The Plan Bible

Amos 3:7 - Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Did you know that God tells us what He's going to do, before He does it? That is one of the things His Word is for. Our Bible is the literal Word of God. Every single detail contained in it is important (yes, even the genealogies!).

Do you know why God saved you? Do you know that God has a plan for your life? He says so in Jeremiah 29:11-13. Do you have questions concerning God's plan for you and for this world? Do you have questions concerning His will for you? I have questions regarding the millennium. (What does this have to do with life here and now, you say? Plenty, and I will be posting more about that in January.) That is why I like to pass along good study tools every chance I get. I believe the key to walking the victorious Christian life is revelation of God's will. That will only come through your own study, not through a hand-me-down revelation someone else received in their own study time.

I am excited to tell you about a new Bible called The Plan. The Plan is available in ebook form, BUT I was SO happy to learn that you don't have to have a Kindle to read it! Amazon now offers Kindle software for free download to a PC. That is good news for me. And at the bottom of this post there is a link to a giveaway of The Plan Bible. If you enter before December 23rd, you could win a free copy! This would make a great Christmas gift, too!

About The Plan

Jeff Swanson has a passion for the truth of God’s word. He believes that understanding is being revealed today like never before in history because the enemy has unleashed more deception than ever before on this generation. Jeff was part of the first American generation educated in the public school system after the removal of the Bible. The same school system that was founded over 300 years ago to teach students how to read the Bible!

THE PLAN is the first Bible, rearranged verse by verse into chronological order beginning with the creation of all things and ending with prophesied events yet to come. A world history outline provides the framework including all biblical dates. Prophetic verses are placed at the time of either their historical fulfillment (Red) or future fulfillment (Orange). Prophecies are hyperlinked from when they were spoken (Blue) to when they are fulfilled in over 650 threads. There is also a reading plan so it can be read in one year in less than 30 minutes a day.

You can learn more about the story of The Plan Bible at www.PlanBible.com

Interview

Jeff has graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions. I think you will gain a wealth of wisdom reading his answers. And at the bottom, follow the link to a giveaway of a copy of The Plan. Hurry and enter, the giveaway ends December 23rd!

Shannon (SS): What sparked your passion for God's Word?

Jeff (JS): At age 18 I had a spiritual encounter that solidified my desire to walk in the truth and to never be lied to again. It was a temptation that, without the authority of the name of Jesus, would have led my life to destruction. This led me on a journey of seeking absolute truth. I purchased a Ryrie New American Standard study Bible that was excellent for researching truth. This is when I made the discovery that some events in the Bible had not occurred yet (prophecy) and others that were predicted had already come to pass. It was at that time that I made a decision to master the book of revelation. It did not take me long to realize that would take a lot of study. First, I would have to understand Old Testament prophecy such as the Book of Daniel which corresponds with the Book of Revelation. Second, I learned I was going to have to understand Old Testament history. When I came to ORU that helped me in the journey, however, I found I was still going to have to do the studying myself. I found myself seeking the truth of history further and further back until I had a desire to understand “The days of Noah” since they are likened to the time we are in now.

SS: How did you find the time to do this in-depth study?

JS: Starting out requires very little time, just the decision to do it daily: even if it is only one verse a day. The important thing is to do something daily. My study time keeps increasing over the 28 years of study required to develop The Plan. For me the best study time is in between 3:00–6:00 am. That is when life is at the most peace and the greatest concentration levels can be attained. Second, I have a great respect for the Sabbath principle. I enjoy studying on Sundays as a time set aside to honor God’s word. [SS: Even just a verse a day--love that! So true!]

SS: As a writer personally (I have a book God has placed in my heart), I would like to know how long this project took you, from idea to completion? And was there ever a time during that period that you felt like giving up?

JS: The belief of this project being published as an eBook came to me in the fall of 2009 (10/5/09). Before that it was a vision to have a website available for people to obtain the truth. I studied for 9 years before I started my first chronology (1989). Then I compiled a prophetic list for the next 14 years before God led me to intensify my study and consolidate the chronological history and prophetic list in 2006. In all, this work required more than 12,000 hours of study, research, and development time. Do not let that discourage a new writer, this is not your average first time project. It was God leading me step by step without realizing what the final outcome would be. As a matter of fact it took a huge adjustment for me to even grasp that God wanted me to publish this. It would require a miracle. See the story on the website www.PlanBible.com. God leads us through the process. It starts as a desire or a word in our hearts. As we accept the assignment, we get understanding in our minds, and then we ultimately put our hand to work. That is when you do a little each day until your goals are completed. [SS: I can see how this can apply to anyone, whether writing a book, or adopting a child, waiting on the right person to marry, whatever it is God has called you to do. Waiting patiently on God's timing, letting Him lead, step by step, and not trying to figure out the whole picture at once.]

SS: How has this study personally impacted your life? Has it changed you, helped your relationship with God grow, etc.?

JS: It has changed the way I see everything. So much of what we interpret in the now is based on who we believe God is. The way we see things currently, is based on what we believe happened in the past and what we believe will happen in the future. This would be considered our worldview. I also understand what the enemy is doing. He has tried to remove God’s word from our education system to try to change God’s word. The picture of this can be found in Genesis chapter 3. Satan has been trying to revise history since the beginning and in Daniel chapter 7:25 states that he will try to do this again in the future. How much easier will it be to have people believe a lie about the future if they already believe a lie about the past? I thank God that we have God’s unbreakable word that we stand upon so that we can escape the lies of the enemy.

SS: Did you have any special training that made you feel qualified to study the Bible? Or would you consider yourself a layman?

JS: I do not have a degree from a Bible school; my training at ORU was management. So yes, I consider myself a layman who diligently studies the word of God. I like to turn to God’s word as the authority and guide. This has been one of my guiding scriptures since I was 18:

John 16:13a - But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. (NIV)

As I studied and researched scripture through the years, I used many prophecy Bibles in order to get as much of a consortium as possible. The prophecy Bibles utilized were by Grant Jeffery, Tim LaHaye, and Jack Van Impe. Hilton Sutton also has an excellent book on Revelation. Another man who has influenced my understanding of prophecy is Pastor Willie George, who is well grounded in prophecy.

We must remember that men can give you their opinions, but God gives you revelation. That is one reason that I wanted to keep The Plan as simple as possible and let the Word of God speak for itself.

Here is what I believe the one who studies The Plan will obtain:

-- God's perspective of history unfolding

-- God’s time schedule for world history

-- The big picture and where you fit into it

-- God’s faithfulness to fulfill His unbreakable word

-- The future as God has already spoken it

[SS: Readers, I hope this makes you feel confident, that you don't have to have a special degree or training, to open up your Bible and study it for yourself. There are so many good resources out there to help you along.]

SS: Is there anything else you would like to let people know about?

JS: Walking in obedience to what God is telling you may require everything of you. However, you will be grateful for the satisfied feeling of knowing you are doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.

Thank you Jeff for taking time out of your busy Christmas season to answer my questions! If you want to learn more about The Plan Bible, please visit the website at www.PlanBible.com. And go on over to A Sequence of Continuous Delights to enter the giveaway by December 23rd!

Christmas Prophecy 4

The Messiah had to be of the house (descendant) of David.

Prophecy -

Jeremiah 23:5

“ Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD,
“ That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

Fulfillment -

Luke 3:31

...the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David...

[Partial genealogy of Christ. You can read the full genealogy from Luke 3:23-38.]

Matthew 1:1

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham...

[Again, part of a genealogy. To read this one in full, read Matthew 1:1-17.]

Matthew 22:41-42
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

They said to Him, “ The Son of David.”

[The Pharisees, who were the scholars of the day, fully understood that the scriptures clearly spelled out that the Messiah must be of the family of David.]

Acts 13:22-23

[Paul speaking.] And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will. From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus.

Revelation 22:16

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Matthew 9:27, Matthew 15:22, Matthew 20:30-31, Matthew 21:9, 15, Mark 10:47-48, and Luke 18:38-39 all show that the people called Jesus by the title of, "Son of David."

This is a continuation of our Christmas Prophecy series. To read part one and two, click here:

Christmas Prophecy 1

Christmas Prophecy 2

Christmas Prophecy 3

Verse for Today

Jeremiah 18:7-10

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

Where does America fit into this scenario?

Functional or Dysfunctional

Functional comes from the root word function, meaning the natural or proper action of anything. Dysfunctional then means the opposite, the unnatural or improper action of anything. We see dysfunction all around us in this world, families with dead-beat dads, people in codependent relationships, enablers, manipulators, parents having to take care of adult children, grandparents having to care for grandchildren because the parents are not capable, and on and on and on. Relationships that are unnatural and improper.

We are so accustomed to dysfunction that we let it carry over into our relationship with God. Is your relationship with God unnatural and improper?


Q -

1. Do you go to church because of whom you're married to, or dating, or because your parents make you?

2. Are you in a relationship with God as long as the going is smooth, but once it gets rough, you bail?

3. Do you read your Bible to feel good?

4. Do you go to church to get an emotional high?

5. Do you put your trust in any person (spouse?) or thing (job?) more than God?

6. Do you ask others for prayer, because you feel their faith is stronger than yours?

7. Do you seek out encouragement from others to pull you out of your discouragement?

8. Do you pray only when you have a problem?

9. Is your faith based on tradition or conviction?

10. Are you content to be spoon fed God's Word, relying on hand-my-down revelation from others?




A -

1. God wants you to seek Him because you are responding to His Word, not just because of whom you're married to or dating, or what rules your parents have.

2. God wants you to be committed in the good times and bad (He promised we would face persecution - II Timothy 3:12). He is not the one that causes any bad thing in your life. See James1:17 and John 10:10.

3. He is looking for those that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), not just reading the Word to feel good, but reading to get to know Him, to find out His will, to gain an awe and reverence, a proper fear of the Lord, to be motivated by obedience--that is when we will gain true wisdom from His Word (Proverbs 9:10).

4. Going to church and being emotionally uplifted is totally fine, but to be seeking after a feeling is wrong. We are not to be driven by our emotions. Romans 8:6 says that to be carnally minded is death. Being carnally minded is being controlled by what you feel.

5. God want us to trust completely in Him and not place any one person (spouse) or thing (job) above Him, that becomes idolatry. Proverbs 3:5, Jeremiah 17:5-10

6. Having others pray for you is totally fine and scriptural, but don't ever feel that God won't listen to your prayers. Don't ever feel like your faith is too small. Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17), you have the answer before you to release the faith that He has already placed on the inside of you (Romans 12:3).

7. Getting encouragement from those around you is part of the purpose of the church (Hebrews 10:24-25), but if you are relying on them more than God, you are wrong. David encouraged himself, reminding himself of God's promises, when he was at a particularly low, depressed state (I Samuel 30:6).

8. Prayer is for so much more than giving God our laundry list. Prayer is a conversation with God, we talk to Him, He answers us with His Word. Praise and thanksgiving should be a much higher priority than asking for things. There is a time and place for requests, but that is not all prayer is. See how the prayer starts and ends that the Lord taught to his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, with praise.

9. The more you spend time in God's Word, with a pure motive of submission to it, you will move away from tradition to conviction.

10. It's time to get out of the highchair, start feeding yourself, start digging into the solid food (truths, revelation) of God's Word for yourself, and He will reveal wisdom to you. Hebrews 5:12-14, read in the New Living Translation.




I hope you will allow the Holy Spirit to use this strong word to teach you. I don't mean any of these things to condemn you, but rather convict. How do you know the difference? Condemnation pulls you away from God, conviction pulls you closer. We all need to examine our motives and heart from time to time. Some of you have pure hearts, some of you just don't know any better. We have all been at one of these places at one time or another. It's time to grow up. I have actually seen people that live a life of spiritual immaturity and dysfunction and as a result have a hell-on-earth life. They are saved, but they do not walk in victory. God wants better for you.

Verse for Today

Jeremiah 17:5-10

⁵ Thus says the LORD:

“ Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the LORD.
⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.

⁷ “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

⁹ “ The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

How Often

I'm going to revisit this issue of getting by on attending church once a week, with no devotional or study time during the week. I know there are a lot of you out there, because I was one of you. For 29 years of my life, I belonged to that club.

I want to make some comparisons for you.

Food

How well would your body do on one meal a week? This is what your soul is getting at church, and during your own study. Is your soul malnourished? Is your soul barely surviving? (John 6:35)

Education

How well would you do in school (say high school, or college) if you went to class just once per week? This is the effort many of us are putting in to learning the things of God. (Proverbs 10:14)

Relationship

How well would your marriage do if you and your spouse only spent time together one day a week? This is the amount of time a lot of us want God to be content with. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Your justification is in no way dependent on how much or how often you spend time with God. Your salvation is a free gift from God, it is based on what Christ did for you. Bible study is 1) to feed your soul, 2) a way for you to learn God's ways, the way His kingdom works, and His plan for your life, and 3) the way to be in relationship with God--this is what you were created for.

Your Need

I realize with my last post on transformation that many of you don't see a need for transformation. Many of you are saying, "I'm a pretty good person, I go to church, I pay my tithes, I'm not perfect, but my life is good." You read your Bible here and there, you pray here and there, you don't see a big need to spend more time.

I was visiting with a friend the other day and she was describing her walk with God, saying it's getting a lot closer. She described many of her years that she just didn't really see her need for God. She was saved, she went to church every week, but she wasn't conscious of her need.

Another friend of mine describes her life, for the most part, as being fairly smooth, a life with bumps, but none too great that she could not solve in her own strength. She says,

"That is not to say I didn't have a good relationship with God. I did. I just didn't feel the need to rely on Him for my daily strength. He was a wonderful add-on to my life; an important part but not the only part. In fact, being married had actually decreased my dependence on God. Honestly, [my husband] had become my all-in-all; and Jesus was someone we taught our kids about and someone we worshipped on Sundays."

Is God an add-on to your life? Or is He your all-in-all? Is Jesus someone you teach your kids about and worship on Sunday? Or is He the reason you are who you are, the reason you can get up each day, the reason you can do anything you do?

This occurred to me while I was finishing up my post on Transformation, that a large group of you are very content to leave God on the sidelines, fitting Him in conveniently to your life here and there.

It is my passion to communicate to you what an incredible thing you're missing out on. Daily time in God's Word will change your life, but what if you don't see the need for change? I guess there's not much I can say.

Or perhaps I'm too focused on the intellectual pursuit of study and that turns people off. Perhaps I need to communicate more of the relationship side of Christianity. I admit, I LOVE to learn. And Bible study, as an educational pursuit, is my passion. So maybe I need to change my approach a bit.

I just finished reading Beyond Belief to Conviction by Josh McDowell. This part really stuck out to me (it is not a direct quote, I have paraphrased):

You are saved and so you belong to God--you are adopted into His family. Jesus says, "I know you and love you so very much, just for who you are. I know every thought and motive, every desire of your heart. I even took on human flesh and tasted first-hand all the joys and pains of the life you lead. But...I want you to know me."

God doesn't want you to go to his Word to simply learn the rules of the Christian life. The Word is not just to inspire you to live better, He wants you to see His Word as an open door to His heart, a way to know Him for who He is.

Do you want to know Him? If you don't even care about change or transformation, if you are really quite happy in your life, do you at least want to get to know God? Would it hurt you if your child didn't care anything about getting to know you? What if your child just looked at you as a ticket to things, to toys, to college, to a car, etc.? That is how a lot of us view God. He is our ticket to heaven, we only come to Him when we need things. Other than that, we don't want to get to know Him. But He wants you to know Him, so much so, that this is the primary reason He sent His Son to die, to remove the barrier between you and Him, your sin. This is the very reason He's given us His Word, to reveal Himself to us. So that we can know Him. It's all about relationship. It starts now, we don't wait till we get to heaven.

Ponder these verses.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the LORD:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness,

judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

Psalm 95:10-11

The Israelites did now know God, so they did not enter His rest. (Canaan--this is the victorious, abundant Christian life, not heaven.) [My paraphrase.]

Jeremiah 24:7

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life. [And what is eternal life? It is not living forever, but knowing God! See below.]

John 17:1-3

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He shall give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

It is all about relationship. How's your relationship with Him? Is it a daily pursuit, or weekly, or just every once in a while, or just when you need something? Don't wait until crisis hits, to start building that relationship.

License to Sin

This is a continuation of my post of The Consequences of Sin, which was part five in a series.

In the last post, I made a list of what I believe to be the consequences of sin. Those include 1) repercussions from this world, 2) opening up the door to the devil in your life, 3) strengthening your sinful nature (your flesh), and 4) tarnishing your soul. This last one is what I will explain more fully today. What I do not believe are the consequences of sin are 1) that God stops loving us, 2) God punishes us, 3) God is unable to bless or protect us, and 4) we lose our salvation.

This is where it would seem that I am giving you license to sin, since there is no fear of losing salvation or God's love. But, that is simply not the case. I also ended my last post with Romans 6:23a, "For the wages of sin is death." Does that verse contradict what I have presented?

I think the problem most of us have, is that we do not look at ourselves as a three-part person. We are spirit beings, we have souls, and we live in a body. This information is vital in understanding how salvation works, and how sin affects us. (I Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12)

When you are saved (when you admit your sin and need for a Savior, accept Jesus as your Lord, believing that He died on a cross to pay for your sin, and rose from the grave three days later--see Romans 10:9-10), it is your spirit that gets recreated, in the likeness of Christ. It is made new, made perfect (II Corinthians 5:17). It is also sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). Your spirit now has been made righteous because of Jesus. God sees you as a spirit and sees you as righteous, in your spirit. He loved you before you were saved, and He will always love you, nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 5:8, Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 8:38-39). Knowing of this awesome love casts out all fear of torment and punishment (I John 4:18). Experiencing this love also enables us to love others (I John 4:11).

When we are saved, we do not, however, get a new soul. Our soul is not made clean and new and perfect, but we can begin a process that makes it so (Philippians 1:6). This takes effort on our part, but as with everything in God's system, our part is so small, God's part is big (Philippians 2:12-13). Remember the post I did about Lazarus? If you haven't read it, you can click here. This is what the story of Lazarus illustrates for us. At salvation we are made alive, in our spirit, but we are still bound up with the graveclothes (sinful desires in our soul). We can be free of those if we want, but it takes a cleansing of the soul. We can also look at the story of the Israelites in slavery, in Egypt (Exodus). They were set free from slavery, but then wandered in the desert for 40 years. Being in Egypt is being dead in your sins. Crossing the Red Sea is salvation, but you can choose whether to wander in the dry desert or cross over into the Promised Land. The Promised Land is not heaven, as some suggest, but it is the victorious, abundant, Christian life. It cannot be heaven, because there are battles to be fought. We will have battles in the Christian walk, but God is on our side, so who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) But notice that God never sent any of them back to Egypt, because of their behavior and a lot of them had horrible behavior.

The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 that God begins a good work in us and will not complete it until the day Jesus returns. This good work is cleansing our soul. None of us has a perfect soul, none will until Jesus returns.

One of the evidences that you are saved is that you should want to become clean. You should not be content to live in your sins. (I John 3:3) It may seem impossible to break free, but if you are saved, you will feel a guilt over that sin and want a way to stop. You see there is a war between your spirit that wants to obey God and your soul that still wants to obey the sinful desires (I Peter 2:11, Romans 7:22-23). Remember the illustration I shared from Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris a couple weeks ago. You can read it here. We must realize that once we are saved we are no longer chained to our flesh (our sinful desires), we have a choice not to obey. But the more we feed our flesh the stronger it gets. Likewise the more we starve the flesh, the weaker it becomes.

So, you see, one of the consequences of sin is that it tarnishes our soul. Our soul doesn't become clean overnight, at salvation. Cleansing it is a process and it takes a lifetime. How clean it gets does depend, in part, on us. Remember Moses at the Red Sea. God told him to raise his staff up. Moses obeyed and God parted the water, so that the Israelites could cross on dry land. Our part is always small in comparison to the work that God does. God will change us from the inside out. He starts with our spirit and does a miraculous work, recreating it instantly, and then perfects our soul, over the course of our lifetime. We then get a perfect, new body when Jesus returns, completing our salvation. (I Corinthians 15:50-58)

So how do we cleanse our soul?

Wash it in the water of God's Word. Ephesians 5:24 tells us that God's Word is like water that washes us. John 17:17 tells us that God's Word is truth and it will sanctify (cleanse, make holy) us (that has to be our soul, since our spirit is recreated perfect at the new birth). The Word will transform your mind (soul) (Romans 12:2), so that you won't want to sin anymore.

The best place to start is to study how much God loves you. When you get a full revelation of His love for you, your fears will be cast out (I John 4:18). You will be able to love others and will feel so grateful, you will want to do anything God asks of you. (I John 3:16, 4:7-12, 18, 5:3)

Now, what about Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death..."?

There are two ways I interpret this verse.

1) The wages of sin, under the Old Testament law, is death. But Jesus paid that penalty for us. We no longer have to pay that penalty.

2) There are different types of death. Living in sin, after salvation, won't cause spiritual death (which is eternal separation from God), but will bring death to the soul and body. Our soul is the area where our emotions, feelings, and will are. The dirtier the soul, the more depression, anxiety, fearfulness, worry, lack of peace and joy you will have. This will manifest in your body through sickness, pain, and fatigue. Plus, like I mentioned before, the more you feed that desire to sin, the stronger that desire will be. You are supposed to count your flesh as dead. Why would you feed a dead man?

So, by no means am I preaching liberty to sin (just like Paul in Romans 6:1-3). You have a choice. You can live an abundant, joy-filled, peaceful life, here on earth, or you can life a horrible, depressed, hell-on-earth life. God loves you just the same. He wants you to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). He sent His Son to die for all your sins--past, present, and future. They have been paid for. He sent His Holy Spirit to empower you to overcome your temptations and sin. You cannot do it in your own willpower. Put your trust in your Heavenly Father, He will show you the way of escape. (I Corinthians 10:13)

I want you to truly be free of sin, but I want you to know the truth. I will not use fear to motivate you, fear of punishment, fear of wrath, fear of losing God's love, fear of losing salvation. God does not use fear. (II Timothy 1:7) He gave us His truth, in order to set us free. (John 17:17, 8:32)You may say it doesn't matter, but our motives for our actions matter very much. That is a post for a later date. Until then...study to show yourself approved, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. (II Timothy 2:15) Check out the things I have presented here and decide for yourself.

Your Purpose

What is your purpose in this life?

We all have a purpose. God has a special plan for each and every one of us.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 (NIV)

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

So what are His plans for you? That is going to be the great discovery of your life.

There are general plans for all of us and then there are specific plans for us, too. What are we supposed to be doing? Obeying the 10 Commandments?

Under the new covenant, we are not under the law anymore. Christ fulfilled the law. He paid the penalty of the law for you and for me. Now many use this as an excuse to sin. But Paul specifically tells us in Romans 6, verses 1 and 2, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Emphasis mine, but I have heard some more knowledgeable than myself explain that this exclamation Paul is making is in the strongest language possible. This is no trifle matter with Paul.)

That being said, let’s read Ephesians 4:25-32 together.

Therefore, putting away lying, “ Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

This is from the same epistle where Paul tells us that we did not work for our salvation, it is a gift of God’s grace (Eph. 2:8). Yet, Paul must think that behavior matters. So we see that God’s plan includes the following:

• Putting away lying
• Not letting our anger manifest in sinful actions
• Not to give place to the devil (how do we do that?)
• Not stealing
• To work a job
• To give to others that have needs
• To let no corrupt words come out of our mouths, only things that will build others up
• Not to grieve the Holy Spirit
• No more bitterness
• No more wrath
• No more anger (or you could read this as temper)
• No more clamor (what’s this, you ask? The English word clamor here is the Greek word krauge. It is an onomatopoeic word, imitating a raven’s cry. This means the word sounds similar to a raven’s cry, which is loud and annoying (it's like our English word boom, it sounds a bit like a bomb going off). This Greek word denotes an outcry and controversy. Basically this is describing people that are always making a fuss about things, and are annoying everyone around them in the process.)
• No evil speaking (This sounds like repetition of #7. It must be pretty important if Paul is repeating it.)
• Being kind to others
• Being tenderhearted
• Forgiving one another

Heavy duty list, huh? This is just one New Testament example, practically every epistle has a similar list. But this is not to condemn you, if you fail in any of these areas, it does not mean that you will lose your salvation. We do have a flesh that tries to battle us daily. A few verses previous to this list, Paul says (vs. 23-24) to be renewed in the spirit of your mind (sounds a lot like Rom. 12:2) and put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. This is a moment-by-moment thing, choosing, through the power of the Holy Spirit (without which we would fail), to obey the spirit and deny the flesh.

See also Galatians 5:24-25.

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

This is just one example of detail in the Bible about what we are supposed to be doing, hence our purpose in this life. There is much more. Do a study to find out what else the Bible says about your life.

Why Am I Here?

Do you ever get that feeling?  Do you know what your purpose is?  Unfortunately, most people don't have a sense of purpose and without it, we flounder through life.  You will find true joy when you find your purpose.

You will remember that I did a study with my son on what the Bible says about who we are, this spring.  After we finished that study we jumped into a study of what the Bible says about WHY we are here, why we were created.  This is what I came up with.

Why Am I Here?

First we realize that it's not all about us!

::We were created for God's glory.

Isaiah 43:7, I Corinthians 10:31, I Corinthians 6:20, Proverbs 16:4

::To love God

Mark 12:28-30

::For God's pleasure

Psalm 149:4, Psalm 147:11

::To worship God

John 4:23, Psalm 105:4, Psalm 113:3, Psalm 34:1

::To understand and know God

Jeremiah 9:24

Now, God wants to work in us and through us...

::To make us like Christ

Romans 8:29, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 13:14, I John 3:2, II Peter 3:14 (NIV), Hebrews 4:11

::To develop character in us

Romans 5:3-4, II Peter 1:5-8, Colossians 3:12-17, Galatians 5:22-23

BUT, we must never forget that it is God developing that character in us and changing us into the image of His Son!

Philippians 2:13

Why is character so important?

So we can fulfill the next part of purpose...

::To be the light of the world

John 8:12, Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8-10

::To love one another

John 13:34-35, I John 4:7, I Corinthians 13

::To serve one another

Mark 10:35-45

::To bear good fruit

Genesis 1:28, John 15:16. Galatians 5:22-23

::To spread the gospel

Mark 16:15

::To do good works

Ephesians 2:10

::To do a job in the Body of Christ

I Corinthians 3:5-15, Romans 12:6, I Corinthians 12

Now, you may have noticed that the first portion  of this list related to God and the second portion is in relation to others.  We cannot love others and minister to others until we understand God's love for us and let him start to change us from the inside out.

Now, in relation to this earth...

::We are to have dominion over the earth (this is partially realized now and fully realized in the age to come)

Genesis 1:26

And finally, in the future...

::To rule and reign with Christ as kings and priests.

Revelation 5:10 & II Timothy 2:12

Now, equally important as our purpose is, is also what NOT to do.  We are NOT to seek after man's approval, our motives are just as important, sometimes more so, than our actions.  God looks at the heart.  

II Corinthians 10:12, 17-18

As I stated in our study of who we are, you can find more in the Bible to add to this list, but this is what I chose to study with my children.  Start a study to find out what your purpose is.  Need some help?  Check out The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren.

This article is also a follow-up of my challenge, to write down a list of my beliefs.  This list answers some of those questions.

Verse For Today

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the Lord:

Cursed is the man who trusts in man

And makes flesh his strength,

Whose heart departs from the Lord.

For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,

And shall not see when good comes,

But shall inhabit the parched places

in the wilderness,

In a salt land which is not inhabited.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

For he shall be like a tree planted by

the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year

of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Verse For Today

I came across this verse in my reading this morning.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the Lord:

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

Let not the mighty man glory in his might,

Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;

But let him who glories glory in this,

That he understands and knows Me,

That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight," says the Lord.

Character

I'm going to reach back a bit and fill in some gaps.  With my 3rd grade son this year I decided to study various character aspects of God.

What you think of God will have a big impact upon your life.  What does God's Word have to say about His character?

I sat down and listed all the character qualities I could think of and then researched each one.  We spent a few weeks on each one.

I had my son take certain notes so that it would help the information stick in his mind.  If kids are doing something with the information they are learning it will help them retain it better.  Now he has that notebook to refer back to, also, and refresh his memory.

For each character quality I had him copy the definition out of the dictionary (one day) and then copy down a theme verse (separate day).  Then each day I would read him a Bible story that illustrated that quality, he then kept a list of the stories on his notebook page.

Our first character aspect was faithful.  The theme verse was Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful."  I found various stories of God making a promise to someone and keeping that promise.  The ones we read were -  Noah (promised to preserve from the flood), Abraham (promised a son), Peter & John, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; Paul (God promised him he would go to Rome, we read all the stories of how God kept him from harm so he could get to Rome, including a shipwreck).

Then I thought we would cover some of the promises in God's Word that He is faithful to perform (Jer. 1:12 & Is. 55:11).  I looked up various verses about - protection, provision, strength, healing, joy, wisdom, and peace.

I know there are many more that I didn't find.  Each day we covered a separate promise and I had my son list all the scripture references in his notebook so that he could use it as a reference whenever he needed.

Next we learned that God is our Healer.  Our theme verse was Ex. 15:26 "I am the Lord who heals you."  We went through all four gospels (and the beginning of Acts) and picked out every single story on healing that we found.  I had my son write down each reference each day so that he could have it as a reference.

Next was God our Deliverer.  Theme verses were Psalm 91:14-15 "Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him."  We read stories of deliverance - Gideon, Jacob & Esau, Moses in the basket, the Israelites from Egypt, Deborah the Judge, Rahab in Jericho, Israel from Balaam's curse, Samson, David from Goliath, David from Saul, Shadrach, Meshach & Abed-Nego, and Daniel in the lion's den.

Next was God our Provider.  Theme verse Philippians 4:19 "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  Story of creation (order of importance, man was created last so that everything he needed was already here), Elijah and the ravens, Elijah and the widow, manna, water from the rock, Book of Ruth, feeding the thousands (loaves and fishes), consider the sparrows and the lillies/do not worry passage, tax money from a fish, David provided with the showbread to eat, Goliath's sword for a weapon, and a hiding place for his family, when on the run from Saul; and Joseph and his family during famine.

This brings us up to date (we did character qualities from July through October).  We have taken a bit of a detour (because I was lazy and didn't research a new character quality) and read through some Psalms and Proverbs (month of November) and are now on a prophecy kick.  See later posts for details.