His Plan; His Time

Today, I heard a missionary from Brazil speak. At first I wasn't too impressed with him (he didn't have a very neat DVD presentation at the beginning), but when he got up to preach I was amazed at his faith and the message God gave him for me.

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. "

In the beginning of the sermon he reminded us of the great sacrifice that Christ paid for us. Christ gave up all His heavenly glory and became a poor man. He, the only precious Son of God, lived among us and with us, only to die taking on all of the sin of the world. He spared nothing for us... for me, but laid His life down to redeem me and make me a child of God.

The pastor went on to explain the meaning of redemption. It means to be rescued permanently from a certain place or punishment, to be completely made acceptable when before one was unacceptable.

The missionary then asked, "Why do you continue to make your own plans, telling God what things He can and cannot touch? Why do you tell God that now is not the time, and you can't obey today? Christ kept nothing back from you; you have no right to keep any dream, any time, any part of your life back from Him who saved you from eternal damnation. And why do we constantly believe the lie and think that Christ lived and died to redeem us, that he left glory and came to complete rejection so that when we give our lives to Him he can drag us through the muck of the earth? He did all this so that He could make us miserable? Why do we think God's plans and God's timing is a bad thing? Isn't He the one who before the world began, planned a wonderful redemption, and hasn't He already planned a wonderful eternal life? Why can't we trust His timing in His plans for our lives."

Right here, I started to cry (I've been a bit emotional lately), because this is so true in my life. I hold certain things out of God's reach (supposedly); certain things He may not touch. Certain things I have carefully planned and I am not willing for God to revise my plans, let alone replace them. I think that my plans are more likely to make me happy and be good for me than His. I have believed the lie. But the Bible says that life without God leads to death. It also says that His thoughts are higher than mine, so wouldn't His plans be? This is what the Bible says about God's plans for my future, this is the truth:

Ps. 84:11 "For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. "

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

John 10:10 "... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. "

Christ said that he came to give us life and to give us life more and greater than what we think we can have. However, every time I chose my own way over His it is adding to the wood and stubble that will burn on judgement day. Only where I fit into His (good) plans and His will, will remain that day.

Do I have dreams? Yes. Are they all God's will? We have to see, but praise God, He has good dreams for me and I can trust Him with my most precious dream. He has redeemed me, not to give me the short end of the stick, but to give me life abundantly. Thank you, Lord, for this day.

Jude 1:24-25 " Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."