Two important things

There are two important things we all need to get right.  If you can do these two things then, in a sense, you have "solved" life.  You have done the two most important things that you can do with your life.  The first thing is to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  Once you know your sins are forgiven and your place in heaven is secure, no matter what else happens to you, you have taken care of the rest of forever and guaranteed that you will have the ultimate happy ending.

The second thing we must do is to begin to live our lives so as to please God in the here and now.  Do what He wants you to do right now.  If you aren't sure you're in the place God wants you do be in terms of your vocation or your ministry, start doing what you are already doing with a sincere motivation to please Him.  If you form the habit of dedicating the beginning and end of each segment of your day to Him, I believe that you will find Him willing and eager to guide you into any changes you need to make in your vocation and/or ministry.  A humble custodian, sweeping and moping for God, with a clear sense that this is the place God wants him to be, is greater than Secretary General of the United Nations, if God has not called that man to be Secretary General.  And at  the last day, the humble custodian will receive eternal glory for every floor he swept and toilet he cleaned.

Obscurity is simply not an option

Obscurity is simply not an option.  The gaze of God is unblinkingly focused on me.  Eternal glory is mine for the taking if I will simply do my supposedly mundane tasks as acts of worship that I will present to my Heaven Father.  For a creature born in sin, plagued by devils, and living in a world that constantly tugs him in the direction of evil, plain old everyday godliness requires heroic determination and is worthy of everlasting glory. 

Vanity Fair

A man who is constantly trying to keep the presence of God in the center of his thoughts should limit the amount of time he spends with his mind immersed in fictional worlds where the characters never acknowledge the presence and power of God.  The same thing holds true for the amount of time he should spend with his mind immersed in a discussion of current events that is shallow, because it never deals with the underlying spiritual causes, and atheistic because it never makes any reference to the presence and power of God. 

The Greatest Lover

God is the universe’s greatest lover, and with the exception of a few, terrible hours that the Son of God spent upon the cross, no person of the Godhead has ever been alone.  We were designed to join into the same kind of relationship with God that the persons of the trinity share among themselves.  The plan is for every moment to be spent in the conscious awareness of His presence, the conscious enjoyment of His love, and the conscious purpose of living to bring a smile to His face.

With You, For You, Through You

Brother Lawrence had the right idea, that every moment is to be spent in the presence of God.  But I’m afraid that his technique is a little too passive for modern man.  Instead of trying to block out everything but God I have much more success in trying at the start of each new segment of the day to tell God that I want to live this portion of my day with Him, for Him, and through Him.  Then from time to time throughout the task to repeat this simple prayer, “with You, for You, and through You.” 

A Pay Day Prayer

Thank you for giving us this day our daily bread.

Thank you for life and strength and health to work

Thank you for an opportunity to work where I am wanted and needed

Thank you that I do not live in a mud hut and cook my food over a dung fire as millions do

Thank you that I have never once heard my children cry because they were hungry

Thank you for a standard of living that would make medieval nobility envious

Lord, let this be a settled thing in my heart.  I am a rich man.  I am wealthy.  I have more than I need and all too often more than I can intelligently use.

Please set me free from the illusions of materialism:

• That things will make me happy
• That I NEED something that I don't
• That my thoughts should not be filled with visions of stuff, how to obtain it, and how to use it

Please continue to grant me favor with my employers and wisdom in how to do my job

Please prosper my employers and bless them because they are a blessing to me

But help me to always, only, see You as the source of all I have and all I need.