Plan now, Reap the Benefits Later!

Good Morning Friends! We thought we would go a little old-school today and remind everyone of the importance of a plan. If you don’t have a spiritual plan in place and oxygen is still flowing through your body, it’s not too late to develop one! Be encouraged and be blessed!

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Plan: Method for achieving something; to have in mind as an intention or purpose

Works: The action or labor required to accomplish something

Jesus has the Master Plan; His works and plans were finished before the foundation of the world. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, "For I know the thoughts <plans> that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jesus has a plan for us - now it's up to us to have one as well.

If you were building a house, you would have a blueprint, right? Every day you would go over your plans so you would know where the walls were supposed to go, where the closets should be and where those all-important bathrooms would be. How much more do we need a spiritual plan?

God's works and plans are already within us, we just need to pull them out. We can do that by:

1) Planning to make Jesus first in our lives by seeking Him early each day. Isaiah tells us to seek Him early while he may be found and call upon him while He is yet near.

2) Planning to spend time in His Word every day because His Word is our blueprint; our roadmap. If we don't faithfully refer to our blueprint, how will we know what the Lord's expectations of us are? How will we know how He wants us to live our lives? How will we know where to put our walls up to successfully shut out the enemy? We need our roadmap to teach us how to love and show love; how to be thankful and grateful and how to forgive. Simply put - His Word shows us how to get back to Him.

3) As we are told in I Thessalonians 5:17, we must plan to "pray without ceasing." Prayer is our communication with the Lord - would we go months without communicating with our best friends or spouses? No, we're typically communicating with them as often as we can - whether they want to hear from us or not! The Lord actually wants to hear from us, so we need to take every opportunity we have to speak with Him.

Our works are to believe in Him, as His works were to believe in the Father that sent Him. As the scriptures tell us - He did nothing without the Father - and we are to do nothing without Him. 

When our spiritual plans are in place, our natural plans will be added unto us.

                                                                                                                                    

With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!

Got a Vacancy that Needs to be Filled??

You know how you get those forwards in your email that warn you to share it with "x" number of friends by "this" time or "something bad" will happen?! Well, I finally received a forward that I thought was good enough to forward/share! 

This is by no means written by me, nor do I claim to be the owner of this content - again, I just thought it was too good to keep to myself! 

If you're looking for someone to fill that vacancy in your heart or your life, consider this resume:

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The Resume of Jesus Christ 

Address: Ephesians 1:20 

Phone: Romans 10:13 

Website: The Bible . Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus

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Objective 

My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord! I've sent you my resume because I'm seeking the top management position in your heart. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume. 

____________________________________________________________ 

Qualifications 

• I founded the earth and established the heavens (See Proverbs 3:19)
• I formed man from the dust of the ground (See Genesis 2:7)
• I breathed into man the breath of life (See Genesis 2:7)
• I redeemed man from the curse of the law (See Galatians 3:13)
• The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through me (See Galatians 3:14) 

Occupational Background

• I've only had one employer (See Luke 2:49)
• I've never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful or disrespectful
• My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me (See Matthew 3:15 -17) 

Skills Work Experiences 

• Some of my skills and work experiences include: empowering the poor to be poor no more, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at liberty them that are bruised (See Luke 4:18)
• I am a Wonderful Counselor (See Isaiah 9:6)
• People who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil (See Proverbs 1:33)
• Most importantly, I have the authority, ability and power to cleanse you of your sins (See I John 1:7-9) 

Educational Background 

• I encompass the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and understanding (See Proverbs 2:6)
• In me are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (See Colossians 2:3)
• My Word is so powerful; it has been described as being a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path (See Psalms 119:105)
• I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart (See Psalms 44:21)

Major Accomplishments 

• I was an active participant in the greatest Summit Meeting of all times (See Genesis 1:26)
• I laid down my life so that you may live (See II Corinthians 5:15)
• I defeated the archenemy of God and mankind and made a show of them openly (See Colossians 2:15)
• I've miraculously fed the poor, healed the sick and raised the dead!

There are many more major accomplishments, too many to mention here. You can read them on my website, which is located at: www dot - the BIBLE. You don't need an Internet connection or computer to access my website!

References 

• Believers and followers worldwide will testify to my divine healing, salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration and supernatural guidance 

In Summation 

I will properly direct your paths (See Proverbs 3:5-6) and lead you into everlasting life (See John 6:47)

Now that you've read my resume, I'm confident that I'm the only candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart. When can I start - Time is of the essence (See Hebrews 3:15).

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With all that said, let the church say Amen... and AMEN!

It's Not the Destination that Defines Us - It's the Journey!

Destination: The point or place to which something or someone is directed

Journey: A trip from one place to another over a long distance

We are on a journey filled with different lessons, hardship, heartaches, joys, celebrations, and a lot of special moments that will ultimately lead us to our destination. The destination I’m speaking of is to live eternally with Jesus Christ.

It's important that we make the most of this God-given energy we have been given, because we will undoubtedly be faced with challenges throughout this journey that will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Along the way, we will certainly stumble on obstacles, but in order to follow the right path, we must learn to overcome them. Sometimes these obstacles are really blessing in disguise, we just don’t realize it at the time.

On the headstone of people that have passed on you will see when they were born and when they died, but those dates are not the most important thing - they don't define the person buried beneath them. Instead, it's what that person did between those dates that defines their character and their integrity. And ultimately that's what will take them to their final destination.

My friends, we must become busy doing the Lord’s business on our journey. As we are told in Hebrews 10:22-23, "Let us draw near with a true [sincere and honest] heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)."

Our journey will not always be smooth, so when we find ourselves filled with heartaches, and disappointment let's just refer back to our manual - The Holy Bible - every instruction and every direction is right there.

Remember, everything that happens on our journey happens for a reason. Sometimes that means we must face heartaches in order to experience joy. Just keep in mind that at the end of the day, the person that trusts God enough to get up and face the next obstacle is the one that wins. These worldly situations are only temporary setbacks; we must stay focused for our eternal destination depends on it!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

Let's Pray When the Sun is Shining!

Pray: address a solemn request or expression of thanks to the creator and supreme being

When the sun is shining, the beautiful white clouds are in the sky, and there are no storms in sight, that's when we should be praying, worshiping, and magnifying the almighty God for His goodness! If we wait until the storms come (and they will!), we might be so busy trying to fix the problem that we don't take adequate time to pray.

Have you ever been in so much pain that you just didn't feel like praying? Did you know that if our prayers and worship are already before the Lord, He will honor them. The bible tells us, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Hebrews 6:10). He not only remembers what we have done toward Him, but what we have done toward others as well.

Look at Hezekiah - when the Lord told him to get his house in order because he was going to die and not live, Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and cried out to God and said remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. You see, he didn't wait until he was in the storm, he took care of  his business when the sun was shining, and beautiful white clouds were in the sky. This is actually some thing my grandmother told me, she said stay prayed up, so when you can't pray, your prayers will be already up there.

Speaking of grandmothers, as we all know, this Sunday will be Mothers Day, so let's be sure to give honor where honor is due by showing that special lady in your life some appreciation. It could be as simple as a phone call that goes like that famous song, "I just called to say I love you!" Or some kind words like, "Mother, I appreciate you and all the sacrifices you made for me," that are said exactly when she needs them. Or maybe it's a nice surprise she receives in the mail like her favorite perfume or a bouquet of flowers that brings a smile to her face. Of course, you can never go wrong with some green-backs. 😁 Whatever you decide to do, never miss out on the chance to tell your Mom just how special she is - because she truly is. Don't forget - without her, there would be no you!

With all that said, let the church say Amen... and AMEN!

Trust God in Every Situation!

Trust – to have confidence or faith in, to depend on

The message below was e-mailed to me recently and I was really blessed by it, so I wanted to share it with you all. I have to admit that I’m very guilty of wondering why did "this" or "that" situation happen; why things didn't work out the way I planned - after all, I did get up and pray! I've even asked the Lord to order my steps. But when things aren't going the way we want, we so often forget we have a heavenly Father who ALWAYS knows what’s best for us. This e-mail really helped put things into perspective. We must learn to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto thine own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) I hope this blesses you as it did me.

Me (in a tizzy): God, can I ask you something?
GOD: Sure
Me: Promise you won't get mad?
GOD: I promise.
Me (frustrated): Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
GOD: What do you mean?
Me: Well I woke up late
GOD: Yes
Me: My car took forever to start
GOD: Okay....
Me (growling): At lunch, they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait
GOD: Hmmmm..
Me: On the way home, my phone went dead, just as I picked up a call.
GOD: All right
Me (loudly): And to top it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak my feet in my foot massager and relax, but it wouldn't work. Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
GOD: Well let me see..... the death angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that.
Me (humbled): Oh...
GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that might have hit you if you were on the road
Me (ashamed): ...
GOD: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick and I didn't want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn't afford to miss work
Me (embarrassed): Oh.....
GOD: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give a false witness about what you said on that call, I didn't even let you talk to them so you would be covered
Me (softly): I see, God .
GOD: Oh and that foot massager, it had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I'm sorry, God.
GOD: Don't be sorry, just learn to trust me.........in all things, the good and the bad
Me: I WILL trust you God
GOD: And don't doubt that my plan for your day is always better than your plan
Me: I won't God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
GOD: You're welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I love looking after my children.

~ Author Unknown

With all that said, let the church say Amen... and AMEN!!