I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-42)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT?

INCLUDING GOD IN YOUR PLANS
When you hear the word ‘materialism’, what thoughts come to mind?
Do you think about power and possessions? Do you think of someone
with a love of ‘stuff’; someone who enjoys bragging about their possessions?
A selfish person who is lacking in humility? Someone who is more focused
on things, than he or she is about the feelings of others? A person who is
‘worldly’ as opposed to ‘heavenly’ in their thinking? The bible warns us
about being materialistic.
    Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and
    a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
    plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love
    of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people,
    eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
    pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

Do you think materialistic people spend more time focused on
what they can acquire, or how they can have a positive impact
on the lives of others? Would they be more likely to tithe, or to
steal from God and use their tithe to buy things for themselves?

Anything not approved by the Lord, can be a temptation for
believers. Materialism is one of those challenges. Avoiding this
temptation means changing from an ‘all about me’ to an
‘all about others’ and an ‘all about God’ mentality. It means
prying our fingers from selfishness and focusing on ways to
encourage and lift the spirits of others. It also means focusing
on obeying the Lord. We have to change from the attitude of
‘keeping for myself’ to one of ‘sharing with others’ and
‘giving back to God’.

Some folks struggle with living in the current day environment.
They are so focused on the future that they fail to enjoy each
day in its entirety. Planning is not a bad thing as long as we keep
everything in perspective and do not exclude God from our plans.
Look at what James has to say about inappropriate planning.
    Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow
    we will go to this or that city, spend a year
    there, carry on business and make money.”
    (James 4:13)

The words used in this verse have the flavor of a sales or business
meeting. All of us have periods of planning. We plan for vacations,
family gatherings, trips, etc. The problem according to James is
what they were taking for granted. They assumed WHEN their
plan would be launched, WHERE they would go, HOW LONG
they would stay, WHAT they would do, and that their efforts
would be PROFITABLE. These sound like normal plans, so what
could possibly be wrong with them? They were leaving out a very
important factor.
    Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
    What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little
    while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

From this verse, it appears they weren’t even considering God’s plans
for their lives. It might be an indication that they had no relationship
with Him. With the brevity of life, James is probably suggesting that
we need to be saved first of all. Then, after establishing a dependent
relationship with the Lord, we should allow Him to be the most
important influence on our plans.

James reminds us that life is short, which implies that we should get
our priorities in the right order. James was probably not anti-business,
but was sharing a biblical principle that warns us of the dangers of
forgetting the shortness and uncertainty of life. We can see the same
advice in the Old Testament.
    Do not boast about tomorrow,
    for you do not know what a day
    may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)

Whenever we boast about tomorrow, we are assuming that we will
still be alive tomorrow. These kinds of thoughts can be indicative
of someone who believes they are in control of their own destiny.

Boasting of any kind is usually an indication that we feel our
accomplishments are a result of our own efforts. When we do
this, we fail to acknowledge the Lord’s involvement of providing
us with the skills and intelligence to be successful. If we are going
to boast, it should be about the Lord and not about what we own
or what we have done.
    Therefore, as it is written:
    “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
    (1 Corinthians 1:31)

When comparing our life to a mist, James reminds us that
our life on earth is brief and finite. In the Old Testament,
our life is compared to a breath.
    Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
    my eyes will never see happiness again. (Job 7:7)

    You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
    Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem
    secure. (Psalm 39:5)

Our life is also compared to a shadow which lasts for only a day.
When night arrives, our shadows disappear. As each day passes,
we are getting nearer to death.
    My days are like the evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass. (Psalm 102:11)

When reading these verses, we can develop a gloom and doom
perspective, or we can make a decision to make the most of the
time we have on earth. Serving the Lord is exciting and far from
gloomy. Since life is short and uncertain, James was not suggesting
that future planning is wrong. He was also not advocating a passive
fatalism that waits around for death. He was warning against making
the assumption that life and its outcome are under our control.

As James continues, he reminds us of the most
important factor we should include when planning.
    Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the
    Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
    (James 4:15)

They had omitted the Lord when making their plans. More than
likely this was due to the fact that they had not established a right
(or any) relationship with Him. Jesus gives us information about
proper planning and including God’s Will in our decisions.
    And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain
    rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to
    himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my
    crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear
    down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will
    store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have
    plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat,
    drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool!
    This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then
    who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This
    is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves
    but is not rich toward God.”
   (Luke 12:16-21)

Paul knew the importance of maintaining
a healthy and close relationship with the Lord.
    I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed,
    but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ
    will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to
    me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living
    in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall
    I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to
    depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more
    necessary for you that I remain in the body.
    (Philippians 1:20-24)

Paul also realized the importance of God’s will in all things.
    But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if
    it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
    (Acts 18:21)

    But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is
    willing, and then I will find out not only how
    these arrogant people are talking, but what
    power they have. (1 Corinthians 4:19)

    For I do not want to see you now and make
    only a passing visit; I hope to spend some
    time with you, if the Lord permits.
    (1 Corinthians 16:7)

Paul could have ignored God’s will and allowed his own will
to control his thoughts, plans and actions, but he knew the
importance of obedience. Obeying the Lord was his number
one priority. This was true even when Paul’s plans were about
serving the Lord.

At least twice he had plans to enter certain cities and minister
to the people there, but the Holy Spirit prevented him from
entering those areas. We may not know the details of how He
prevented Paul from following his own desires, but we do know
that Paul responded with obedience. He could have said to himself,
“This is for the Lord so I’m going to do it anyway!” – but he didn’t!

An obvious question is, “Why would the Holy Spirit prevent Paul
from serving the Lord in those regions?” The short answer is, it
wasn’t God’s will. The longer answer is, our omniscient (all knowing)
Father knew there were other groups of people who had been
spiritually prepared for Paul’s visit.

Apparently they had a greater need to hear about God through
Paul than the ones Paul planned to visit. God may have also
wanted to teach Paul some things he could only learn while living
in a specific environment and culture. The good news is, Paul
didn’t seem to question being redirected, he just moved forward
in obedience to the Lord’s will.

Can you imagine how he must have felt?
He could have been thinking something like,
    “Well I really wanted to go to this other area. It is on the way
     to the Lord’s destination for me so I wouldn’t have to go out
     of the way. However, since He doesn’t want me to go there,
     He must have something special planned for me in a different
     area. He is my Father so I will happily go wherever He leads
     me and I will follow His timetable.”

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