God has made plans for you

You are not a mistake, nor an accident, no - God has already made plans for you and

for your life.

Before you where born He had already fathomed out every aspect of your existence. Since then, God has been patiently waiting for your birth and then your "second birth" when you where reborn in your spirit.

There are a few scriptures that I want us to look at:

Jeremiah 29:11 "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.

God has good plans in store for you! So if someone comes up to you and says "The Lord says..." and it is a negative prophecy - then so not believe them. God is a good God and has good things in store for those who follow Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

No one has seen what God has in store for you, not even you yourself. But the devil can imagine that is why he will stop at nothing to try to get you as far away from that as possible.

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We cannot always grasp the plans that God has for us because we are limited in out thinking, and God is limitless.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Even though we cannot always understand God's plans, we can ask Him to explain them to us. God loves us and wants to comfort us by telling us that we do have a future and a hope. 

Colossians 1:27 says that Christ in us is the hope of glory. Each one of us want to be glorious, you don't want to be dull - Christ (the anointed One) in us, is our hope of obtaining glory.

Let me put it this way, God had a dream about you. He dreamt all of how you would live, what you would do and how He would use you as a mighty instrument. The devil however tries to get you away from God. That is why when as James says in James 1:2 that we should rejoice when troubles come upon us. Because the devil will only temp us when we are in the will of the Lord, when we are following the world he has no problem with us doing so.  

We need to approach God through prayer and ask Him what He has planned for us. Then we need to pursue those plans and reach those goals that God has set for us.

Remember that you need to change your attitude towards life. Keep telling yourself that God loves you and that your life is worth more then just something. You have the ability to impact the lives of millions of people. There have been many stories of the accomplishments of Gospel tracts, imagine what one person can do if a simple tract can accomplish something?

Prayer: Thank you heavenly Father that we are more then just worth something, we where worth the blood of Jesus to You and you have made plans for us - help us Lord to discover those plans and to work towards them. 

For further study read also:

• Isaiah 25:1 
• Psalm 40:5
• Ephesians 1:4

Plan B

Introduction

• Why do plans have "names" or letters ascribed to them?
• What is the first plan? - Plan A of course. 
• And why is there a Plan B? - it is a backup plan, because plan A did not work out.
• Those of you reading this who are over 30 may remember the A-Team "I love it when a plan comes together."

Is plan B better or worse than plan A? Plan B is normally a backup plan and may not be a better plan than plan A. We can say that sometimes it is a plan that is second best.

A plan is only as good as the wisdom of the person making it. A silly person will make a silly plan.

God's plan A for your life:

What was God's original plan, Plan A? God created man and walked with him in the garden (Genesis 3:8), but man sinned and died spiritually.
God has a plan for your life - Jeremiah 29:11
God's thoughts (plans) are higher than our thoughts (plans) - Isaiah 55:8.
God choose you specially for something - Ephesians 1:4-5
All our days are written in His book - Psalm 139:16b
You are God's masterpiece, meaning that He took time and careful preparation in creating you - Ephesians 2:10
God destined where you would live - Acts 17:26
For Jesus to sit on the throne of my heart – Romans 10:12b
For us to live and move and have our being in Him - Acts 17:28
For us to make disciples – Matthew 28:19

God is the Potter, we are the clay. God can make a plan B for you, but plan A was better.
Isaiah 64:8 / Jeremiah 18:4 / 2 Corinthians 4:7

God's Plan B
because we messed up plan A
God's plans are long term
God is a specialist – He has good plans for your life
God can't be taken by surprise

Our Plan B
because we do not want to trust God
our plans are short term
We are amateurs
We cannot plan for the unexpected

Biblical examples of people who choose their own Plan B

• Abraham & Hagar = Ishmael - Genesis 16:2
• Exodus 19 - God wants the Israelites to worship Him by the mountain, they build a golden calf and worship it instead Exodus 32:1-4.
• Jonah flees to Tarshish, instead of going to Nineveh, and lands up inside a fish – Jonah 1:3
• When we take our eyes off God and go for Plan B there is pain and failure. Always scheming, always planning, always trying to get your own way does not work.
• God gave us a manual (Bible) and the Holy Spirit to lead us (John 16:33). God's plan is for us to be guided by His Spirit, not by our physical senses or by greed.

What should we do?

Proverbs 3:5-6 We need to trust God – remember Him in the plans that you make.

God wants to be the first One that you turn to during a time of need, not your last resort! OK, I have nothing else to try now, I might as well pray ...

Proverbs 14:12 / Proverbs 16:26 This is one of the few verses that are repeated in the Bible. If something is said twice, it means that it is very important!

James 4:13-16 Give your plans to God.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to God, ask Him what HIS plans are for your life.

There are so many decisions that we need to honour God in. Where we will live, what profession we will choose. Whom to get married to, etc.

So when you need to a plan / make a decision – trust in God from the beginning. Bring your desire before God and ask Him to reveal His will to you. God has made plans for your life – do not step out on your own without Him – you will get hurt. Listening to people or to your own plans is futile.

God is busy directing you, He wants to lead you through His Spirit. Open your heart to God and allow Him to work in you. If there are things in your life that are hindering the working of His Spirit in your life – then bring them before Him in prayer and ask Him to help you with them.

We were made to walk with God continually, and if we live far from Him then we won't experience God's Plan A for our lives.