23 Mar HAPPY NEW YEAR! (ARE YOU ADDING ANOTHER YEAR TO YOUR LIFE, OR LIFE TO ANOTHER YEAR?): PART 3
Over the past few weeks we began sharing our key verses for this series from Ephesians 5:15-17: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
These verses could be paraphrased to mean this:
“See then that you are preoccupied with walking diligently in a straight line. Not like unwise unbelievers that don’t know Jesus, but as wise (people who see life from God’s perspective). Buying back all the Divine opportunities that you possibly can because this culture is evil. Because of that, don’t be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is!”
In these powerful verses it is clear that God wants you (yes, you!) to clearly understand His plan for your life in 2021 and beyond!
Last week we began to share Three Plan Principles:
- Acknowledge that God has a plan for your life (Jer. 29:11).
The first thing you must do is acknowledge that God truly has a plan for your life! Please allow me to share with you “Three Acknowledge Axioms”:
1.) God has a wonderful plan for your life…not a wonderful life for YOUR plan!
The Bible tells us, “There are many plans in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand” (Prov. 19:21). If His plan and purpose prevails, then shouldn’t we find out what it is?
2.) Destiny is not to be decided. Destiny is to be discovered.
I watch too many Christians simply decide that they want to do this or that with their lives. So in essence they say, “This is what I’m deciding to do, God…now come along and bless me!” However, if you will take the time to discover what He wants you to do, then you will automatically walk in His blessings!
3.) What you were created for is connected to who you were created by.
Since He is the Creator and we are the creation, it only makes sense to consult the Creator!
This week we continue with…
- Accept God’s plan for your life (Mark 8:35).
Not only do we need to acknowledge God’s plan for our life, we must accept God’s plan for our life! Here the Bible tells us, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s the same shall save it.”
Please allow me to share with you “Eight Accept Axioms”:
1.) If we always do what we want to do, we may end up where we don’t want to be!
God created you in His image (see Gen. 1:26-28) and therefore you are a free-will moral agent. God will always respect your will…all the way to hell. In other words, we all have the right to do what we want to do, however we may just end up in a place we don’t want to be! Throughout the gospels Jesus shared the simple phrase, “Follow Me.” When we do, remember this: His “there” is always better than our “here.”
Join us next week as we continue our series…