The PASSION Blog

The last few days have been very relaxing. I have prayerfully started to think about some of my goals for next year. I have found that setting goals at the start of the year works for me so I keep doing it.

I had a thought though. What if you are not very good at writing goals and actually getting them done. If that is you, here are some of my tips.

1. What do you want to achieve?

That might sound simple, but it is always a good place to start! What things do you daydream about doing? Where would you like to see yourself in 12 months time? Is there something new you would like to learn or master?

2. Be realistic

If your goal is to run a marathon and you haven’t done one before, try setting some short term goals first. Look around for 5 kilometre races (3 miles) and see how you go in them first. Being realistic in your goal setting will help you not to get discouraged if things don’t turn out too well first off.

3. Write an action plan

What are you going to do to achieve your goal. If you want to lose 5 kilograms in weight, how are you going to do it? Write an eating plan and an exercise plan. Be specific like how many times per week and you going to exercise and write it in your diary. If you set aside time for it in your schedule, you are more likely to actually do it.

4. Review your progress regularly

I make a point of reviewing my goals and progress towards them every three months. I take a look at them at the beginning of April, July and October. That way I can measure how I am going and if I need to make some adjustments.

5. Realise you might stumble along the way

Most of us get lazy and lose focus every now and then. You might say to yourself that I will allow myself a week off exercise twice in the year for whatever reason, but I will start again the next Monday. Having that freedom will help you not to feel like you have “fallen off the wagon” and failed when you take some time off.

6. Reward yourself

If you have written some goals and you are working towards getting them done, make sure you reward yourself along the way. If you have been working out for a set period you might buy yourself some new running shoes or piece of gym equipment. Rewarding myself motivates me to keep going and moving forward.

7. Set a new goal

If you are close to achieving your goal then look at setting the next one. If you are aiming to run the marathon and have successfully run several 5 kilometre races, look around for a 10 kilometre race or a half marathon. If you are not looking to constantly improve or move on to the next goal you may find you lose interest and motivation.

A last tip is to get your goals down on paper and keep a journal or diary on how you go. That will make it easier when the review time comes and allow you to better monitor your progress.

Hopefully these tips will help you to get started on the way to achieving your goals. Don’t forget to let me know if this has helped or how you go with things. Because one of my goals for this year is to help others achieve theirs!

While I was reading through the book of Matthew this morning and as I got to chapter two I started to think about the different reactions to Christ’s birth. Various groups and people had different thoughts about His birth and why He came.

The Magi

The Magi recognised that Jesus was the promised Saviour and that He came to save us from our sins. They came to Him and bowed down and worshiped Him. They offered gifts fit for a king.

King Herod

Herod was greatly disturbed and threatened by the birth of the King of the Jews. He was worried that would destroy his power and kingdom.

The Religious Leaders

The religious leaders of the day were too busy with their “religious” duties to even notice that Jesus was born. They didn’t really notice until He began to have a following.

As I thought about these three reactions I realised that it seems for some people not much has changed.

How about you?

Which camp are you in? Are you someone who will recognise the King? Will you be threatened by the King who wants to be your Saviour? Or will you be too busy to even noticed the true meaning of Christmas?

My hope and prayer is that you will stop this Christmas and take some time to remember that Jesus really is the reason for the season. He is not a threat. He just wants to be in relationship with you and save you. After all, that is the reason why He came.

Recently a funny thing has happened to me in regard to motivation. My motivation for my weight training has increased again. You see I have been doing weights for about 20 years. Nothing super heavy, just light to medium to keep toned and a reasonable amount of strength.

While I really enjoy doing weights and the way it makes me feel afterwards, at times my motivation slips and I just go through the motions to get my routine done. I still train consistently through those times, but it just doesn’t have that same joy as usual.

Recently my 15 year old nephew has wanted to get into weight training. He is an aspiring AFL footballer and wants to build up some strength and size. After a brief discussion I gave him some weights and a routine to get him started. He happily took them and went away all pumped up about starting his routine.

The funny thing is that when I started to help or mentor him in a sense, my own motivation and enjoyment of weights started to increase again too. Suddenly I found myself writing myself a new routine and getting up before work to do it [yes I know that is psycho but hey!].

As I thought about this I realised that no matter what we do in life it can become stale and we feel like we are going through the motions. However, if we take the time to share our knowledge and skills with someone else, we can both benefit. They other person gets the benefit of your skills and knowledge and you get the benefit of their enthusiasm and motivation.

How are you going at the moment? Are you going through a time of low motivation? Do you just feel like you are going through the motions? If so, why not look around for someone to impart your skills into and start to mentor them. You might just find like I did that your love and motivation for your hobby or vocation returns too!

Recently someone asked me the question, “What is God like?” My first thought was gee that is a nice and easy question to answer…hmmm perhaps not!

As I thought about it for a while two Bible verses came to mind - Colossians 1:15 and John 10:30. They are as follows…

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.” (Colossians 1:15 NLT)

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30 NLT)

If you are wondering what God is like today, then look at the life of Jesus Christ. Take a note of His teachings, His compassion, His love and His commitment to you and I.

If you have a Bible I would encourage you to have a read through the New Testament book of Luke. If you don’t have one, one is available here at Bible Gateway.

Earlier today I had an interesting conversation with a friend via email. We were talking about how it is hard at times not to be judgemental. We agreed that we both fell into the habit sometimes and had to pull ourselves up on it.

After mulling it over for a bit, I realised the times when I tended to be judgemental was when I was looking at someones perceived weakness from my own perceived position of strength.

For example, if I am good with money and a generous person and someone I know is not so good and money just seems to slip through their fingers, I could judge them from my position of strength and they would fall short. The same goes for someone who might struggle with pornography or alcohol. It would be easy to look down on them if I was ok in those areas.

The Bible says in Mathew chapter 7 verses 1-3, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Ouch! There are two things in this verse that are a bit prickly for me. One is that I will be judged with the same measure I use for others. The second is that I might be looking at someones elses small faults when I might have my own much bigger ones that I am blind too. Double ouch!

Maybe the next time I am tempted to look down on someone and be judgemental, I would be better off praying and asking God if I have things I need to work on. Then we He answers me I will have to repent and get my crowbar out to remove my own plank.

Yesterday I watched the movie Sky High with my wife and kids. It was about a special school for kids with super powers. On your first day you were assessed to see the value of your powers and were told if you were a hero or a side kick. As you can imagine all of the kids wanted to be heroes and not side kicks.

As I watched the movie I realised that in life we do the same thing. In our quest to find out what our gifts are we often long for the super hero gifts. The people with power or great strength are often held in high esteem. While those with less attractive gifts are looked on as not as important.

I guess if we put it in church circles we might see the leader or preacher as more important, while seeing the cleaner or dishwasher as less important. The reality is that everyone is just as important as each other. Imagine if the cleaner or dishwasher decided not to do their work at church for a month or two - you would really see the difference!

The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10-11 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ”.

I think these verses say it all. Whatever gift you have, use it to serve others. So whether you have a powerful gift or one that seems less exciting, why not commit it to God and ask Him how He would like you to use it today.

Whether you are a hero or a sidekick, you can still use you gift for God!

Having your name recorded in a book can make a huge difference to your life. Just think about it for a moment. Having your name on the book at the Department of Transport means you are allowed to drive a car and having your name on the election roles means you can vote.

No matter what we do in life it is important to be recorded in a book somewhere as it means you can get an education, receive health care when needed and even enables us to purchase a home for our families.

In the Bible it talks about an important book. It is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Bible tells us that this Book records all the names of the people who receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

In Revelations chapter 21 it talks about this Book being vital if you want to enter heaven. It says, “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelations 21:27).

The Bible also says that those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will miss out on heaven. Revelations 20:15 makes it pretty clear - “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”.

Today I want to ask you some questions. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? My hope is that you will be able to say yes to these questions.

If you are not sure or you would like to make sure your name is written in this Book and you want to be assured you will enter heaven one day. Please visit this page

Several years ago I did a comedy routine for a missions fund raising night. I was nervous beforehand as it was something new, but it went really well. They even replayed it at church the next morning! I hope you enjoy it!