Big Plans

Big Plans

• James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;

What are your ‘Big Plans’? Are planning to buy a new home or run away from the one you are in? Are planning to start a family or breaking up one the one you have? Are planning a move across town or across the country? Are you breaking free of a bad situation, starting a new business, changing your life for the better, quitting your job to chase after a dream…?

The Bible states clearly that careful and informed planning is sensible and beneficial.

Diligent planning is good. 

• Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

Diligent planning after seeking out wise counsel is even better.

• Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established.

But honestly, we don’t know what the future holds. The next beat of your heart, the passing of a few hours, days or years can bring sudden or gradual change that makes all your planning pointless.

• Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
• James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away

Our sovereign God rules over the universe with infinite knowledge and power. And in His wisdom and love, He has plans that will be fulfilled. And when our plans don’t align with His purposes:

• Psalm 33:10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
• Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
• Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

When we boast about the future:

• Luke 12:18-19 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’

We put ourselves in a position where God may need to humble us:

• Luke 12:20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

All of our plans, big or small, should be made with the understanding that God’s plans are perfect. We should always pray and desire that His will be done.

• James 4:15-16 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil

The more You seek to know and understand His will through prayer, Bible study, Godly counsel, etc., the more likely your plans will align with His purposes. So go ahead and make your plans; but don’t let pride about understanding God and His will lead you to the point where drastic change brings your world crumbling down around you!

And just one more thing, if God’s Holy Spirit is prompting you to accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, don’t put that off. Your next breath could be your last chance to glorify God and secure your eternal life in Heaven!

• 2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
• Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Prayer

Forgive me Father when I make plans without seeking Your will and not considering that Your perfect plans may not align with my thinking or desires. Forgive the worry, regret, frustration or anger that rises up within me when Your plans put an end to mine. Help Your children to accept with joy the beauty of Your sovereign reign over all things. If there is anyone who reads this that doesn’t understand what salvation through Jesus Christ means, but they really want to know, I pray that you will send someone to share the truth with them. I pray all this in the most precious and wonderful name of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Four Good Reasons for Understanding God’s Will

Four Good Reasons for Understanding God’s Will


After hearing of the of the Colossian’s faith in Christ and love for other believers, Paul wrote them a letter and let them know that he and Timothy had been continuing in prayer that they would be ‘filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’ (Colossians 1:9). And later in that same letter, Paul commends them for good order and steadfastness of faith in Christ (Colossians 2:5). But then he warns them not to be deceived by the philosophies, lies and legalism that are based on worldly principles (Colossians 2:8).

Do you have faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you living an orderly and stable Christian life? If so, praise God; you are on the mountain top and you share in those things for which Paul commended the Colossian’s. But guess what, right now Satan, the world and your flesh are trying to corrupt you and every other Christian using cunning thoughts, crafty deceptions and conceited traditions. They want to drag you down into the valley of despair and render you useless as a witness for God.

So why were Paul and Timothy continually praying for the Colossians to be crammed full of wisdom and spiritual knowledge concerning God’s will? Well, we don’t have to guess; Paul told them (and us):

• Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

In this verse we see

Four Good Reasons for Understanding God’s Will


That you may:

Walk Worthy of the Lord

Our Holy God has called us to live holy lives. Living worthy of this call includes fulfilling God’s plans for our lives no matter how difficult, unpleasant or inconvenient that may be. Christ came to bear our sins and die on a cross. We honor His life, death and resurrection when we work together with other Christians to advance the gospel message.

• 1 Peter 1:15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
• Matthew 10:38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
• Philippians 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,

Fully Please Him

Living to fulfill the desires of our human nature will never please God. By dying to ourselves, we put to death our evil deeds and selfish desires so that they become pleasing sacrifices to God. But whatever we think or say or do, without genuine faith in His existence and the truth of His Word, we cannot please Him.

• Romans 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
• Hebrews 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
• Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Be Fruitful in Every Good Work

When God grants us understanding and we receive the truth of His Word, with Christ in our hearts we bear varying amounts of fruit in accordance with the grace of God and the gifts He has given. But without Jesus Christ, we can do nothing of value for the kingdom of God. Being fruitful is not only about what we do, it is about our character, attitudes, intentions, influences, impact, praise and so much more. God-like love produces Godly fruit.

• Matthew 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
• John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
• Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Increase in the Knowledge of God

Reverence for God brings wisdom. When we learn about God we understand more about truth. As we mature as Christians, the increase of divine influence on our hearts and learning more about Jesus through Bible study, experience and the example of more mature Christians brings glory to God.

• Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
• 2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
• Philippians 4:9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

A clear understanding God’s Will

enables us to bring glory to Him!

Pray expectantly that God will ‘fill you with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’. Pray this for your brothers and sisters in Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ should bring Him glory!!!


Prayer

Gracious loving Father, I ask that You fill Your church, the body of Jesus Christ, with a clear understanding of Your will. Fill us with knowledge of Your will as we read Your Holy Word, appreciate Your awesome creation, observe You mighty works, learn from Your faithful children and pray in Your Son's precious name. May all that we say and do and think and desire bring You glory. I pray these things in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.