What’s the recipe for a successful new month of life? How do you rock this thing and make August count? What if I told you God has it clearly lined out for you in scripture? Yes, a clear plan for making August 2019 one of the best and most successful months of your life is right here in your bible. Listen closely, I’ll be reading from the Message translation, 1 Peter 1: 13-17.

“So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready… Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves… doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.”

There it is, your recipe for living well this month.

First, 3 things: “Roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready.” This means, a successful month of life won’t just happen, you have to be willing to work for it. Are you willing to work for your BEST life? There are no short cuts. Stop spending your energy, time and money trying to find the cheat. Living BIG requires work. There’s no way around it. Take full responsibility for the work required here, roll up your sleeves and let’s do this! Set your mind now to becoming the person you were created to be. Get a vision of you at your best and refuse to settle for anything less than the journey to her. It won’t happen overnight, but be ready for the journey.

Then it sassy “Don’t lazily slip back into those old groves of doing just what you feel like doing.” Oh, who has a groove of only doing what you feel like doing when you feel like doing it, and that groove has created a deep rut. Following our “feelings” gets us in deep trouble. Your feelings never lead you to the life you truly want. They lead you to little life living far short of what you were created for. The enemy plays in our feelings. The truth is we rarely feel like doing what we need to do, so how about you stop checking in on your feelings so darn much. How about this month you commit to being tough, doing what needs to be done, then checking to see how you feel about it after you’ve done gone and did it! Oh, there’s the ticket sister! Guess how you’ll feel after you did what needs to be done … awesome. And guess how you’ll feel 97% of the time before you do it … you totally won’t want to do it. So the key is, stop asking if you feel like doing the right thing, and just show up and do it!

This scripture says, “you didn’t know any better then, you do now.” That’s great news. You don’t have to guilt yourself into change here. You can’t do better until you know better. And here you are girl, you know better now. Don’t live in regret and shame for how you spent precious years of your life making bad choices and digging that hole. You’re here today with a whole lot of experience now, knowing what doesn’t work. That’s a valuable tool for your journey. If you know it doesn’t work, let’s not do that anymore! Now that you know better, you can do better. YAY YOU! Here be in BIG Life we say “your life gets better when you do.” This month is about simply getting better. That’s all. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. As you get better, your life will get better too! Now that’s exciting!

You are closer today to your potential. You are on the path to living the life God had in mind for you when he created you. Don’t slip back now. Don’t get lazy. Isn’t it crazy how quickly we will regress back to our old ways if we don’t continually push forward? Maybe you feel your push running out. You’ve been pushing, pushing to become your best, pushing to make something of your life, pushing to move on to the next level and you’re growing tired. Deep down you have a fear that all your progress will be lost with that one slip up. But let’s look at this scripture again. It says “let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life.”

As a follower of Christ, when you are seeking him, all the pushing isn’t left up to you. As your push runs out, God steps in and does the pulling. When you seek him he pulls you into the life you were created for. He pulls you into position.

Ahhhhh, that’s exactly what is happening here today. You showed up to seek God. You want the life he created you for. You want to become the woman he intended you to be. As a result, he is pulling you. Right now, you’re being pulled. Don’t you feel it? That’s the work of the Holy Spirit guiding you to all God has available to you.

Have you asked God to keep pulling you? Have you surrendered your journey to him fully? When you feel your push wavering, when you feel your will beginning to buckle, here’s what you do, call out to God for help and he will help you. Ask him to pull you. Pull you into an energetic life. Yes, remember that’s what our scripture says “let yourself be pulled into a way of life that’s energetic and blazing with holiness.” What does that mean? A life on fire for all God created you for.

God, pull us into a way of life that’s energetic. Let us be on fire with your Spirit!

Are you on fire for the life God has planned for you? Are you on fire for his vision for your life? Are you on fire for your destiny? This is your source of energy. This is a way of living. Seek God and be pulled into living better.

And my favorite part of this scripture is the final sentence. “He won’t let you get by with sloppy living.” Sloppy living. You know if you’ve been living sloppy. You know if you’ve been showing up with less than your best. You know, I don’t even need to say it. Let’s be real clear, YOU WERE NOT CREATED FOR A SLOPPY LIFE! There’s so much more in you! That sloppy living may feel good in the moment, but a moment later it sure doesn’t, does it? God, as your responsible Father, won’t let you get by with sloppy living. No, not when he created you for so much more.

Understand this is why we don’t feel good when we’re not doing good. You’re not supposed to feel good when you’re making bad choices. You’re not supposed to feel good when you’re letting yourself slip. You’re not supposed to feel good when you’re sucking at this thing called life. That’s your loving Father saying “girl, I created you for more – snap out of it!”

Today we will be willing to do what we know we need to do, even if we don’t feel like it. We won’t slip back into our old ways of living. We will keep pushing and we will trust God to pull us in the direction of our destiny. We will keep getting better. We will live with energy and be on fire. We will be excited about this life available to us and darn it, we won’t get sloppy with it. We’re gonna clean up our act. We’re gonna show up and give today our very best effort! August, are you really ready for a bunch of BIG Life girls showing up with our best?!!!!!!