Worldly
wisdom advises us to make goals for our life: a one-year, five-year and
ten-year plan that will direct our decisions and influence our activities. The
problem with this concept is two-fold:
1.
Life never, ever goes according to our plans for it.
2.
Setting goals does not take into account that God already set up the perfect
plan for our life before we were ever born, and He designed it in order to protect
and prosper us (Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 29:11).
Therefore,
rather than reaping needless frustration and spinning our wheels with our own
goals, we can seek God's face, enter His rest, and walk in His Spirit each
moment of every day. As we follow His will for us, we grow spiritually, and
come into a more intimate union with God with every step we take.
Not
by human wisdom, but by the grace of God, we live in this world with sincerity,
confidence, a clear conscience, and pure motives (2 Corinthians 1:12). We reap
an abundant and fulfilled life, content in our ever-growing, deeper and affectionate
relationship with God (John 17:3).
When
we hear and obey the precepts of the Lord, we receive great rewards in this
life and throughout eternity (Luke 11:28). We live each day in delightful
wonder that the Creator of the details of the entire universe also has a
detailed plan for our life.
Even
when satanic forces attempt to defeat us (Psalm 32, 51), God restores our soul
as we spend time in fellowship with Him (Psalm 23:3). We pray without ceasing (1
Thessalonians 5:16-18), and break into spontaneous times of prayer as we face
life's issues, or praise for His continual blessings through them all.
Prayer:
Father
God, King David's psalms mirror the state of our soul on any given day or time
or circumstance. He eloquently expressed exactly the way we feel much of the
time - from plunging into the depths of despair to finding restoration,
renewal, renovation, and recovery. You convert, revive, mend and transform our
soul from a fleshly, carnal entity to a spirit-filled state of existence. Thank
You for refreshing us in spirit, body and soul - our thoughts, emotions and
choices.
You
desire to lead us into a plentiful lifestyle of green pastures, quiet waters,
paths of righteousness, anointing, mercy, goodness, comfort from Your rod and
staff, and a table full of plenty (Psalm 23). Your refreshing sprinkles us like
the mist of a waterfall on a hot summer's day, or like wading in a brook, or
walking into an air conditioned room, or drinking a cold glass of refreshing
tea or lemonade. Thank You for bringing us back to the age of innocence that
Adam and Eve experienced before their fall.
Thought
for the Day:
When
we submit our soul to the unction of the Holy Spirit, we accomplish all that
God ordains for us to do each day, because His Spirit illuminates His Word to
bring healing to our soul: uncovering and healing childhood wounds, ridding our
soul of any turbulent thoughts fueled by negative emotions, and restoring our
thoughts to equanimity and order as we follow His goals for our life.
