By Dr. Steven Lambert
“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11)
God has plans for you and your life! The question is do YOU have a plan for your life — as a whole, and broken down into smaller increments — this year, next year, a 3-year plan, a 5-year plan?
The Hebrew word rendered “welfare” in the above verse is “shalom,” which is a very interesting word, that includes in it health, prosperity, and peace. Any plan that contains those things is a GREAT plan!
There’s an adage with numerous variations that goes something like this: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
God has plans for your life and HE knows what they are…yes, but that in itself is not ENOUGH! What determines your future and destiny, and whether or not you reach it, as well as reap the eternal rewards of it, is whether or not you KNOW what God’s plan is for your life and if YOU have a plan for attaining it.
Moreover, does your plan align with God’s plan for your life? If YOUR plans for your life do not match up with GOD’S plans for your life…well, there’s going to be some problems along the way, regardless of what you MAY achieve in your life by following YOUR plans. Certainly, those achievements, if they are not synchronized with God’s plans, won’t render the same rewards and satisfaction that following God’s plans for your life would.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish….” (Pro 29:18). The word rendered vision here connotes a plan for the future. The word rendered “perish” means “to languish,” which means to be living in a feeble, weak, dispirited, lacking vitality state without direction or purpose. It’s much like the Israelites wandering aimlessly in the dessert for 40-years on what was only an 11-day journey and never entering into the Promise Land. This passage is saying that without a vision or plan of action people languish.
A life-plan is a map for your life, that not only defines your target-destination, but also allows you to select the best roads to get there!
There’s an old saying that if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there!
A plan or vision mapping out a specific destination or destiny defines and dictates where you are going and the direction and pathways you need to take to get there. Moreover, a plan or life-map also defines and dictates roads and directions to avoid taking because they would only be deterrents and hindrances to reaching your target destination. Most wrong decisions people make that bring ruin to their life, often requiring years to overcome, are the result of not having a plan or a vision for their life.
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (Hab 2:2)
The best advice you can have for 2014 is to: Make a plan! Write it down, whether on paper, “tables” (tablets), or an electronic tablet. Make it plain, uncomplicated, practical, specific, and understandable, to map out the course for your life, so that you can run the race toward your own personal finish line!
Don’t get the paralysis of analysis! Don’t wait until you have formulated “the perfect plan” in your mind in order to write it down. Other than God’s, there’s actually no such thing as “the perfect plan.” It is fairly likely that from time to time along the journey to your destiny you will have to “tweak” your plans a bit — remember that the smallest to the largest ships on the great oceans of the Earth navigate their course and reach their final destination by myriads of small “adjustments” to the ship’s wheel along the journey.
Don’t plan to fail by failing to plan! Go into your figurative or literal prayer closet, draw near to God until He draws near to you, and don’t come out until you’ve heard from HIS plan for your life. Then, pray again, and ask Him — particularly the Helper, the Holy Spirit — for His help with chartering YOUR plan or life-map for achieving the Divine Plan for your life!
“But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1 Cor. 14:40).
One final word of exhortation: In all your planning, plan to persevere — through all the troubles, trials, and tribulations that will inevitably come your way:
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom. 5:3-5)
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Here are two PDF documents we highly urge you download and print out for your personal encouragement and edification in 2014. To receive the maximum benefit from them, we recommend that you read them outloud as your personal professions of the Word of God at least once each day (two or three times each day is even better) for at 30 days in order for them to begin to be “formed” in your spirit by the working of the Holy Spirit. If you do this, you will be amazed at the permanent impact the Word of God will have in your life to encourage and edify you, and to elucidate your spirit with respect to who you are in Christ, who Christ is in you, and the spiritual blessings with which you have been already infused as a Born Again believer in Christ! Try it! What have you got to lose? And, unlike the medicines advertised on TV in which the entire one-minute commercials consist of a voice-over reciting all the contraindications and the possible harmful effects of the medicine, the spiritual medicine contained in these documents—The “Gos-pill”—requires no disclaimers and has no contraindications, but in fact may well save your life!
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Dr. Steven Lambert was ordained in 1977 and holds several earned graduate/post-graduate degrees. Over more than four decades in ministry, he has served as a pastor, radio/TV host, adjunct-professor, Board Certified Doctoral Diplomate Christian Therapist/Counselor, and a speaker/commentator on a range of social, political, and theological issues, particularly as a recognized authority on the matter of ecclesiastical authoritarian abuse. He is the founder/Overseer of Ephesians Four Network (ephesiansfour.net) and its subsidiary, Ephesians Four Network of Deliverance Counselors (efndc.ephesiansfour.net). Dr. Lambert authored several books (catalog at realtruthpublications.com), many published articles, and is the founder/editor of Spirit Life Magazine (spiritlifemag.com). His bio, extensive blog, and scheduling information are available on his ministry website at: http://www.slm.org. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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