God's Eternal Plan - Part 1

 

God is not a cosmic ogre, waiting to inflict pain upon defenseless human beings. He is a loving, supernatural Being, who wanted us to live in Paradise with Him forever. His ultimate desire is that we allow Him to give us His best. He does not want robots worshiping Him; therefore, like the angels, He gave mankind a free will to choose whether to serve God, self or Satan with our life (Joshua 24:15).

God gave humanity just one stipulation in Paradise: eat of any tree except one. Adam and Eve had all of Paradise to enjoy and to eat to their heart's content. However, their human pride, curiosity and greed were fueled by Satan's deception, and they stooped to his level to try to become like God (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14).

Where was their gratitude for everything God gave them: for the perfect environment, for their love for one another, for the animals and all of creation, which dwelt together in perfect unity and harmony (Isaiah 11:6-8) and for daily face-to-face communication with God in the cool of the evening? (Genesis 3:8)

Due to human pride, all of creation was instantly under the same curse of sin that we are now. Since that day creation impatiently awaits the revelation of the children of God in order to be restored to its rightful place in the paradise of the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17). God has given mankind 6,000 years to repent and come to Him.

When Adam and Eve realized they were naked and felt shame, God killed an animal to make clothes for them to wear (Genesis 3:21). That innocent blood had to have atonement, a perfect Lamb, sacrificed to pay the sin debt. Jesus, the Lamb of God, paid that debt and freed us all to live in eternity with our Heavenly Father as co-heirs with Him of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You that this earth will not live under the curse of sin forever. Jesus will return with His army and with one word of His mouth, he will destroy the maniacal army of Satan. He will make a new heaven and a new earth for us to enjoy for eternity. You never send judgment without first sending warning, often for hundreds of years before You acts on Your righteous judgment. I pray that people worldwide will heed the warning You are sending in these last days. You will never, ever leave or forsake us and we sing praises to You for Your steadfast love.

Thought for the Day:

We rejoice in knowing that Christ abides within us by His Spirit as we cling to Him as a branch on a vine.

Unfailing Love

All creation tells of God's glory, and no one has an excuse not to believe in Him, because of the beauty and marvel of nature (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). All of nature praises God. The trees and rivers sing for joy and clap their hands (Psalm 92:12, 98:8; Isaiah 55:12; 1 Chronicles 16:33). Even the rocks will cry out in praise to God, if His people fail to exalt Him (Luke 19:40).

God is righteous and demands perfection; yet He proved His love to us by sending His only son to pay the debt for our sins. Jesus also gave us His perfect righteousness (John 3:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God always forgives our transgressions and redeems us from our sins (Psalm 130:8: 1 John 1:9). God is an awesome God and He reigns in heaven and on earth (Psalm 68:35, 47:8).

God is a mighty warrior on our behalf. We find our contentment in His presence in our life (2 Chronicles 16:9; Zephaniah 3:17). Even if the earth quakes and volcanoes shatter the mountains, God's unfailing love for His people will never be shaken. His promise of peace will never be taken away from us (Isaiah 54:10). God's love for us is unconditional (Romans 5:8; Psalm 86:15).

His love does not rely on our behavior, but on His commitment to all of those who hope in Him (Psalm 33:22). God actually takes pleasure in those who trust in His steadfast love (Psalm 147:11). As we hope in God's affection for us, He keeps His eye on us (Psalm 33:18). We are never alone and He never leaves us or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). Since He loved us before we ever loved Him, we can also love one another (1 John 4:9-11).

Prayer:

Father God, we are more than conquerors in life because of Your love for us. Once we put our trust in You, nothing could ever separate us from Your love, which You give us through Christ Jesus, our Lord (Romans 8:37-39). You are rich in mercy. You made us alive spiritually along with Jesus, because of your love for us (Ephesians 2:4-5). Thank you for caring about every detail of our life (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Thought for the Day:

God's plan for authentic Believers is to prosper us, never to harm us and to give us hope for our future. - Jeremiah 29:11

Unified Prayer

 

Praying together for a common cause evokes spiritual power, which puts thousands to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30). We do not have to band together in one room at any certain time, but if we will all commit to pray without ceasing as the Spirit leads us, we will see God move in a mighty way (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It pleases God to allow His Spirit to move within and through His Saints.

God teaches our soul to pray for the persecution, nominal faith and lack of spiritual power of the church worldwide. He burdens our soul for the situation in world governments. He grieves our soul with sorrow over the condition of the poor and needy (Mark 14:7). When we pray a unified prayer, directed by God's Holy Spirit, Jesus prays right along with us and God grants our requests (Matthew 18:20).

Knowing the mind of the Spirit and searching our heart, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us (Romans 8:27, 34). The steadfast love of our Almighty God never ceases (Lamentations 3:22). He waits upon us to make our requests known to Him in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7). He grants us anything we need by His glorious heavenly riches, as long as it is according to His will (Romans 8:28; Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, Your mercies are new every single morning. Great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23). We know that You listen to the cries of the destitute and You will not ignore our needs (Psalm 102:17). Remind us to pray with a discerning mind and a grateful heart (Colossians 4:2). We know that there are certain spiritual strongholds of darkness that we will not be delivered from except through prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). Teach us how to pray, unified by Your Spirit (Matthew 6:9-13).

Thought for the Day:

The early church constantly joined together in unified prayer.

- Acts 1:14

Redeemed

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23); however, Jesus released us from these consequences and gave His life in exchange for our spiritual death (Romans 6:23; Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6). Human redemption is only available through the blood of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:14; Revelation 5:9). Salvation is not possible through any other name (Acts 4:12). When Jesus died on Calvary’s cross He purchased the remainder of our debt, which we owed for our life of sin. He procured our freedom for eternity (Galatians 3:13, 4:5). Now, we are no longer slaves in bondage to sin; but slaves to holiness (Romans 6:6,14).

Our death sentence condemned us to eternal separation from God (Romans 3:23). Jesus redeemed us from this everlasting guilt and justified us by His grace (Romans 3:24; Psalm 111:9). We not only have forgiveness for our sins now, but we also have the righteousness of Christ imputed into our account, which covers any future sin as well (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 5:17). This fact does not give us the license to sin (Romans 6:1). It does, however, set us free to live in righteousness and holiness all the days of our life (Romans 3:24; Galatians 5:1).

We no longer suffer under the bondage of sin (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:14-18). We have been granted the freedom to live in peace with God (Colossians 1:18-20). Jesus freed us from the curse of the law and made it possible for God to adopt us into His family (Galatians 3:13, 4:5). We are redeemed, forgiven, holy, justified, liberated, adopted and reconciled to God for eternity (Psalm 130:7-8; Luke 2:38; Acts 20:28). In addition to all of this, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, leading us moment by moment throughout the day, guiding us, comforting us and giving us the wisdom we need to live successfully in this world (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

As we walk in the Spirit, we no longer fulfill the lusts of our carnal flesh (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16-17). The Holy Spirit leads us to the right place at the right time to function in God’s will, to pray for people as needed, to proclaim His goodness, to read what He directs us to see and to do all that He leads us to do (Galatians 5:25). As the redeemed of the Lord, we are not hesitant to say so (Psalm 107:2). We want to share this truth with anyone who will listen, because He redeems us from all of our troubles (Galatians 3:14; 1 Peter 1:18). 

We live to give God glory for His steadfast love and wondrous works (Psalm 107:8). He satisfies the longing in our soul, filling our hungry soul with good things (Psalm 107:9). He delivers us from all distress and brings us out of darkness and the shadow of death (Psalm 107:13). He demolishes our bondage to the world and our self-destructive behaviors (Psalm 107:14). He gives us His Word and heals us, delivering us from the devastation caused by our past sins (Psalm 107:20).

God set a longing in our heart for Heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It is not vain or delusional for us to long for this better place. God created us to dwell with Him for eternity. Therefore, we can never be fully satisfied until we get to heaven and dwell in His presence. Those who are wise pay attention to these truths and trust God with their lives. They consider His steadfast love and realize they cannot live without it (Psalm 107:43).

Prayer:

Father God, You continually allow mankind to sink into the depths of despair as the result of trying to live life in our own efforts; but You are always there to rescue us and to bless us with redemption and a new life, if we call out to You to save us. You raise up the needy who trust in You by delivering us out of our affliction and You even make our families flourish (Psalm 107:41). The entire world sees Your goodness. The sinner is surprised, but Your righteous rejoice (Psalm 107:42).

Thought for the Day:

Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others He redeemed you from your troubles, and He wants to deliver them as well. - Psalm 107:2

The Importance of Forgiving Yourself

"God remembers our sins no more.”
- Hebrews 8: 12

Sometimes it is easier to forgive others than it is to forgive our self. However, the same principles in God's Word concerning our responsibility to forgive others, also applies to forgiving our self. As humans, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. You can eliminate self-rejection by reminding yourself that even in your failures God forgave you 2000 years ago. He took from you the burden of guilt for your actions and nailed it to the cross, because He already knew about and forgave you for what you have done. If God can forgive us, how can we do any less?

Sometimes, we even hold grudges against our self for our past disappointments, failures and mistakes. God holds no grudges. His steadfast love never ceases, His mercy never ends; in fact, it is new every single morning (Lamentations 3: 22-23). He casts the memory of our offenses as far away as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12). Think about that...when you travel east around the globe, there is never a point that you start traveling west. The east never meets the west. God gives us endless forgiveness (Hebrews 8: 12). If we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us every time. He will do one better than that! He will also sanctify and purify us from all unholy behavior, if we will let Him (1 John 1:9). As we accept Christ's sacrifice for our sins, we can let go of our anger against our self and forgive our self.

There is no way that we can truly love others if we do not first love God and then our self. Luke 10: 27 admonishes us, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” God calls us to let go of our need to make an effort or to do penance to make up for our past offenses. Jesus already took care of the penalty for us on Calvary's cross (Acts 13:38). If you need to ask someone's forgiveness, or make amends for something you have done, now would be a good time to do that (Matthew 6:12). But even if they will not forgive you, God already forgave you, and Jesus shed His blood to guarantee your forgiveness. If God cares enough to forgive you, then you can forgive yourself too.

If you refuse to forgive yourself, then there are negative consequences ~ stress, inner turmoil, panic attacks, loss of sleep, irritability, chronic physical illnesses, anger, feeling overwhelmed and having strained relationships with others. If you do not forgive your self, you run the risk of more unresolved hurt, pain and suffering from self-destructive behaviors. You have guilt and remorse eating away at you from the inside out. Subconsciously, you may even be seeking revenge and paybacks toward yourself in a way that you are not even aware of. We have a putrefying wound that is never cured, until we accept God’s healing in this area of our life.

Unresolved, unproductive and unnecessary anger, hatred and blaming of your self are counterproductive. It is a trick of Satan to make us pessimistic and negative. It stops our growth in our spiritual walk until we come to the place of forgiving our self. These buried emotions may even make us defensive and distant with other people. We carry our feelings on our shoulders and think other people are talking about us or have an attitude toward us, when all along we are the one sinning against our self. We live in constant fear of failure, of making more mistakes or repeating old mistakes, of being rejected or of not gaining the approval of others, when all along we are the one rejecting and withholding approval from our self.

Sometimes, Satan discourages me into thinking that I am too incompetent to help anyone else. I get disheartened and I want to give up. Whenever this happens, God never fails to send me reassurance through His Word or an encouraging remark from a friend or even a stranger. His perfect plan will use all of my foibles to help someone else in their time of need. Despite all of our failings, God gives us overwhelming victory through Christ who loves us (Romans 8:37). Even if everyone else is fighting against us, including our self, they shall not prevail. God is with us to deliver us in our times of need (Jeremiah 1: 19). The Lord forgives us and we can forgive our self as well as one another (Colossians 3:13).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we are so blessed, because You forgave all of our transgressions and covered all of our sins. You never count our sin against us again. On the cross, You paid the penalty of the sins of the whole world once and for all (Romans 4:7-8). Now, we can forgive and comfort those who sin against us, including our self, so that we will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Corinthians 2:7). In You, we have redemption through Your blood. You forgive all of our sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Ephesans 1:7). We realize that since You forgave us unconditionally, we can follow Your example and forgive others and our self unconditionally as well.

Thought for the Day:

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone (even yourself), forgive him/her (and yourself), so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." - Mark 11:25 

 

 

 

 

 

GRATITUDE

Read: Psalm 33:20-22

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. – James 1: 17

When we are actively grateful for life’s blessings and for what we have, we distract ourselves from what we think is wrong with our lives and what we think we need. Matthew 6:21 informs us that what we set our heart on actually becomes our treasure. Do we treasure the spiritual aspects of life or the natural? Do we obsess and brood on what is missing: or do we feel gratitude for what God provides for us? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 admonishes us to give thanks in all circumstances, because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. Did you ever consider that the negative circumstances in your life occurred to bless you?

Romans 8: 28 reminds us that we can bank on the fact that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. So, hold out your arms wide and wait. He will fill them. It may not be what you want, but it will most certainly be what you need. It may not bring you happiness, but it will bring you abiding joy. It may not give you fame, riches, or worldly pleasure; but it will bring you a satisfying fulfillment that the world could never match. 

Psalm 100 gives us so many things to thank God for providing. Being thankful for family, friends, healthy minds and bodies, and daily provision for all of our needs helps us to focus on the positive (Psalm 107:1). Our ability to see, to breathe, to hear, to think, to reflect, to notice, to enjoy and to feel deeply comes from God and increases our sensitivity and awareness of the world within us and around us (Ephesians 5: 20). Appreciating all of the little blessings in our lives makes us ready to receive the bigger things God has planned for our future (Matthew 25:23).  

Sit at your Heavenly Father’s feet as a loving child. Rest your head in His lap and feel Him caressing your hair with His nail scarred hands. Praise Him for all that He gives you. Honestly share with Him your needs and concerns without any preconceived expectations. Then wait on Him with eager anticipation for whatever He has in store for you. Do not whine, nag, complain or dictate to Him. Just rest in His love and sit at His feet with eager anticipation of His supply (Psalm 50:23).  

Worry comes when we look too far ahead into the future or obsess over the past. The buzz words today are to “live in the moment” or “in the now”. These are very descriptive ways to describe how to live. We learn to appreciate all of the nuances of the moment if we focus on the here and now, instead of the past or future. When we overly analyze what is happening, or worse case scenario about what may happen in the future, or feel guilt and dread over the past, we rob our life of energy needed to follow God’s will in this minute of time. Put the past and the future in God’s capable hands and follow the leading of His Spirit as He directs you through each and every moment of the day.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You are my God, and I will give thanks to You; You are my God, and I will worship You. I give thanks to You, Lord, for You are good; for Your steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 118:28-29).

Thought for the Day:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. - Hebrews 12:28