(*Translation note: Alt – set goals.)
- Psalms 108:1 O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
‘Establishing goals and objectives’ is like drawing up blueprints first before building a house or developing [an area], and then proceeding to build a house or develop [an area] according to those blueprints. You can’t start building or developing unless you first draw up blueprints. When a ship is sailing out to the vast oceans, does it set off without a purpose?
If it did, since it does not have a destination, it will be carried here and there by the currents and ultimately end up adrift in the ocean. If you take action without first establishing the goal, your thoughts will be hazy and your actions will not be precise and thus, your life cannot help but be unclear too. ‘A person who takes action with a purpose’ has different ‘mentality, thoughts, and actions.’ The same is true with faith.
A person who is working with a purpose prays, reads the Word, and takes action in line with that purpose, and in line with that purpose, he will run, work hard, and challenge himself without stopping to achieve it. Therefore, ‘a person who is trying to fulfill a purpose’ has different words and actions and different ways of using time.
All of you must live a life of faith in which you set goals and take action toward them. You have to live a life in which you set goals and fulfill them. You have to take action with the attitude that you will fulfill your goals. Then your thoughts will not be hazy, your actions will be clear, you will not waste time, and you will not stop running and working hard. People have to have goals and think and take action toward them. Then they will make progress. ‘A person who takes action with a purpose’ is like a person who sets off with the goal of reaching a mountain peak and thus, he will not go in a different direction. Therefore, he will not waste time or life. And he will challenge himself even if it is hard. You have to establish goals and live strongly while studying and taking action [toward those goals]. Then you will do a lot, you will do things quickly, you will fix yourself, and the joy of fulfilling your goals will not stop.
Prayer too – You should ‘do it with a purpose.’ You have to pray with various objectives such as: Through prayer, incinerating Satan, those who oppose, and the slanderers, or repenting of your sins, or telling [God] about the things you will do for Him, or telling Heaven about the things you are asking for. Then when you are praying, the miscellaneous thoughts will disappear and thus, you will focus and will not aimlessly pray mumbling prayers. Therefore, God will receive those prayers and answer them.
All of you have to live with goals in place. And you have to take action in order to achieve those goals. Running laps around a sports field too – you have to set a goal such as “I am going to run five laps or ten laps,” and run with that objective. Only then will you do that much. If you don’t set a goal, you will quit along the way. Faith too – you have to do it with a goal such as “I am going to do it to ‘x’ degree.” Then you will not quit along the way. Evangelism, management, thanksgiving, love, and prayer too – if you do them with a goal, your thoughts, actions, and life will become clear.
A person who takes action with a set goal will run and work hard while saving [valuable] time*, will not be lazy, will not be slothful, and will not even think worthless thoughts. (*Translation note: Or using time wisely.) Every day you have to pray asking God and the Holy Spirit
- to give you ‘appropriate work to do,’
- pray asking Them to give you ‘an appropriate goal,’
- and pray asking Them to give you ‘the strength and wisdom to fulfill that goal.’
As you do that, you have to put God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Son Lord inside your goals and take action together with them. A life lived without a purpose is boring, difficult, and miserable. A life that is living toward a goal and a life that is taking action in order to achieve a purpose is joyful, has hope, has clear mind and thoughts, and takes action steadfastly and enjoys satisfaction even if it is hard. However, people don’t know what purpose they should live for. You have to have a purpose that will not vanish even after you achieve it, will remain forever, and thus, can be enjoyed forever. You have to have a purpose that God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son Lord share with you. It is ‘the Purpose of Creation,’ the purpose for which human beings were born. You have to live with ‘the Purpose of Creation and the rapture’ as your purpose like God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son Lord do.
‘A person who takes action with a purpose’ is an expert. For example, when exercising – a person who runs 1000 meters per day and exercises in a regular way will only maintain his current level of health. However, a person who exercises with the purpose of [competing in] a race will set a strict exercise schedule and follow that schedule every day– expertly running and doing various exercises – and takes action steadfastly while wrestling with himself in order to achieve that purpose. The same is true with faith.
When doing predawn prayer or any work for the church – if you do it without any special purpose, you will manage only to maintain your current level of faith. Therefore, your mind, actions, words, and daily life will not be that clear or resolute. A person who takes action in an ordinary way is a person who is merely maintaining his current level of life. A person who lives his life of faith in an ordinary way is a person who is merely maintaining his current level of faith. The person who is taking action with a purpose is an expert. Therefore, he has a lot of potential. An expert will ultimately get things done. The person who has a purpose and is determined to get it done is ‘a person who is engaged in a high-level faith.’ Therefore, he will surely get it done.
If you want to raise your level, you have to set a goal and do it until [that goal] is achieved. You have to have ‘the attitude of constantly taking action.’ If you ‘habitually have the attitude of not doing things’ in order to be comfortable for now, you will get used to that and thus, your brain and thoughts will become structured that way. If you are lazy, succeeding in life will be as difficult as 1 in a thousand. If you are diligent and thus, keep taking action toward your goals, it will be easy to achieve success. However, after setting goals you should not take unrefined actions only in an effort to achieve your goals. Yes, you should achieve your goals. But the ultimate goal is ‘to do the work you were given 100% perfectly.’
If you set goals and take action, you will not have ambiguous thoughts wondering, ‘what should I do today?’ It is to set goals and challenge yourself to achieve them! This week, in the remaining time of 2016, and in the new year that we will receive, I hope that you will set goals, take action while being mindful of times and dates in line with [those goals], and check yourself every day. I bless you to live the eternal life of the rapture and as you do, set clear goals and objectives in God and the Lord, make your mind, thoughts, actions, and daily life clear and certain, and thus, challenge yourself every day and raise your level!