TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 9TH JANUARY 2024)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 TLB
WELCOME TO THE 9TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Today, we will be looking at Bible truths on plans and counsels.
There are three basic plans that are influencing humanity on our planet earth today; the plans of God, the plans of man, and the plans of the evil one (the devil).
The plans you have for this year falls into either of them. Yes, they do!
Even if you do not have a plan, it still falls under one of these three, because not having a plan is a plan in itself; it is a plan to be like a ship on the high seas with no engine, just toassed here and there by the currents of life.
The best way to live an earthly life is to live it within God’s plans for it. The Bible sometimes call plans “counsels.” It says “the counsel of the LORD shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21).
Meaning any other plan may manifest but will never stand the test of time. Only that of God will both manifest and stand the test of time. That is why we need to live our days within His plans for our lives.
The plans of God are the only ideal plans for us. By default, we were designed to survive and thrive only within His plans for our lives. If you want to be happy and blessed this year, spend it within God’s plans for your life, your family, or your ministry.
The plans of the LORD are the only plans on planet earth that have a glorious future for any man. Sadly, many are living according to the plans of men and the evil one for their lives. That is why they are in misery.
We were not originally designed to succeed in our own plans for our lives, or any other plans, irrespective of how lofty they may look. We were designed to succeed in God’s plans.
Christianity is not receiving power from God to succeed in your own plans. That will be Christianity controlled by the spirit of Babylon – the spirit of this world.
Christianity is submitting your entire life to Jesus Christ and harmonizing it with His plans for your life. And if you have not heard it before, I want to announce to you through this devotional that God has a plan for you.
Your job is to discover and harmonize your life with it and His Holy Spirit is there to help you do just that. The rhythm your life will produce if you harmonize it with God’s plans for it will be supernaturally pleasant.
TWO WORDS WE CAN USE TO DESCRIBE IT ARE “PEACE” AND “PROSPERITY”.
Yes, because we live in an imperfect world there could be challenges, but the peace and the prosperity of God will always be available to deal with them.
It is very important to understand that your security, prosperity, protection, significance, and bearing in life are buried in the plan of God for your life. Stepping into it is the only key to turning them on.
Meaning, you cannot become anything significant in this life as a Child of God, until you step into God’s plan for your life. God designed so much to happen in our lives, not by prayer or fasting, singing or giving, but by stepping into His plans for our lives.
If we must pray and fast, sing or give, it must all be within God’s plans for our lives else it will just be a sacrifice of fools. There is the sacrifice of fools and it is not pleasant to offer it.
What God has designed to be turned on in your life by stepping into His plan, cannot be turned on by praying, fasting, or sowing seeds (as we call it today).
When the bad and ugly are always happening to you, it is a sign that you are either outside God’s plan for your life or you are not following them accurately. Stepping into God’s plan for your life remains the only solution to your entire life problems.
Life outside God’s plans can be very horrible. You will lack divine interventions when you need them most.
Many do not know that God does not just intervene in things. He will first look into the situation to see if the people in need of His intervention are in His plans for their lives.
If they are not, it will be difficult to secure it.
So, what He does in His love and mercy, is to first bring a people in need of His intervention into the knowledge of His plans for their lives, by sending interpreters of His will to teach them His word, ways and will, and disciple them to become Christlike.
The reason is to bring them into His plans for their lives, then intervene in their situation after they have said yes to Hm and aligned with Him. You see all that in so many stories of His dealings with virtually all Bible men and women.
From their lives, it is clear that the manifestation of divine interventions is a constant blessing of people who are rooted in divine plans. Take the nation of Israel for example.
THE BIBLE SAYS THEY WERE IN EGYPT FOR 400 YEARS.
They were in slavery most of that period. In simple terms, people were born in slavery, raised to be slaves, and died in slavery.
From historic records, there were other nations in slavery too. Though not Egyptian slavery. However, God did not bring them out of the fist of their task masters. It was only the Israelites He delivered.
The reason is obvious. Only the nation of Israel was in His plans; the plan of bringing redemption to the human race.
The easiest way to terminate the works of the devil in your life is to step into a divine plan of God for your life. Step into a Church that is God’s plan for your life. Submit to a minister of the gospel that is God’s plan for your life.
Get involved in any ministry that is in God’s plans for your life. Get married to a man or woman that is in God’s plan for your life. Pursue a career that is in God’s plan for your life. Buy a car or live in a house that is in God’s plans for your life.
If you limit yourself to things that are in God’s plans for your life, you will live the most amazing life on earth, irrespective of your spiritual foundation, the circumstances of your birth, or biological roots.
People who limit their lives just to things that are in God’s plans for them will end up living the most peaceful lives on earth.
When you step into God’s plan for your life, the enemy will step out of your life. God’s divine plans and demonic oppression cannot co-exist! Even in the realm of receiving blessing from God; what will come to you by stepping into God’s plans for your life, will never come to you through any other means!
Our devotional text quoted God saying;
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
GOD’S PLANS ARE THE ONLY PLANS WITH A FUTURE – A GLORIOUS FUTURE.
When you step into them, they could look bleak and unpromising, you have stepped into a glorious future in the making.
Now, having known all that, how do we step into God’s plan for our lives? It begins with a word from the LORD, a revelation of His will, ways, and paths.
In the kingdom of God, revelation knowledge is the starting place of coming into anything divine. If it has not been revealed to your senses, you will never live it on the face of the earth. So, find a church that teaches the Bible with revelation knowledge, not with greed and dark practices.
Such a Church must fit into the Potters House of Jeremiah 18, where God causes people to hear His word, and come into the revelation of His will, counsels for their lives, and pre-planned programs.
It must not be a house of divination and sorcery; but a house of teaching, because God will have to speak or reveal them to you personally. But without being taught, you will not have the mind set to receive them directly from the Holy Spirit. You will have to depend on prophets or people you consider more spiritual than you.
Due to the dispensation we find ourselves, God wants to reveal His plans for your life to you personally. But you will never come into them without having a foundational wisdom and knowledge of the word.
It is that foundation that will make it possible for you to come into an accurate revelation of what His plan for your life is. So, being in a Church that teaches you the living word, will serve as a prophetic hearing aid for you.
Yes, it will bring you to the spiritual depth you need to come into the revelation of God’s plan for your life.
Do not forget that anything about God, is not discovered on the surface of life, but revealed to the Heart in the deeper places of the Spirit. You will need a spiritual depth to come into any revelation that is true and accurate in God’s kingdom.
So, finding a church that will help you develop that depth is important. That is the word of the LORD for us today.
It is my prayer that you find the spiritual path to God’s plans for your life through this word, and that it be clear to you, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY.
“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.”
“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations.”
“Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.” Psalms 33:10-11 AMP