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The Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.)
The Process of Growing a Great Soul

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  3 John 1:2 (NIV)

He sat down and called them around him and said, 'Anyone wanting to be the greatest must be the least—the servant of all!'  Mark 9:35 (TLB)

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV)

[Paul]: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

1.  God's part: He invites
My part: I respond

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.         Romans 10:9 (NLT)

2.  God's part: He transforms
My part: I surrender

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life." 2 Peter 1:3a (NLT)

I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of his loving kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him.     Romans 12:1 (NLV)

3.  God's part: He teaches
My part: I learn

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and remind you of everything I have told you."  John 14:26 (CSB)

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth." John 16:13a (ESV)
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN: If you want to practice learning from God through reading His word, here are two Saddleback Church resources for you to consider ("ctrl-click" link for materials or courses.): Engage is a 21-day guide through the book of James. This is a great step if you are new to reading the Bible on your own. If you've already been studying the Bible, consider Enrich, a 40-day guide that will help you listen more deeply.

4.  God's part: He brings good out of evil
My part: Endure hardship

We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose and turns everything to their good.                                                                               Romans 8:28 (NJB)

"Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God's plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins. God's love is still working. He comes in and takes the calamity and uses it victoriously, working out His wonderful plan of love."          Eric Liddell

We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy. Colossians 1:11 (MSG)

ACTION PLAN: During your quiet time this week, do a heart check to ask yourself what your reactions have been to the trials of these last fourteen months. If you have been "gritting your teeth" to get through them, ask the Holy Spirit to give you his glory-strength instead. Write down those elements that were the hardest to bear and ask the Lord to help you see each through his eyes, knowing that he is our sovereign God.

Jeremiah 17:5-8
When my focus shifts from growing spiritually:
Result: Emptiness, hopelessness, and aimless wandering.

[God]: "Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight. He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.                                                                                         Jeremiah 17:5-6 (MSG)
When I focus on growing a great soul:
Result: Fruitfulness in every season.

[God]: "But blessed is the man who trusts me, God; the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers — Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season."                                        Jeremiah 17:7-8 (MSG)

ACTION PLAN: Review Galatians 5:22-23 for the list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Write them down and pray specifically that the Holy Spirit will produce these fruits in your life. Memorize Galatians 5:22-23.

One last promise to you as you dare to grow a deep soul:
God will finish what he has started in you.

And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ (right up to the time of His return), developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. Philippians 1:6 (AMPC)