His Plan


"For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because it was his plan from before the beginning of time -- to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News." II Timothy 1:9-10

Pick up football games have been a part of my life since my childhood. All that was needed was a handful of kids, a piece of grass, and a football. Most plays were, "You, go long. You, go short." Then we'd call "Shotgun!" then "Hike!" and then the "Mississippi(s)" would start. I noticed that when the games were close, the play planning took a little longer. With bragging rights on the line, it was no time to be caught without a good game plan.

Paul spent tremendous amounts of time and energy sharing, reflecting upon, and engaging in God's plan. His plan required a personal appearance from Jesus to make it possible. He broke death's power. He paved the road to life and life to the fullest. Wow! Why? Because we were so wonderful? Nope. It was the plan. With eternity hanging in the balance for billions of souls, it was no time to be caught without a good game plan.

God never asks of us to develop our own plans, just to embrace his. To embrace his plan is to wholeheartedly put our trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. To embrace his plan is to share his plan with others through a grateful love-inspired obedience to his commands and a ready at any moment humble and gracious verbal witness to his saving grace through faith in Jesus. Life is too short to be caught without a good game plan.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more