Plans for the Future...

Scripture:
James 4:13-15 (NASB)

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."  Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

Devotional:

Planning for the future seems to be a huge pastime.  We all make plans, have dreams, and set goals.  At the end of every school year our church shows a video of high school graduates.  The video is a slide show of each graduate.  It gives their name, what school they attended, and future dreams.  Watching the pictures scroll by I thought of some of my big plans for the future.  Looking back I can see where some dreams were fulfilled, while others are left unfulfilled.  There are some dreams that simply changed over time.

It is important to dream and plan for the future.  However, we cannot neglect the here and now.  More importantly we cannot neglect to seek God’s will.  As time passed some of my dreams were not in line with God’s will.  These dreams either went unfulfilled or changed.  New dreams or goals replace the old ones.  As I plan for my future, and my family’s future, I need to remember God.  He must be the focus of what we do.  It is important to check with God to see if our plans coincide with His will.  If so plug away.  If not, we need to look at making some changes.  

We do not know what tomorrow holds for us.  Our lives might be demanded of us tonight.  God may have some unexpected plans for us.  The road He would have us travel may be different than the one we first choose.  Are you willing to adapt your plans?  Do your plans include God?  Is He your focus?  Make it a point to include Jesus in all your plans, dreams, and goals.  Most importantly do not neglect today for tomorrow’s sake.  Today’s problems will only show up tomorrow if left alone.  We should live each day as if it is our last.  

No matter what God is with us.  We just have to include Him.  He is willing and waiting for the invitation…

Are You Going To Trust Him?

Scripture:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Devotional:

After sending dozens of applications and resumes out I finally got a phone interview.  I was excited, nervous, well flat out scared to death.  What if I blow it?  What if I answer all the questions wrong despite knowing the right ones?  The interview came and went.  A few days later I received the “we are sorry” email.  At first I was bummed.  I could feel the despair welling up inside. However, I stopped it before it could take root.  No, things didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to but I know God is trust worthy and faithful.  For whatever reason God deemed it best I not get that job.  I see circumstances in a slanted way, through the perspective of a child in a broken and fallen world.  God sees things perfectly clear and has our best interest at heart.  

The question to ask yourself, are you going to trust Him?  I know from my personal experience that when I wait on Him and trust Him completely it all turns out much better.  If I do it my way I usually make a mess of things.  It is hard sometimes not to despair when I don’t get it my way.  But when I am honest with myself I know God will make things turn out much better in the end.  When things seem to go all wrong I need to focus on God instead of fretting over what went wrong.  Focusing on God helps me put things in perspective.  By focusing on Him it becomes easier to let go and get over it.  After all there is no use getting upset over split milk now is there…

We Will Become Perfect

We Will Become Perfect

Scripture:
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

…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.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Devotional:

People tend to strive for perfection.  Unfortunately we can never attain true perfection.  The good news is that God is perfect and all He does is perfect.  When we accept Christ as our savior He begins His work in us.  His perfection will be in us.  We will be perfected when Christ returns.  Until then we continuously grow toward that perfection. 

Because of sin, past, present, and future, we will not be complete until “the day of Christ Jesus.”  Satan will try to confuse us and mislead us.  Satan would have us believe that because we can never be good enough we will not reach perfection.  He would have us believe it is our work or goodness that gives us grace.  The Bible is very clear that it is not by our hands that we are saved.  Therefore it cannot be by our hands that we are brought into perfection.  It is through Christ that we are saved and it is through Christ that we our perfection will be complete.  While we live in a fallen world we are susceptible to sins, hardships, and other problems of the world.  All we can do is strive to be Christ-like.  Our goal is to become as much like Christ as we can possibly be.  We need to accept the fact that we will fail.  The good news is that despite our failure God is perfect and He will continue to be with us.  Despite our failures we are given mercy and grace.  We do not deserve it.  It is a free gift.  Because we accept that gift we will become perfect.

Pain & Suffering

Scripture:
1 Peter 5:6-11 (NIV)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Devotional:

Why do we suffer?  Why go through all the hardships, pain, and turmoil?  God never promises to remove all pain and anxiety from us.  Just because we became a Christian doesn’t mean that we will no longer suffer.  God will at times remove our hardship.  Other times he will see us through them.  Most spiritual growth does not happen while things are going good.  We tend to grow the most when we are faced with hardships and suffering.  It is in those times that we are most likely to turn to God for help.  In our nature we tend to take credit for all the good and forget God.

As iron ore is forged into strong metal so our spirits are forged.  God will use our trials and hardships much like a forge is used to purify metal.  He will make us stronger, if we rely on Him.  As we realize we must rely on Him our faith will grow.  He is faithful and will be with us.  He will see us through all things.  Joshua 1:5 (NIV) “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  I do not know all the reasons God will allow us to endure hardship and pain.  I do know that He will use those times to make us stronger.  I also know that because we live in a fallen world there will always be pain, suffering, and hardship.  Jesus never promised us that we would be excluded from the world and what happens in it.  He did promise to be with us and to send us a suitable helper, the Holy Spirit…