KNOW GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

As little boys and girls, we all dream of being someone important when we grow up. We imagine being a super hero or a princess, we pretend to be fireman or a mommy with lots of babies. Some of us even dream of being a dinosaur or a unicorn. This happens because God has designed all of us to be important and He has created each of us with a very specific and purposeful task to accomplish.

Sadly, most of us grow up and lean on our own understanding. We choose to follow our own path instead of the one God has designed for us. I don’t believe we start out to do this; we just simply fail to seek God when we are young. Failing to seek God means someone or something other than God is guiding our steps. Thus, we become someone we are not created to be which leads to confusion.

If we don’t know who we are in Christ, then we’ll have no other option than to be someone we’re not. This means that everyday we’ll go through life pretending to be someone else. The sad part is that most people don’t even realize they are pretending to be someone else. The years of living outside of God’s will for our life blinds us. Our own sin and self-deception wrap us in darkness like a cocoon. We can sense that something is not quite right, but we just don’t know what to do about it.

Not knowing the will of God for our lives means that we become like children again, who dress up and pretend to be someone they are not. Sadly, our real lives, even the pretend parts, are far less appealing than super heroes and royalty. So, what do we do?

The good news is that it is never to late to ask God to guide and direct our steps. By simply asking God to open our eyes to who we are created to be, we can begin a new life in Christ. Don’t make things more difficult than they need to be. The truth is simple, if we are going the wrong direction, pretending to be someone we are not, then we must simply ask God for help and head in a new direction; a God led direction.

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Psalm 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.

CREATION PRAYER

The Creation Story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 is about Far More than How God Created All Things. The Days of Creation Teach Us Important Spiritual Principles that are to be Applied to Our Daily Lives.

Day 1: God creates light and separates it from the darkness. Light represents knowing the truth and makes vision possible. Without light we can’t see what we’re doing. Light represents Christ, the Light of the world. Apart from knowing Christ, our life will be dark and we’ll lack vision and the ability to make holy decisions. Day one is about seeing Christ and seeing truth.

Day 2: God separates the waters. The idea of separation in Scripture is connected to sacrifice and the idea of holiness. Once we see the light / truth of Christ, we must make a decision: will we continue to live for our self or will we die to our old life and surrender to Christ? Day two is about dying to the old life.

Day 3: God creates land and vegetation. Land is where we’re designed to live and the vegetation is given to sustain life. The land represents new life and the vegetation represents the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, the land coming out of the water is a picture of baptism and resurrection. Day three is about new life in Christ.

Day 4: God creates lights in the heavens. The darkness of day one is now filled with the light of the sun, moon and stars. These lights represent us. We are to be lights shinning in the darkness; that is a witness to the lost. Day four is about being empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ as Savior.

Day 5: God creates the creatures of the sea and air. The waters separated on day two are now filled with life. Day five is the first time living creatures appear and the first time God blesses something. Day five is about God’s provision and blessing.

Day 6: God creates land creatures and humankind. The vacant land of day three is now filled with living creatures and human beings created in God’s own image. Day six is about God placing His image in Humankind.

Day 7: God has finished creating and He ceases from all of His work. God blesses the seventh day and makes it holy. Day seven is about man enjoying God’s Presence and God’s rest.

When we look at creation from a spiritual standpoint, we are able to see many things that we should pray for every day.

The Creation Prayer: My God and my Creator, help me to see truth today and choose what is holy. Help me to die to my old sinful life, live for you and experience the fruit of the Spirit growing in me.

Empower me with Holy Spirit to be a light shining in the darkness. Give me the provision of your word and feed me so I will mature. Restore the image of Christ in me and allow me to live in Your Presence forever.

Amen.

DON’T STOP SEEKING

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

We all know that we’re supposed to seek God. But, seeking is not a one time effort; it is to be a daily occurrence. In the original Greek, the words ask, seek and knock are in a verb tense that means to continually ask, continually seek and continually knock.

Seeking God for His will and His truth is to be a continuous spiritual exercise that last all day long.

Many of us seek God, get an answer and then believe that is the whole story – it is not. While we have received truth, it is not all of the truth, but only a part. You see, we would not be told to continuously seek if we could find the whole answer the first time. We’re looking for more than one answer; we’re looking for multiple answers.

Every time we seek God we find a new piece of the puzzle.

To think of every truth we have learned as a single piece of the puzzle, that is designed to connect with all of the other pieces of truth we will learn, is a more accurate understanding of how God designed us to seek and find. The truth of the past will always connect with the truth of the present and the future.

The More truth we have the more clearly we will understand who God is and who we’re created to be. The more truth we have the easier it becomes to make wise decisions and have a full and blessed life. More truth means better relationships and stronger families.

The problem is that many of us become weary in well doing. That is, we allow things of less importance to prevent us from seeking God continuously. A lack of truth makes us think that the things of this world like money, power, materialism, entertainment, hobbies, etc. are more important than they actually are.

The answer to our continuously putting almost everything before God is simple: take up your cross and follow Christ and He will give you everything you need for a good and full life. The more we seek God and find truth, the easier it becomes to take up our cross. This is because truth reprograms our minds to think correctly. The opposite is also true: failing to seek God causes our minds to become impaired and darkened by sin and everything evil.

God created us to live in the truth and enjoy a blessed life, and I am confident that each of us will do this very thing. May we all seek God together.

The truth is, we can’t find all of the pieces of the puzzle on our own; we need each other to see the whole picture.

That is why God refers to us as all being parts of the same body. I pray we’ll all encourage each other to seek God and His truth today!

MAKING GOOD DECISIONS

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

In order to make a good decision we need to have all of the facts and information. The problem is that none of us know everything; we all have blind spots and areas of weakness. The good news is that God does know all things. Therefore, in order to make good decisions we need the Spirit of the Lord. Once we learn to rely on God and seek His will and wisdom, every decision we make will lead us to a better life.

Seeking the Presence of God causes us to be wise decision makers.

The verse above reminds us the where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. So, when we seek God for wisdom it will always be accompanied by freedom. God will always show us the truth and the truth always leads to freedom.

We know that we have the right answer when we experience a spirit of freedom.

God’s desire is to set us free. He wants to set us free from sin, addiction and any thing else that enslaves us. When we seek God for wisdom He will show us what is right because He desires to set us free from ignorance.

It is never the will of God for us to be foolish or to be enslaved by the darkness of not knowing what to do.

Therefore, you will know that God has revealed the truth to you when you experience a spirit of freedom. In addition, truth and wisdom are also accompanied by a spirit of life and peace.

Romans 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.

Living for God and seeking Him for the wisdom to make wise life choices is always accompanied by peace. Our minds will be at peace, our hearts will be at peace and we will know what to do. God’s truth always gives us freedom, life and peace.

Never make a decision out of fear, doubt, frustration, desperation or impatience. Doing this will always lead to a bad decision and will sow seeds of confusion.

Christ never made a bad decision. He was never impatient. He never made a decision out of fear or frustration. Christ always operated out of a spirit of peace and obedience to God’s will. We are to imitate Christ and do the same thing.

Never make a decision until you experience the peace of God speaking to your heart. All good choices come from the environment of peace and the Presence of Christ.

What all of this means is that we must learn to make decisions in light of Christ as our Lord and Savior. We must not lean on our own understanding; we must seek the will of God. Most of us make bad decisions because we seek to satisfy the old sinful nature instead of seeking the will of God.

Before making a decision ask your self, “Do I have a peace about this? Do I sense the freedom of Christ? Will this decision be pleasing to my Lord and Savior?”

I pray that we will all become more mature in Christ and seek the will of God in everything that we do. It is by seeking His Face that we will become wise decision makers.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

PETER WALKS ON THE WATER

The Story of Peter walking on the water is one of the most well known stories in the Bible.  But, do we really understand what it’s about? Better yet, do we apply the lessons of the story to our daily lives? Perhaps we should take a look at the main part of the story to refresh our memory.

Matthew 14:26-33 The disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.

³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” ³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The main purpose of the story is simple to understand:

Keep your eyes and focus on Christ. If we take our eyes off of Jesus we will sink, fail, fall, be overcome by the storm, etc.

But do we actually keep our eyes on Christ? Do we even understand what it means to keep our eyes on Christ?

To keep our eyes on Christ means that our eyes are no longer on our selves, it means we have become Christ-centered instead of self-centered.

The context of the story places this “keep your eyes on Jesus” principle in the setting of a storm; that is, on the troubles of life in a sinful world. So, when we have a problem, do we keep our focus on Jesus or do we focus on the problem? The correct answer is; we must keep our focus on Jesus. Why should we do this?

We don’t overcome the storms of life by focusing on the storms; we overcome the storms of life by focusing on Jesus.

Focusing on the storms or problems of life causes us to be discouraged, overwhelmed, depressed and feel alone. It causes us to lean on our own understanding and limited human reasoning. It causes us to become self-centered and ask, “What can I do?”

Keeping our eyes on Christ reminds us that God can do things we can’t do. It reminds us that He alone has the power to rescue us. It also leads us to a place of peace that surpasses all understanding. So, which would we rather have, the peace of God or lean on our own understanding? The answer is obvious, the peace of God. But, there is something else in the story that most of us miss:

Keeping our eyes on Jesus means that we must continue to do His will, even if we are caught up in the midst of a storm.

This is the key, the secret if you will, of the story. Even if I am in the midst of a problem or struggle, I must continue to follow Christ and do His will. Again, we don’t overcome by focusing on the problem, we overcome by focusing on Christ and following Him.

This means that if I have a problem I ask the question, “What can I do today to serve my God and help other people?” By taking the focus off of our self and putting it on God and His will we are applying another spiritual principle: seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added to you.

I know this seems backwards from what we would normally do, but this is what the Scripture teaches us. By the way, if we’re honest about it, what we normally do doesn’t work very well.

God’s promise is still true, especially if we’re having a problem: by keeping our eyes on Christ, He will give us everything we need, even the solution to our problem.

The bottom line is this: whether we are in the midst of a storm today or living the good life, the spiritual principle does not change: keep your focus on Christ, seek His will and He will give you everything you need.

I pray we will all grow in the power and love of our Savior today!  You are the one God loves!

CHOOSE LIFE

If God is Not In It – It is Not Life.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The most powerful possession we have as human beings is the ability to choose. Our decisions determine the outcome of our life.

If God is not in my life, then my life will eventually produce death. If God is not in my marriage, then my marriage will eventually produce death. If I view my career as a means to make money, instead of an opportunity to be a witness for Christ, then my job will eventually produce death. If the things I do for fun and relaxation do not have God in them, then they too will eventually produce death.

Anything I do or have that is void of God will eventually produce death.

The real question is this; “Why would I want to do anything that God is not a part of? Why would I want to be someone that has nothing to do with God?” For anything that God is not a part of is death to me and death to the ones I love. The passage above tells us not only to “choose life”, but it also tells us that “the Lord is your life.”

One of the wisest things we need to remember is that the Lord is our life.

Apart from God there is no life, no light and no blessing. Apart from God there is nothing truly good or of any value to us. Since God is life, there can be no life apart from Him.

With God in our lives all things work for the good, we have everything we need for life and godliness, all of our needs will be met and we will never walk alone for our God is with us.

I pray that we will all choose life today and I trust that we all will.

FAITH

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

I trust that we all want to please God and make Him happy with the way we live, the things we do and the way we think. In the Greek, the word please carries the idea of being in full agreement with God. Being in full agreement with God means that we are in the center of His will, being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This is also the definition of success: knowing what God is doing and doing it with Him. Therefore, pleasing God and being successful in life is the same thing. So, how do we please God? How do we live our life in full agreement with our Creator? How do we become successful in life? Thankfully, Hebrews 11:6 gives us the answer to all of these questions.

First, we must actually believe that there is a God and that we have a Creator. This means, we believe that life is purposeful and that we are here for a reason. Life did not just happen by some cosmic accident. Rather, a Superior being created us because he wanted us. Now don’t make faith complicated because it’s not.

Faith is simply what you believe. If you believe in God then you have faith that God exist.

The second thing we must do to please God is believe that He rewards us when we earnestly or sincerely seek Him. Let’s make this simple to understand as well.

To believe God rewards us means that we believe life is better with God.

Anyone who has ever truly walked with God knows that this is true. It doesn’t mean that all of life’s problems go away, but it does mean we have an all powerful and loving God who helps us to overcome all of life’s problems. It means that even though not all things are good, God makes all things work for our good.

The third thing we must do is earnestly seek God. This means we must spend time with God daily. We must pray. We must read, memorize and study the Scripture. We must hide God’s word in our heart. We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must do what God wants us to do instead of what we want to do. You get the idea; we must be serious about God.

To seek God is to place our self in a position to be pleasing to God.

Seeking God is far more than going to church on Sunday morning. To seek God is to make God the most important person in your life. In fact, to truly seek God we must give Him our every thing. We must pursue God as if we were looking for the greatest treasure known to man, because there is no treasure greater than Christ. Remember, where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be also. Let’s put our heart and faith in Christ.

My prayer for all of us is that we will believe in God, we will believe that life is better with God, and that we will seek God with all of our heart. If we will do this, we will be pleasing to our Lord and Creator.