I guess I can understand how Jesus must have felt when the disciples bombarded him with questions about their needs and their worries and who is greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus is perpetually living in perfect peace despite the worries, suffering and the natural circumstances around Him. He is living in complete tranquility. It’s no wonder that He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is operating at a higher level to all his friends. When you pray you are uplifted and you rise above the problems and worries of everyday life. But what happens after you say the final ‘Amen’? Are we still above the cares and worries or do we plummet into the abyss of everyday existence? I mean, when my mum comes with her questions or list of instructions it really does feel like it’s all just cutting the flow, but Jesus would not be troubled by that.

WWJD, What would Jesus do? I think most of us could answer that question, but here is the real question: How does Jesus do what he does? How do I balance the supernatural with common humanity? I think it has a little to do with being real with God about what is going on with you. Dealing with those requests, but remembering that after the warfare we need to wait to hear from God. Let God speak to you and I believe that God answers our prayers immediately. We just don’t wait to receive the answer, which most often comes in the form of blessings, strength and an increase of the fruit of the spirit. …If we receive peace and patience we will be able to stand strong and graciously in the midst of the extreme turbulence or the daily hassles without irritation. …

In devotion, quantity is synonymous with quality. I’ve come to understand that there is just no way around it.

After writing this, I thought about how many times I must have missed out on the daily benefits of peace and grace God promises. I also thought that Jesus wants us to come to him with our worries He invites us to cast our cares on Him and to take up his yoke and learn from Him for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So, rather than feeling irritated with us when we come into his presence with our daily stress, cares and worries He rejoices over us and delights in our communion with Him. Likewise, we are empowered and engraced to express this aspect of our relationship with God with others around us. What keeps us in everyday Supernatural-Mode is knowing that our encounters with God are intended not only for our own personal enjoyment like a moment of catharsis that is only internal and most likely temporary, but instead is meant to cause us to help and save others. Jesus frequently went away to recharge himself spiritually and spent deep intimate moments with Father God and when He came down the multitudes were already waiting for Him with their infirmities, sickness, demon-possessed state, sins, problems, challenges, hypocrisy and plots to kill him. But he always had the right answers, always had the solution, always had the remedy. On one instance, he came down from his favorite praying spot and found a storm, yet he calmly walked over it. Deep moments with God, where you give time to really listen to God and listen to what he has to say will cause you to walk on unstable waters like on the dry ground. In devotion, quantity is synonymous with quality. I’ve come to understand that there is just no way around it.

Inside the Journal of a Christian

I won’t be surprised to find out that most of the Journals kept by Christians are filtered by scriptural quotes filled with all the right things to say rather than the things that are truly felt and thought. Imagine writing down your truest, purest thoughts and then searching the scriptures for the emotions and issues you wrote about and then writing down the scriptures next to how you really feel. I think this approach to journaling will have a much more fulfilling effect. You are fully expressing your thoughts and emotions and processing them through the Word of God, as you begin to release, your heart is open and emptied to receive. It takes vulnerability to do this, but the reward of vulnerability is intimacy with the Father.

The shame of hiding the emotions, guilt, and issues that are sometimes seen as “non-Christian” is completely eradicated from this process as you completely open up those thoughts to the light of the word and instead of shame and condemnation you’ll be aware of God’s abounding grace. A lot of the times what directs us away from the presence of God are those unprocessed emotions that we carry around, and although we hear God’s word, what is often real to us is what we feel and with the reinforcement of external forces such as modern day media, we are pulled into the direction we are trying to avoid. This hiding of things in us that aren’t outright Christian creates a set of people I’d call “deep-but-shallow-Christians”. There are those people that know all the scriptures, always quick to respond to any negative with a reprimanding bible quote, but if you were privy to their own relationship with God you’d quickly realize that it’s not as deep as it looks. The devotion is not constant enough to provide the roots and depth a strong relationship with God requires to last forever. Not long ago that was me. I noticed the drastic extremes of burning with holy passion for a time and being deeply lethargic and bored the next moment. Chasing the excitement of worship and romanticizing the idea of it to the extent that we chase after the feeling instead of the presence.

What we need to remember though is that God is present with his full presence the moment you allow him access into your life. Yes, even in the uneventful, mundane moments of life.

journaling can really open up your every day to God and builds contentment and gratitude, which facilitates your deeper growth in Him. You can commit to this way of journaling today. As you study your bible or follow a devotional take note not only on what is in the word but also about how you feel before and after you’ve studied.