HE HAS A GOOD PLAN FOR US!

I wanted to get 2 posts in this week, but I had to prepare to preach on Wednesday for FREEtheINSIDE's 1st service. It was an amazing time, and the Lord moved powerfully among us. He is faithful.

Have you ever had a season where you looked at your life and said,

"What happened to me?"

"How did this happen?"

as if you had really great intentions at some point... your eyes were set to walk a path abundant with promise, yet something happened and you got off course. It was subtle and progressive, but somehow you got out in the deep with no life jacket.

I certainly have been in this place. I certainly have asked these questions. A few times. Ok, more times than I would really like to admit. As humbling as these times are, these questions have always led to major transitions in my life where there was a change for the better. It brings me to a point where I am now able to admit I am a horrible navigator as far as my life is concerned. I then become aware that my Creator has a purpose for me and He is able to bring about the change on my inside that enables me to fulfill it. It really wasn't until that full revelation of who Jesus was and what He did, did I understand I really wasn't left to myself to figure everything out for my life. Thank God! A weight lifts from my heart and mind knowing that His hands can guide. His hands can lead as I trust that every step will be revealed at it's proper time. But this clarity can be a fight to maintain. It can be a fight to hang on to this truth... and this surrender.

TRUTH:
Do you know that the Lord has a good plan for us? Sometimes irresponsible preachers or pastors can paint a condemning picture of how God thinks about us... and His intentions toward us. Like He has a checklist in hand, waiting to bless us or curse us based on our performance in life. Wrong. LIE. Don't get me wrong, any sin has consequences. Without Jesus they have eternal ones. Yet the unfortunate things that happen in life come mostly from our OWN bad choices (or someone else's). The Lord does not have a paddle in His hand waiting to spank us when we "get out of line". He does however want us to receive the work of Jesus on the Cross because that is where we find the forgiveness, love, and redemption which empowers us to get back on track, back on the path we found ourselves so far from. Whether someone else's bad decisions or sin have affected us greatly or our own, our lives can be restored in the hands of Jesus.

This is the Lord's TRUE intention toward us (Jeremiah 29:11):

New International Version (©1984)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

New Living Translation (©2007)
For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

English Standard Version (©2001)
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.

What are His plans toward us? Let's say it together and NEVER FORGET IT... FOR GOOD! TO PROSPER! NOT TO HARM! NOT FOR DISASTER! FOR WELFARE! NOT FOR EVIL! TO GIVE US HOPE! TO GIVE US A FUTURE! This is the TRUTH. This is the HOPE that's in CHRIST. All we have to do is call upon Him. After declaring His good plan for His people in that verse He continues:

"Then when you call upon me and come pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore you..." (Jeremiah 29:12-14)

See what a good God He is. He really is for us, not against us. But the devil always tries to get us to think that the Lord isn't good... that the bad things that have happened in our lives are His fault. LIE. That's why there is a fight of faith that we must endure.

Personal Story:
My personal story regarding my own fight to hold onto the truth that God is good all the time and His plan for me was a good one is long and intense. With this said, my next post will ONLY be my PERSONAL STORY of how this truth was tested... not by God but by the enemy of my soul. If you have never believed there was an enemy of God, well I am ready to challenge that. Next post of my personal story will hopefully be posted by Sunday:)

Word for Today:
The Lord is good all the time. The times we have felt that He was less than good are lies. These lies come from a wrong knowledge about God either imparted by misguided ministers, our own made up ideas about who God is and His ways, or Satan who the Bible calls the "father of lies". We need to know the REAL Jesus, the REAL Father, and the very REAL Holy Spirit that helps impart the LIFE we have been given in Christ. Bring us back to life Lord!



Kim Winston Bigler
FREEtheINSIDE Ministries

(this entry is dedicated to the clients of the Pregnancy Resource Center of San Fernando)