Mark Affleck

23 Years Ago My Faith Was DEAD

June 11, 2020
Spiritual Growth

While coaxing my rested frame from its slumber this morning it hit me that today was the day to introduce a story that I have been waiting 23 years to write.

It is a story about my DEAD faith and a commitment to ACTIVATE it 23 years ago this month.
  
Please keep reading! A few paragraphs down from here you will see what I wrote 23 years ago as a prayer to God for my life.
  
But first I want to rewind my life movie 23 years to the middle of a phenomenal career, already a corporate CEO with a huge mansion and lightning-quick sports car parked on a long driveway.
  
That was the outside. On the inside beneath that thin veneer was a raging and roiling battle for meaning and purpose.  

I had been a Christian for over 20 years but did not have any spiritual discernment. No Godly wisdom. And definitely no relationship with Jesus.
  
Everything changed at Saddleback Church’s Spiritual Maturity Class 201 taught by Pastor Tom Holladay. I was inspired that day to turn EVERYTHING over to God.
  
Soon after that class, I captured the following vision roadmap for my faith walk going forward. Not a single word has been changed from the original.
  
NOTHING that follows was in place at the time. EVERYTHING was a prospective prayer to God for it to be transformed from vision to reality. Heck, I didn’t even have a Bible. Here it is…
  
My life mission is grounded in Christ, with God at the center of everything, like the hub of a wheel. God is either first or last; there is no in-between. In the hub position, all other aspects of my life become subordinate spokes because God can never be on the outside of a “natural world hub” that relies on our strengths or money or fame. I want to…

  • Connect with God daily in full surrender and obedience.
  • Know that God is all I have and all I need; and realize that spiritual growth comes mostly from trial and tribulation.
  • Live with the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, kindness, faithfulness, self-control, goodness, peace, humility, and patience.
  • Be available and open to what God would have me do and who he would have me be.
  • After a career of worldly achievement and success in the first half of my life, I want to live a life of Kingdom purpose and significance serving God.
  • Use my story to help many others activate their faith.

God is good.
  
I thank him for rescuing me and ask that he use my story to help others activate their faith and live a fully-surrendered life.
  
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
  
What’s YOUR vision for YOUR faith walk in the months and years ahead?
  
“But whoever listens to me will have security; he will be safe; with no reason to be afraid.” Proverbs 1:33
  

Hey, like this? Why not share it with a buddy?

Related Posts