Does God Have A Plan For Your Life? NO!!!

I hear this quite frequently that “God has a plan for your life”. Yet many people are left wondering what that plan is for their life. Does He Want me to marry and who to? What kind of job does God want me to have? Does he want me to be a missionary, a preacher or an auto mechanic?

Each person has freedom of will to make his or her own decisions in life. We have the freedom to choose whether or not to believe God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and to accept him as lord. So also we have the freedom to choose what we will do with the rest of our lives. You might ask then, “what input does The Almighty have in my day to day life?”

When I was growing up, I never heard anyone except the crazy people in court say that God talked to them. It was just never mentioned. But now, all over Christianity, it is much more common to hear people speak of this subject. God never lost His tongue; we have just become more aware of His voice.

As we live our lives and plan our days, we make many plans. As we plan and prepare, God is right there with us to help, to lead and to direct just as He has done with others throughout history.

Acts 16:6-9 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

Paul really wanted to take God’s Word to the gentiles in Asia. It was part of what Paul had planned to do on his itinerary. But as he carried out his plan, God said, “No, Macedonia is where I need you next.” Later he went into Asia, and then, when the time was right, he established churches in Ephesus and Colosse and other cities of Asia.

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.
Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, And the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.

E.W. Bullinger has an interesting translation of Proverbs 16:1. “To man pertain the plans of his heart; but from Jehovah comes the final decree (the last word).” This is exactly what happened in the Apostle Paul’s life. He was an individual who understood that as a son of God, he had the freedom to choose which path in life he wanted to take but as he went about his daily work, he was attentive to his Father’s still small voice. God is at work within us to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is up to us to remember to listen to His still, small voice, to listen to His wisdom, to go with His sense of timing, to let Him have the last word. He is just as able and willing to talk to us today as He was in the past with Moses and Samuel and with Peter and Paul.
God has never stopped talking; we have just learned to listen.

So make some plans, just remember to listen.

The Circuit Rider

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Some folks look at bad situations and ask, “Why do these things happen?”
Some folks say evil in the world is caused by poverty, or lack of education, or other inequalities in the world.
Some say, “Well, it is just a difference of personalities.”

The Book of the ages tells us we are involved in a war whether we like it or not, whether we choose to admit it or recognize it. The only way to understand the battle is to go to the Word of God and see what God has to say. What He says may not be the popular opinion of the moment, but it is still the truth, even if it is an ancient truth.

Ephesians 6:11-12
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

In The Timeless Book we learn that all evil can ultimately be laid at the feet of the prince of the power of the air, the Devil. The Devil is the god of this world, and until he is put out of business we have to deal with his shenanigans.

God’s Word is a handbook on how to live in this present evil world victoriously through Jesus Christ. We cannot stop all evil from coming our way, but we can determine how we will handle it in our minds.

The Apostle Paul had some tremendously evil things happen to him in his life. When evil came his way, he did as many have done in the past; he called upon The Almighty for help. And help He did.!!!

Paul wrote at one point that he wanted the people of his time to know about the trouble he had in Asia, that he and those that were with him were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that they despaired even of life: But he also wrote that they did not trust in themselves to get out of the situation, “ but in God which raiseth the dead. This great Apostle also wrote that we are more than conquerors in every situation through him who loved us.

We may be cast down at times, but we are never destroyed because God has given us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord. We can claim that victory in our lives every moment of the day. We may not know the details of each battle that we have yet to fight; but having read The Book and having read the end of The Book, we know that the cause of all evil dies to live no more, and we live to never die. So put on your armor, wake up and fight!

Till the devil, death and hell are cast into the lake of fire,

The Circuit Rider

A New Generation, A Renewed Interest

This series of blogs will focus on the practical application of the Bible in daily life.

When I was very young, the great question that many asked is "How can a book that is so old be relevant in today’s advanced society (1960's)!!!

Well, I and many others found the answer to that question. It is a timeless book. The principles that are in it worked thousands of years ago, and they still work today. It only takes a small amount of thought to see that most of the principles taught by the great motivational speakers of our time come from the Bible. They have simply updated the language and expanded the information on how to implement them.

Many people today are looking for answers on how to:
 make their marriages work
 manage their employees
 get job promotion
 handle stress
 and on and on.

The timeless book of principles handles all these issues and many more. In the future we will delve into how to practically apply The Principles from The Book into daily life, and then you can see for yourself if The Book is worth reading and believing.

The Circuit Rider