The Daniel Fast

The Rainbow Pen!

 

Planning with Christ

 

 

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. (Proverbs 19:21 NLT). If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (Mark 3:24-25 NKJV). The Lord made the heavens and everything in them by His word... Everyone in this world should worship and honor the Lord! As soon as He spoke the world was created; at His command the earth was formed. The Lord destroys the plans and spoils the schemes of the nations. But what the Lord has planned will stand forever. His thoughts never change. (Psalm 33:6-11 CEV). We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9 NLT).

Christ advised that we work out the cost of a project before we embark on it. This will include time and resources to complete the project. For everyone passing by will poke fun at us when we are unable to finish! The process is planning. Christ said the cost of following Him as Disciple is having much more love for Him than for anyone else on Earth! We who come to Christ must shoulder our own crosses and love Christ much more than our parents and siblings, spouses and children, and even our own lives. Jesus went about doing good. We must try to be at peace with everyone and try to please everybody in every way through the resurrection power of Christ. For we are not seeking our own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. He has given us great and precious promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. All we need is His plan!

When you want to know God's plan for your life, ask Him. Research what His written Word, the Holy Bible says. Learn to love Him and discern His plan for your life by clinging to Him and serving Him enthusiastically. How can we follow God's plan if we don't know what it is? We've all experienced that same frustration when it's time to make a difficult decision. We pray for God to give us guidance and we start looking around for the burning bush. Surely on a matter this important God must want to give us direction. Why doesn't He just tell us what He wants? Those thoughts will go through your head during those tough times. Only take diligent heed to do the commandments of the Lord: to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. And to love your neighbor as yourself. Our plans involve our lives and lifestyles: whom to marry and house to buy, career and retirement.

God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. His commandments are the same as His plans for our lives! God actually does not give us scripts for our lives. But God can give us some clues about our future. God has provided just such a procedure - prayer. You should try it. It works best if you apply it at least twice daily. God, in His mercy, gives us a lot of freedom. He just points us in the right direction and gives us a few clues. And lets us work out the details. God is your God, not just the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He calls us to enter into a close relationship with Himself through Christ. For He rescued us from Egypt. Whatever your situation was before salvation is your personal Egypt. You were dead spiritually, in bondage to your bodily desires, a long way from the Promised Land. The Lord rescued you and welcomes you to a personal relationship with Himself, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. If you have no concept of what you were rescued from, and have no concept of a personal relationship with God, maybe you haven't yet been rescued.

God has a personal interest in you. God is not merely concerned about whether you have idols. God wants a personal relationship with you. He wants you to love Him and thirst for Him, more than you hunger and thirst for money, houses, cars, career, computers or earthly romance. These are the real graven images of our culture. And any of them can be a snare to you. God wants top priority in your heart, and He deserves it. Do not just work to support a lavish lifestyle rather than serve God's Kingdom. God repeatedly tells us to trust Him to provide our material needs. It's really a matter of faith: do we trust God or do we feel the need to "help God out" by pushing ourselves to exhaustion? You have an obligation to your wife and children to model God's love and caring. Remember, God is responsible for all people in every nation and continent of the whole Earth. And He still loves and cares for you individually and personally. We owe no less to our kids and spouse.

God's personal plan for your life is that you go about doing good and reconciling souls to Him. We live in fleshly bodies. And our fleshly desires constantly tug at us, in the wrong direction. Maybe you are okay with your outward behavior. But you know what you are really made of. You know your strengths and your weaknesses.  So every day, especially on bad days, we need to actively seek God's personal presence and guidance. The Scriptures demand that after your salvation you do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding integrity, wisdom, self-discipline, endurance, godliness, compassion, and love. These appear to be nine steps to entering God's  Kingdom. Each dimension fitting into and developing the others. Work out your faith; for faith without works is dead. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you. With these qualities active and growing in your life, they demonstrate that your knowledge about Christ is  living and productive, and has made your life more useful and meaningful.