I dread becoming luke warm, which usually happens so slowly that you don’t always notice the drop in your spiritual temperature until its happened!

No longer being on the front line as it were since retiring, and with everyone saying, ‘take it easy’, ‘put your feet up’, ‘you’ve deserved it’, I’m definitely not as ‘hot’ as I’d like to be. So I’ve decided to do something about it and go on a 40 Days spiritual renewal programme starting in October so, ‘I’m ready Lord for you to use during the Christmas period’ .

Ten years ago we got our whole church using the ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren for a 40 day spiritual renewal programme. It was fantastic, and so many of us came alive in God again during those six weeks. The book has just been revised and expanded, ready for a new generation, with the title ‘What on earth am I here for?’ ,and with new insights on the greatest barriers to living your purpose … just what I’ve been wondering!

So I’m going to use this new edition with lots of new features, reading one of the three or four page chapters each day and reflecting on their implications for my life. I’ll also be signing up for daily audio encouragements from Pastor Rick to help me interact with each day’s theme, and also learning one scripture verse each week.  I’m going to have Ann as my partner to share each days discoveries and to keep me up to speed ( we all benefit from a little bit of accountability!!!) and hopefully I’ll come out of this make over with a new sharpness and focus on Jesus.  There’s certainly some areas of my life where I know I could do with some sharpening up!

The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he often took 40 days:

• Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain!
• Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai
• The spies were transformed  by 40 days in the Promised Land
• David was transformed by Goliath’s 40 day challenge
• Nineveh was transformed when God gave the city 40 days to change
• Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness
• The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after his resurrection

I wonder what God has in store for me!

If doing this is something that appeals to you, let me know and I’d be happy to get all the stuff for you as well when I order it as the books and memory verses  etc have to be shipped over from the US.  Everything will probably cost about £10.  We could link up and ‘encourage one another all the more’!

And turn our thermostats up a notch!