Does God have a plan for us?

[Pearl]

I put this thread in the fellowship area and I forgot that. I don't want to make this thread a debate. But would love to hear from people what you've learned about God's plan for you in this life and the next.

One thing I remember was that when I left school at 17, my dad decided I would go to secretarial college. I learned to type. It was no use to me in the jobs my dad found for me. BUT when I became a Christian in two different church fellowships I edited and published the church's monthly newsletter and was able to reach people through that.

 

[Nancy]

It has been revealed what his plans are. The problem is our shortsightedness.....not seeing past our nose.....and justifying it!
....and even if our nose was rubbed in it, would we see it?.....apparently very few.

Where the Jews any different in Jesus day?..... here the Messiah walked amongst them right under their nose and they were asking, when will God honour his promise of a Messiah?

Wrong expectations, wrong questions, wrong responses!....all equal, blindness!

Okay.

BTW- I hardly think God's plans for YOU are the same as mine or Devins. HE deals with us individually, we are not clones of one another!

 

[dev553344]

One thing I remember was that when I left school at 17, my dad decided I would go to secretarial college. I learned to type. It was no use to me in the jobs my dad found for me. BUT when I became a Christian in two different church fellowships I edited and published the church's monthly newsletter and was able to reach people through that.

I was a scout leader in church and I learned to do orienteering in the military. I taught the kids in my church to read a map and follow it to prizes they could collect. They had fun.

 

[Pearl]

I think we can also show the gospel in our works, like Christ taught, feeding, clothing and housing the homeless and needy, visiting the sick etc. They can learn thru example too.

He prepared you, even without your knowing it.

 

[quietthinker]

I was a scout leader in church and I learned to do orienteering in the military. I taught the kids in my church to read a map and follow it to prizes they could collect. They had fun.

We do and do and do and satisfy ourselves with our full cup yet without recognising we have an empty cup how is it possible to be filled?

 

[Pearl]

Teach the non religious to do God's works too. If they don't want to confess Jesus then so be it. But it is what God would want don't you think?

There are some very caring and loving people out there. People who serve their communities and do good works. BUT they may not be born again. I used to find that hard to come to terms with - that such caring people weren't necessarily saved.

 

[quietthinker]

There are some very caring and loving people out there. People who serve their communities and do good works. BUT they may not be born again. I used to find that hard to come to terms with - that such caring people weren't necessarily saved.

In an attempt to communicate ie, to get people to consider their own situation Jesus said this ...
‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ Matthew 11:17
What do you suppose he was saying?

 

[dev553344]

There are some very caring and loving people out there. People who serve their communities and do good works. BUT they may not be born again. I used to find that hard to come to terms with - that such caring people weren't necessarily saved.

That's like my aunt. She died and I was with her up until she died. But she was taught to be a good person and agreed with that as being the way. I'm not sure if God saved her or not. And that is up to God. He knows and I don't.

 

[Lambano]

Lately I've been feeling a little lost and like God doesn't have a plan for me. So I'm asking people to share the Plan God has for them.

Well, Nancy already said one of the things I wanted to say.

If God created Space and Time and sits outside of them, then He has already seen every decision I will ever make. So what ever has happened to me IS God's plan for my life. I can look back at my life and see when I was in places I shouldn't have been - but I was. Was that the Master's hand?

In the fury of the moment I can see the master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand

 

[quietthinker]

Well, Nancy already said one of the things I wanted to say.

If God created Space and Time and sits outside of them, then He has already seen every decision I will ever make. So what ever has happened to me IS God's plan for my life. I can look back at my life and see when I was in places I shouldn't have been - but I was. Was that the Master's hand?

In the fury of the moment I can see the master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand

Fatalism is inconsistent with the character of God Lambano

 

[Nancy]

Fatalism is inconsistent with the character of God Lambano

It's not "fatalism" as, that would be "predestined" but it is not, it is "foreknown".

 

[Lambano]

Fatalism is inconsistent with the character of God Lambano

Do you see it as fatalism? I see it as one solution to the problem of human free will versus Divine sovereignty.

Do you see the future as completely open? Or something else.

 

[quietthinker]

Do you see it as fatalism? I see it as one solution to the problem of human free will versus Divine sovereignty.

Do you see the future as completely open? Or something else.

Freewill given to all God's creation makes adoration or rejection of his government possible. Freewill is the only option a God who genuinely loves gives his creation even to his own hurt. Freewill makes God vulnerable to abuse as does anyone who loves.
The rejection of God by Lucifer and those who believed him is a case in point.

It is never God's will that any of his creatures are saddled with disability of any sort. Disability as is death is the result of generational sin all the way back to Adam. Some generations/individuals manifest this disability more or less than others.

The trajectory of the fallen human race is is one of progressive diminishment in all the attributes God created Adam with. If it were not for God's intervention in this planet's trajectory ie, by his Spirit and the return of Jesus, we would in all likelihood end up being destroyed with disease, poisoning, mental impairment of some sorts or nuclear holocaust sooner than later.....all encouraged by the hand of man.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Lately I've been feeling a little lost and like God doesn't have a plan for me. So I'm asking people to share the Plan God has for them.

I don't think that God has a plan for any of us individually, in that he does not intervene in our lives in any miraculous way so that we will believe in him and obey Christ's teachings because of some good things that happen to us......as free moral agents, we have to make those choices. Sometimes we cut a break, but often we do not. If God is responsible for the good things, is he also then responsible for the bad things that happen to us?
Ecclesiastes 9:11....
"I have seen something further under the sun, that the swift do not always win the race, nor do the mighty win the battle, nor do the wise always have the food, nor do the intelligent always have the riches, nor do those with knowledge always have success, because time and unexpected events overtake them all."

I see 'free will' as just that....we are free to make those choices...but its what we base those choices on, that makes the difference. This is what God is looking for in his worshippers. He wants full heart involvement with the "love of God and neighbor" foremost as our prime reason for all that we do.

Since God does not just see the actions of any person, but rather what motivates them, even a disability will not mask the condition of the heart. It speaks to God even if we cannot. God sees the real "us" and he will "draw" such good hearted ones to his son. (John 6:44)

Satan collectively hijacked the entire human race for his own selfish purpose, but God shows us how we can break free of the prison in which he keeps all those whom he can deceive. Jesus provided the way out and all we need to do is obey him in all things.

Its up to us to find the right road....the 'cramped and narrow one'.....and stay on it to the end. (Matthew 7:13-14)
What we have to look forward to is the end of all disabilities, both mental and physical.....that is something to anticipate as a sure promise from our Creator. (Revelation 21:3-4)

 

[Taken]

Does God have a plan for us?
OP^

@devin553344

I’m sure the OP is a wondering question for many.
My answer comes from a decision I made long ago. It does require a decision and effort and practice and reminding yourself. That wherever you are, whatever you are thinking, doing, do that AS IF you are arm in arm with Jesus. He always there with you. He always hearing you, seeing you, watching you. You will think and do according to what is His plan for you.

 

[dev553344]

Does God have a plan for us?
OP^

@devin553344

I’m sure the OP is a wondering question for many.
My answer comes from a decision I made long ago. It does require a decision and effort and practice and reminding yourself. That wherever you are, whatever you are thinking, doing, do that AS IF you are arm in arm with Jesus. He always there with you. He always hearing you, seeing you, watching you. You will think and do according to what is His plan for you.

Sounds like a good idea! Thanks Taken.

 

[Taken]

... he does not intervene in our lives in any miraculous way so that we will believe in him

Disagree with this part of your post.
God does intervene in our lives in miraculous way so we will believe in Him...

Nearly 175 times in the OT God foretells of specific things that shall come to pass...

Jesus foretold things to men, so they would see those things come to pass, those believe in Jesus.

Jesus added:
John 10:
[37] If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
[38] But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

 

[Aunty Jane]

....wherever you are, whatever you are thinking, doing, do that AS IF you are arm in arm with Jesus. He always there with you. He always hearing you, seeing you, watching you. You will think and do according to what is His plan for you.

I disagree that we are all being individually scrutinised by God......as if he is interested in those who are not interested in him.....or cares about those who wear a label but have no real interest is serving the interests of the true God by obeying the teachings of his Christ.

In the times when he has acted to demonstrate his displeasure with man’s wicked activities, he sent his prophets to warn them of what he was about to do so that no one could ever accuse him of being unjust....not giving due warning so that people could have an opportunity to change their ways (like the flood of Noah’s day, Sodom and Gomorrah, or Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh e.g.) Only those who responded and acted on the warning were ever spared. For Nineveh it was the whole city because they repented. In the flood God spared only 8 obedient people. But for Sodom and Gomorrah, apparently no repentance was possible as God told Abraham. (Genesis 18:29-33) To which time period did Jesus liken his return? (Matthew 24:37-39)

From the first century, when Jesus taught his disciples to preach about God’s kingdom, and now, especially in this “time of the end”, Jesus has assigned his disciples a very important work (foretold in Matthew 24 when he gave the “sign of his presence”) which was the preaching of the “good news of the kingdom” and it was to be carried out on a global scale right to “the end.” (Matthew 24:14)......so don’t we have to ask why? If Jesus is “walking arm in arm” with us and leading us to the truth, why are there so many who claim Christ as their “Lord and Savior” who are disagreeing so vehemently over doctrine? Why the disunity?

If Christ was leading us all, we would all be in agreement. (1 Corinthians 1:10) The fact that we are not, is because Jesus warned about the “weeds” sown by the devil....these are counterfeit Christians who are leading people away from God by teaching satanic lies as Christian truth. These “weeds” are found to have no similarity with the “wheat” at the time of the “harvest”......so where is Christ in all of this?

Disagree with this part of your post.
God does intervene in our lives in miraculous way so we will believe in Him...

Nearly 175 times in the OT God foretells of specific things that shall come to pass...

Jesus foretold things to men, so they would see those things come to pass, those believe in Jesus.

Jesus added:
John 10:
[37] If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
[38] But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

What has this got to do with the average person who sees no “works” of Jesus in their lives or in themselves? Do you imagine that all Christians must manifest some miraculously acquired connection with Christ in order to become his disciples? That was the case of Christ’s elect...but it was not the experience of all.

Paul addressed the Corinthians saying....”Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours”. (1 Corinthians 1:1-2)
Not all are called to be “saints”....yet we all serve the same “Lord”.

When Jesus comes to judge the world he tells the “goats” that they never supported his “brothers”. But the “sheep” did. So who are the “sheep” who support Christ’s “brothers”? Christ and his “brothers” (his elect) are all said to be “sons” of God....the elect are “sons” by adoption.

Not all Christians have the “heavenly calling” (Hebrews 3:1)....only Christ’s “brothers” will have that privilege....so what of Christ’s other disciples...the ones mentioned in Revelation 21:2-4....these are earthly subjects of God’s heavenly kingdom. Jesus gives all of these ones ample opportunity to respond to the preaching that he has been directing all through these “last days”. (Matthew 28:19-20) No miracles....just people with the right heart condition responding to the good news and becoming Christ’s disciples, who will enjoy living under the rulership of his kingdom. These come out of the world and live according to Christ’s teachings. They are one united global brotherhood who all speak in agreement. (1 Corinthians 1:10) This is what separates them from Christendom.....they have no beliefs in common with the “weeds” when the harvest is carried out.

This is how I see the situation....

 

[quietthinker]

I disagree that we are all being individually scrutinised by God......as if he is interested in those who are not interested in him.....or cares about those who wear a label but have no real interest is serving the interests of the true God by obeying the teachings of his Christ.

Whatever you hold as being your gospel is clearly summarised in the above statement!

 

[Aunty Jane]

Whatever you hold as being your gospel is clearly summarised in the above statement!

What ev's QT....you can believe whatever you wish....I am going by what the Bible says....you seem to ignore vast parts of it, accepting a manipulation its contents to suit your own beliefs......Jesus will be the judge.....we can let him do his job.

If you think that God cannot provide and protect the contents of his own instruction manual for the human race, and somehow only reveal the truth to you.....I'm sorry but I find that just a tad delusional. Seriously, I have never heard of anyone who believes the things that you do....?

Who taught you these things? Who corrupted the Bible in your mind? Please don't tell me it was Jesus.....