God’s Life Plan For You!

God’s Life Plan for You!

Jeremiah 29:11-13 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Intro: A girl brings her fiancé home for dinner. After dinner, the fiancé and the girl's father go into the study for a man to man talk.

"So, what are you doing right now?" asks the father.

"I am a theology scholar," replies the fiancé.

"Do you have any plans of employment?"

"I will study and God will provide."

"What about the children?" asks the man.

"God will provide."

"And your house and car?"

"Again, God will provide," says the fiancé.

After the talk, the girl's mother asks the father, "So what did you two talk about?"

The man replies, "He has no plans of employment, but on the other hand, he thinks I'm God." source: http://www.jokebuddha.com/Plans#ixzz2XgI7IhsE

-The human struggle might possibly be defined in terms of connecting our plans with God’s plans. Several people in the Bible went on record with variations of one important question: “Lord, what do You want me to do?” That might be the most important question in life. Too many people just live their lives on the basis of what they want, giving little or no thought to what God might have in mind for them.

-I know it sounds like a cliché, but God does have good plans for you! His plan was in place long before you ever graced this globe with your presence! Most of us have grappled or will grapple with their purpose here on earth. We’d like to think we aren’t just using up air and space. The Bible indicates that we are not here by accident, but God knew us even when we were growing inside our mother’s womb. Nobody just got lucky enough to be the winner of random selection. You were in God’s heart long before you entered His world! You had purpose before you were made, you were created on purpose, with purpose. Our purpose in life has been defined in various ways: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; or, to know God and make Him known.

-With this in mind I want to share as simply and openly as I can today out of my own experience and give you a glimpse of who your Pastor is and what God is doing in my life. Hopefully, this will inspire you to really seek God for direction in the major areas of your life. It’s one thing to tell the Lord, “I surrender all,” but it’s another thing entirely to ask Him to guide you specifically in each area of your life.

-Most of you know that I took a few days this past week to get away by myself (just Jesus, some deer, an army of bugs, a few mice and me). The purpose of my getaway was to seek the Lord for direction, clarity, and vision for my life, family, and this church. Several things came out of this for me personally, but what I enjoyed were the times that I just sensed God breathing more of His life into me.

-What I want to share with you is what I believe the Lord is leading me to focus on in the coming months. When I was receiving Ministry Coaching I took a day away and put together a Life Plan that would help me focus on what was truly important and not get so busy or distracted that I miss out on the things that matter most. A life plan is made up of 5-7 areas called life accounts. First, you clarify Your Vision: Imagine, dream... where do you want to be years from now? Think of vision as your aspiration, as your definition of “success” in this area of life. What do you want to see when you look into the future for this Life Account? What is the end result you would like to achieve? List a key Scripture that inspires your vision for this area. Then come up with an action plan. Develop actions that can be measured (daily, weekly, monthly, annually), and will help you complete your vision.

-Every intentional step you take to follow through with your God-given goals in each of these areas is a deposit or an investment into that account. Sometimes 1 or more of these life accounts seem to run pretty low to the point of being bankrupt. That’s why I need to keep them in front of me so I don’t lose sight of God’s purpose and plan for my life. So, let me share what I believe is God’s life plan for me.