God's Perfect Plan

God has a perfect plan for every creature He creates (Matthew 6:28, Ephesians 2:10). He wants only what is best for us; yet, so many of us buy into Satan's lie that He wants to restrict us and thwart our individuality and our freedom.

Freedom in Christ is the only true freedom (John 8:36). We no longer have the struggle of making something of our life, providing for all of our own needs, finding a mate or job or raising our children successfully.

 

Christ in us, by His Holy Spirit, guides each moment of our life, if we totally surrender all to Him. He may not provide exactly what we want, but His provision will be better than we ever dreamed possible (Philippians 4:19).

 

He provides the job He wants us to have. It may not supply the salary we want, or the perfect work, which we think we are suited for; but He will use us there for His glory and for His exact purpose for our life, as we walk in His Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25).

Our children may grow up and get so busy that they have little time for us. They may walk away from the Godly values, which we shared with them, and they may make life choices which grieve the Holy Spirit. As long as we did our best as parents, they are in God's hands now, and we continue to pray for them.

We may live in a home, which is less than a worldly status symbol; but as long as we have a place to lay our head, we have more than Jesus had during His life on this earth (Matthew 8:20). Our clothes may come from a thrift store, but they are as beautiful as anything sold in the mall.

As we trust God with our life, we gain our identity from Christ in us. We no longer wonder why we are alive on this earth, but we see Him use us for His glory as we share a smile, a kind word or a helping hand as He directs our life.

​Prayer:

Father God, give our heart Your peace as we walk in Your will each day of our life (Philippians 4:7). Fill us with Your Spirit and use us to bring as many people to heaven with us as are willing to humble their life before You (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).

Remind us not to pass up an opportunity to give someone a helping hand in Your name (Matthew 10:42). You faithfully provide for all of our needs according to Your plan for our day (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 2:10) and You comfort us in all of our afflictions (2 Corinthians 1:4). As we trust in You, You reveal to us Your heart and calm us by Your promises and faithful nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Thought for the Day:

As we rest in the palm of God's hand, He shelters us from the storms and fearful places of life (John 10:28; Psalm 27:5); He stills the raging circumstances and quiets the waves of turmoil in our surroundings (Psalm 107:29).

Make Up YOUR Mind

Read: Ephesians 4:22-27

“…let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no,..” - James 5:12

The human soul frequently experiences a barrage of “unfriendly fire” that threatens to snuff the very life out of us. This usually occurs when we disregard the leading of God’s Spirit within us. We say “Yes” to someone’s request, when we really mean “No”; and we say “No”, when we really want to say, “Yes”.

We act this way in order to keep the peace, to prevent hurt feelings, to make people like us and to appear submissive or cooperative. We hesitate to get blindsided by the unexpected; therefore, we submit to everyone else without discretion. If you feel victimized, anxious, broken, angry, distressed, lonely, unsupported, exhausted and empty, I can guarantee that your soul has been breached. You have sold your peace of mind for a temporary peace with another person.

Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) is God’s formula for relationships. We do not need to fight with someone else in order to keep our boundaries safe. We have no need to enforce our boundaries with the use of anger, yelling or forceful words. (It took me a long time to learn the truth of that statement. I used anger to protect myself; but all it did was alienate from me the people I cared about the most.) We simply need to state our feelings, opinions or decisions calmly and definitively.

To quote a very wise man (my husband!), “The trick is to remain calm, businesslike and resolute” rather than to cave in to the guilt, controlling and manipulation, which others use to try to force us to do their bidding. The more secure we are that we heard from God about an issue, the softer we can speak to have our “self” heard and our needs met.

Most of us have taken care of others for so long, that we never learned how to take care of our “self.” If you do not know how to care for yourself, I have a very simple solution for you, which was shared with me by my former employer: “Minister to yourself in the same way that you minister to others. After all, you are a person too.”

If we do not take care of our “self” we will get depleted and maybe even sick in body, soul or both. Then we will not be able to take care of others at all.  We make our best decisions and hear from God the clearest when we focus on God as our center and move through life guided by His Spirit. This way we are not exhausted, burdened and depleted by giving everything of our “self” away to everyone else.

It is much easier to exchange a "No" with a "Yes" at a later time - than it is to turn a "Yes" into a "No" after you already made a promise. The only healthy way to exist is to learn to live by doing only that which God inspires us to do, and then letting God do the rest. If you do not learn how to say "No", others will take you for granted and lose respect for you. When you respect yourself and look to God to give you the approval we all need in life, the irony is that people will start to grant you much more respect and approval than they would have done otherwise.

God taught me that I do not need to accept people into my circle of friends or family who violate my body or emotions, or who make a decision without my consent or who dishonor who I am. I do not need to be around people who are dishonest and manipulative or who disrespect my needs and desires. I can cut off fellowship with anyone who is condescending, belittling, critical or derisive to or about me. When we separate our self from abusers, we will experience more honesty and support from the healthy people we allow into our life.

The process of setting boundaries and honoring them is the most healing gift, which you can present to your self and others. We find healing when we say the words that match our feelings, when we speak our truth with conviction, when we refrain from allowing fear to rule us and when we specifically verbalize what our needs are. We no longer lock our true self away in an inner prison and mentally abuse our self for not measuring up to someone else’s expectations and standards. We allow our true self to express who we really are and what we really want.

Setting preferences and limits establishes a strong sense of ‘who you are’, which means that only certain people or aspects of life can enter your boundaries. Saying, "Yes" to these aspects and people, or saying "No" to people and events that God does not direct you to interact with, is the healthiest way to live. The Bible mandates that we love everyone, but we do not need to like everyone, or to interact often with everyone. If certain people object to you caring for your self, they will either adjust their behavior or depart from your life. That is their choice, and that is okay. God has a perfect plan for your life that may or may not include them. We can make a vow to our self to tolerate no less than what is God’s best for us.

Prayer:

Father God, if we place You first in our life, then doing things for our self and others becomes an expression of Your love. We will then give out of Your abundance within us and we will expect nothing in return. Help us to let our light so shine that everyone will see our good works and give You the glory (Matthew 5:16).

Thought for the Day:

God’s love changes us from the inside out and gives us the ability to have healthy relationships.