Jun
24
Written by:
Bob Flynn
6/24/2009 12:17 PM
How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure….God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. (Ephesians 1:3-5, 9-10 NLT96)
Bob Flynn, President/CEO
We have been designed from before the foundation of the world to be a perfect fit in God’s plan. The problem arises when we do not see or experience this perfect fit. Generally speaking, in our culture of comfort, we are looking for a prize in the box of Cracker Jack rather than searching for the Pearl of Great Price! It is this same mindset that perceives prayer as a change agent useful only in effecting alteration in our circumstances. Thus we miss out on the true character of prayer─ that can transform us for God's glory while at the same time changing us so that we fit His plans. So when, in our instant societal expectations, we fail to receive an immediate answer, the fire goes out in our boiler, our passion sputters, and we falter in our intercessory perseverance. Our prayers are ultimately effective because of our intimacy and communion with God─which also enables our success in the completion of the plans He has for us. Because of this, the enemy of our soul will be resolute in persistently injecting error into our understanding. His goal is to force our commitment to wane in this vital ministry of which we are to be our own first fruit. King David exhorted his son Solomon to, “learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately” (1 Chronicles 28:9) because “this is the way to have eternal life—to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One You sent to earth” (John 17:3 NLT). David goes on to explain that we should “Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind.” This is where our failure begins to be seen: in the absence of righteous works that He has ordained for us to perform─because we are not willing of mind. It is this lack of true intimacy with Christ, our Savior, that leads to our overt rebelliousness and failure! For how could we truly worship and serve a stranger or mere acquaintance? When Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the Macedonian churches he said their “first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us for whatever directions God might give them” (2 Corinthians 8:5b NLT96).
53.48 ἑαυτὸν δίδωμι: (an idiom, literally ‘to give oneself’) to dedicate oneself to some activity in a completely willing manner, usually implying service on behalf of someone or something—‘to give oneself to, to dedicate oneself to.’ (eautous edokan proton to kurio kai emin dia thelematos theos) ‘they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by God’s will’ 2 Corinthians 8:5. (Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament)
1 Chronicles 28:9-10 And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.
When the Lord Jesus Christ has drawn you into the Holy of Holies by the intimacies of your prayer life, you will begin to understand that He is conforming you to His blessed will. Then no matter how high the mountain of your trials, or how low the valley of your circumstances, and how impossible life’s travails become, you will begin to see through Christ’s eyes; and the attitude of your heart will have changed. This is all important because in the flesh, our righteousness is still like filthy rags! We can no more do the work of the eternal Gospel than fly. If we look to those who have gone before us in whom God has chosen to accomplish great things, perhaps we will also find time-honored truth that can be applied to our present world. William Wilberforce, who was instrumental in the termination of the vile practice of slavery, would no doubt say that we are hugging our chains!
Sensual gratifications and illicit affections have debased our nobler powers, and indisposed our hearts to the discovery of God, and to the consideration of his perfections; to a constant willing submission to his authority, and obedience to his laws….Left to the consequences of our own folly, the understanding has grown darker, and the heart more obdurate; reason has at length altogether betrayed her trust, and even conscience herself has aided the delusion, till, instead of deploring our miserable slavery, we have too often hugged, and even gloried in our chains. (William Wilberforce)
Now there are some who would with immediate response say that they have no sensual gratifications and illicit affections! For those dear believers I would respond that deception is so stealth that it does and has caused true partakers of Grace to think that they are serving the Lord─when all the while they are doing the work of the enemy! It is all too easy for us to assume that it is someone else who is deceived rather than consider that we, like Lot, may be affected by the world in which we live. With much energy we consider the great beginnings of revival, but we do not consider why their demise comes so swiftly! I could stand up and stick out my chin and say, “not me.” But then I would be disagreeing with someone who preached a “Great Awakening” in this land and has the “Jonathan Edwards Center” named after him at Yale University. It is us to whom he refers when he speaks of piteous Zion weltering in the blood of self-inflicted wounds.
It is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ….By this, principally, has he prevailed against revivals of religion in our nation….And, I think, I have had opportunity enough to see plainly, that by this the devil has prevailed against the late great revival of religion in New England, so happy and promising in its beginning. Here, most evidently, has been the main advantage Satan has had against us; by this he has foiled us. It is by this means that the daughter of Zion in this land now lies on the ground, in such piteous circumstances, with her garments rent, her face disfigured, her nakedness exposed, her limbs broken, and weltering in the blood of her own wounds, and in no wise able to arise; and this, so quickly after her late great joys and hopes: Lamentations 1:17 (Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections)
All too often we make our plans and ask the King of Heaven to rubber stamp them with his blessing. And if we see successes through our eyes we seem satisfied. Or we may not be involved in any ministry whatsoever but rather are basking in the warmth of what would appear to be Plato’s celestial plane! On the one hand we display arrogance and on the other we demonstrate passivity─the sinful ditches on either side of the highway of holiness. David told Solomon to “Be strong, and do the work.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Why do we not engage in this work that is perfectly fit for us? For Jeremiah records that these plans are to give us “a future and hope!” Why then to we cling to gold mixed with copper rather than seeking the pure gold of Christ’s eternal Gospel? Why does the harvest work languish for lack of harvest workers? We have found comfort in our fallen estate “aided by delusion” with darker understanding “gloried in our chains.” We neither toil in the fields of harvest nor do we fall to our knees and pray! Thus the deeds “we have done” in our righteousness remain the manna that bred worms and stank. The Macedonian churches were up for the task that lay before them because they were fit! They were a perfect fit (round peg, round hole) for God’s plans because He made them fit (fitness) to do the work designed.
When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and earth. I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soul of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT96)
When Paul comprehended the eternal capacity of God’s plan there was but one reaction available—he fell on his knees. In the midst of that intimacy with the Savior of the world he realized that the whole purpose of the Gospel was that he would no longer live for himself! Why is it that the harvest fields are white unto harvest? Because the church is still singing Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Way!” God created the world for himself so that the creatures of this world would give glory to Him! Then man turned in rebellion and into sin, went his own way, and God sent His son to redeem them. Why? To get the world back on track and do what we were supposed to do in the first place. Our major occupation then is to please God constantly in everything we do. Not to please ourselves! Not to do our thing! Not to pursue our happiness! It may be an American inalienable right to have the pursuit of happiness but it is not a Christian right. Happiness is always a byproduct of pleasing God and giving Him glory!
2Corinthians 5:15 He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
Proverbs 16:1-3, 9 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives. Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed….We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
Have you completed the three briefs (Orientation, Developing a Local Ministry, Pray and Plan Process) on the Become a Leader section of our website? Have your recognized your calling and submitted yourself to God’s plan? Can you see your perfect fit?