How to Easily Start Living in God’s Plans for Your Life

Hello my friends.  I hope you have all been doing well.  Today we are going to talk about a variety of topics, and some popular verses, and I hope we are all going to learn more about living in God’s plans for our lives.  God’s plans for our lives is definitely one of my favorite subjects, and I hope you agree that it’s pretty important. 

God truly does have a wonderful plan for each of our lives, but it won’t happen automatically.  We need to do our part and seek God’s will for our lives.  That said, I think we get the wrong idea about His plans, and I think we make this subject out to be far more complicated than it really is.  Or even if we don’t make it too complicated, we don’t get enough practical advice as to how to start living it.  The older I get, the more I believe we can easily find God’s plan for our lives.  At least we can easily get started.

If you have heard any of my previous teachings on this subject, you may recall my point that God doesn’t have one specific destiny or great work or great job for you to do that you might fulfill in a moment.  That’s not really a Biblical idea.  Rather, God has a full lifetime of plans for you.  God has plans for you when you are young, plans for you when you are old, and God has plans for you all along the way.  That’s one of the beautiful realities of God’s plan for your life.  No matter where you are in your age or in your relationship with God, you can begin living in His plan for your life right now.  Let me quickly review two verses before we really launch into our discussion today. 

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “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.”

God has plans for you.  Even if you are 80 years old and you became a Christian yesterday, God still has plans for you and you can start living them.  No matter how long you may live, God has good works for you to do.  Furthermore, God’s plans for your life are to prosper you.  Please don’t get hung up on the word “prosper” right now.  Just remember that God’s plans are for your good.   Remember what Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” 

Like you perhaps, I’ve known that God has a plan for my life for a long time.  I grew up hearing that in church, but I don’t recall hearing any specifics on how to find it.  Sure, we hear all about God’s rules, but what about God’s specific plans for us?  Over time, my greatest fear became missing out on God’s plans for me.  His plan for my life is now my all-consuming desire.  I’m not saying that to sound cool or spiritually mature, I’m just telling you the truth, and why I think about this subject so often.

Fortunately, I realize now that finding God’s plans for our lives was never meant to be difficult or overly complicated.  In fact, God is showing me simpler and easier ways to understand His plans and live them, and this is really the point of the message today.  I’m finding some of these points so liberating, so exciting, so awesome, that I want to share them with you. 

I truly believe that God’s plan for your life is your best possible life.  I believe that when you start living in His plans you will find the best activities, the best relationships, the most fulfillment, the greatest peace, the most fun, and the most excitement that life could ever hold for you.  I know this is true.

The greatest joys in life are not sitting in some beautiful location relaxing or enjoying recreation.  Those things are fun, but they aren’t the best.  The best moments, the greatest joys, come when you use your God-given gifts and abilities to do something great that has a positive impact for the world.  With God, you can experience those times regularly, you can live with that constant sense of fulfillment, doing one good work after another.

And let me tell you some more awesome truths.  This life that I’m talking about, this life that sounds perfect, that sounds like heaven on Earth, that sounds too good to be true, it’s available to you right now.  You don’t have to be rich.  You don’t have to quit your job.  You don’t have to make some radical life changes.  No matter where you are in your walk with God, and no matter what you have going on in your life, you can get started today.  You can truly begin living your best possible life today, it is much, much easier than you think. 

I now want to briefly discuss God, for a correct understanding of God will help you correctly start in His plans, in the life He has for you. 

We must recognize that God does not have parents.  God does not have DNA.  God was not created or born with any certain attributes or characteristics.  No one taught God a set of moral values or behaviors.  No one taught God right and wrong.  Just think of this for a second.  Every single characteristic or attribute of God is something God decided for Himself.  Every single value that God has He chose for Himself.  God, with infinite wisdom and insight into all possible realities, decided Who He would be, how He would be, and how He would interact with others. 

And, with infinite possibilities, how does God define Himself.  (1 John 4:8) - “He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.”

God is love.  Love is by far the most defining characteristic of God.  In fact, the true love of God goes beyond human understanding (Ephesians 3:19).  We can’t even fathom the love God has for us.  But God does help us to understand Him, and look at what God says about love in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13.  All of these statements about love are also statements about God.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV)

And before we move on, let’s remember the Fruit of the Spirit, as they also teach us a great deal about God’s character.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . .” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Please my friends, please hear Me, when you truly begin to understand God, when you truly begin to see Him as He is, you will love Him more and more and more.  And living in His plan for your life will become easier and easier.

God is the best possible God.  God is the most wonderful possible God.  God is the most loving possible God. God is the most awesome possible God.  God could not possibly be any better or more worthy of our love.  My friends, there is no way I can accurately say this in any language.  He is beautiful beyond description.   He is beyond anything we could ever want.  He is worthy of all of our praise.  He is worthy of our adoration.  He truly is worthy of everything we could ever do for Him. 

And God doesn’t just happen to be awesome.  He wasn’t created that way.  There was no randomness of any kind associated with Him.  He decided to be Love.  He decided to be Joy and Peace and Gentleness and Kindness and Mercy and Truth. He chose to be this wonderful God, and, at least to Me, that only increases my love for Him.  This understanding only increases my desire to live for Him.

And now that we better understand Him, at least in part, now that we see how wonderful He is, it is that much easier to live for Him. 

Yes, I know, many people live for God simply because the Bible commands us to do so.  They just accepted such instructions and ran with them without any great understanding of God.  Good for those people.  I’m happy for them.  I wanted to live that way.  I wanted to just accept and lay my life down in obedience to God’s Word alone.  But I couldn’t even understand what that really meant.  How do we start?  Where do we begin?  Do I just go to church every day?  Do I go and minister to the homeless every day?  What about my job?  What do I do?  How do I live for Him?

But now I see that it’s so much easier than I thought.  It’s so much simpler.  His burden is easy and His yoke is light, and, to take up with Him every day is a joy.  Let me show you what God has shown me.  Listen to these verses that we will review together.  They are some awesome, so profound, so complicated, but they are also so simple, so easy, and they show us the way.

(Isaiah 60:1-3) - “Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

(Matthew 5:14-16) - "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

My brothers and sisters, if you are a Christian, because of your relationship with Jesus Christ the very Light of God is upon you.  The very glory of God is upon you.  You can’t see it.  You probably don’t feel it.  But the glory of God is upon you.  You must accept it.  No, I don’t claim to understand everything that this means.  But I believe the Bible.  I trust in Jesus.  We are the light of the world.  And the light with which we shine, which shines from us, is both Jesus and the glory of God.   

But while we must accept this, let’s not make it too complicated.  Just trust it.  Just understand that this light is your reality, and it’s your calling to shine.  It’s God’s plan for your life for you to shine.  We must let this glory shine before others. 

So, you ask, how do I let the glory of God shine before others?  The simple answer is that you do your good works.  You do the good works that God has planned for you, your Ephesians 2:10 good works which you were created to do.  God has planned specific good works for you to do and God has created you with everything you need to do them.  And when you do your good works, others will see them, and glorify your Father.

But even the notion of doing the good works can become complicated.  What are my personal, specific good works?  How do I find them?  Are they complex, major endeavors?  How do I get started? 

That is how I used to think, and then God showed me 1 Corinthians Chapter 2, which is a passage I have spoken about many times.  I realized that these good works are in fact revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.  As we grow in spiritual maturity, and as we grow in our relationship with God, God will show us everything we are to do.  But we need to be tuned into God’s frequency, we need to make sure we are hearing from the Holy Spirit.

And while those things are true, I was still making this too complicated, or at least more complicated than it needed to be.  Yes, some of our good works may involve travel, or career moves, or some significant actions.  But our good works don’t start there.  Moreover, our good works shouldn’t be very hard to find or figure out.  God wants us to easily recognize them and do them.  If it is so important to God that I let my light shine and do these good works, then I should be able to easily start this process.

(Luke 9:23-24) – “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

I love how this passage in Luke includes the word “daily”.   We must choose to follow Jesus every day.  Each day is a decision to deny ourselves.  Each day is a decision to take up our cross.  How do I let my light shine today?  How do I follow Jesus today?  What good works should I do today?

I see now that, when we put all of these amazing verses together, we reach a startling conclusion.  When I thought about God’s plan for my life, I thought that, after I reached some pinnacle or mountaintop of spiritual maturity, God’s Holy Spirit would reveal to me some epic quest or some world-changing good work.  But that’s not the conclusion I reach now at all.

Rather, we see that the moment we became Christians we became the light.  The moment we became Christians we were called to shine.  The moment we became Christians we were granted access to our good works.  The moment we became Christians we truly walked through the gate onto God’s path for our lives.  We can start right now.  And we start by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Jesus.

“Father, today I deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus.  Father, as I know that you are love, and as I know these good works will bring you glory, how can I show your love to the world today?  How can I shine with your glory today?  What good works can I do today?”

“God, who can I help today?  Who can I bless today?  Who can I tell about Jesus today?  Who needs some love or encouragement or friendship?  Lead me to those people God.  Help me to shine for you today.” 

Every day we can do good works for the Kingdom of God.  Every day we can show God’s love to the world.  Every day we can love and help other people.  In doing so, we will do our good works and we will let our light shine. 

Denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus is a commitment.  It’s a surrender.  It’s a deliberate decision to put aside yourself and to live for Him.  “Father, I’m going to show love to every single person that enters my life.  Father, I’m going to operate in the fruit of the Spirit in every single situation of my life.  I acknowledge my union with Jesus, and I’m going to let His love and light shine through me.” 

Maybe at first these ideas sound hard or complex or unappealing.  But when you know God, when you have experienced His amazing love for yourself, then you want to show others.  You want to daily work with Him so that others will see His glory as well.  It’s a joy to deny yourself in favor of what God has for you.  It’s a joy to take up your cross and share Jesus with the world.  It’s a joy to do all of the good works God has planned for you.

And the good works don’t need to be some epic journey or significant action.  You will find joy and fulfillment everywhere you go.  There is so much darkness in the earth now.  There are so many people that need Jesus.  There are so many opportunities to let your light shine.  There are so many good works to be done.

So, if you want to live in God’s plans for your life, just start where you are.  Open yourself to His guidance.  Look for opportunities to show His love.  Remember my recent teaching about how God wants you to share.  Ask people if you can pray for them.  Ask people if they know Jesus.  Pay attention to your compassion.  Remember that God’s love is in your heart by the Holy Spirit according to Romans 5:5. There is no work that is too small.  There is no person God’s considers insignificant. 

As you begin living this way, you will develop a working relationship with God that is more exciting than you would have ever expected.  You will begin living one “God moment” after another.  You will begin doing one good work after another.  You will begin changing the world for Jesus.  You will be shining with God’s glory. And you will be living in God’s plan for your life.

My friends, I love you, God bless you, and we’ll talk again soon.