The other day when I saw one of these little Mini Coupers parked near a mall area I was visiting, I could not help but remember my Grandfather.

No, he did not own a Mini Couper, but he did consider it. The only problem was Grandad was over 6ft tall and rather broad boned. He got into a brand new Mini to test drive it and got stuck!

Of course we all laughed when we found out about it.

And of course, every time I see a Mini (which is not all that often here in Texas) it brings back a happy memory to my mind.

Yes, that is how our brain works.

The recall button
An image, a smell, a tune, a person who looks or acts strangely similar to someone in our past and complete past scene comes up quicker than any computer can respond to a keyword search!

Now of course when the past memory that comes into the present is a good one, all is well. It may even make your day. You begin to smile, laugh again or simply enjoy the image and even the movie that replays in your mind.

This is all good, with one exception:

Don’t ever compare that memory with your present experience and end up in a spiral of wishing to be back in those “good old days”.

If you allow that to happen, then the positive memory will become negative and can actually hinder your present.

However a good past memory CAN serve as a shake up if you are not where you should be today, and consequently “yesterday was better”. Perhaps you are not even where you were in your stage of growth in life, “back then”. (You should not be there, but much further ahead).

If you discover one of these two possibilities to be true, then the first thing to do is wake up!

• Do not condemn yourself! Spending time in condemning yourself would only waste more time. As you know, life is short and time wasted can never be recovered.

• Do take this wake up call seriously and act on it! Make a change in the direction of your life, NOW.

How can you make that change?

• The first step of course is to recognize that you need to change.

  Now remember, if you have made some mistakes God is with you, and NOT to condemn you. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? (You can find it in the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32) Did the father condemn his son when he returned to his sense? Not at all, he was waiting for him with open arms. That well describes your Heavenly Father!

• The second step is to DECIDE you want to and WILL change.
• Make a plan of action. What steps do you need to take to get to be where you know you should be?
• Act on your plan!

The recipe for real changes is: Think, plan and ACT!

I thought that God had already planned my destiny! (You might be thinking).

Yes, He has.

Remember the verse in Jeremiah 29:11:
“I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

So it is true – God HAS a destiny planned for you – and a good one. But that does not mean you will automatically reach it.

Here is something to think about that will help you see the FULL picture.

Remember that Jesus said: “Many are called but few are chosen”. Matthew 22:!4.

Now what does THAT mean?

You have a free will.
God did not create you and I to be puppets. He created you to be a son (or daughter).

A son and daughter loves and honors his or her parents because they WANT to not because they have to. (This is when the relationship is a healthy one).

In the same way you and I love and respect God because we want to, not because we have to.

This is one of the very basic differences between religion which is a set of rules, and Christianity which is a relationship.

• Christianity is a love relationships between you and God through Christ.
• Christianity is a result of discovering that God really loves you, and then you respond to this love by following Him.
• Christianity is not following a set of rules, but rather it is following a Living Person.
• Christianity is desiring to do and be your best for God and His Son, Jesus Christ because you love themn.

The choice Is yours:
While God has planned a great life filled with abundance for you, He will not force it upon you.

He has given you a free will so you can seek this life and His plan, find it and then decide whether to follow it or not.

The word “seek” is an action word. It takes action, persistence and determination to pursue something until you find it. This is what God is looking for from you –

Action – persistence and determination.

It your choice. Are you going to look for that plan of abundance for your life?

Seek and you will find, Jesus assures us in the book of Luke 11:9. Once you discover the plan that God has for you, you have another choice!

Once you have found this plan, are you going to follow it?

Nothing that God has planned for you is automatic. Remember, God created you to be a son or daughter, not a puppet.

It is going to take effort to reach the place where the plan of success and abundance for your life becomes your daily experience.

• You have to decide you want it.
• You have to decide to dedicate your life to learning and taking action on what you learn.
• You have to decide that you will dedicate your life to training your mind, body and spirit to be the best you can be and reach all that God has planned for you.

The Christian life is a daily choice.
Yes, you had an encounter with God one day, and you made the most important decision of your life. But that decision now needs to become a daily decision, that is reflected in your daily choices and your daily life style.

What choices did you make today? Are they taking you towards achieving your destiny (your life’s passion and dreams you find in your heart).

This little exercise will help you make sure you are still on course.

A trip away will always give you the opportunity to gain a new perspective on your daily routines. There is nothing like getting away from your familiar surroundings for a while to help you to think clearly.

I recently had this opportunity and it was certainly good to be able to have some time to think clearly and re-evaluate many areas of my life.

Here are some questions I was considering. I am sharing these with you because I think that it is good for all of us to ask ourselves these questions from time to time. This will ensure that we stay on course.

Is what I am doing right now leading me in the direction I really want to go.
In other words, am I really fulfilling my destiny? You might be thinking: But I am not sure what my destiny is. How can I find that?

Your destiny is within you. When you are moving in the direction of that inner compass there is a satisfaction, a “knowing” that you are doing what you were born to do.

One good test is: Are you passionate about what you are doing?

Am I using my time in the most productive way?
We are creative beings, and being productive is a part of productivity.The more productive we are, the better we feel about ourselves and the world around us.

I had to admit that not every day was as productive as I would like it to be.

So I started looking for areas where I was perhaps getting bogged down with unnecessary details. (Yes I found some of those There were some things I would be eliminating from my schedule when I returned home.

How are the negative influences around me affecting me?
Now this a question that perhaps we need to ask ourselves regularly. Of course the ideal situation is to get rid of all negative influences around us. But that is not always possible.

For example: you may work with some negative folk, or need to deal with such people in business.

However if you and I are not careful some of these influences can “rub off” onto us. Have you ever noticed that? You may be mostly a very positive and cheerful person. Yet suddenly you find yourself speaking negative words, grumping a little and every getting upset over things that would not normally bother you.

What happened? Of course you might be facing some unusually difficult challenges in your life. But if that is not the case, perhaps some negativity has managed to rub off on you?

I wrote an article about this over on my blog Mindset for Living. (Decide How Daily Experiences Will Affect Your Mind)

There is more coming on topics around this subject too over on Mindset For Living

Do I have enough positive influences around me?
Now this is something we can control. Perhaps it is time to start extending your circle of friends and associates. Start reaching out to some highly motivated folk. If you cannot find them in your immediate sphere, try Twitter. There are masses of great folk there who will certainly inspire and motivate you.

Is my mind as active as it should be?
When life gets tough or even dull (it shouldn’t though) – we can tend to “switch off”

You might want to take a look at my articles about Coping or Conquering. It takes an active mind to conquer, while it is rather easy to drift along in a passive state when you are simply coping.

It is a good idea to write down some of your discoveries in your journal. And if you find some things in your life that need changing, don’t forget to take action!

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kiwichamp

We can see his reaction when he said: “Ah, Sovereign LORD, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” Jeremiah 1:6.

I have heard many Bible teachers responding to objections with the following argument: “Don’t worry, just respond to the call and the rest is up to God. Carrying out your calling does not depend on you, it all depends on God”

Well, that is only partly true. In fact, this concept taken by itself is close to a fallacy. A few years ago church went through a phase where in some circles almost all you heard was “believe it, confess it and you will have it”.

But there is a BIG missing ingredient in this theory This missing ingredient actually turns these theories into dangerous proclamations that have hurt many people who tried to follow them.

Missing Ingredient:
What is this missing ingredient?

Well in Jeremiah chapter 1:11-12, we find God telling asking Jeremiah what he saw. Jeremiah responded to the vision saying, “I see a branch of the almond tree”. God responds: in verse 12 saying: “You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.” (Amplified version of the Bible).

Then in the book of James, we are clearly told “Faith without works is dead”. (James 2:17). This means that faith is ACTIVE, not passive.

We are called to a walk of faith with God. Since real faith is active, this means our walk with God will be full of ACTION. This journey of faith will take us to our destiny as we respond by faith to the impressions God puts in our hearts.

So what is the missing ingredient? ACTION.

A true walk of faith is a journey of action. There will be no fulfilling of your destiny without ACTION. (Remember, in the last article we mentioned that God is asking us to trust and obey. “Obey” is an ACTIVE verb.)

Partnership.
Our faith walk is a partnership. Successful partners walk together with each of them pulling 100% of their weight. The great advantage of walking in partnership with God is that when you put your 100%, God also puts His

Of course the outcome of that is we can end up achieving great things that are far beyond our natural ability. This is because the strength of His 100% far outweighs the strength of our 100%.

Nevertheless, a true partnership is a TWO sided contract. Both partners play a part, not just one of them.

There IS one thing He expects you and I to do and that is to be ALERT and ACTIVE.

Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray – that word “watch” is translated from a greek word which means to be alert.

So does our destiny depend on us or on God?

God has already planned our destiny, and provided EVERYTHING we need to reach it. Our destiny is good and probably far beyond our wildest dreams. In Jeremiah 29:11, God reassures us that His plans for us are good and full of prosperity.

Now it depends on you and me to take what He has given us, use it and start moving towards our destiny or calling.

This is No #3 of the Series “Why Did God Call Jeremiah?”