God’s Plan For You

Dear Christian,

God has one all-encompassing purpose for you, and He has promised to bring it to pass. That is, to make you like His Son, Jesus, which is the highest and greatest position anyone could ever possibly have! We are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. This in no way negates man’s freedom of choice. I’m not a determinist, yet do I believe in the sovereignty of God.

 

“…Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Romans 8:29

 

Once you and I agree with God on this particular part of His plan, which says we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, it should become like a juggernaut, driving all that we do. It’s a process, and we grow into it. Our delight in doing God’s will takes all the sting out of life’s disappointments. It’s a love thing.

 

Whatever you may have aspired to, that God has thus far withheld, He has something far better for you. Sometimes, it might not look that way, but faith sees the invisible, including the future that Christ has promised to those who love Him. If you’re a Christian, then when you placed your faith in Christ to be saved, in essence you were saying that you trust in Jesus, so trust Him. He’s more than worthy, and immutably faithful to His word. 

 

In order for us to remain joyful and fully satisfied right now, He teaches us to be eternally minded. The bible refers to it as spiritually minded, and, we trust in His Promises. That’s how we embrace God’s will. It’s a way for us to grow to love Him and His plan, perfectly. 

 

It may be of benefit to list just a few of the plenteous eternal promises God has given to you.

• God will not stop working inside you (making you like Jesus): “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 
• You will reign with Christ: “…if we endure, we will also reign with him.” (2 Tim. 2:12), 

• You Will inherit all things: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17
• There will be no more: sorrow, sin, death, night, pain, suffering—all the bad things in life will be forever gone (in eternity).
• God will reveal Himself to you: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” (He reveals Himself to His own, in this life, right now).
• God will provide for your physical, spiritual and emotional needs: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
• He will give you power (supernatural assistance) to do what pleases Him. “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:13
  
    

(Be advised, this series will be coming in short bursts, and the next 4 posts will be coming approximately 2-3 days apart.)

 How can we become eternally and spiritually minded, yet still live and operate in this temporal realm?

 

The answer’s right here, in God’s word.  We find the “How-To” peppered throughout scripture. Look at our main, recurring text for this series:  Paul summarizes it like this, in Romans 12:1-2.

 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Don’t miss the next post, when the above verses will be fully examined, and the “How-To” explained.  You are Christ’s most treasured possession, and as the church we are the Bride of Christ.

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God’s Plan, An Inside Track

How to move under God’s power instead of your own

 

Introducing an exciting new series!

 

“The Good Life is Knowing God & Doing His Will.”

 

 

God has designed His will to be deeply enjoyable to you. It’s been specifically crafted to be of ultimate benefit to God’s children. Not only has God designed us, He’s also designed a pattern to make us perfectly joyful through knowing Him, resulting in you and I playing an active role in His plan here on earth. 

 

Moving up the straight and narrow road to the good life of joy, contentment and complete satisfaction is what I like to call getting into the gain lane. We gain all the great things our Lord has in store for us. And this concerns all the things God wants you to know, the first of which is: HIM.  

 

 One of the plethora of great bible teachers, through whom I’ve been inculcated with many blessings was Dr. Tom Taylor who said, “It is only by grace that we can know God and respect Him—to know anything about Him!”

 

I’m deeply grateful that in God’s grace, He has chosen to reveal Himself to you and I. So, if you’re serious about living for Jesus, we’re going to talk about vital essentials here.  God possesses the greatest thought power in the universe, and He wants to share many of those vital thoughts with you. We’ll discover how to put our old way of thinking to death—to open our minds without our brains falling out, so that God may reshape our thinking. Our philosophy of life is transformed to reflect all of the awesomeness of life in Christ.

 

Apostle Paul found what every human heart is searching for—contentment and satisfaction, fulfillment, peace, joy and tremendous purpose. “…For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11

His summary of how to find this good life is found in the following power verse, which reveals Paul’s philosophy of life. Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” I understand that by offering this verse here, without explanation, may seem a bit disjointed, but I do have a method, and I promise all the passages shared will coalesce once we get into the study.
We’re going to find out how we can discern the Lord’s leadership, and learn to apply the Master’s leadership principles to help each other. We’re going to discuss the sole means God has ordained for mankind to know His will. It’s how to plug into God’s mind in order for Him to teach us a very specific type of wisdom.

 

This is what Peter was referring to when he writes “Be of one mind.” It’s what Paul was talking about when he told the Corinthians “We have the mind of Christ.” It explains how the following from Acts 2 is possible: “And all that believed were together, and had all things in common.” 

 

“God not only ordains the end, He also ordains the means.” Dr. Howard Hendricks

 

Right now, I want to hit you with a couple bible verses that we’ll be coming back to time and again. We’ll discover that what they teach is the key to everything. They contain the methodology God has prescribed to us, and it’s what we need to do if we hope to get the inside track on God’s plans.

 

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

While studying The Will of God, I became really excited about being a Christian again, perhaps more so than at any time before. I can’t help but to tell everyone I know how God is blessing my life, and the astounding truths He’s teaching me. For instance, how God’s will is designed for us to enjoy, and doing His will is intensely pleasurable! Being the Creator of life, the Lord knows what you and I need to do in order to get the very most out of life on earth. That’s what He wants to teach us—how to discover and adore His will, and how to do His will, and perceive the path to His blessings.

 

Before we’re through with this series, you’ll be confidently conversant about God’s will, His plan, and your individual role in it, as well as the role of the church as a whole. We’ll begin with the following.

 

1. A description of God’s will
2. Discoveries about God’s will
3. Taking delight in God’s will
4. Deciding to do God’s will

 

We’ll learn that knowing Jesus Christ and doing His will is the only way to find lasting meaning—to engage in a good, satisfying life. That’s the main thrust of the book of Ecclesiastes, where an aged and wise King Solomon records the summum bonum, the highest possible good. He concludes that if you pile up all your possessions along with all of your life experiences, you’ll find that they do not, and cannot make a full life: they cannot satisfy us. Only by serving God and glorifying Him can a person derive good from life. It’s the purpose for which we were created, so naturally it’s very satisfying.

 

The good life is expressed through industriously applying yourself to whatever God puts before you to do. We eagerly accomplish God’s purposes with vigor, and in so doing He adds vitality to our lives and our efforts. He puts life into your life, and living into your years. God can take the blandness of repetition and turn each recurrence into something brand new every day.

 

Our part is simply to put ourselves at God’s disposal, eager and ready to do stuff. Pardon my highly technical usage of the word “stuff.” I hope you’re smiling, because God’s the one who provides the stuff for you to do, and accomplishing that stuff is where you’ll get the most out of this life on planet earth. Besides, partnering with Jesus is one of the ways we store up treasure for ourselves in heaven.

 

That’s another reason we want to invest ourselves and everything we do into the kingdom to which we belong—God’s kingdom. If we are Christians, then we are citizens of God’s kingdom, and we’re His children, and we’re heirs of the kingdom into which we’re investing. We’re also becoming little microcosms of Jesus, emulating Him in character.

 

As we live for God, we also find Him directing us to invest our lives into other souls. Whatever we have, we use it wisely, investing, sharing and doing. Although money most likely will be involved when we invest in people’s lives, that’s merely a small part of what we’ll be called upon to accomplish. If I have knowledge of how to get to heaven, or, of how to live a good life, how to learn God’s will, and do His will, I need to share that with others. I may invest myself in the kids who live in my neighborhood, or in the widow at the nursing home, or the businessman in my office building. Whatever we have, whatever we are, and whatever we do—it is all used for the glory of God, and for His purposes in moving His program forward here on earth.

 

But in order for any of this to be possible we must learn what God’s will is, and know how to tap into His power to perform our various functions. We’ll need to understand God’s plan—how He is bringing His kingdom to full fruition. We must know what’s most requisite to successfully partner with God in order to propagate His plan—learning how to operate using God’s wisdom and power, instead of our own.

 

I hope & pray you’re onboard to grow along with the rest of us, because I want to see you be happy, fruitful and completely fulfilled. That’s what I want for myself, and so that’s what I hope for you too.

 

To receive this entire course for free, be sure to subscribe for notification when each installment lands here. Stay Blessed! 

Power to Spare — Part 3

Today we bring the word of God to bear on the difficulties we face from day to day. We have been supplied with everything we need to live victorious, joyful lives in Christ. We all are like David facing various Goliaths, and without understanding the “what,” we’ll never learn the “how,” in overcoming stubborn sins. We must know the legal facts concerning our case. Jesus is the Judge and He is kindly dispositioned toward us.

 

Being raised up with Christ also means that all that is true of Christ is now true of us, because we’re “in Him.” Let’s say I put a piece of paper inside my Bible. Whatever happens to my Bible happens to that piece of paper. If I take my Bible home, the piece of paper goes home too. If I drop my Bible, the paper drops. The paper is in the Bible. And the believer is in Jesus Christ. We are totally identified with Him. 

 

In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). While it takes a lifetime to discover and mine out those treasures, they’re ours in Christ. In Christ we have the surpassing riches of God’s grace—His kindnesses toward us (Eph. 2:7). In Christ, we have been made complete, so that He is now our “all in all” (Col. 2:10; 3:11). If we’re in Christ, we have everything we need for life and godliness through His precious and magnificent promises (2 Pet. 1:3-4). 

 

Paul states here (Col. 3:1) the mind-boggling truth (which he also states in Eph. 2:6) that we have been raised up with Christ, who is now seated at the right hand of God. We’re seated there in Him! When you look up all the places in the New Testament that refer to Christ’s being seated at the right hand of God (the phrase comes from Ps. 110:1), they generally fall into three categories: 

 

First, it refers to Christ’s supreme power.

Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul prays that we might know: 

… What is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 

 

You can’t get any greater power than that! He is not yet fully exercising that power, but is awaiting the time when His enemies will be made a footstool for His feet (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 1:13; 10:13). But He is now seated at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:69). And we are there in Him! Paul’s application of this in relation to our battle against sin is (Rom. 6:12-13): 

 

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 

 

Secondly, being seated at God’s right hand refers to Christ’s sufficient pardon. Hebrews 1:3 states, 

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

 

The fact that Jesus Christ is now sitting at the right hand of the Father means that He obtained complete pardon for all our sins.

 

Hebrews 10:12-14 states: 

But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 

 

If we’re in Him at the Father’s right hand, we can be assured that He has forgiven all our sins. The enemy has no basis to accuse us (Rev. 12:10). We’re accepted in Christ (Rom. 15:7). 

 

Thirdly, the fact that Jesus Christ is now sitting at the right hand of the Father means that we are the objects of Christ’s sympathetic prayers.  

 

In the context of our sufferings, Romans 8:33-34 assures us, 

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 

 

When you get discouraged and lose hope, it’s encouraging to know that your mother or father or a faithful friend is praying for you. But family and friends are only human; they can’t pray for you constantly. But the fullness of Deity dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 2:9), and He is at the Father’s right hand interceding for you in your weakness (Heb. 7:25; 8:1). So when you battle temptation or you wrestle with discouragement, remember that you’re in Christ. You shared in His death and resurrection. You’re seated with Him at the right hand of God, where He has all power, you have all pardon, and you have His prayers. You win against sin by living in light of your identity in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

But, you still may wonder, how does this work? How do we implement it practically? 

 

To win the battle against sin, constantly seek to understand and meditate on your identity in the risen Christ.

 

 

1. Our new life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:3b: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” What does Paul mean by this? First, he may be taking a swipe at the false teachers, who emphasized secret or hidden truths for those who would be initiated into their so-called “philosophy.” He’s saying that we Christians are the ones with real hidden truths that the world cannot know. Outwardly, we look like everyone else in the world. But our real life—eternal life—is hidden with Christ in God. The world can’t understand it, but it’s true. 

 

This phrase may also point to the security of our new life in Christ. In Psalm 31:20 David says of those who take refuge in God, “You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.” (See, also, Ps. 27:5.) If our life is hidden with Christ in God, we’re safe there. 

 

A third implication of the truth that our life is hidden with Christ in God is that it needs to be mined out as a buried treasure. These truths that God declares about us in Christ may not be immediately obvious, but if we’ll take the time and effort to dig them out of God’s Word, they will be like gold and silver to us (Ps. 19:7-11; Matt. 13:44-45). But, how do we find these treasures? 

 

2. We seek the things above by making them the continual pursuit of our thinking.

 

There are two commands in our text: “Keep seeking the things above”; and, “Set your mind on the things above.” Both are present imperatives, suggesting a continual process. To keep seeking these things means to make the truths of Christ as revealed in God’s Word our constant pursuit, our focus, our aim. Just as worldly people get up early and are focused day after day on pursuing material things, so Christians should be devoted to pursuing the things of Christ. 

 

This doesn’t mean that we should drop out of life and spend all our time meditating on spiritual truth. The Lord expects us to work and live in this world. But it does mean, as Jesus put it, that instead of working for the food which perishes, we should work for the food which endures to eternal life (John 6:27). We should seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33). We should begin each day thinking about God’s perspective: We’re separate from this evil world, dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. We think about Christ as our life, who lives in and through us. Throughout the day, we keep bringing our thoughts back, again and again, to those things which are true of us in Christ. 

 

To “set your mind on the things above” shows that this continual pursuit of the things above involves our thinking. The Greek word means, “Have your whole attitude characterized by those things.” The present tense implies that we must make repeated choices to focus our thoughts not on the flesh, but on the things which are true of us in Christ so that our whole outlook is determined by these truths. We will view ourselves, not as citizens of this world, but as having died and now being raised up with Christ, so completely identified with Him that He is our very life. 

 

The truest thing about you is what God says is true, not what you may feel. How you think about yourself determines how you act. Your thought life also determines, to a large extent, your emotions. Here Paul is saying that we must constantly, by deliberate choice, focus our thoughts on the risen Christ and on the truth that we are totally identified with Him. In Christ, we have been separated from this evil world and from our old nature which seeks to pull us back into sin. Now, we should repeatedly think, “I am now in Christ.” As that truth shapes your identity, it becomes the key to a holy life! That’s how you win against sin. One final thought: 

The motivation for seeking the things above is that when Christ is revealed, we also will be revealed with Him in glory.

 

Colossians 3:4: “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” What an amazing truth! When Christ, who right now is our life, returns, we will discover the full truth about ourselves in Him. We will be revealed with Him in glory! Then we will know fully, just as we have been fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). As 1 John 3:2-3 states, 

 

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 

 

Knowing that one day we will be revealed with Christ in glory motivates us to godly living right now. Seeing ourselves in Christ is the key to winning the battle against sin. 

 

Conclusion 

Years ago, a plastic surgeon noticed some interesting things about the people whose faces he operated on. For some, the operation resulted in immediate and lasting changes in their personalities. People who had been embarrassed about some disfigurement became confident and outgoing after the problem was fixed. 

 

But in spite of successful surgeries, there were others who insisted that the surgery made no difference at all. The doctor would show them before and after photographs, but the people still insisted, sometimes angrily, that their faces were no different. They refused to believe the truth and went on living just as they had before, dominated by their previous disfigurement, which no longer existed (These stories are in Maxwell Maltz, Psycho-cybernetics [Prentice-Hall, 1960]. I do not recommend the book, which is full of spiritual falsehood.) Their lives were not changed because they didn’t believe the truth about the change that had taken place. 

 

As Christians, we’ve been given much more than a face lift. We have died to our old lives and have been raised up to new life in Christ. All that is true of the risen Christ is now true of us. Now we must continually keep seeking and setting our minds on the things above, where our true life is hidden with Christ in God. As we live in light of our new identity in Christ, we will win the battle against sin. 

 

Application Questions 

1. Does a Christian ever reach a point where he is dead to sin in the sense that it no longer tempts him? 

2. How can we believe that we’re dead to sin when we feel so alive to it? Are we just playing mental games? 

3. Practically, how can we seek and set our minds on the things above? What daily habits can help the process? 

5. How would you help a Christian who said, “I feel so weak when I’m tempted; I just can’t resist”? 

 

Power to Spare — Part I

Applying God’s power to our point of contact with the world around us may not be as complicated as one would imagine. I want to address an aspect of Christ’s sufficiency that we don’t hear about as often as other facets. This post is the intro, or part 1. But first let’s talk about a super powerful truck — The Shockwave!

I’m a man who appreciates powerful engines, so I get all revved up when I come across copious horsepower. And when a truck is involved it’s like icing on the cake. So I was surfing around on YouTube and found a video about the “Shockwave Jet Truck.” It runs over 300 mph and races against fliers at airshows. This hulk on wheels holds the world record in the quarter mile for trucks, where it reached 256 mph in just 6.36 seconds. That’s some real power right there! This beast also holds the world record for top end speed in full size trucks, reaching 376 mph as recorded by Guinness Book of World Records. At 36,000 horsepower the Shock Wave has enough power to accelerate at three Gs vertical, which is just as much as the Space Shuttle! (wow emoji)

Okay, so the builders might have gone a little overboard in creating such a super-truck. But this is a great illustration for the power God makes available to every believer. Christ is much more than sufficient for every task, situation or circumstance.

The Bible teaches that God provides everything that you and I may ever need.

God has all the power we will ever need and plenty more to spare, for any and all the issues we find ourselves having to face.  

 

Colossians is a great book for studying this subject!

 

*NOTE* — I urge you to read the book of Colossians in preparation for the truths I will be presenting in the next couple of posts. Some really dynamic stuff will begin in the next post (Part 2). I will provide some of the verses written out here for us (NIV), yet not all of them.

 

Colossians 1:11— “…Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,” 

The “all” in the above verse indicates both; the different kinds of power we’ll need, and the fact that the supply is beyond ample.

 

At present I have friends whom God is empowering to face cancer. Numerous others have lost loved ones, and others friends are dealing with poverty. One of my ministry partners added that God provides us with the power of wisdom, direction and purpose. God gave Sampson physical strength beyond our imaginations. Today we find ourselves living in an age when we need the power of courage to stand up for truth, and to proclaim God’s word to a lost and dying world. God empowers the words we speak, and there are plenteous other ways that God empowers us, of which time would not allow us to exhaust.
In the same way that a 36,000 horsepower jet engine is so ridiculously over juiced in a land vehicle, possessing more than enough power to propel a truck, Christ’s power is far above commensurate. He empowers everyone who places their trusting faith in Him—affording us the dynamic, engaged through faith, at the split second of need—that we may live a victorious, transformed life.

 

“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules…?” Colossians 2:20 Whenever I read that “we have died with Christ,” I would sometimes scratch my head in wonder. I know the Bible says that I’m dead to sin, but I don’t always feel dead to it. Often I may feel kind of faint to it, but it’s difficult to feel completely dead to it. In light of this reality, what does it mean to consider our old selves dead in Christ? And how can we apply these scriptures to our battles against sin in a practical way?

 

Paul addresses this issue in Colossians 3:1-4 — Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (3) For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (underscore mine)

 

First mentioned is how we who are saved have died with Christ, and then is added the corresponding truth: that we’ve also been raised up with Him. Paul also gives what, at first glance, sounds like rather impractical advice. “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things on earth.” Paul is saying, To be capable of operating in the sufficiency of Christ—to have our works empowered by God here on earth, we need to be more heavenly minded, instead of so earthly minded.

 

To understand our text, as always, we need to view it in context. In the previous verses, Paul had been exposing the rules-based, asceticism of the false teachers—the Judaizers. Of whose false doctrine he says, is “of no value against fleshly indulgence.” In other words, observing those things from the law has no power to actually help us in our struggle against sin. In fact, the law only exposes our sin and makes it more difficult to always do what pleases the Lord. So he’s first showing us what does not work—what has no power to help us live in obedience to God.

 

Then in verses 5-9 we are exhorted to put to death the members of our body with regard to a list of sins that characterize the flesh—our old life. Scholarly Paul then elucidates the qualities that characterize those who’ve been redeemed. It’s quite revealing that now, instead of giving us the precise good virtues, he takes us straight to their application in our earthly relationships.  He utilizes some common relationships we find ourselves dealing with on a day to day basis: between wives and husbands, children and parents, and then between workers and bosses—how they should relate to one another (Col. 3:18-4:1). Finally, in chapter four, verses two through six, he exhorts the church to prayer, and to wise witness. He concludes the letter with a lengthy personal section in verses 7-18.

 

In the book of Colossians we find an empowering master key, both for conquering sins of the flesh, and for practicing godly relationships in the church, the home, the workplace, and the world in general. Here in Colossians the Spirit in essence is saying:

To win against sin, live in light of your new identity in the risen Christ.

 

That’s our intro. —For the sake of keeping these posts as short as possible, I’ve divided this study into three separate posts. Because I know your time is valuable. But if you think it’s important to have every single tool that God has to give us—if you feel it’s urgent that we learn how to live victoriously in Christ, then I pray you’ll visit for the following two posts as well.  Within the next couple days I will post part 2, and then within another couple days, the third and final part of the study. Be sure you’re set to receive notification when new posts are presented. Thank you and have a super power packed day!