GOD’S PLANS (part-5)

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL GAME PLAN?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep
the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance,
and did not inquire of the Lord. So, the Lord put him to death and
turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
(1 Chronicles 10:13-14)

MEDITATION:
When you are attending a sporting event, do you leave at halftime?
Of course not, there is still another half to play. Your team may have
played well in the first half and are leading at halftime, but we know
anything can change in the second half. One team can suddenly
‘get it together’ and make a comeback, or a team can sustain some
injuries to key players that will affect their momentum.

But, what about our own life? When we reach our assumed
‘halftime’ of life, will we quit, or change our game? We can
make a decision of how to finish, can’t we? We might be very
disappointed with our ‘first half’ and commit to having a better
‘second half’. Or we might be pleased with our ‘first half’ and
have a desire to increase our momentum in our ‘second half’.

How we live each half will be measured not by referees, but by our
ultimate judge – God. With that in mind, we need to determine how
we are living within His guidelines, and how we are contributing to
what He is doing (using the spiritual gift He has given us). None of
us want to feel that God will throw a yellow penalty flag on how we
are living our lives.

God has an established plan for each of us, and we need to find and
understand His plan…then execute it to the best of our ability.

When we look at the scriptures, we can see that Jacob had a bad start,
but finished well. On the other hand, Solomon started well but finished
badly.

What about Saul? At one point he looked good and was chosen to be
the king to lead a nation with God’s blessings. But how did he finish?
He spent the last part of his life in bitterness, fearfulness and jealousy
as he pursued his son’s friend, David, with intentions to kill him.

He was unfaithful to the Lord; He didn’t obey the Lord; and he even
looked for guidance from someone other than the Lord. When he saw
his kingdom crumbling, he turned to a witch instead of turning to the
Lord. When we decide to make a turn in our lives, our decision is for
better or worse, but not both.

In essence, Saul left his first love and turned his back on the Lord. Instead
of remaining faithful to the Lord, and obeying His Word, Saul decided to
‘change his game’. It’s a sad ending for someone who started so well. His
tragedy was not the result of things beyond his control, but a result of the
things he failed to control.

How did God respond to Saul’s new game plan? The blessings Saul
had been receiving from the Lord were changed to judgment by God.

ACTION:
There are things in our lives that we cannot control, but
there are many things we can control. The controllable
things are where we need to focus. Why? Because we are
wasting our time if we think we can change the things
which are beyond our ability to control.

There are three areas we can control:
    faithfulness, obedience, and seeking the right guidance.
Faithfulness:
    God expects His people to remain faithful (and live faithfully).
Obedience:
    A characteristic of love that is expected of God’s people.
    It is what identifies us as followers of Jesus.
Guidance:
    When we need guidance, we need to look to the Lord (and pray).
During Saul’s ‘second half’ he failed in these three areas.

The questions we need to ask ourselves are:
    – How will I change from this day forward?
    – Will I discover the spiritual gift God has given me?
    – Will I effectively use His precious gift to me?
    – Will I allow God to purge me of unrighteousness
       and fill me with more righteousness (sanctification)?
    – Will I dedicate myself to following the plan God has for me?
    – Will the second part of my life be more focused on God’s will
       and pleasing to Him?
    – If I can’t sense God’s sanctification efforts in my own life,
       do I really belong to His family?

The scriptures tell us that He disciplines those He loves
the ones who are a part of His family.
    In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the
    point of shedding your blood. And have you completely
    forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you
    as a father addresses his son? It says,
        “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
          and do not lose heart when He rebukes you,
          because the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
          and He chastens everyone He accepts as His child.”
    Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His
    children. For what children are not disciplined by their
    father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes
    discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and
    daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers
    who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much
    more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They
    disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God
    disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His
    holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
    Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and
    peace for those who have been trained by it.
    (Hebrews 12:4-11)

Never forget that when God is sanctifying us, we must give up
unrighteous thoughts and activities. We should also expect to
be disciplined. Why? Because there are some sinful things in
our lives that we cannot overcome without God’s powerful
assistance. God has a plan for you and me, and it’s necessary
for Him to transform us so we can follow His plan for our lives.

Instead of resisting His discipline or rebelling against it, pause and
realize that His discipline is not only for our good, but is serves as
confirmation that we belong to Him. We need to think about the
things in our life that we know are sinful and displeasing to God.

We may have temporary victories over them, but they will return
and we struggle to overcome them once again. We find ourselves
having those feelings of guilt and disappointment once again and
we wonder if we will overcome the sins that so easily ensnare us
and continue to discourage us.

In his cleverness, Satan will try to convince us that we just need
some relief and since we feel comfortable in a particular sin, then
we should succumb to it briefly. But what happens? What we felt
would be a temporary episode opens the door for Satan to gain a
foothold and we find ourselves on a slippery slope back into the
same rut we thought we had defeated.

In addition, the Evil One will try to convince us that we are going
to live a life of turmoil as we continue to our battles with sin and
our attempts to live a life pleasing to God. We have tried our best
to defeat the temptations of sin without long-lasting success, so if
we expect to live a peaceful life, then we should choose the sinful
life that’s pleasurable and keeps us in our comfort zone.

Now, we can better understand why God includes discipline as
a remedy for our sin sickness and a deterrent to prevent us from
being victimized over and over again. That shows us how much
God loves us and wants to help us, even if His help may be painful
at times.

Satan also wants us to forget, ignore, disregard, or have no belief
in the following verse:
    “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust
       in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!”
‭‭       (Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3)‬

And, don’t forget that His transformation of our lives is designed
to help us enjoy His plan for us, and to prepare us for success in
fulfilling His purpose for our lives.
    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.
    (Jeremiah 29:11)

We should ask ourselves,
    “Do I want to follow and participate in the plan God has for me?”

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, teach me to learn from my past mistakes
so I will be motivated to choose a different path going forward.
If I have actively and faithfully been using the spiritual gift You
have given me, help me to keep up the momentum so You can
show me new ways of serving You. If I have been self-centered
and wasted many years pleasing myself instead of using what
You have given me in the way You want me to use it, forgive
me and instill in me a burning desire to serve You for the rest
of my life. Remind me often that what I do and how I live my
life now, will be what I am judged on when my life’s journey
comes to an end. Thank You for loving and forgiving me, and
for Your patience while You transform me into the new type
of person You want me to be. Help me to embrace the changes
You are making in me, rather than resisting them or becoming
rebellious of your sanctification efforts to transform me.”

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