He Still Has a Plan

He Still Has a Plan

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

‘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.’

Jeremiah 29:11, NIV.

TODAY’S WORD

The scripture tells us that without vision, people perish. If you don’t have a dream or vision for your life, then you’re not really going to reach your fullest potential. Maybe at one time you had a dream, but you went through some disappointments or setbacks. Things didn’t turn out the way you planned. But here’s a key: when one dream dies, dream another dream. Just because it didn’t work out the way you had it planned doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have another plan.

You cannot allow one disappointment or even a series of disappointments to convince you that your dream is over. It’s time to dig your heals in and hold on to the promises in your heart. Stir up those God-given dreams today and watch Him pour out His favor and blessing upon you and fulfill every desire in your heart!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, I come humbly to You. I give You my past, my disappointments, my brokenness. Fill me with Your hope and expectation and give me the dreams and desires that You have in store for my life in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Giving is an Opportunity to Show Your Love

3 hours ago 

Jon Walker

You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 2 Corinthians 9:13 (NLT)   

My mother gave me a great gift and that is sensitivity about giving gifts. She taught me giving a gift is an opportunity to show you’ve thought about the person, taking time to discover likes and needs.

What this translates into is you don’t use Christmas to give a household item you were going to purchase anyway: “Gee, honey, thanks for the vacuum cleaner.” Or, you don’t give your eighty-year-old aunt a power drill (unless that’s what she really wants!). The fact that there are so many returns after Christmas and so many gift cards purchased (okay, I buy them too) shows we’re not taking the time to make gifts personal, and that means we’re not taking the time to truly know one another.

But, as Pastor Rick has been teaching us, God is a giver and to become like him, we must become givers: “The godly are generous givers.” (Psalms 37:21 NLT) God so loved the world that he gave, and our giving is meant to be rooted in God’s love.

Here’s the thing: just like gifts, love operates as personal. Jesus came in person. He didn’t come to us as a religion, a set of laws, or merely as an ideal; he came in person. Through his death and resurrection he brings us into the personal embrace of a passionate and loving relationship.

We live in an increasingly impersonal world where “don’t call us until you’ve read through all the frequently asked questions” is the norm, and when we finally do call, we get a recorded voice.

And this makes it all the more important that we stay focused this Christmas on the truth that we are from God, the Creator and Protector of all that is personal. Through our personalized expression of love for each other we proclaim: “Do you want to see who the person of God is and how he personally loves us? Watch how we love one another.”