Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Catherine Booth
5 Small Ways You Can Create a Better Future for Yourself
The Bible is clear regarding God’s plan for each and every Christian. God wants the best for us. According to the book of Jeremiah, God wants to prosper us and give us a good future. Unfortunately, most people don’t live up to their fullest potential. In many cases, they end up settling for a future that is not their first choice. In fact, it can be reasonably argued that for the most part, most people settle for their future, and people aren’t really living the kind of lives that they wanted for themselves. What went wrong?
A lot of this is due to the choices that we make. It may seem like our actions don’t really affect our future, but it really boils down to us reaping the harvest based on the seeds that we’ve sown. This is why it’s very important to understand the impact of Katherine Booth’s statement. It all boils down to cause and effect. If you want a better future, you really need to expand your boundaries in the here and now. You have to act on your present moment. Here are five small ways you can create a better future for yourself:
Act Out What You Read in the Bible
You cannot compartmentalize Christian life. You can’t consider church, Bible reading, and the Christian life as simply one aspect of yourself. It’s like having many books on a shelf. When Sunday comes around, you pull out the church book, and you read it. In a very real sense, we tend to chop up the different parts of our lives and different parts of our schedule, and then devote only certain parts to Christian living.
The reality of the Bible is that it is your manual for living your complete life. You have to act out what you read in the Bible. A lived faith is a real faith. If faith is basically just restricted to reading a special book out of a special day in a week, then you are really not making much of an impact on your present, which means you aren’t really shaping your future.
View People the Way God Views Them
When we look at each other the way God views us, we see each other’s potential, beauty, purity, and value. Instead of just a random person in a totem pole hierarchy of life, we see each person as a rich blessing. When we expect more of people, they tend to rise up to our level of expectation. This is a very important way of shaping our future.
Dream Bigger
If you think that you are not achieving the kind of success that you thought you would achieve, maybe it has something to do with how big you dream. You have to understand that God is always seeking to bless you. Unfortunately, He can only bless you as much as you are willing to receive.
If you want more blessings in your life, you might want to begin by dreaming bigger and expanding your horizon. Instead of settling for ten, why not ask for 100? You have to remember, your Father is extremely rich. He owns not just all the wealth in the world, but all the wealth in all its many forms throughout the universe. That’s how wealthy our Heavenly Father is. Expand your mental wallet and the mental basket that God is going to put your personal blessings in.
Dream Bolder
It’s one thing to dream big, but it’s another to dream boldly. When you dream boldly, you basically dream of things that are not practical. You dream of things that people would say, “That’s crazy. That’s impossible.”
But, nothing is impossible with God. With God, everything is possible. You would be surprised as to how many miracles are possible in your life if only you would claim it. A key step to this is to look at your dreams for yourself and your family, your loved ones in the future, and ask yourself, “Is this the maximum, the boldest and most imaginative dream I can come up with?” Never underestimate the power of God’s scope.
Treat Others Based on How Jesus Would Treat Them
In many cases, how people treat us is a reflection of how we treat them. If we feel that our life is restricted, or feel that we are not really making much progress in terms of finances, relationships, or in terms of how we get along with people around us, maybe it’s because we are not treating people based on how Jess would treat them.
When you treat others based on how Jesus would treat them, you are kind to people even if they are mean to you. When you base your standard of relationships on Jesus Christ, you are generous to people even when they are stingy to you.
Conclusion
If you keep at these enough and you let the power of the Holy Spirit work through you to change your character, you can change your future because guess what? Every seed you plant with God’s grace will produce a very bountiful harvest. Make no mistake about it. If you want a better and brighter future, claim Jesus’ promises today and be bold with taking action today.
