"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth. He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them. The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy." -King David
The fear of the Lord is demonstrated in our daily decisions.
Do you consider what God will see before you do it?
We have no right to have our desires fulfilled if we do not fear the Lord in our actions.
What is your plan of action for 2011?
Jesus said, "Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, wishing to build a *farm building, does not first sit down and calculate the cost [to see] whether he has sufficient means to finish it? Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to complete [the building], all who see it will begin to mock and jeer at him, saying, This man began to build and was not able (*worth enough) to finish (Luke 14:27-30.)
We have unfinished business to attend to this year.
It's embarrassing to run out of money on vacation (or trip) and have to call someone to send you money after realizing that you have underestimated the cost. In 2010, you may have run out of resources and time, creativity, perspective, money, perseverance and faith; you may have underestimated what it would really cost to fulfill your destiny, but this year you can resolve:
"I will no longer waste the dreams, anointing, call and purpose of God on my life. I will calculate the cost. I will finish what I am building. I will preserve. I will carry MY own cross. I will pay the price; I will humble myself to bear the Name that is above every other Name; for a mouth that all my foes combined cannot refute. I WILL shoulder the responsibility for the condition of my house; the condition of my marriage, career, business and ministry. This is my cross and I will bear it."
That word "cross" means: to be crossed, alienated, overlooked, passed over, removed, stretched, provoked, turned away, denied, contradicted and disowned; it represents unspeakable pain, humiliation, suffering and persecution, YET IN THE MIDST OF IT, to pour out infinite and supernatural love to those who hurt you.
Scripture says, "Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of world." That means, before there was darkness and chaos on the earth, before we blew it, God had already created a magnificent plan of salvation. Then He created you and I to continue planning in His glorious image.
King Solomon wrote: "The plans of the diligent (not just the plans of your employer, pastor and mentor) lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty (Pr 21:5.)"
Anything hasty or rushed is from the enemy. And just like there are benefits to planning, there are consequences of not planning. But there is fine line between planning and waiting on God. Many people these days are just WAITING; waiting on God to do something He called them to do. And they get mad when He doesn't promote them in their time.
But Jesus said, "Occupy till I come." That word "occupy" means: to seize, supplant, take possession of, inherit, dispossess; trade, go around or travel about.
Where are you going in life?
What did you seize or possess in 2010?
And as long as you feel your destiny is tied to a man, you will easily be frustrated. You would never go to administration or your professor in the middle of a four year law program and say, "This is taking too long; I am going to another college unless you make me an attorney right now." No matter how much you gripe and complain, no matter what other college you attend, you will still have to complete the remaining two years, pay a price and be "tested" to practice.
If you decided to start writing poor essays and planning poorly for mock trials or exams, as a disgruntled student, you would only hurt yourself. Likewise, when we leave employers, positions or stop doing what God has called us to do because we want it all now, we don't hurt the employer or client. They will fill the position with someone else after we leave; but you will hurt yourself, because how you leave a place is how you are remembered; and how you leave a place determines how you enter the next season in your life.
I have met so many people that leave a job or place prematurely or won't take a job after being out of work for years because the job is only part-time or not paying what they want. But it's better than a resume that shows you have been sitting at home doing nothing; at the least, you are building a work ethic and job history; You are putting a seed in the ground for God to increase.
God has never called anyone to do anything doing nothing.
Your plans belong to you, not to other people. No one will push you out of bed and make you get to work or the interview on time. No one will just give you a restaurant or put you in political office. No one is going to just promote you or make you President.
You need to have a plan for your career, a plan for your degree, a plan for your business, a plan for your vacation, a plan for your marriage, a plan for your date night, a plan for your church, a plan for your purpose, industry and city.
RIGHT NOW, you are sowing seeds for your dream job at that dead end job. As you plan, He is the voice in your ear saying, "Go left, go right, THIS IS THE WAY." This is the season that you must carry your own cross; you must calculate what it will cost to resurrect your dreams and lost opportunities. But remember, you don't cross a creek by a single bound; you cross it stone by stone.
That God would entrust us with plans simply amazes me. It is honor to be a co-laborer, a participant in the miracle, breakthrough, dream or work He is doing in my life.
He could say, because I am fallible, inconsistent, futile that my plans mean nothing; they are insignificant and meaningless; He could disregard them because He is supreme, the Creator of the universe, yet He longs for me to submit a plan to Him. He didn't just create us to inhabit the earth but to be fruitful, multiply, subdue, replenish and have dominion in it.
President Bush said this after 9-11: "We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans."
Today, engage your enemy; refuse to be weakened by your unpreparedness.
WHEN GOD CAN TRUST YOU TO PLAN, HE will give you a dream that is unrivaled.
