FOLLOWING THE LORD'S PLAN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.

For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers.

Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.

1 Corinthians 16:5-12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We all like to make plans. It seems to be as normal as breathing at times.

There are those short term plans where we are mapping out days and organizing all the things we want to accomplish before trying to carry them out.

There are more long range plans we have in life like maybe vacations we plan months out in advance. Some long range plans place the emphasis on long, especially when a person begins to ponder what they will do when they get to their retired years.

We are always planning, that’s for sure, but here’s something we learn along the way.

The Lord has His own plans for us and they often differ greatly from ours.

We know He has plans for us for we have this word of God spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

“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.” 29:11

We can have all the plans we want but it’s the Lord’s plans that matter most and it’s His plans we should be constantly seeking and carrying out. Those plans will help us proper and give us hope and a future, all things we should want to have from our Lord.

Unfortunately, there are too may Christian believers who don’t prayerfully consult God before making plans. People know what they want to do and the main focus is on fulfilling their own desires, no matter what the Lord thinks. For if they were really concerned about the Lord’s plan, they would always seek it first to make sure His will is done, His perfect will.

As we look at our scripture passage for today, we see the Apostle Paul making plans. In particular, he yearned to once again visit the Corinthian church and be able to stay with them for some time. He hoped that his visit wouldn’t just be in passing but look where Paul puts the decision as to the length of his stay. He simply states, “If the Lord permits”.

You see Paul got it. While He had lots of ambitions about what he wanted to do, he knew that it was all about what the Lord wanted. Paul was fully committed to going where the Lord wanted him to go to do what He wanted Him to do.

Note the contrast with the way that Apollos handled his planning. Paul had hoped Apollos would visit Corinth in his stead but Apollos was “quite unwilling to go”.

Are we like this sometimes when it comes to the way we make plans? Are we resistant to the way the Lord wants us to go because it takes us off the path we charted, the path we planned to take?

I don’t know about you but I have many testimonies about how the Lord’s plan came into play, blew up my own plan, and then revealed His glory to me through what He had me do. Let me share one with you and if you have your own story, please include it in a response to this message post.

My testimony takes us back to 2010. I was in the United States Navy and finishing up my final tour of duty as Command Master Chief of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa. This assignment was unaccompanied and so it was a long time to be apart from my wife, Grace.

Since this was my last homecoming, one that would quickly lead to my retirement from active military service, I had made big plans for the reunion. I was actually going to arrive back in the United States on my fiftieth birthday and two weeks after I got back, I was taking Grace to a Christian music concert by Phillips Craig and Dean, a group we loved but had never seen perform live. The tickets were right up front and it would be a perfect getaway together to celebrate being back together again.

This was my plan and it didn’t quite turn out the way I expected. This is because the Lord still had things for me to do. Here’s what happened:

Three weeks before my flight was supposed to leave, I received a call from the Command Master Chief who was supposed to relieve me. He informed me that he had been medically disqualified because of high blood pressure and wouldn’t be coming. There was no alternate.

So, there I was, in a position of very high leadership without someone to replace me and my departure right around the corner. My plan was pretty much shot at that point.

And so I called my rating detailer and proposed to cancel my retirement, willing to remain in Djibouti until relieved and then do one more Command Master Chief tour. This was approved and the target arrival date for my relief was set around mid-May. This left me around eight weeks before I would hear back home.

At first, I was really depressed about what had transpired. I pouted around for a few days until the Lord spoke to me and asked me to consider what He wanted me to do, to think about the possibility that my delay was for some divine reason. When I did this, the Lord filled in the blank quickly. He wanted me to teach a Bible study on marriage, The Love Dare Bible study. I ordered the books and worked through the Chaplain on base to form the class. Much to my delight, we had 12 to 14 people come.

One attendee was really struggling in his marriage. You could see it in his face as we went over the first Love Dare steps. He confessed his marriage was on the rocks and he felt it was too far gone to save but he wanted to take the class and see what happened. By the fourth class, this person’s whole demeanor changed from depression to joy. He had been carrying out the Love Dares from the book and his wife was noticing a huge difference in him and the way he treated her. In fact, she went and got a Love Dare book and started doing the steps with him. This carried on through the end of the class, after which time I turned everything over to my relief and came home.

Fast forward about 3 to 4 years later. I was working a resource table discussing the educational and counseling options offered by my employer for service members and their families. As I was standing at the table, up walks the person who took the Love Dare class in Djibouti. He simply wanted to thank me for playing an important part in saving his marriage which had just not survived but thrived. In fact, he shared that they even had another child together. His testimony touched my heart and left me in a place of thanksgiving to my Lord who waylaid my plans so His plans could be accomplished.

The next time your plans get altered by unexpected circumstances, I encourage you to step back, pray about things, and commit yourself to His plan first and foremost, a plan that will bring you prosperity, hope, and a future just as He promised.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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INTENTIONAL OFFERINGS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you collect money for God's people, I want you to do exactly what I told the churches in Galatia to do. That is, each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned. If you do this, you won't have to take up a collection when I come. Choose some followers to take the money to Jerusalem. I will send them on with the money and with letters which show that you approve of them. If you think I should go along, they can go with me.

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 (CEV)

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I remember my early years of life when I started to live on my own. I had to learn how to form a budget, carefully planning each month to pay my bills, buy food, and hopefully have some money left over to save. It was a very deliberate, focused approach to money management.

As I became a Christian and started serving in the church, I learned how important offerings were to the work of ministry. There wasn’t some miraculous manna money from heaven that fell every month to pay the expenses of the church and its work. Rather, it was the contributions of the congregation that either helped the church succeed or contributed to its failure.

Once I understood this, I made it a point to add one more budget line item to my list, a deduction for church offering. It was completely intentional and rightfully so for our Lord expects us to return a portion of what He has provided to His kingdom work here on earth.

This matter of intentionally setting aside money to contribute towards the work of the church is far from a twenty-first century phenomena. For as we see in the opening verses of the final chapter of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is providing direction to the church in Corinth in regard to their giving. Look again at his words here:

When you collect money for God's people, I want you to do exactly what I told the churches in Galatia to do. That is, each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned. If you do this, you won't have to take up a collection when I come. Choose some followers to take the money to Jerusalem. I will send them on with the money and with letters which show that you approve of them. If you think I should go along, they can go with me.  1 Corinthians 16:1-4 (CEV)

Paul’s guidance to the Corinthian Christians wasn’t something new. He had given the same counsel to the Galatians in regard to their offerings. The believers in Corinth were to set aside a portion of what they earned each Sunday to send to Christians in Jerusalem who were suffering terribly from persecution and in need. Paul would be coming and would expect the offering to be ready when he arrived. He then would provide letters validating approval of those designated from the Corinth church to deliver the offerings to Jerusalem. In order to remove any concern the Corinthian Christians may have over their money getting to Jerusalem safely, Paul offered to accompany them.

It’s clear that God’s word calls on believers to make intentional offerings. This begins in the Old Testament and continues in the New. Today, the call remains the same. Christians are blessed by God with resources – time, talent, and treasure - to live and carry out the work He wants them to do and He expects that all three be used to His glory. When it comes to His treasure, the money He bestows upon us, He wants us to set a portion aside to purposely offer to the church each Sunday. If we all do our part, the church will always have what it needs to carry out what God desires.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

FREEDOM TO SERVE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God that through Jesus, we have victory over death and the grave. Hallelujah!

That was the truth we celebrated in yesterday’s message, the truth that our future is secure now and forever through our belief in Christ.

Okay, great. But what does this mean for the rest of this worldly existence until we experience the fullest measure of God’s creation promise?

It means we need to get to work.

You see, we are assured that death is not the end but just a glorious everlasting beginning as we move onto dwell with God and Jesus forever but this doesn’t mean we put our life in park and enter into a comfort zone until this life is over. No, Christ called His disciples (aka Christians) to go and make disciples, to baptize in the His name as well as the name of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and to teach everyone to obey what he commanded. This is hardly a passive calling.

And then we read this from the final verse in 1 Corinthians 15:

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  1 Corinthians 15:58

When we are victorious people in Christ, we can stand firm. God has set our future and no one can change it. This allows us to remain resolute in carrying out what Jesus has called us to do. With Jesus walking alongside us (Matthew 28:20), nothing can move us and we are liberated to give ourselves “fully to the work of the Lord”, a work that never done in vain.

As we enter into each day, we should be energized to do what God’s word calls us to do. We should offer ourselves up as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), asking the Lord to use us in whatever way He sees fit to further His kingdom here on earth and His future kingdom yet to come.

One thing is for sure, when you sign up to fully work in the Lord, He will always make sure you are full time employed with lots of overtime but He also offers the best retirement plan ever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

A PROMISED VICTORY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:

"Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Life is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and failures, times of good health and times of affliction.

Indeed, every person’s life could be viewed as a story that has a definitive beginning and end. Early on, we aren’t even able to start writing our book of life. We are young and unable to do much until we develop and learn. Even when we can at least process our thoughts, we don’t hold the ability to jot them down because we haven’t yet learned to write. And even when we start learning, it takes some time before compositions can be composed that read well.

After we finally become adept at putting pen to paper or type words into a document using our tablet or computer, we begin to learn to express ourselves through the written word and often, this is in the form of a journal or diary or maybe even a blog. For those who like to package their words in small delivery bites, we have Twitter and Facebook at our disposal.

Given this, what does your life story look like?

If we really commit to being honest and transparent about telling our story, I think we would see that no two stories are identical. Like snowflakes, they take on their own special qualities when compared against others. And while we can write our current and past circumstances, there is the matter of the future, of what lies ahead.

No one knows what that looks like except God who told us that He knows the plans He has for us, plans for us to prosper and have hope for a future (Jeremiah 29:11). In regard to the latter, God made good on His promise in a big way and He did so through His one and only Son Jesus.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

In other words, those who place their belief in Jesus as Savior automatically have the final chapter of their life written with an ending grounded in a promised victory.

What victory do we gain?

We turn to today’s passage from 1 Corinthians 15 for the answer:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:

"Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:54-57

When Jesus, the One who first gained conquest over death and the grave, returns. He will call all Christians to Him, those who are dead in Christ first followed by those who are alive in Him. The dead and alive in Christ will rise to meet Him in the air to form a glorious congregation ready to move onto eternal life within the new heaven and earth that will emerge.

At that moment, “when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality”, then and only then will death be swallowed up in victory and its sting removed forever.

Friends, for those who are Jesus believers, victory awaits no matter what happens in life and we like Paul should proclaim:

“Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com