Good Plans

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

It is always exciting to stand on the edge of a new year as we do right now, and wonder what it may hold for us.  As we reflect on the year past we can do so with feelings of regret at resolutions not reached,  sadness for loss, thankfulness for reprieve, protection, strength for tasks done, joys for new friendships made, new places visited and 'missions' completed.

This verse in Jeremiah is my all time favourite because it reassures me afresh of my God's truth;  that He thinks about me, and not only that, but He thinks about me in a positive way.  Also that He has good plans for me to bring me peace.  As I write, the words of the psalmist, so well known and often spoken, yet often glossed over without real thought, come to mind.  Surely, (without doubt), goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life...Psalm 23:6.

Do circumstances of life sometimes cause you to doubt that God has good plans for you?  Do you live with regrets of past mistakes or wrong choices?  Has calamity struck, health failed, grief and disappointments come?  Yes, they do.  Stuff happens, but it never ever changes God's plans of peace for us.  It never changes His plans to prosper us.  If you need an example just look again at Job.  He suffered more loss than any of us would want to think about, yet I believe his continued trust in God's goodness caused him to to be doubly blessed in his latter days.  In the King James Version of this verse it says that God's plans are to prosper us.  Believe it.

The God who says, 'Behold I make all things new.' (Rev 21:5) has been doing new things and good things throughout history.  He is our Creator and His creative nature is to do new things.  He doesn't look back at our past, He is looking to do a new thing with us.  He says, 'do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold I will do a new thing.' (Isaiah 43:18-19).  Are you ready to see it and cooperate in His plan?

This is a new year, renew your mind with God's truth: His thoughts toward you are of peace, not punishment and recrimination.  He remembers your sins no more (Jer 31:34).  His plans and purposes are for good, not evil, to prosper you, not to harm you.  The psalmist has a key for us.  He says 'I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of The Lord in the land of the living,' (Ps 27:13), and again 'my heart trusted in Him and I am helped' (Ps 28:7). 

Prayer:  Loving and Creator God, help me to believe and trust in your goodness this coming year. May I delight you with a childlike trust that truly believes you have good plans for me, even more than an earthly father has for his children. Amen

His Plan

A man’s heart plans his way,  But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

 

In our fast changing world it seems that nothing is certain anymore.  We can so easily feel insecure and unsafe.  We make our plans, and so we should, but in the end we do not have the final say of how things will work out.  Colin and I decided earlier this year that he would retire mid 2014 and we would return to our roots.  We have deposited on a retirement villa in Nelson, New Zealand very near my sister. 

 

Yes, we have made a decision and put our home on the market and are working towards our desired end, yet always keeping in mind this verse above, that though we make our plans, in the end it is the Lord who directs our steps.  We are happy to leave it in His hands knowing and trusting His wisdom. We can do that because we have experienced His faithfulness and His ordering of our ways in all of our life.  This morning I thought of His wonderful ordering of lives in days gone by, and the LIFE that we celebrate this Christmas season.

 

Out of eternity God moved upon one woman to birth His age-old plan for our world.  Out of eternity God stirred the heart of one Roman governor to call a census in the foreign land he ruled; a census that would move His plan for that woman's child to be brought to the place of birth prophesied so long ago - Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).  A busy, overcrowded town full of visitors for the census.  A stable, a cattle trough, no nice furniture - not much of a place for Greatness to be birthed, but it was!

 

On a hillside shepherds had their evening conversation dramatically interrupted by a glorious heavenly chorus they would long speak of with wonder.  The birth, not announced to a waiting crowd outside palace gates, but to humble shepherds alone on a hillside.  And wise men watching for signs in the heavens were led from a far off land to worship this King.

 

Thirty years pass, shrouded mostly in silence; a growing, learning time, a training for reigning time.  This King was to experience what it was like to be part of a family, to learn a trade, to grieve the loss of His earthly dad, take responsibility for His mother.  All the time knowing that there was a master plan; and waiting patiently for that time to be revealed.

 

Then three short but highly significant, world-changing years came.  God living among mankind, not a conquering hero but a servant of love with a message of life.  Then, from what appeared to be shame, defeat and failure was born the greatest victory - victory over sin, death and the grave. His plan fulfilled - peace and relationship restored between God and man.  Sins forgiven, hope restored.

 

God was in it all and His purposes continue to be worked out through insignificant lives today because He came that dark night long ago and shone His light into our world, a light which overcame the darkness of centuries in a moment of time. A light and hope that we can choose to live in.
 

Today God continues to move, unseen by most, but those who look, expect and hope, will see and partner in His plan, a plan that will bring His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Each of us has a part to play in His scheme of things that is important, no matter how great or small our part.  Come let us worship and bow down again before our amazing Lord Jesus Christ, God made flesh, and in His presence find our purpose refreshed for the coming year.  He is still moving in eternity, to accomplish His grand plan of which you are a part.  In Him we live and move and have our being.  Hallelujah!

 

God bless you this Christmas and may He find room in your heart for that is where He wants to make His home and fulfill His plan.

 

Prayer:  Great and wonderful God, thank you for your amazing plan which you have included me in.  Come fill me afresh with the wonder of your plan and enable me to trust that you are directing my steps to fulfil your purposes and plans for me.  Amen.

Today

Today you shall be with me in Paradise.  Luke 23:43

While reading Jesus' conversation with one of the criminals as they hung side by side on their crosses I was struck by the different attitudes of the 2 criminals.  One man was harsh and unrepentant, the other's heart was soft and discerning.  The latter admitted he deserved his punishment, but somehow he also knew that Jesus had no place being on that cross, that His punishment was totally undeserved. Perhaps he had been around in the background when Jesus was teaching and his heart had been stirred, but too late to save him from the full force of the law.

As the hard-hearted criminal derided Jesus along with the crowd, this one chided him then spoke directly to Jesus.  "Lord, remember me, when you come into your kingdom."  Jesus' reply was instant and reassuring, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

Today!  The sceptic who knows the Bible may say, "Ah, but the Bible says that Jesus did not immediately go to heaven, he visited the captives in hell, then he wandered the earth for 40 days, appearing to the disciples and others during that time."

That is all true, but Jesus was God in the flesh, and God dwells in eternity.  Where He is it is always TODAY.  When scripture says in Hebrews 3:7-8 ​​“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion....", that tense never changes.  If you missed the boat yesterday and hardened your heart or failed again in overcoming a weakness, you have a new opportunity today! The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, TODAY and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  It also says that His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). Hallelujah!

Our God is the God of TODAY, and He is the God of all comfort and mercy.  There is no reason at all why you have to live in your past or remain stuck in your failure.  He makes all things new.  We just have to pick ourselves up, shake off the 'dirt' and come to Him for mercy and grace today. (Hebrews 4:16).  If He could do it for a criminal condemned to die, He can and will do it for you.  Don't wallow in your failure, rejoice in his forgiveness.... TODAY.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you that today is always a new opportunity to walk in the joy of your forgiveness and love.  Help me not to beat myself up over my failures but rather to rejoice in the joy and freedom that your forgiveness brings.  Amen

Freedom

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Galatians 5:1

What do you think of when confronted with the word freedom? Do you thank God that you live in a free country: free to vote, to worship, to marry whomever you choose, to live where you want to live and work at your choice of job?  Yes we have many freedoms not afforded to people in other countries.

As I was reminded of this verse today I thought of  people that we come across all the time who are not really free.  Even though they know Jesus Christ, our freedom-giver, they are still bound in many ways.  The sad thing is that some of them even like their captivity.  It's their comfortable place, and to move out of their captivity poses a threat.  They don't know how they will handle it so they are not willing to take the risk.  Yes, they talk about it, they plan for it but they never quite do it. That's because Satan, the deceiver has told them that freedom will be difficult, short-lived, not attainable and any number of other lies with which he keeps them bound.

So what are some of those bondages? At the risk of making myself unpopular I need to be honest and, at the same time look at my own life to see if there are areas where I am not free.  I'm sure there are.  The bondage of emotional baggage is often at the root of things like wanting to control others, hoarding, obsessive compulsive disorders, eating disorders, chronic illness and weakness.  Emotional baggage results from many things. Abuse, (verbal, sexual or physical), trauma, unresolved grief, unresolved anger, bullying, unfair punishment, unforgiveness...... the list is endless but the torment doesn't have to be. Jesus came to set the captives free and that means any kind of captive.

A captive is one who is locked in. We can be locked into a mindset that is often rooted in believing a lie.  Somewhere deep in our psyche a lie has found its home in us, maybe even when we were a child, through the way we have been treated.  These lies give Satan an open door to build a structure in our thinking that can affect the way we do life forever. He builds a prison and keeps us locked into the lie. We wonder why we can't change our bad habits, attitudes, insecurities.  It's because we are a prisoner.  There is a lie we have believed that we need to uncover, reject and replace with God's truth.  Only then, when we begin to believe the truth can we make the journey into continuing and growing freedom that Christ died for us to receive.

Are you brave enough today to take an honest look inwards and ask Jesus to show you if there is any area of captivity in your life that is stopping you from walking in full freedom?  If so, spend time in His presence, ask him if there is anyone you need to forgive in order to gain your freedom.  It may be even be yourself.

Lord Jesus,  would you shine your light into my heart.  Show me any lie I have believed about myself or others.  Give me a revelation of your truth to replace the lie and help me walk in the freedom that you died for me to walk in.  Amen

Trust - 8

"Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 1:3 

Our friends in the USA are celebrating their wedding anniversary this weekend and to do that they have returned to the city where they were married 45 years ago.  The picture above is one of their memories that she shared.  For a marriage to last this long and this well there has to be trust.

Every successful relationship has to be based on faithfulness and trust. Sometimes trust is broken because we are weak; but if we are truly sorry and repent, trust can, and should, be restored.  God himself sets the ultimate example for this in sending Jesus to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven and our  relationship with him could be restored. 

When we have known the goodness of our wonderful God and we walk away, we actually feel the separation.  Something is missing, the vibrancy, the reassurance if his love, the joy and peace that being in fellowship with him brings. Our spirit actually misses our God relationship, just like we would miss a spouse or a friend. 

The first step is in returning (repentance).  God promises that if his people return to him then he will return to them.  What brings anyone back to a relationship?  It is a deep love for that person. It is love that draws us back.  In the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15), we are given a beautiful example of how the father waits for the son to return.  He doesn't chase him, he just waits day after day, year after year until one day the son returns, repentant and willing now just to be his father's servant.  The father's arms are open and he throws a party, not for the new servant but for the restoration of his son.  That is what God does when we return to him, he is thrilled and overflows with love for us.  There is no judgment, just forgiveness and grace, grace, grace.

 

Often the problem in our returning is that we judge ourselves so we cannot fully embrace the forgiveness that is given.  It is vital that we forgive ourselves or we will become paralysed and not able to move on.  At best we will become stunted.  Trust and humility are involved in forgiving ourselves.  Trust in God's absolute faithfulness to us to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wrong doing (1 John 1:9); but  humility to accept that we are weak, flawed human flesh and do not deserve forgiveness.   If we don't forgive ourselves, then Jesus' death on the cross for our sin was for nothing. 

Don't allow yourself to become paralysed and powerless in the kingdom of God.  Trust in his forgiveness and love, forgive yourself, drop the shame at the foot of the cross where it belongs, then get up and do your part in his work.  You are precious and your gifts are needed.  You have experienced his love in your weakness, you have a testimony. For Jesus' sake, move on.  It's not about you, it's all about Him and His great mercy. 

Prayer:  Loving Father, if there is anything that is paralysing me; if there is anything I have not truly forgiven myself for, would you please show me and help me to fully receive your forgiveness so that I may know your peace and restoration and be fruitful in your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Trust - 7

The godly may trip seven times but they will get up again.  Proverbs 24:16

One of the most difficult things for a person who is performance oriented to deal with is failure. Often this is because of how we were raised.  If you were raised in a household where failure incurred a parent's wrath, then it is likely you have an issue with failure.  It was one of the happiest days of my life when I learned to laugh at my mistakes and realised that we all make them and we don't get it right all the time.

Growing up my sister used to say, "You think you are perfect."  In a way she was right because as I look back I can see that I thought I had to be perfect or I wasn't acceptable.  Perfection is a harsh and unreasonable taskmaster.  I am glad that I have learned that it is okay to fail sometimes so long as I get up again.  Failure can be as simple as forgetting to do something we promised to do, speaking an unkind word in haste, having a day when our emotions pull us away from God's love and kindness and take us down Pitiful Path.  It is good to get over our performance problem before we go too far down the geriatric road where we face the reality of not being able to do all that we used to do.  It is not a failure to get old, but if we value ourselves only by what we can accomplish in a day we will fall in a hole.

How we handle failure can show us the true measure of our character.  The Bible says that we may fall often but we will get up.  Well that's good news!  We can do that because the Lord will offer us a helping if we allow him, and he will lift us up. Psalm 145:14 says "The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads." In times past I have looked at that hand and said, "Thank you Lord that you forgive me but I think I need to stay down here in the dirt a bit longer and beat up on myself. I haven't served my full punishment yet."  Sound ridiculous? Yes it is but some of us do that.

Jesus holds out his hand to lift us up because he is not surprised that we fail. He knows that we are dust, he doesn't discard us because He already paid the price, took the punishment for our sin.  To refuse his helping hand is to say that what he did is not complete and you know that's not true!  By refusing to forgive ourselves we fall into Pride Pothole!  That is something we want to avoid with everything  in us. Pride causes us to pretend everything is all right when we are falling apart inside.  Pride causes us to think that our sin is so unforgivable that we have to beat ourselves up.

So what is the answer?  It is to reach up and like a little child, look into Papa God's eyes and receive His help.  That is trust, childlike trust in a loving Father.  That's what pleases the Father's heart.  If you don't believe me go read the parable of the prodigal son again.

Prayer:  Papa God, thank you that you will always lift me up when I fall or fail.  Help me to receive your help and forgiveness and not feel that I have to perform for your approval, because your word tells me that you loved me and died for me even before I knew you, and your love for me never changes.  Amen

Trust - 6

And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’  Luke 12:19

For people approaching retirement age, (and for Australia that is a huge percentage of the population,) the temptation is to look at your superannuation or savings and think it won't be enough. And it may not be.  It was however, not like that for the man in the parable Jesus told in Luke chapter 12.  He had an abundance of wealth to see him through.  But that night was to be his last. Death knocked at his door. Jesus told this parable to show how foolish it is to put our trust in money rather than making sure we are ready to face our maker. This man thought he had it made.  Just build some bigger barns to store his wealth and live off that for the rest of his life. But life, for him, was done.

The apostle Paul was grateful when he wrote to the Philippians to thank them for sending him money.  He said, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want"(Phil 4:12).  Paul didn't have a credit card to rely on, only the Lord and the generosity of His people.  But that meant he probably wasn't in debt either! 

Trusting in our bank balance can limit our lives in so many ways.  We may feel called by God to some special task but if all we can see is the lack of money in our bank to follow through with it we may never be obedient.  Did you know that God will provide all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus and that if he calls you to a task He surely plans to provide the necessary finance for you to do it.  If you had what was needed up front you wouldn't have to trust God and thereby have the joy of seeing him provide.

In the same way retirement is a step of faith.  Not one of us knows what tomorrow will bring and we should never trust in our savings to carry us through this life in our closing days.  We've seen plenty of global financial crises in the past few decades so we should know better than to trust in our money.  Rather, let us be open to God's leading in our last years.  Our 'use by date' is not passed until we move to heaven.  God has a task for each day, whether big or small and we do it because we are to live for His glory.  Trusting God in our finances will enable us to be free to do His will and bring him glory in the tasks he calls us to.

Prayer:  My God, my provider, help me to trust you rather than my bank balance.  You are faithful always and will never let me down.  Amen