GOD’S PLANS (part-19)

GOD LOVES YOU, FORGIVES YOU, AND HAS A PLAN FOR YOU!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
and eat with that person, and they with me.
(Revelation 3:20)

MEDITATION:
Over and over again, people ask this question,
    “If there is a God, then why is there so much suffering?”
There’s never an easy answer to that question, especially
for someone who is grieving or suffering in other ways.

God has taught us that the universe has a disease which
is called “sin”, and until the last remnant of that disease
is gone, there will be problems in the world, and in the
lives of individuals.

Does that seem fair?
We can answer that question with this question,
    “Was it fair that an innocent Jesus was crucified,
       and that He took the punishment for our sin?”
Of course we know it was fair, because it was ‘in God’s plans’.

His ways are much different than ours, and we can get
a better understanding of His ways when we spend time
with Him in prayer and reading His Word. In the passage
above, God has shown us His desire to spend time with
those who belong to Him.

Think about this:
    If we lived in a universe that is diseased with sin,
    and yet the world appeared to be a virtual paradise,
    then we might never come to God for salvation. And
    without salvation, we may live what we consider to
    be ‘the good life’, but end up spending a horrible
    and miserable eternity separated from our Creator
    who loves us, has a plan for us, and wants to spend
    time with us.

ACTION:
God has showered this world with immeasurable mercies
but we might be guilty of taking His blessings for granted.
We should certainly be praying about the problems caused
by sin in the world, but at the same time we should never
forget to be grateful for the provisions of God’s grace and
mercy.

When we assess our own life, we may not have achieved the
financial goals we wanted, or other goals we set for ourselves,
but God has given us food, clothing and shelter…in abundance!

No matter where we are in our life, when we compare our
lifestyle to those in third world countries, we are considered
wealthy. That is just one of the many ways God has blessed
us. And, He has a plan for every person – how awesome is that?

The God who created the universe and every individual, considers
each person to be important enough to create a specific path for us
to follow. And when we pursue His plan for us, we will discover new
blessings from God.

Questions to consider:
    – Have you heard God knocking at ‘your’ door?
    – Have you realized that He is knocking
       because He wants to spend time with you?
    – Have you felt that He wants
       to tell you about His plan for you?
           – If so, how have you responded?

Hopefully you haven’t allowed the ‘fear of the unknown’ or
the ‘fear of having to leave your comfort zone’ to discourage
you and cause you to refuse or reluctantly ‘open the door’
for God’s presence in your life.

If God has something for you, then it must be good for you
(and others), right? We need to open the door for Him and
overcome Satan’s attempts to fill our mind with fears that
will cause us to miss out on God’s blessings.

If we expect to follow the path God has created especially for
us, we need to continue growing and maturing spiritually. Are
we becoming more, or less mature as followers of Jesus? How
can we measure the direction of our spiritual maturity?

We need to think about the day we decided to surrender our life
and our will to God and His plan for us. We should remember
the moment when we made that decision, and the things we knew
we would have to ‘leave behind’. We need to recall the peace we
felt when we chose to leave behind the unrighteous things in our
lives, so God could begin to transform us into a person who has
more of a resemblance of His Son, Jesus.

Then we need to look at our life today. How many of those things
we left behind, have we picked up again? Compare that with how
many additional things we have left behind as God has shown us
more areas of our lives that are unrighteous and displeasing to Him;
the things that are considered sinful in His eyes. Are we continuing
to ‘put on the new self’, or have we been returning to our ‘old self’?
    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; to be made new in the attitude of your
    minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God
    in true righteousness and holiness.
    (Ephesians 4:22-24)

    But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as
    these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from
    your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off
    your old self with its practices and have put on the new self,
    which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
    (Colossians 3:8-10)

Some changes that God wants us to make might seem difficult or
even impossible. But we should never forget that God has said He
would spend time with us! That means He will provide whatever
we need to follow the path of the plan He has created for us.

We are surrounded by a lot of ‘junk’ which has a negative impact
on us and our lives, and can be detrimental to those around us as
well. However, God wants to encourage us to become a new person
regardless of the negative influences we are experiencing. God can
change us from who we are to who He wants us to be when we choose
to ‘open the door’ and give Him the highest priority in our lives.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the blessings You have
given me, and forgive me for taking any of them for granted.
You are a good Father who loves me, forgives me, provides
for my needs, desires fellowship with me, and saves me from
an eternal destiny of agony and separation from You. Thank
You for Your love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, blessings, and
salvation. I pray that I will always be prepared to share with
others how You have been good to me, and why You are the
God I worship and have dedicated my life to following Your
plan for me. Thank You, Jesus, for what You did for me on
the cross that gave me the opportunity to change my eternal
destiny. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being an integral part of
my daily life and helping me to transition to the new person
God wants me to be. Help me to seek and follow His plan for
my life.”

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