God's External Plans For You
I hope you read our post called "God's Internal Plan For You." I would call the information in that post one of the greatest revelations I've ever received. It's not that others don't understand we must be conformed to the image of Christ. But I hadn't realized that, in my quest for my destiny, this transformation into His image is the absolute starting point.
God has plans for us all, both internal and external. Wonderfully, we all have the same internal plan. God wants us all to be conformed to the image of Christ in our inner man. Mind, heart, spirit, and soul, we must all become like Christ. Renovating your mind according to God's Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your heart are the two keys to participating in this transformation. But now we must talk about God's external plans for us, what God wants us to have and what God wants us to do.
I would like first to remind you that your dedication to God's internal plan for you is the seed you must sow if you ever want to harvest God's external plans for you. If you aren't conformed to the image of Christ then God can't totally trust you with everything He wants to give you. If God gave you a lot of money you wouldn't use it for His glory, for example. Moreover, if you aren't conformed to the image of Christ then you won't go where God wants to send you. Will you go to impoverished areas to pass out food and preach the Gospel? Probably not until you have fully embraced the life and ministry of Christ at the core of your being. So with that in mind let's turn to God's Word about His external plans for you.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
I want to first show you this verse so you can know that God certainly does have specific works planned for your life. The Bible says here that God has created us for good works. It then says that God has "before ordained" those works. Another way to say "before ordained" is "prepared beforehand." God has created you for good works and prepared them for you. Isn't that awesome?
But remember, just because God created you for certain good works, and has even prepared them for you, doesn't mean you are ready to walk in them. Do you walk in love? Do you preach the Gospel when you have the opportunity? Do you know God's Word? If you answered "no" to those questions then you aren't ready to walk in the works of God. These aren't just any "works." These are "good works." If God created us in Christ for these works, then these works probably have something to do with the life and ministry of Christ. So you need to be conformed to His image to actually do these good works.
Now that we all understand that God does have specific works planned for our lives, we must ask the huge question, "What are they?" If you internally working on being conformed to the image of Christ, fellowshipping with God, studying His Word and developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit, then it's time to get working outside of yourself. God has good works for you. Now it's time to learn what they are.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)
What a marvelous passage! God wants us to know (1) what He has prepared for those that love Him and (2) which things are freely given to us from Him. Remember that God "prepared" the good works for us. So this says we can know what God wants us to do and what God wants us to have. There, in my opinion, is the completion to our three-part destiny. We can know the type of person God wants us to be, what God wants us to do, and what God wants us to have.
God wants us all to be like Christ. But God wants us individually to do and have some different things. This passage gives us the key to obtaining this extremely important knowledge. We can't learn about these things through our eyes or ears, or even by thinking long and hard about them. God's Holy Spirit must reveal them to us. This passage says that at least one reason God gave us His Holy Spirit is so that we can know His will for our lives. The Holy Spirit changes us into the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals our specific good works. The Holy Spirit will also reveal what God wants us to have (like a spouse or a job or anything else).
So now the key is developing our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We must learn to receive from Him. He will reveal things to us and we will discern things spiritually. Praise God! You develop this relationship by spending time in God's Word, by praying in the spirit, by singing in the spirit, and by consulting and obeying the Holy Spirit always. God communicates to us by His Spirit in a variety of ways. You should read our post "God's Communication Methods." Study those verses and begin hearing God clearly all the time.
God is so wonderful. He plans wonderful lives for us. He knows that when we are conformed to the image of Christ we will have true inner joy and peace. He also knows that when we do the works we were created for we will experience complete satisfaction and fulfillment. Finally, He gives us good gifts so we can be comfortable in this life.
Your relationship with the Holy Spirit is the key to living out your destiny. He will reveal God's will to you. Through Him you will discern all good things. Pray and meditate on these passages. If you apply their truth to your life you will begin truly living the life Christ died for you to have.
I would like first to remind you that your dedication to God's internal plan for you is the seed you must sow if you ever want to harvest God's external plans for you. If you aren't conformed to the image of Christ then God can't totally trust you with everything He wants to give you. If God gave you a lot of money you wouldn't use it for His glory, for example. Moreover, if you aren't conformed to the image of Christ then you won't go where God wants to send you. Will you go to impoverished areas to pass out food and preach the Gospel? Probably not until you have fully embraced the life and ministry of Christ at the core of your being. So with that in mind let's turn to God's Word about His external plans for you.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
I want to first show you this verse so you can know that God certainly does have specific works planned for your life. The Bible says here that God has created us for good works. It then says that God has "before ordained" those works. Another way to say "before ordained" is "prepared beforehand." God has created you for good works and prepared them for you. Isn't that awesome?
But remember, just because God created you for certain good works, and has even prepared them for you, doesn't mean you are ready to walk in them. Do you walk in love? Do you preach the Gospel when you have the opportunity? Do you know God's Word? If you answered "no" to those questions then you aren't ready to walk in the works of God. These aren't just any "works." These are "good works." If God created us in Christ for these works, then these works probably have something to do with the life and ministry of Christ. So you need to be conformed to His image to actually do these good works.
Now that we all understand that God does have specific works planned for our lives, we must ask the huge question, "What are they?" If you internally working on being conformed to the image of Christ, fellowshipping with God, studying His Word and developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit, then it's time to get working outside of yourself. God has good works for you. Now it's time to learn what they are.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)
What a marvelous passage! God wants us to know (1) what He has prepared for those that love Him and (2) which things are freely given to us from Him. Remember that God "prepared" the good works for us. So this says we can know what God wants us to do and what God wants us to have. There, in my opinion, is the completion to our three-part destiny. We can know the type of person God wants us to be, what God wants us to do, and what God wants us to have.
God wants us all to be like Christ. But God wants us individually to do and have some different things. This passage gives us the key to obtaining this extremely important knowledge. We can't learn about these things through our eyes or ears, or even by thinking long and hard about them. God's Holy Spirit must reveal them to us. This passage says that at least one reason God gave us His Holy Spirit is so that we can know His will for our lives. The Holy Spirit changes us into the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals our specific good works. The Holy Spirit will also reveal what God wants us to have (like a spouse or a job or anything else).
So now the key is developing our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We must learn to receive from Him. He will reveal things to us and we will discern things spiritually. Praise God! You develop this relationship by spending time in God's Word, by praying in the spirit, by singing in the spirit, and by consulting and obeying the Holy Spirit always. God communicates to us by His Spirit in a variety of ways. You should read our post "God's Communication Methods." Study those verses and begin hearing God clearly all the time.
God is so wonderful. He plans wonderful lives for us. He knows that when we are conformed to the image of Christ we will have true inner joy and peace. He also knows that when we do the works we were created for we will experience complete satisfaction and fulfillment. Finally, He gives us good gifts so we can be comfortable in this life.
Your relationship with the Holy Spirit is the key to living out your destiny. He will reveal God's will to you. Through Him you will discern all good things. Pray and meditate on these passages. If you apply their truth to your life you will begin truly living the life Christ died for you to have.
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