My Faith was DEAD a Quarter Century Ago

While coaxing my rested but creaky frame from its slumber this morning it hit me that today was the day to introduce a story that I have been waiting 25 years to write.
  

It’s a story about my DEAD faith and a commitment to develop SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE in my life and walk with God 25 years ago this month.
  

Please keep reading! A few paragraphs down from here you will see what I wrote 25 years ago as a prayer to God for my life.
  

But first I want to rewind my life movie 25 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 accepted Christ but did not have any spiritual discernment. No Godly wisdom. And 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. 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 know where my Bible was located. Not a single word has been changed.
  

Here it is…
  

My life mission will be grounded in Christ, with God at the center of everything, like the hub of a wheel. God will either be first or last; there will be no “in-between.” In the hub position, all other aspects of my life should become subordinate spokes because God can never be on the outside of a “natural world hub” that relies on my 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.

That was the beginning of my life-long quest for spiritual discipline and Christ-like maturity.
  

Stay tuned. YOU can develop SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, too. Just ask God for help and commit. Tomorrow we’ll take another step forward on our SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE journey.
  

I thank God for instilling in me the desire to pursue SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE that leads to an ever-growing and intimate relationship with you. May my story help others activate their faith and live fully surrendered to you.
  

WHAT ABOUT YOU?
  

Is YOUR faith ALIVE? Have you committed to SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE?
  

“But whoever listens to me will have security; he will be safe; with no reason to be afraid.” Proverbs 1:33