EVERY LIFE IS A PLAN OF GOD
Jer. 1:4-19
Morning Meditation 7/28/17
"Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee."
It is good to know that every life is a plan of God. He knows in advance what His will is for our lives. The only way man can truly be happy on earth and have a destiny that is eternally joyful is to discover God’s plan for our lives and cooperate with Him in it. To know this and see so many that are evidently missing God’s plan is very sad. When man goes about to secure his own happiness, he is absolutely sure to miss it. Man by nature does not think right and does not see life from the divine viewpoint. Therefore he makes all his plans for this life and never discovers that he was not made for self glory in this life. Man is made for the glory of God. The Bible clearly says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..
Paul tells us in Colossians 1:27, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" The only hope of glory is Jesus Christ dwelling within. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, this creates and inward man just the right size for the Holy Spirit to dwell within. He then makes our bodies the Temple of the Holy Spirit and this is the same as Christ dwelling within. Romans 8:9 says, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Go to God Himself, and ask for the calling of
God; for as certainly as He has a plan or calling
for you, He will somehow guide you into it . . .
By His hidden union with God, or intercourse
with Him we get a wisdom or insight deeper than
we know ourselves; a sympathy, a oneness with
the Divine will and love. We go into the very plan
of God for us, and are led along in it by Him,
consenting, cooperating, answering to Him, and
working out with the nicest exact that good
end for which His unseen counsel girded us and
sent us into the world. In this manner we can
never be greatly at a loss to find our way into
God’s counsel and plan.
—Horace Bushnell
If there is a divine plan for our lives, and I believe there is, we should not expect it to be like an architect’s blueprint. Or like a travel agent’s itinerary, all complete with dates, places, and times. We are not automatons controlled by a heavenly computer! Divine guidance concerns people who have been endowed with the awesome power of free choice. Every day we have to make decisions and choices, some of wich will affect our whole future. The fact that we have been created in the divine age adds an eternal dimension to these decisions.
“Behind the scenes where we cannot see,
A hand divine works the things that be,
And brings to my path the scheme devised
By the Maker of earth who built the skies,
But He leaves me to choose the life He plans,
Or to walk the way of self’s demands,
To build on the rock or the sinking sands.”
J. Oswald Sanders
Sanders says, “The circumstances surrounding our lives are not accidental but are devised by an all-wise and loving Father, who knows how best we can glorify Him and yet at the same time achieve our own highest good. When this becomes a conviction, believed and accepted, then every part of life becomes significant, and life itself becomes one long voyage of discovery of God and of our own true selves.”
“Divine guidance is neither mechanical nor automatic, for God does not treat us a robots but as intelligent beings, When He guides, He does so in such a way as to lead us into a wholesome maturity and a growing likeness to Christ. The whold guidance process is calculated to increase our knowledge of God Himself, not only of His will. “ . . . everyone undergoes discipline . . . God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness (Heb. 12:8,10). “
Our heavenly Guide does not deal with us en masse, but has personal and individual transactions with each. Since each of us is unique, He employs as many methods as there are people. In describing the particularity of the Father’s care for His children, Jesus used a striking figure of speech in Matthew 10:30, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." This gives us assurance that no detail of heredity, no peculiarity of temperament, no handicap in environment escapes His compassionate eye. With infinite wisdom and sympathetic understanding He plans for us in love.
Many young Christians, and some older ones too, are inclined to regret not being like someone else that they admire. Do you know that those whom you admire are like they are because they were gifted by the Lord to be that way. And do you know they couldn’t be like you no matter how hard they tried? Because you are like you are because that is the way God made you and gifted you. If we compare ourselves among ourselves we are not wise, according to the Apostle Paul. The Lord makes us the way He wants us and places us in the body where he wants us and we have the privilege of serving Him in that capacity.. And He is satisfied. That is, unless we refuse to use the gift He gave us, and sit around complaining because we can’t be like someone else!!!
With a constant prayer on our hearts, and with an open Bible daily, let’s find out what He wants and do it with joy. If you do you will definitely have people who will envy you and want to be like you. May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
