God's Blueprint For Life

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16, 17 (NKJV)

Years ago I worked at a company that built wooden beams and arches that were used in the construction of different kinds of buildings.  We made beams and arches of various sizes but every project started the same, we had to look at the blueprint.  Our foreman received the blueprint from the company office that listed the specific details for that beam or arch.  To correctly complete the job we had to pay attention to the blueprint and build that beam or arch accordingly.  We could not just decide among ourselves what we wanted it to look like; we had to follow the blueprint to be successful.

In the Old Testament Israel built the Tabernacle in the wilderness and later a Temple.  In each situation God gave them a specific pattern to follow.  The people involved could not just decide how they wanted these things to look.  God gave them each building's dimensions and told them what materials to use.  If Israel had deviated from the plans that God gave them they would have built something but it would not have been what God wanted them to build.  The same thing is true today, God has a blueprint for us to use for our life, His Word, and to build a successful life we have to follow God's plan.

In 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 we see that God's Word is what we need to be complete and equipped for every good work.  The Bible shows us how to build correct doctrine, how to live a righteous life, and it gives us guidelines to correct us and keep us on the right course.  God is a lot smarter than we are and He knows best how we should build our life.  Too many times people have gone through life and built something, but it was not what God wanted.  It is not up to us to decide how we will build our life, we need to go to God's Word for our own blueprint; to be successful we must follow God's plan.

Do As You Wish?

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts."
Proverbs 21:2 (NKJV)

Recently I saw a bumper sticker that read, "Do as you wish".  My initial reaction was that this is a poor standard to live life by and it reminded me of a saying that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s where people proclaimed, "If it feels good, do it".  While these two statements are very similar neither of them can be found in the Bible, at least in a good sense.  However, these two statements represent the way that many people believe they should be able to live.  Many people have the idea that true freedom and liberty is found in being able to do what you want to do and in expressing yourself.

There are several Bible verses that deal with this idea of a person doing whatever they believe is right.  Proverbs 21:2 and Proverbs 16:2 both talk about a person considering what they do to be right but God weighs, or measures, the heart, the spirit.  Our outward actions may please us and make us feel good but no matter what a person does on the outside God knows what is happening on the inside.  What are our motives for doing what we do?  Are we simply being selfish and looking for personal satisfaction or do we consider others and even God with how we live our life?

Some people, including Christians, think the main goal in life is to be happy and that this is achieved through self-expression and personal fulfillment.  The problem with that is that it is all about our feelings and desires without any consideration necessarily being given to what God want us to do and how our actions impact others.  What we do may make us happy but does it make God happy?  Is what we are doing right in our own eyes but offensive to others?  Does our lifestyle agree with what the Bible teaches or only with current trends in society?  To live a truly successful life that pleases God we cannot just do what we please but our goal must be to please God and live a life that reflects Him and His Word to others.

Do You Need A Nose Job?

"Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer."
2 Corinthians 5:16 (NKJV)

A while ago I saw a story about a girl who four years earlier, when she was fourteen, had some cosmetic surgery done, something that is commonly referred to as a "nose job".  Why did she do that?  Was it because someone paid her a lot of money to do it or that she had so much free time she thought she would have some surgery done?  The reason was because she believed the procedure would improve her appearance.  While I am all in favor of people doing things to improve themselves there is a limit and trying to surgically alter your appearance at fourteen is usually not a good idea.

It is very likely that this girl had the same problem that many others do, a poor self-image.  Why do people have this problem?  The reason is that they are more focused on their outward appearance than they should be.  If most people were honest about it they would tell you that they have some physical characteristic about themselves that they do not like: their nose is too big, their ears are too small, their hair is too curly or too straight, they are too skinny or too fat, etc., etc.  Many people are more focused on their outward appearance than they are on their inner, spiritual condition.

In 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul said he was committed to not regarding anyone according to the flesh, in other words Paul was saying he was more focused on what was inside a person than what was on the outside.  This is the way we need to think too; as the old saying goes, "Beauty is only skin deep".  Our value is not based on how we look; there is more to a person than just what is seen on the outside.  We need to see ourselves from the inside out and focus less on the "outer man" and be more concerned about the spiritual condition of our "inner man" and our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Know Your Place And Stay In Your Place

"Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who wanders from his place."
Proverbs 27:8 (NKJV)

There is a saying "A place for everything and everything in its place" that carries the idea of the best way to keep things in order is to keep them where they belong.  There are certain places where things should be and it is important to know where that place is.  For example the refrigerator is in the kitchen, the bed is in the bedroom, and the shower is in the bathroom.  There would be some problems if the bed was in the bathroom, the refrigerator was in the bedroom, and the shower was in the kitchen, none of that would work well.

Proverbs 27:8 compares a bird that wanders from its nest to a man who wanders from his place.  Birds build nests as a place of safety for themselves and their young, the further a bird goes from its nest the more potential there is for that bird to have trouble and to be in danger.  We all have a place in life where we belong, naturally and spiritually, and if we go away from that place we can get into trouble.  If we have responsibilities with our family, at our church, or on our job then that is our place.  If we get away from our place by not fulfilling our responsibilities then we can find ourselves in trouble.

One of the best things we can do is to find our place in God's plan.  God helps us with this by giving us direction through His Word and by the Holy Spirit.  Once we are in our place we need to stay there, we do that by being faithful in what we do and by doing whatever we do for God with excellence.  We may look at others and think that they are great and that we want to do what they are doing; but that is their place and not our place, we need to stay where we are and do what we know is right to do.  To be successful we need to know our place, naturally and spiritually, and stay in our place.

Declaring Your Independence

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

July 4 in the USA is a National Holiday commonly known as Independence Day.  This is the day that commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence and when the Thirteen Colonies that would become the United States declared their independence from England.  This was not when the War of Independence ended (that was in 1783) or even the actual day that the Declaration of Independence was signed (that was on August 2, 1776).  But, July 4 is the day that we remember and celebrate those things that happened and what they mean for us.

None of us who believe that Jesus is the Son of God were there when He walked the earth and no Christian today was alive to witness the crucifixion of Jesus or when He was raised from the dead.  But we can still remember and celebrate what Jesus has done and all that it means to us.  We can declare our independence from the devil and sin even though we live in a world that is still influenced by the devil and sin.  Being a Christian does not mean that we will never face another problem in life but we can live in the liberty the Jesus purchased for us through His blood.

The Thirteen Colonies declared themselves to be independent and free before they saw the actual results of their declaration.  In the same way, no matter what is happening in our life or what we may be dealing with, we must find out what the Bible has to say and then boldly make that our declaration.  What we need to do today is to declare our independence from any and everything that would try to harm or hinder us and to take a stand in faith about who we are in Christ; we must declare the truth of God's Word and walk in the liberty that has Jesus provided!

Words Without Wisdom

"Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom."
Job 34:35 (NKJV)

Have you ever met someone who likes to talk a lot?  Maybe you are or have been that kind of person.  At times most of us have been guilty of thinking that if we use enough words somehow that makes us either look smart or it helps us make a point and state our case.  The truth is that quantity does not always equal quality, this is true with words as well as with many other things.  For example, if you have 100 gold bars that would be great but if you had 100 rocks it would not mean much.  Or you could have just one bar of gold and it would still be more valuable than 100 rocks.

If you read the book of Job you will see that there was a lot of talking going on.  In the first two chapters of Job we see Job's problems and then his friends show up.  Then, from Job chapter 3 all the way through Job chapter 31, Job and his three friends talk, and talk, and talk.  But, they don't come up with any answers or solve any problems, they just talk, and talk, and talk!  There are a lot of different ideas that people have about Job and what happened to him and my goal is not to give any explanation about the book of Job but rather to point out that all of the talking they did produced nothing.

Many people talk a lot but they still don't really have anything to say, this was the case of Job and his friends as well as many people today.  It is nice to have something to say but is that something we say worth anything?  Is what we say helpful, constructive, and encouraging or are we like the situation we see in Job where there were a lot of words but no wisdom.  It is easy to find people who talk a lot but it is not so easy to find someone who really has something to say.  We need to speak the truth of God's Word to ourselves and others to be sure that we have something valuable to say.

What Is God Like?

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow of turning."
James 1:17 (NKJV)

There are several ways that you can get to know someone.  One way is to spend time with them and see how they act.  You can get to know a person by talking to them and hearing them tell you what they think about different things.  You can also learn what someone is like by reading things they have written; what a person says on social media, if they have a blog, or if they have written books, anything someone writes will tell you about them and what they are like.  The key is to find out what the person is really like and not just what others might say about them.

Many people are not sure what God is really like.  Some people base their understanding of God on past experience, by watching the lives of Christians, and even by church teaching and tradition.  But those things are not necessarily the best methods of getting to know God; our past experiences may not be biblical, the lives of others may not accurately reflect who God is, and what a church teaches may just be man's ideas or traditions.  To really know and understand God we need to take a look at what the Bible says about who God is, what He is like, and what He does.

God has revealed Himself to us through His Word.  James 1:17 says that God gives good and perfect gifts, that shows us that if something bad comes into our life then we can be sure that God did not send it.  In Psalm 35:27 it tells us that God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, so we know that God wants us to prosper and succeed in life.  1 Peter 3:12 says that God's eyes are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers, which shows us that God is watching over us and He is ready to hear and answer when we pray.  Don't take someone's word for what God is like, get to know God through His Word.

Prayer Projects

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;"
Colossians 4:2 (NKJV)

Whether it was on the job or at home, at one time or another pretty much everyone has had some type of project to do.  Depending on the work that needed to be done the project may have only taken a little bit of time or it may have lasted for quite a while.  We might start a project thinking it will take us a certain amount of time but once we begin the project we find that what is required to finish the work is more than we had planned on so the time we spend on that project is longer than originally anticipated.  But no matter what, for a project to be done right we have to stay with it until it is finished.

In Ephesians 6:18 Paul talks about praying with all kinds of prayer.  We always use the Word of God as our foundation for prayer, no matter what we are praying about we first find out what the Bible says and then we pray.  Many people are familiar with the prayer of faith where we ask God for something He promised in His Word; we pray and believe and that is the end of the prayer, once you have asked in faith you don't keep asking again and again, otherwise you did not ask in faith.  But there are some things that we pray about that become prayer projects and then we pray in a different way.

Paul said he prayed for people repeatedly (Ephesians 1:15, 16; Colossians 1:9) and Paul asked that people pray that he would have opportunities to speak and the right words to say (Colossians 4:3; Ephesians 6:19), these things could be called prayer projects, things that can be prayed about often.  Some prayer projects like these are the kind that we just keep on praying about repeatedly and some prayer projects are the kind that we pray about several times and then see the result, which brings that prayer project to an end.  There are many different prayer projects we could have but no matter what, once we have that project in prayer we continue with it and expect to see results.

Are We There Yet?

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

When I was a child our family took different trips to visit relatives or to go on vacation.  Some trips were longer than others but one thing that happened on just about every trip was that I or one of my three brothers would ask our parents the question that every child asks, "Are we there yet?"  The problem was that we wanted to reach our destination sooner than we would and in our view the trip took too much time.  But as long as we were taking the right course we would get to where we needed to go, maybe just not as fast as my brothers or I had hoped.

God has a path and a plan for each of us and our goal in life should be to do the will of God and to follow His plan.  But, while there is a plan for our life there is no set time for that plan to come to pass and each person's plan is different.  We may be in the perfect plan and will of God and still think that it is taking too long to achieve all of the goals that God has given us.  Just like children who are impatient with the amount of time it takes to reach a destination, we too can lose our focus on what is really important if we get caught up in the wrong things.

Our part in the plan and will of God for our life is to recognize that plan and to then follow God's direction.  It is not up to us to decide what that plan should be or if it is working to our satisfaction, God's plan is not subject to our approval as to whether it is happening as fast as we think it should or in the way we think it should, this is often where we have problems.  Find the plan and will of God for your life through the Word of God and by listening to the Holy Spirit, then when you are on that path keep on going, knowing that God will help you reach your destination.

What Future Investments Are You Making?

"Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'do not murder,' 'do not steal,' 'do not bear false witness,' 'honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich."
Luke 18:18-23 (NKJV)

There are many things that you can invest in.  You can invest your money in stocks, bonds, and precious metals.  You can invest your time in your work, hobbies, family, and friends.  You can invest your efforts and energy into sports, being productive on your job, and self-improvement.  Whatever you invest into will give you some return.  While all of these things we can invest in are good things not all of them will produce the same return, not all are equally profitable.

Some people think the story in Luke 18 shows that God wants everyone to be poor.  But the issue was not finances or possessions, the real point of the story is investment; Jesus wanted the young man to make the right kind of investments with his life and resources.  This young man had done some good things, he had made some good natural investments, but there were other things he needed to do, there were other eternal, spiritual investments that he needed to make.

Where do we invest our money, our time, our efforts and our energy?  All of the things we do will bring a return of some kind but not all of the things we do will make the right kind of future, eternal investments.  There are natural things that are good for us to invest in but we must make God's Kingdom, His Church, our priority for our investments.  By putting our money, time, efforts, and energy into godly things we are making good, future, eternal investments.

I've Heard That Before

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

Have you ever been describing something to someone and part way through your description or explanation they stop you and say, "I already know that" or "I've heard that before", letting you know that they are not interested in hearing the rest of what you were going to tell them.  You might try to continue and share your information thinking that they don't really know what you are trying to say or you may even realize that they are misunderstanding what you are trying to explain to them.  But the other person remains convinced that they really don't need to listen to what you are saying.

Over the years that I have been a Christian, and especially during the years I have been in the ministry, I have had the experience of talking to someone and sharing with them a Bible verse or two that I believe can help them.  There have been several times when I have done this that people have responded with, "Yes, I already know that, I've heard that before".  But the truth is, if they really knew it or had heard it before and it was something that was a part of their life then their life would be different and I would not be talking to them about it.

No one has heard the truth from God's Word too many times or knows it so well that they don't need to be reminded of it.  We must be careful not to develop the "I know that, I've heard that before" attitude.  We need to hear the truth from God's Word over and over again, that is how we build our faith and stay strong in our faith.  Hearing and hearing the Word of God will help us to stay sharp spiritually and continue moving forward in God's plan for our life.

God Wants You!

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."
2 Chronicles 16:9a (NKJV)

Years ago there was a recruiting poster for the military that had the slogan "I Want You For The US Army".  The poster was used to recruit men to join the Army in 1917 and 1918 because the United States had entered World War I.  Today all of the branches of the military are volunteer so we don't see recruiting done in the same was as it was back then.  But whether it was done through the method of recruitment or just through people volunteering the situation was the same, there was a need that had to be filled.  Without people joining the military the military would not be able to do anything.

God does not use recruiting posters but He is looking for people to do the work He wants done in the earth today  The Bible tells us that as Christians we are the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) and Jesus is the Head (Ephesians 1:22, 23).  Naturally speaking, if we want to get anything done it will have to be done through our body.  We may have great plans and ideas in our head but if our body does not do anything then our plans and ideas will not be carried out.  The same thing is true spiritually; God's plans are carried out through His Body, the Church, that means God wants us to do His will.

Some people think that it is just pastors and other spiritual leaders that God uses to do His will.  But we are all a part of the Body of Christ and we all have something we need to do; God has given each of us a gift to use for His glory (1 Peter 4:10), so every part of the Body of Christ is necessary.  We need to be involved in what God is doing through our local church and we need to reach out to those around us who do not know Jesus as their Savior.  Today God is looking throughout the world for opportunities to show Himself through His people; God wants you to do His will.

Are You Easily Shaken?

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."
Proverbs 24:10 (NKJV)

Earthquakes are normally measured by what is known as the Richter scale, which ranges from 1 to 10 depending on the severity of the earthquake.  An earthquake that is a 1 on the Richter scale is not even noticeable but an earthquake that is a 4 on the Richter scale is very noticeable and an earthquake stronger than this starts to cause damage to buildings.  Some buildings are specifically designed to withstand most earthquakes while some poorly built structures being to fall apart at a much lower level.  How well something has been built determines if it will stand when the shaking starts.

How do we deal with difficult situations and the problems that we face?  How do we react to news that we did not expect to hear or did not want to hear?  When there is a problem or we unexpectedly get some negative news do we just fall apart or do we stand strong?  The answers to these questions tell us a lot about how easily we are shaken and how firm our foundation is.  As Proverbs 24:10 says "If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small".  If we want to stand strong in the day of adversity then we need more strength and a solid foundation.

How easily are we shaken by the challenges we face in life, what is the first reaction we have?  Leviticus 26:36 says that the sound of a shaken leaf will make some people flee.  This is what life can be like for someone who does not know Jesus, the least little thing can shake them up.  As Christians we cannot let just anything that happens shake us and make us lose our hold on what God has said in His Word.  We have to develop an absolute trust in God and His ability to help us in every situation to be sure we stand strong and do not get shaken in difficult times.  We do this through a continual process of spiritual growth and development.  Then, when we face the day of adversity we stand strong and overcome every time!

Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth

"The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever."
Psalm 119:160 (NKJV)

When someone is called into court to be a witness in a legal case their testimony will begin with them being asked a question, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" and the witness presumably will answer yes. The witness is then asked to tell what they know about the case before the court.  The witness is not supposed to give opinions, tell what they heard someone else say, or make a guess about something.  The witness is supposed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the questions they are asked.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and it is all about God's Word.  2 Timothy 2:15 tells us that we need to rightly divide the Word of truth and Ephesians 1:13 says that the Gospel is the Word of truth.  God's Word is the truth and it endures forever.  What we say is extremely important so when we talk about ourselves, our families, the situations we deal with in life, the challenges we face, our future, and anything else, we need to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about all of these things, we need to say what the Bible says.

Christians are new creations and the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21), able to do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13), the Lord is the strength of our life (Psalm 27:1), and God will supply all of our needs (Philippians 4:19).  We may read about this and it does not seem possible or we somehow feel unworthy of such a thing.  But no matter what others have said, what has happened in the past, what things look or feel like it is still true and we have to be sure we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; we must say what the Bible says.  That is how we live a victorious Christian life.

Blooming Where You Are Planted

"But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away."
Luke 8:13 (NKJV)

Recently I was out running and I saw something very strange.  The path I run on is close to the street and between the path and the street there are some places where shrubs have been planted.  The shrubs are not the nicest thing that could be planted in that space but for the location I suppose it is a good choice.  But, as I was running past one of these places where the shrubs are planted I saw a yellow tulip!  My first thought was that this was a nice change from the shrubs but then I thought about how this tulip is in the wrong place; this is not a place for tulips but for shrubs.

There is a saying that people use about blooming where you are planted.  This is a nice saying but it is not always completely true.  You may have a wonderful flower but if it is planted in the wrong place it will not bloom or even survive.  Palm trees are nice but you don't see many, if any of them, being planted in Germany.  Palm trees do well in a certain type of environment and not so well in others.  The same thing that is true with plants is true with people.  While I agree that in every situation and season of life we can grow, develop, and prosper it is important to be planted in the right place.

In the parable of the sower Jesus talked about the Word being sown as seed and how it produced results based on where it was planted and the conditions involved.  Some of the seed sown did not produce real, lasting results because the seed fell on rock and there was no possibility to take root there.  To really bloom where we are planted we must be sure we are planted in the right place.  If we plant our life into the wrong things we can hear the Word and hear the Word but we will not bloom like we should.  Be sure your life is planted in the Word of God and follow God's direction in life to be sure you are planted with the right people and situations as you should be, that is how you can bloom where you are planted.