I know we've heard a lot about inside out change, mindset change, transformation etc, but I remember going to a Jack Canfield seminar in 2004 and feeling anxious because I knew that if I tried to implement everything we discussed during that week, I'd never have time for myself let alone anyone else.

And then as I sat at my desk one day reading a leadership book, I heard so clearly, "put the book down and start reading Christian related books."

I was focusing on leadership development back in those days and whilst God wasn't telling me they were bad books, He knew the direction He was taking me and those books had little to do with what God had lined up for me.

Not many months later, I fell into Internet Marketing. I began building WordPress blogs for other people and started focusing more on mindset from a Biblical perspective... namely, "having the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Has it been a bed of roses? I wish!

My journey has been fraught with questions, doubt, wondering in the wilderness for more years than I care to admit, but what is clear, is that whenever I experienced transformation (which is what I was looking for in those books) it was less about my effort and more to do with me "letting go and letting Him."

I heard one of my favourite preachers, Kevin Zadai give a definition of transformation that I will embrace forever...

Transformation Is To Transfer From The Other Realm To This Realm

You'll hear me say again and again that the most powerful prayer we can pray is The Lord's prayer, "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." In other words, bringing heaven to earth.

And I've learned over the years that praying this prayer really means that I'm not trying to think up my own desires (what I want), etch my own path or design my own destiny and purpose, I'm literally allowing His predestined Will to manifest in my life... From the inside out.

Ephesians 1:4 tells us...

Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love. (GNT)

So not only did God send us here pre-loaded with desires, destiny and purpose, He wrote the Will and paid the price for our sins, through Jesus Christ to ensure that we fulfilled His desires for us, walked the path He purposed for us and ended up at the destination He planned for us.

Even as I'm writing this, I'm thinking, "so if God's already planned out our lives, why do we make life so difficult?" 

I could give a long answer to this, but in short, it's because we believe our way is much better and God's ways are too restrictive, which actually couldn't be further from the truth. 

Even as imperfect parents we set boundaries for our children to keep them safe and this is exactly what our Heavenly Father did before we were even born. 

So It All Comes Down To Relationship

Just like a good father or mother set boundaries to allow their children to flourish, God set boundaries - in terms of us walking in His ways - to ensure that we flourish. 

And then when man messed up, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to restore the broken relationship between God and man.

The more we relate to Him through our relationship with Jesus Christ, the more we understand how GOOD His desires are for us and the more we will change into the person He designed us to be... effortlessly. 

Yes, you're gonna have to put some skin in the game, as in spend time building a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, spend time in His Word, yield to the Holy Spirit, but the more you do, the more you're going to experience transformational change as you transfer all that is good from God's realm in heaven, to this realm on earth.

But I know what you're saying and I can hear you as I write... "so why do bad things happen to good people? And why is there so much bad, evil, wickedness in this world."

I'm gonna save that one for another day, and I'll come back and link to the article here. But for now, whether you were taught it in Sunday School, school, by your parents, teachers or society or not, I want you to keep reflecting on the goodness of God, because He is good. 

If anyone has told you otherwise and your view is that God is just out to get you, punish you and send you to hell, they were lying to you!

Do I not believe in hell? I absolutely do and again, this is an article for another day that I'll also come back and link here.

Let me just end by saying this, "sin and hell consciousness does not make for a good foundational relationship with God." 

I could darken your day by pointing at your sins and warning you of hell, or I can brighten your day by sharing the GOOD news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how much He loves you. When I point you to the one who loves you so much, sin and hell will be the least of your problems!

If you want to see good days and a good life, you have to focus on what is good. It's a biblical principle that even many non believing motivational speakers recognise.  

Keep your focus on Jesus and allow Him to keep your dream alive!