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God has a plan for your life. And a revelation of it, by the Holy Spirit can revolutionize your life, as nothing else can ever do, and will lead you to your majestic destiny, that has been designed by the Designer Himself. It is His promise to you, that will surely come to pass, as you hold on to it to inherit it by faith and patience, The Lord will build up Zion, And He will demonstrate His glory [Psalm 102:16]. And, what He wants you to know about the modalities of it, about Christ being the very foundation of it, is written in His word to say, Behold, I am the One who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation; whoever believes will not be in haste [Isaiah 28:16].
No other foundation but Christ is the foundational truth upon which God begins to build your life, and everything that is part of it, your family, your work, your church, and ultimately through it all, even the society around you, the lost and the broken. And it all happens in a relationship, which is what Christian life essentially is. It is a relationship with God, with the eyes of your heart being opened to know Christ, in intimate and personal fellowship, by His Spirit in you. It is how you are appointed by God to see and hear from Him, in order to be built up that you may fulfill His will for your life, His magnificent plan that nothing can equal in style or in substance.
It is the truth that comes shining through the testimony of the apostle Paul, even as he recounted what Ananias spoke to him, as he stood before the Jews who sought to have him killed, and the Roman Tribune, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight’. And at that very hour, I received my sight. And he said, ‘the God of your fathers appointed you to know His will, to see the Righteous One, to hear the voice from His mouth, for you will be a witness of Him to everyone, of what you have seen and heard [Acts 22:12–15].
How it all began was by the primary question that came from Paul, ‘Who are you Lord?’, and on knowing that it was Lord Jesus, who identified Himself as the One whom He was persecuting, revealing even then that the church was His very Body, Paul immediately signified his change of heart in asking, What shall I do Lord? [vs 8,10]. It shows very clearly the connection between knowing the Lord Jesus and knowing His will for your life. It is in sweet communion with Him, that you become aware of what God has planned concerning your life, His good and perfect will for you.
And it is not about mere theoretical knowledge but a life experience that radically transforms your mindset, to understand what He wants you to accomplish so that the Designer’s plan may be fulfilled by the hand of the Builder who works it out in you. His plan for you, comes to you as a revelation from Him, as the eyes of your heart are opened to the knowledge of Him.
The will of GOD – His master plan:
His physical eyes were blinded by the light that shone brighter than the midday sun, but Paul’s spiritual eyes, the eyes of his heart were opened that day. And in a real and very personal dimension, that was the beginning of his close relationship with the Lord, he knew that he had been appointed, to see and hear from God.
Prior to it, Paul thought he knew it all, having been a pharisee of the highest order, a man who was of great intellect and knew the old testament scriptures like the back of his hand. He was definitely not a simpleton! But it all came to nothing when he encountered the Son who had created the sun. He knew a great deal about the God of the Bible, but he did not know God in a living relationship with Him. And it is what can be the story of anyone who has been born in a Christian family, to grow up being very familiar with the church setting, and yet not knowing Christ as his or her own personal Savior.
An intervention of grace:
But the God of heaven and earth, graciously intervened in the life of Paul to make him aware that he was proceeding in the opposite direction, to also reveal to him the plan that He had for him. And even in your life, when you could be blithely traveling in the journey of your life, not knowing your divine destiny, He does not interfere, but in grace, intervenes to show you the path of abundant life, that He has appointed for you. For, you were born for a God-given purpose. And it is in knowing Him, that you will know His will for you, that will build you up to be ultimately transformed in your inner being, in His own likeness.
But many are those who even today, want God in their lives, yet on their own terms. They want what God has for them, every good and perfect gift that is from above but do not want Him in their lives. But the most pitiable thing that can happen to any person, is being left alone by God to follow their own dictates, to please themselves alone not sparing a thought for the One who created them. But then again, the stinginess of man, and that could be you and I, do not limit the generosity of God. For, He steps in, making the first move, even as He intervened in the life of Paul. He never gives up on you. It could take time, for it is in a progressive revelation, that knowing Him more and more takes place in you. It will lead you to the place, where you will know that God has a plan for your life. And it is the very reason why you were born.
His word through the prophet comes to proclaim it to you this day, ‘I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope’ [Jeremiah 29:11]. God has a plan, higher and more glorious than anything that you can come up with. But what can derail it all, is the fact that the devil also has a plan, and that is to steal, kill and destroy the abundant life that God has prepared for you. And therefore, be sober-minded; be watchful.
Your adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour [1 Peter 5:8]. As the apostle warns, the necessity to remain vigilant and alert in order that you may discern his deceptive ways, to not become a pawn in his hand, either knowingly or unknowingly, is always there. For, all that glitters is not gold, as the saying goes!
The devil’s designs:
The pomp and splendor, glamour and gloss that is portrayed everywhere, and especially in the media, can lead you, even without you knowing it initially, into the hand of the devil, whose plan is one of destruction that takes you away from the purposes of God. It can also happen by what takes place within you. For, being unforgiving, opens the door for the devil to sneak in, only to pollute your thoughts, and make you subscribe to his plan, in order to bring you down, which is ultimately his agenda. We are not ignorant of his designs, says the apostle Paul as he counsels the church in Corinth [2 Corinthians 2:11].
And may it be the wisdom from God even in your life this day, that gives you the strength to put away any bitter, unforgiving thought in you. For, vengeance is Mine, I will repay, are the very words of God, And you will see that it will involve a glorious vindication, as He makes your righteousness in Christ, shine like the noonday sun. It could be in your family relationships, your workplace, or your ministry, but, wherever you feel threatened, and can see the evil one at work through people, as you submit to God, and in the process by default, resist the devil, the grace of God will carry you through, giving you victory, through Christ your Savior and Lord.
The devil wanted to be seated in heaven, to be like the Most High, and owing to his pride was hurled down to earth, and the one thing he attempts to do now is to keep you from following the things of God. For, he knows very well that as a child of God, your ultimate destiny is to be seated in the heavens, as heir of God, and co-heir with Christ. But the wonderful truth is that, yes, he may have a plan, but you do not have to fall prey to it, for it is for freedom that Christ has set you free!
Then again, it could also be the people in your life, who have their own plans concerning you. It needs to be dealt with, and in graciousness and love, for they may not always be having your best interests at heart.
The plans of others:
It may not appear so at the outset, but with the eyes of your heart opened, you will be able to discern the plans that others have concerning you, more often than not has a tinge of selfishness hidden in it. It may sound cynical, but people do tend to use you for their benefit, and then when your usefulness has come to an end, ‘use and throw’, or worse still, ‘use, crush, and throw’, could become your sad experience. And it is why, Paul’s question, Lord, what do YOU want me to do? – becomes so vitally significant. For with the Lord, there is no retirement plan for you or a golden handshake that subtly dismisses you, as being no longer useful to Him. When appointed by Him, you remain useful to Him, as long as you remain in His plan.
Judas is a sad example of how one can so easily be tempted to become a pawn in the devil’s agenda, in his betrayal of the Lord, only to experience a miserable end to his life on earth. For in his remorse, as he turned to the people who had lured him into doing it, he was very bluntly turned away, and all because he was no longer useful to them. He was not part of their plan anymore. And, ultimately it was the devil who had the last laugh in the life of Judas.
But, it is a totally different scenario when you know God; for it is eternal life, as you know His will for you by surrendering to His higher plan. You will know then, that life is more than mere earthly possessions, but about storing up treasures in heaven, lasting possessions that moth and rust cannot destroy. And the key that unlocks it all is the ‘I’ in you, that needs to be laid down in willing submission unto God, even as the apostle Paul did.
No longer ‘I’, but Christ:
The ‘self’ in you can make all the difference. For the ‘self’, with God not where He needs to be, can also accomplish a lot to amaze the world. But the word of God gives the proper perspective concerning it all, from the life of the man, who in the scriptures, was a builder, a landscape designer, a writer, and a poet laying down life’s principles that still remain, to speak wise counsel into your heart and mine. And yet, in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, the king and the preacher, who accomplished it all, owing to moving away from the plan and purposes of God, found everything under the sun to be meaningless or vanity. It is what can happen in your life and mine with anything that is done without the guidance of God when you do not begin and also remain in the center of His will and plan. Man-made plans however impressive they may initially appear to be, will all ultimately come to nothing, bringing only a feeling of emptiness even in your own soul.
Laying hold – of the Master’s plan!:
Paul with great zeal was proceeding in the wrong direction when in a blaze of glory, he was met by the Lord Himself, whom until then he could not see as Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Immersed as he had been in the theoretical knowledge of the scriptures, it was only now that he had a revelation in his spirit, to know that Christ, was the King of kings and Lord of lords. And he became a mighty instrument in the hand of God when he surrendered himself in zealous obedience to the Master’s plan. It was how much later, as he testified about his transformation, Paul was able to describe his journey of faith from then on as a pressing on towards the goal, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me [Philippians 3:12].
Paul remained thankful for the Lord’s intervention in his life, to put him on the right path, that would see him fulfilling the plan of God, His divine purpose that would lead to life eternal and love unending. And, even in your life and mine, any plan that is not according to the purposes of God, will end up being problematic, as king Solomon found it to be in his latter days. The society around you, which is a self-centered, satan-dominated world system, may dictate its own terms concerning the nature of the legacy you leave behind, but the words of Paul point you in the right direction.
And God’s word of counsel and truth sets you free from what could be blocking your path ahead, the ‘I’ in you, that may want to have its own way. It is on subduing it, that His divine plan is revealed to you, step by step, as you walk in a relationship of progressing intimacy with Him, day by day, to make your life count, in the kingdom of God. Therefore, even as you give your life unto the Father, in prayer, for Him to have His way in you, may He lead you to the place, of knowing that Christ Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And may you be guided by the light of His word, to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of you. May it become your portion in life, all by His amazing grace. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
