Plans

Something to think about.

Plans

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Is it a secret? The plans He has for you are they a secret? This is an inspiring, invigorating, motivating verse. However, taken in context, it is not secretive. God promised His people He would restore them back to their homeland. 

It is important that when we recite this verse, we keep it in context. We have to know what God's plans are for our lives. It does you no good to recite this verse without knowing His plans for your life. In Jeremiah 29:10 God tells Israel His plans. In verse 11 God is expanding on what He has already promised. Verse 11 is not a mystery verse of hopeful expectations. It is an explanatory statement tied to verse 10. God is referring to the prophecy He gave to Jeremiah. He is reassuring Israel of His good intentions.

What are the dreams God has placed in your heart? In Jeremiah God is speaking to captives and telling them I have a dream for you. A dream of freedom and restoration. He even tells them the time frame for the fulfillment of the dream. So, when verse 11 is made it is not something new it is the confirmation of an intended result. 

What dream do you have buried in your heart? What dreams have laid dormant in your life for years? Bring those dreams to the fore of your mind and then repeat express, recite and claim verse 11 of Jeremiah 29.

What if God has placed a dream in you too turn the world back to Him.  For years your dream has laid dormant in the furthest recesses of your mind. But now your God is saying to you "I know the plans I have for you." He is saying to you this is the time, this is the place I will bring this about through you.

All of the promises of God require one thing your action. Even the free gift of salvation requires something. John 3:16 (KJV) ¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The condition of salvation is a belief in Jesus. 

The plans of God for you require the same thing your belief in Him.  Those dreams long regulated to the area of fantasy are they dreams God has placed in your heart? Dreams that require no more than belief in the God who put them there?  You must believe His plans for your life are for your benefit.

Leia Mais…

Family of Faith

Something to think about.

Family of Faith.

¹⁰ As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10

As some of you know this is the mission statement of the Faith Business Alliance. The reason I choose this verse is that it best describes what I envision the Faith Business Alliance doing.  Helping all people but especially those of the family of Faith.  This has been a motivating verse in my life. It is the reason I do much of what I do in the church. As I think about this verse I ask myself what else can I do to fulfill the heart of this verse, what can I do to help those in the family of faith. 

I would like to see the church become or return to be more responsive time. A time when we were more interested in the needs of our brothers and sisters. I don't just mean those who are in immediate need but all of us. We need as a family to begin to share the wisdom and knowledge the Lord has blessed us with.

The Lord never intended for us to keep what he has taught us to ourselves. We have a spiritual responsibility to get involved in the lives of our brothers in sister in helping them to accomplish the dreams the Lord has placed in their hearts.

Who is better equipped to help them than we? Who can love them into the next level in their lives if not us? We need to overcome our fear of involvement in the lives of our families. Now I am not talking about being noisy or busybodies but advisers and mentors to those who are in need of our help both in the Lord and in business. We need to get involved in such a way as to positively impact the lives of others especially of those of the family of faith. 

The New Testament speaks of us as being parts of the same body.  We need to move from the allegorical into the actual and begin to understand that we need each other to accomplish what the Lord has placed in our hearts. We cannot continue and should not continue to look outside of the church for mentors and advisers that are not part of the family of God.  If we engage with other believers in every area of life would not the blessing of God flow from one to the other? I am not asking for something out of the ordinary we do these things with people outside the body of Christ on a consistent basis. I am saying let's begin to look inside the church and strengthen each other. As we strengthen ourselves, we will more effectively impact our society with the truth of Christ. 

¹⁰ As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10 

How can I help you? 

Leia Mais…

Kit and Caboodle

Something to think about.

Kit and Caboodle

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)

If this verse only ended with"visible and invisible" but no it doesn't. It goes right on to claim ownership of the whole kit and caboodle.  I am not able to manipulate the words in these verses and turn it into something other than what it says. God is taking responsibility for all things that exist.  Which is only logical if you accept what it says in verse 16, or in Genesis 1:1.

Now we can get into a philosophical discussion on cause and affect about the genesis of evil and attempt to place it at God's feet. Thereby accusing him for all the evil in the world. After all, he does take responsibility for everything that's been created. Except for taking responsibility for something is not the same as saying I am the creator of the thing. 

For instance, if your child goes out and performs acts of violence as in "Son of Sam" his parents must take responsibility for him but not for his actions. You might argue that the parents are responsible because they bore and raised him. The reality is that at some point you can not continue to blame the parents. The blame is solely on the perpetrator, it is on the child who decided of his own accord to be violent.  Likewise, God is responsible for creating all things, but He is not responsible or to blame for the choices we make. In the end, it is not Gods fault we sin. He created everything for His glory and our pleasure. We perverted that intent of our own accord. By the corruption of perfection with sin, we turned perfection into principalities and powers of evil.  

"All things were created through him and for him." If we accept all things were made by Him, why would have he created evil? All things were not just made by Him they were made through and for Him. So all things have there origin Him, and He is perfect as the bible claims. It is impossible for perfection to come from imperfection as it is impossible for imperfection to come from perfection. Sin was introduced into the world through choice resulting in the corruption of perfection. Evil came into being not because God created it but because He gave man a choice. Man made a choice, and the choice man made lead to evil.  

God is responsible for creating the condition where a choice could be made.  We could have chosen perfection or imperfection. The choice we made had the inevitable consequence of evil. God is still offering us the same choice pick Him and live in eternal perfection, i.e., sinless perfection. Or choose imperfection, i.e., sin which leads to inevitable self-destruction. Whichever choice you make whether perfection or imperfection it will not be Gods fault it will be your choice and hence your fault. 
If you choose perfection, evil can't exist. If you choose to sin, evil is the prerequisite result.

Leia Mais…

Same Jesus

Something to think about.

Same Jesus

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:11 NIV

This is an unusual moment. Jesus has been resurrected for 40 days and now before his disciples and the public he is ascending into heaven.  This event is so amazing. The only time in the history of mankind we see another realm of existence interact with our physical world.

It is our hope in the concrete form of our future.  It is the actualization of the totality Christianity. It is what we live and breathe for.  The resurrection and transformation of our lives to our permanent, eternal life.  Jesus is ascending into a different life. A different existence.  

He is showing us what the future holds for us.  In this amazing moment, he leaves the audience captive. So much so that angels in human form have to address them and tell them what has happened. They pronounce or define what they have just seen. These two witnesses give humanity a hope that is not equaled anywhere in the world. He will return in the same way he left.  

Christ will return. It is what separates Christianity from any other belief system in the world.  The subject of our hope and faith is actually coming back for us. He will return. This moment this occurrence is beyond the imaginings of anyone.  The risen savior of humanity has ascended to His home from where He came. He left us with a promise of His return and our reuniting with Him.  

The really amazing thing is this we, those who believe in Him are the only ones with this hope. The rest of the world is hoping in what? There is no substance for their hope.  We have the substance of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. We have the testimony of many an eyewitness. We have the fulfillment of prophecy. We have the witness of the Holy Spirit in us. We have a hope and faith In the one that defeated and conquered the grave. 

".......This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11 NIV

Leia Mais…