Submitting to God’s Plan for your life

God has a plan for your life. Everything God does is based on His eternal plan and is never haphazard. Ephesians 1:11 says He \”worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.\” Now, there are three important concepts to contextualize the subject of God\’s plan for your life.

1. Predestination
2. Creation and Re-creation
3. Stewardship

If you understand this, you will know that your life is not an accidental discharge that you need to figure out. There is already a plan for your life. Predestination is the concept of God\’s foreordination (ordaining you before you were born) to be a specific type of person within the context of Christlikeness. Creation or conception is when you are finally released into the world to fulfil your ordination. Unfortunately, sin has hijacked the purpose of God through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Yet, Jesus came to redeem and restore us to our original glory. This is what happens in re-creation.

Watch the exposition here on YouTube: https://is.gd/newlifevideo_ep12 OR Listen to the exposition here on Spotify: https://is.gd/newlifeaudio_ep12

STEWARDSHIP

Once you are born again, you are restored to the original plan of God for your life. This is when you can now fully explore your predestination. Henceforth, you have a stewardship to undertake.

\”And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.\”

2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV

The entire journey of your predestination is essentially a stewardship. The word stewardship is \”the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one\’s care.\” (Merriam Webster). Now, let\’s seek to understand stewardship albeit briefly.

1. Awareness of being a steward, not an owner.
2. Business of actively transacting (using) and profiting (adding value).
3. Consciousness of the expectations of the Owner and complying
4. Demonstrating faithfulness throughout.

PATHWAY TO PREDESTINATION

Now, let\’s look at the pathway to walking in our predestination:

1. Purpose: what has been laid out for you to be, do and have in your lifetime.
2. Potential: the abilities, behaviours and character required to fulfil the purpose.
3. Personality: the unique ways you function
4. Process: the experiences, trials and training that refine you progressively into the dream of your purpose.
5. Priorities: the activities that lead you in the direction of your purpose and produce the highest return in the long term.

ACTIVATING THE PLAN OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE

The plan of God requires your cooperation to be implemented and fulfilled. You can say that, for God\’s plan to be fulfilled in your life, it depends on you – your yieldedness (obedience). You can also say, the plan of God depends solely on God because \”…it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.\” (Philippians 2:13) and \”…it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.\” (Romans 9:16). Therefore, God\’s mercy, on one hand, and my obedience, on the other hand, are the two sides of the same coin required to unlock God\’s glorious plan for my life.

PRESENT YOUR BODIES

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2 KJV

From this scripture, you will see the quality of service (stewardship) that God is looking for.

1. It is a sacrifice offered up to Him that continues to speak.
2. It is holy – set apart unto God and from sin.
3. It is acceptable – that is, meets the standard.

It is with experience that you will prove what is good and what is not good for you, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for you, and what is perfect and what is not perfect for you, because the will of God is the benchmark for your life. The pursuit of God we discussed in the last episode is the forerunner of the purpose of God.

Once His will becomes your goal, it immediately creates a separation of good/not good, acceptable/not acceptable and perfect/not perfect. It is the Tree of Life that guarantees this, not the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The first tree is truly, practically knowing Jesus and obeying Him while the other tree is theoretically knowing the bible without doing. What do you choose?

Featured Image: Voice of Prophecy