Question 6: Does God have a plan for me?
So… what do you think? Does God have a plan for each and every one of us? If so, how detailed is it? Has God already scripted our lives out for us ahead of time? Or is God just making it up as we go along? Or is the truth somewhere in between?
The message outline will be posted here on Sunday, but in the meantime, feel free to chime in with your opinions, questions, thoughts, etc.
UPDATE: The outline/notes are below. What do you think? Does A, B, or C come closest to the way you look at it? Does the notion of having real freedom to work within God’s boundaries excite you or scare you?
– Rich
DOES GOD HAVE A PLAN FOR ME?
October 29, 2006
Does God have…
A. …a “perfect plan†for every detail of my life?
B. …a plan for the big decisions, and the others are up to me?
C. …no specific plan for me, just general guidelines for all of us?
In the Bible, we see God have specific plans for some individuals.
We also see that God’s plans are flexible, depending on our responses.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?†declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. – Jeremiah 18:5-10 (NIV)
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. – 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
We have great freedom… within boundaries.
A. God’s plans that he’s working out in history.
(his providential will – redeeming the world, his kingdom come)
B. God’s plans for the kinds of people we are to be.
(his moral will – for us to become like Jesus Christ)
How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. – Ephesians 1:3-6 (NLT)
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified … – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NIV)
So how do I make sure I’m living according to God’s plans for me?
1. Give my everyday life to God. Live for him in the little things.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. …
(The Message paraphrase: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life –and place it before God as an offering.)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
2. Pay attention to what God is saying to me.
In the Bible…
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. – Psalm 119:1 (NIV)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)
By the Holy Spirit…
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. … Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. – Galatians 5:22-25 (NLT)
3. Live for God boldly! Do great things for God right here & now!
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (NIV)