CENTER
ON HIS PLAN
BREAD
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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,
and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all
your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)
8 For it
is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God-- 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
11 For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to
redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his
very own, eager to do what is good. Titus
2:11-14 (NIV)
3 At one
time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of
passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one
another. 4 But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously
through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might
become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying.
And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may
be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are
excellent and profitable for everyone. Titus
3:3-8 (NIV)
17 So I
tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as
the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their
understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that
is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity,
they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and
were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard
to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:17-24
(NIV)
17 Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
BUTTER
“A holy people was His purpose in paying
such a fearful price. Therefore, knowing what all He has done and why He has
done it, a Christian who truly loves Christ and looks forward to His return
will pay any price to bring his life into conformity with his beloved Lord's
will, lest he disappoint Him at His return. This was the Apostle John's thought
when he wrote about the hope of Christ's appearing: ‘Everyone who has this hope
in him purifies himself, just as He is pure’ (1 John 3:3). A full understanding of these things leads
inexorably to godly living. Conversely,
ungodly living in a Christian is a clear sign that either he does not fully
understand these things or he does not actually believe them.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“Most
of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for
position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly
afraid that we will miss the way. There
is a better way. It is to repudiate our
own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God…..God has charged
Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to
take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.” A. W.
Tozer
“It is natural
for us to wish and to plan, and it is merciful of the Lord to disappoint our
plans and to cross our wishes. For we
cannot be safe or happy until we are weaned from our own wills and made simply
desirous of being directed by His guidance.
Although we understand this we seldom learn to put it into practice
without being trained for a while in the school of disappointment. The schemes we form look so plausible and
convenient that when they are broken we are ready to say, ‘What a pity!’ We try again, and with no better success; we
are grieved, and perhaps angry, and plan another, and so on; eventually, in the
course of time, experience and observation begin to convince us that we are no
more able than we are worthy to choose correctly for ourselves. The Lord’s invitation to cast our cares upon
Him, and His promise to take care of us, appear valuable; and when we have done
planning, His plan in our favor gradually opens, and He does more and better
for us than we could either ask or think.
I can hardly recollect a single plan of mine, which if it had taken place
in the time and the way I wanted would, humanly speaking, have proved my ruin;
or at least would have deprived me of the greater good the Lord had designed
for me. We judge things by their present appearance;
but the Lord sees them in their consequences.
If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we
can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are
pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest
judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to
walk according to their own wisdom.” John
Newton
“No one can
dissuade God from His purposes; nothing can turn Him aside from His plans.” A.W. Tozer
“Accept
surprises that upset your plans…..Leave the Father free Himself to weave the
pattern of your days.” Dom Helder Camara
“Our
Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to
accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting
is wickedness for a child of God.” Oswald Chambers
“When the dream in
our heart is one that God has planted there….all of the spiritual resources of
the universe are released to help us.”
Catherine Marshall
“We are the
occupant of His time, the focus of His planning, and the recipient of His
companionship.”
Michael
Youssef
“Nothing happened
to our Lord Jesus that did not come within the boundaries of the Father’s
purposes. And as Ephesians teaches us,
our lives are planned in the same way.
The one thing that matters is how we meet what happens. Limitations and frustrations can’t cast the
smallest handful of dust on the glory of God…for His way is perfect.” Amy
Carmichael
“There is no broadminded approach when it comes to entering into the
life that God has for you. God doesn't present you with a variety of doors to
consider. He doesn't say, ‘Go ahead and pick the door that looks best to you,
and after you decide, I will support your decision and bless all that you do.’
It is true that God does have a plan and a purpose for your life, but it can
only be entered into through one door. Jesus Christ is that door. There is no
other entrance. There is only one Gospel to believe; only one Truth to embrace;
only one Shepherd to follow; only one Savior to trust; only one Lord to serve;
only one Master to obey.” Roy Lessin
“When my eye is
filled with my own management of things, I am not prepared to see God acting
for me; and, in that case, prayer is not the utterance of my need, but the mere
superstitious performance of something which I think ought to be done, or it
may be, asking God to sanctify my plans. This will never do. It is not asking
God to sanctify and bless my means, but it is asking Him to do it all
Himself. We have to get over the idea
that prayer is giving God advice on how to accomplish our plan.” CH
Macintosh, 1879
“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity when we plan only the things we
can do by ourselves.” A.W. Tozer
HEART SAVOR
·
My prayer for myself and for my family is to “stand firm in
all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” That is, of course, the best
place to be no matter what the circumstances may shout.
- · God has a plan which is both perfect and pleasing. 2 Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good,
pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
(NIV)
·
God has a prepared plan for a prepared life which is indeed
abundant – one to prosper and not harm, to give hope and a future. I have a responsibility to present myself to
God as one approved, one who does not need to be ashamed and who can correctly
handle the Word of Truth.
