Do your fresh starts wilt?

Do you begin with a bang but fizzle before you finish?

You naturally long to be more productive. You, more than anyone else, intuitively know just how gifted you are. In your mind’s eye, you can envision yourself living a more abundant life. But how do you bridge the gap between the “present you” and the self you can see in your vision?

You must learn the Biblical art of war.

A first step in bridging the gap can be assessing the level of spiritual warfare in your life. Understanding spiritual warfare can turn frustration into finishing power. The art of war is a subject that may strike you as something new but I assure you my friend Satan has been using the art form all your life to keep your inner resources under his thumb.

Is Satan behind your frustration and fear? Why do you seem to voluntarily choose to settle for less so often on a daily basis?

You are uniquely gifted by God. You are redeemed, restored, ready and redirected. The victory of Christ is yours. He has already given you “the abundant life.” (John 10:9-10) Actually, you are so gifted with His abundance that it would take several lifetimes before you could fully develop all of your Christ-abundance. The fact is, you don’t lack gifts and talents but you do lack the wisdom to protect your good ideas from Satan’s saboteurs.

Crude flintlocks were used by early American frontiersmen to hunt game for food. Near the rifle stock, a tiny pan held a small measure of black gun powder. When the trigger was pulled, a flint rock hammered against the steel pan and ignited a spark. This set off a small explosion. The force propelled forward out the barrel a ball shot. Under conditions when a frontiersman’s powder wasn’t kept dry, the flint would hammer against the steel pan as usual but the wet powder could produce only a weak flash, not the explosion necessary. No shot was fired but a cloud of smoke was produced. Hence the origin behind the modern saying, a “flash in the pan.”

Spiritual growth creates a change in mental patterns. Are you more sin-conscious than Christ-conscious? Satan trembles at the idea that you might take ownership this week of your abundance by thinking differently about yourself. On Easter, Christ rolled away an enormous stone from the tomb where His body had laid. Today, Christ rolls away an enormous stone from your heart. He has risen to live a new life. Have you?

A first step in this new week is for you to prayerfully assess the level of spiritual warfare present in your “flash in the pan” episodes. This first step is taken prayerfully, using Scripture as your counselor and exploring the question with a trusted friend. These three simple steps will surprise you. Each step will raise your level of spiritual awareness.

Get Satan out of your ideas and get God in.

Being tempted to give up on your vision is a natural stage to spiritual development. You should expect it. Finishing what you start represents a level of victory. There are no such things as small victories. But there are small minds who don’t understand the role small victories play in your destiny.

The teachings of the amazing Christ are a beehive of wisdom. In Proverbs 16:3, He says, “commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

The way to finishing what you begin, the way to take your good ideas from the thinking stage to the sharing stage is revealed by Christ in His Word. The Word tells you to “commit” your plans to the Lord. An effective way to avoid another flash in the pan episode is to get God involved in your project.

You don’t want to go to the gym, get God involved.

You don’t feel like doing your homework, get God involved.

You’re afraid of failure, get God involved.

The Hebrew word for “commit” means to “officially deliver to God for safekeeping.” You find here the power to stop repeating the past. When you consciously get God involved in your plans, you are not alone. Success isn’t dependent on you. Your courage and enthusiasm swell because your confidence shifts from being focused on yourself to being focused on your fellowship with God.

You can have fellowship with God when you create that new deck, when you practice a musical instrument, take a college class, adopt a diet plan, sew new curtains, bake a cake, write a book or take up dance lessons with your wife.

When you purpose to do something for God, even little mundane acts that don’t seem to have any spiritual connection to your soul, you are raising the level of your spiritual awareness. Keeping your awareness focused on God’s fellowship in your ideas means winning at the art of war. Success begins with focus and fellowship.

A grassy outfield of a baseball field near our home was converted each September into a football field. The team members pilfered their kitchens sneaking out paper sacks of white flour from home. We’d slice the corner of the sack and pour white chalk lines. With the stuff mom’s made biscuits out of we made a football grid on the green grass. On the grid we’d practice our list of dirt drawn plays after school till it was too dark to see the ball. My brother was on the team. He played high school sports. Some days he couldn’t make our neighborhood practices. The days my brother had to miss practice were the days a neighborhood thug made it his project to pick on me. He was older than me. He was bigger and he could hit me so hard the force knocked the air out of my lungs. I would have probably given up and quit had it not been for those practices where my big brother showed up. When my brother attended practice, the thug wilted. No one bullied me because my brother was involved.

I came to realize the spiritual wisdom of that football episode many years later. God was using my experience with that bully. The thug was Satan, my brother symbolized the presence of Christ. With my brother’s presence, I entrusted my physical well being to him. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder. I wasn’t afraid. I could enjoy playing the game. Without my brother’s protection, my football aspirations would have probably been a “flash in the pan.”

I didn’t always get to play the position that I wanted most. Our football team never had an undefeated season. We lost a lot of games. But I had a successful football career because through my experience I gained spiritual wisdom. That was my success. God chose it. He had it in mind to give to me all along. I can’t define exactly how God will bless me with success but I can make the conscious choice to get God involved in my projects by committing my way unto the Lord.

Getting God involved in your ideas is the way to receive finishing power. Committing your ideas unto the Lord is the first step in making war on “flash in the pan” episodes. This week, consciously get God involved in your ideas