I began this series of the following blogs with this thought...ARE YOU PREPARING FOR ETERNITY? If so, WHAT R UR PLANS? It is a study of 2 Peter 1: 3-11 which reads from the Amplified Bible...
3 For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through [a]true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises [of inexpressible value], so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to....
And this is our first stepping stone for our study for the next four or five blog posts. So let's begin!
The apostle Peter is telling us as followers of Christ that we have EVERYTHING WE NEED to live for Christ in the crooked and decrepit world....and in so doing, we are making our plans for Heaven as we live out our lives for Christ each day. It is in that living that God works His will and His way for both our earthly service now; but also, for our Heavenly service to come. And I believe that will become much clearer as we travel this road of study in our next several blog post....so please come back over the next few days or so to see how this might be beneficial to you as you live for Christ in this world...and quite possibly the next?
So, what is the first admonition of Peter....to approach our dynamic spiritual life with great DILIGENCE as we make every effort to exercise and grow our faith by applying the "tools" that God has given us to use in our efforts to live, to be and to love like Christ. But, how is that affected by planning and what does God's Word say regarding this exercise we call, PLANNING?
Our first hint comes from Proverbs 21:5, that reads: "The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor." (CSB) or "A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9 CSB); however, one of my favorite's comes from James 4:13-15 where he warns us of making boastful plans....Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit,” whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and make plans to do this or that. (Modern English Version)But the one who spoke definitively regarding making plans was Jesus himself, in Sermon on the Mount, where He told His ever-growing throng of followers in Matthew 6:33-34, But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don't worry about (your plans for) tomorrow. Your plans (will be taken care of by following God's will.) Believe me when I say, you will have enough to worry about today. (My edification of the Contemporary Version Bible)
So in closing this first blog today regarding making plans, both for now and for the Kingdom to come, know this; JESUS HAS THIS UNDER HIS CONTROL....and if we change the word "food" and replace it with the word "plans" in John 6:27, it would read as follows:
Don’t work for the plans that perish but for the plans that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”
I hope you will continue this journey with me as we make our eternal plans for the jobs we would most like to do when we are called HOME to be with Jesus....there, where we will serve Him in our Heavenly domain, doing the work set before us and as ALWAYS, FOR OUR GOOD AND GOD'S GLORY!!!
See You Tomorrow,
WPQ
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