Planning. This can be a sick/energizing obsession. I'm what we would like to call a planner. I often find myself planning for things that are months and months away, maybe even years. I have this guilty pleasure of planning things out so I can see the big picture of whatever I'm planning. In this season of my life I am quickly approaching the finish line of my undergraduate at Bible college. So therefore my mind is racing to plan my future out like any other senior would. Things like finding a job, graduate school, a spouse, a place to live, or even where in the world will be 5 years from now? Needless to say this is all very exciting and I know I'm to enjoy the moment and take my my time through it all. But is it really that bad to plan some things out? Is this like a slap in the face to God? It's not like my intentions are to stray from God and go against Him. I'd like to think that I'm not the only one with these type of questions. It doesn't matter what stage of life your in. You plan things. Every day and you don't even realize it. So does this mean that every day you shove God out of your life because you plan out your day? Depending on your heart and attitude, that could be yes or no, but we won't visit that rabbit trail just yet. So to answer the question, "Planning: Waste of time or Time well spent?" lets go to God's Word and discover the way to plan out our lives.
1 The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives. 3 Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established. 4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. 7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.25 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 16:1-4, 7, 9, 18, 25
So, lets break all this down into chewable pieces. We need to establish something here. Our plans are our own and our plans can easily not be God's. I'm not saying God doesn't sometimes place thoughts in our minds and make certain things clearer to us at a certain time. I'm talking about the planning that WE want. We can plan and plan and plan and plan all we want but if one thing is not operating like it should all this planning will be for nothing. That operating piece is your heart/attitude. You're heart needs to be in tune with God. If your heart is not right with God all the stuff your doing is in vain. As you look back to the scripture you find that no matter what, God has the final word. He weighs the motives of your choices in planning. Sorry for those of you who believe this, but you can't pull the wool over God's eyes. God is Omnipotent (All-powerful), Omniscient (All-knowing), and Omnipresent (All-present). There's no getting around Him. God knows the reasons for your choices. When you are chasing after the heart of God, there is no possible way you can go wrong in your planning. It's been said once, "Get really close to Jesus, and then do what you want." I live by this the best I can. The problem is that when we get away from Jesus and "we do what we want", it all becomes selfish/sinful desires. Take what you're planning and commit it to God and He will work through your plans. He will grow you, stretch your faith, strengthen your hope, and you will grow closer to Jesus through your life plannings. In ANYTHING you plan there is growth. Big or small plans. Here are some practical questions to ask yourself when planning:
1. Is this plan in harmony and committed to God and His truth?
2. Will it glorify God in the end result?
3. Is my attitude for planning this pleasing to God?
4. Am I seeking Christ?
So are you able to answer the question? Is planning a waste of time or time well spent? Planning is only a waste when you don't acknowledge God and don't allow Him to be in control of your plans. It's a time well spent if you allow Him to be master of your plans. I'm praying for you and your next planning excursion. God Bless!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
What does it mean to fear the Lord?
Have you ever been afraid of anything? Everyone tends to be afraid of something, but are we suppose to be afraid of God? It's been said that we are to respect God and have a reverence for Him, but be afraid of Him? I dare to venture and say that we are suppose to so show some fear towards Him. If you were to read through all 31 chapters of Proverbs you would find "the Fear of Lord..." listed 11 times. How can a God of love, grace, mercy, peace, joy, tenderness, and care be scary? This God that loves you so much is also a God of justice and righteousness. A God that is not controllable, able to be contained, and can do whatever He wants. If we're honest that's terrifying.
Lets take a look at some biblical evidence of this. In 3 of the 4 gospels of the Lord Jesus we find an amazing example of fearing the Lord. We look at Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:1-8, and Luke 9:28-36 for this recorded example. This is the transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain. In all three accounts Peter, John, and James all witness Jesus in all His glory with Moses and Elijah. They see Jesus in all His glory as God. (Philippians 2:5-11) These weren't just some random men. These men knew Jesus, they were probably the closest to Him out of all the apostles. Though when they witnessed and were before Jesus in His glorious presence they showed fear. In all three accounts the three men were either terrified or they were afraid. Mark 9:6 uses the word terrified. Translated it means stricken with fear or terror, exceedingly, frightened, or terrified. Matthew 17:6 and Luke 9:34 uses the phrase "they were afraid", which in the Greek vernacular is the same word. This word is translated into to put to flight by terrifying , to fear, be afraid, and to be seized with alarm. Then the very last part of that definition stops me in my tracks. It's finished by saying, "To reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience." There's that reverence stuff again. The words also mean to be afraid though. So, how do we put this together?
Working through this I started thinking of things that I'm afraid of. The more I thought of it, it started to make sense. I respect the things that I fear. Think of something that you're terrified of. Do you show some kind of respect for it because of your fear? If you don't fear the God of the universe at least a little you bit you're missing out on a whole bunch of blessings. I admit that we shouldn't just be motivated to worship God by fear, this is just one of the many attitudes we need to have towards Him. When you fear the Lord you find:
1. The beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7)
2. Hatred for evil, pride, arrogance, and a perverted mouth. (Prov. 8:13)
3. Strong confidences (Prov. 14:26)
4. Refuge (Prov. 14:26)
5. The fountain of life. (Prov. 14:21)
6. More in what little you have. (Prov. 15:16)
7. Instruction for wisdom. (Prov. 15:33)
8. Humility (Prov. 15:33)
9. A way to stay away from evil. (Prov. 16:6)
10. Direction to Life. (19:23)
11. A woman worthy of praise. (Prov. 31:30)
When you have the right attitude and perspective of who God is and who Jesus Christ is, everything changes. We worship God for who He is and by having the correct feelings toward Him it helps us to give Him the worship that He deserves.
Lets take a look at some biblical evidence of this. In 3 of the 4 gospels of the Lord Jesus we find an amazing example of fearing the Lord. We look at Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:1-8, and Luke 9:28-36 for this recorded example. This is the transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain. In all three accounts Peter, John, and James all witness Jesus in all His glory with Moses and Elijah. They see Jesus in all His glory as God. (Philippians 2:5-11) These weren't just some random men. These men knew Jesus, they were probably the closest to Him out of all the apostles. Though when they witnessed and were before Jesus in His glorious presence they showed fear. In all three accounts the three men were either terrified or they were afraid. Mark 9:6 uses the word terrified. Translated it means stricken with fear or terror, exceedingly, frightened, or terrified. Matthew 17:6 and Luke 9:34 uses the phrase "they were afraid", which in the Greek vernacular is the same word. This word is translated into to put to flight by terrifying , to fear, be afraid, and to be seized with alarm. Then the very last part of that definition stops me in my tracks. It's finished by saying, "To reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience." There's that reverence stuff again. The words also mean to be afraid though. So, how do we put this together?
Working through this I started thinking of things that I'm afraid of. The more I thought of it, it started to make sense. I respect the things that I fear. Think of something that you're terrified of. Do you show some kind of respect for it because of your fear? If you don't fear the God of the universe at least a little you bit you're missing out on a whole bunch of blessings. I admit that we shouldn't just be motivated to worship God by fear, this is just one of the many attitudes we need to have towards Him. When you fear the Lord you find:
1. The beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7)
2. Hatred for evil, pride, arrogance, and a perverted mouth. (Prov. 8:13)
3. Strong confidences (Prov. 14:26)
4. Refuge (Prov. 14:26)
5. The fountain of life. (Prov. 14:21)
6. More in what little you have. (Prov. 15:16)
7. Instruction for wisdom. (Prov. 15:33)
8. Humility (Prov. 15:33)
9. A way to stay away from evil. (Prov. 16:6)
10. Direction to Life. (19:23)
11. A woman worthy of praise. (Prov. 31:30)
When you have the right attitude and perspective of who God is and who Jesus Christ is, everything changes. We worship God for who He is and by having the correct feelings toward Him it helps us to give Him the worship that He deserves.
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