So I am a huge goal planner. I love to set a goal and then go and achieve that goal. I also like to plan so that I can see where my money is going. My question is what does Gods word say about goals and setting our own plans? Are we able to plan or do we have to wait for God to tell us what to do?
Jesus set goals:“He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.' 33In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! Luke 13:32
We are to have a goal to please God:“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” 2 Corinthian 5:9
We need the Holy Spirit to reach our goals:“Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Galatians 3:3
We should have a goal to reach in our spiritual walk, a way to help us increase our faith and to press on like Paul:“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
We can plan and the Holy Spirit puts those ideas in our mind:“He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.” 1 Chronicles28:12
God will cause plans of evil men to not succeed:“He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. “Job 5:12 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' Jeremiah 18:11
God will let evil men choose their bad actions and succeed. He lets every person have freedom to do what is wrong and to do what is right:Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. Micah 2:1
God can cause the plans of the righteous to succeed or not to succeed depending on what He wills: Job 17:11 “My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.” Psalm 20:4 “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”
Ultimately Gods plans prevail:
Psalm 33:11
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
When you are going to make an important decision listen to what others have to say as long as it is constructive criticism: Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.-When in doubt turn to a friend that you can trust a brother and sister who loves the Lord and someone that will tell you biblical advice not what you want to hear because that is not always Gods will.
A man plans his life but it is the Lord who shows the man or woman of God how to get there. Most of us know what we want but have no idea how to get there, well God will help us to arrive where we want to be in the future.“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
Planning is a great thing, a needed thing and something that would be good for all of us to do:Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Our plans if we continue will eventually lead to profit. One of my goals is to be bilingual. Some people have told me it would be impossible but I believe that with the Lord it is achievable. “But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.” Isaiah 32:8
The Lord has planned everything in your life: Isaiah 25:1 “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:15-16
God will use us to fill what He wants done in the Earth to glorify Him: Isaiah 46:11 “From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”
God plans what he has planned against us to teach us when we turn from our ways:“Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.” Jeremiah 26:3 “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin." Jeremiah 36:3
God has good plans for us: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
The Lord will reveal his plans to us and to others so that He can prove sovereign:“Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7
God has plans to humble us: “Therefore, the LORD says: "I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.” Micah 2:3
Sometimes we will plan to do something but it will not happen right away:“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.” Romans 1:13
When you plan think about what you are planning and do not make plans mildly:“When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no"? 2 Corinthians 1:17
God willed people to worship Him, not specifically individual people but He planned to have fellowship with us all: Ephesians 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,”
God uses us to fulfill his will: “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:40
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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