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As our intention is, so will be our progress; and he who desires perfection must be very diligent. If the strong-willed man fails frequently, what of the man who makes up his mind seldom or half-heartedly?
–Thomas à Kempis

Even when I make a plan, I often fail to succeed in it. But when I don’t make a plan, when I don’t have an intention, then certainly my success in any given area is highly unlikely.

Today, have you made a plan to spend time with God?
Have you made a plan to share His truth with someone else?
Have you determined to live for Him in areas where you often stumble?

Jesus says, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.” As much as to say: He who wishes to have good fruit, will begin with the tree, and plant a good one; even so he who wishes to do good works must begin, not by working, but by believing, since it is this which makes the person good. For nothing makes the person good but faith, nor bad but unbelief.
–Martin Luther

Our goodness or badness is related to our belief in Jesus. If we truly believe Jesus is who He says He is – the God of this universe and the Author of our salvation – then we will definitely submit to His Lordship and do the good works He has planned for us. We will believe that He is completely worthy of our devotion and service. If we don’t fully believe it, then we will not have a good reason to be obedient. Therefore our belief is what drives our works, and therefore our belief dictates our goodness or badness.

My actions show my beliefs. So what I am showing that I believe about Jesus by how I live, think, and speak?

The Bible is wrought with examples of God doing things for His own glory. Refining our hearts is no exception: “I have refined you in the furnace of suffering, . . . yes, for My own sake!” (Isa. 48:10-11). He goes on to say that He doesn’t want His reputation tarnished by idols; He refuses to let the recognition due to Him to go to them. It was true in how He dealt with Israel, and it is true in how He deals with us. God more often allows us to suffer to refine our own hearts and purge us from idols than to prepare us for “greatness.”
–Anonymous, from Embracing Obscurity

So often we are hoping that we will achieve greatness. We want to be put on the pedestal. We look at God’s Word and read about His plans for us with the hope that He plans that we will have fame, fortune, and glory. But God is most concerned about His glory. He wants others to see His greatness, because only He can provide them salvation and abundant life. And so when we suffer, it might not be because He is soon going to take us to greatness. It might simply be for us to realize His greatness. Let us continue to consider how great He is, instead of focusing on how great we hope we will become.

The tragedy is that our eternal welfare depends upon our hearing, and we have trained our ears not to hear.
–A. W. Tozer

It takes effort to listen to God. It is not our natural tendency. But if we will take the time and make the effort to retrain our ears, then we will hear the marvelous truths of salvation and discover the secrets of having an abundant life in Him.

Who will you listen to today?

Paul had one great passion in his life – to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. What we are willing to die for shows our belief, but what we are willing to live for and suffer for shows our radical commitment to our beliefs.
–John Piper

Living a life that is daily crucified to Christ is harder than physically dying for Him. But doing so shows your radical commitment to His Lordship.

I would die for Jesus before I would renounce Him, certainly. But the more important question is whether or not I will live for Him.