I AM that I AM Has Wonderful Plans for You!

I remember from most of my teacher friends that lesson plans are a real bone of contention. I don’t understand what all is involved but yesterday I noticed a friend posted on social media that she had lost a thousand pound weight – lesson plans were done for a class she’s taking at college! I also have a friend who has been sharing information about estate planning, especially for those who don’t have the finances to pay a lawyer or an estate planner. This will be a real help for many people.

Even with gardening and crop farming, there has to be a plan. You’ve got to know when to plant, what to plant, how much to plant and how to care for what you’ve planted. Without the proper plan all you can do is throw out seeds and hope something happens. It’s haphazard at best and going to be a waste of time and money.

From teachers to farmers, everyone has to make plans. We all need plans to create, organize and enjoy our lives.  We need plans to spend, save and pay our bills. We need plans to even have a great vacation or wedding or other exciting and fun event in our lives. A good marriage requires planning, even after the I Do’s.  Finding time alone is important to plan for couples with young children. Planning is required to have success in any area of life.

Planning for our spiritual life must be done as well. Unless we follow God’s plan, we have little hope to produce fruit in our lives or grow in faith and knowledge. If we don’t begin at the beginning, with His plan for salvation, we will never be able to make any other lasting plans. But with the foundational work done by the Lord Himself, we can build and make plans that will be for His glory and our good. God not only gave us a plan for eternal life, He has given us plans for godliness and abundant living.   

Maybe you are having a hard time seeing God’s plan through the tears, through the fears, through the hard knocks of life. Maybe you had plans and they were good, but they’ve fallen by the wayside or someone ruined them for you. You can hold fast to God in spite of these things, because God Himself is your Life and Estate Planner! His plans never fail, though we seem to be at others’ mercy many times, we are never out of His abundant care, as long as we hold onto God’s eternal, unchangeable, immutable plans.

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life! Open His plan book, the Word of God, this morning and read about His plans. Read again how He has plans to prosper you, give you hope, give you a future and bless you with joy and peace, faithfulness and forgiveness. When God speaks to you He says, I AM your Planner, I AM your Guide, I AM your Answer to every situation of life! You can trust ME because I AM that I AM and I will guide you, bless you, forgive you, redirect you, redeem you, uphold you, care for you all the days of your life. And when I AM ready to take you home, I AM the One who will welcome you in to My Father’s House. You have nothing to fear and nothing to dread for as you follow Me, I will protect and deliver you from every messy plan that others try to give you and wipe them from your heart, replacing them once again with My plans. I love you and I am always for you and that’s a plan worth following!

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.”

Psalm 33:11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; His intentions can never be shaken.

Psalm 40:5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all Your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Jude 1:1-2 This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.  May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Keep Those Weeds At Bay!

You can tell spring is approaching by the occasional buds popping out on warm days and the jonquils beginning to bloom. There are also the errant weeds trying to take over the yard. Funny isn’t it that weeds are the first to green up.  They encroach into every area they can. From the climbers to the bloomers, weeds love to grow. Even in the garden plots. Last year’s weed free garden becomes this year’s weed laden beds. What you did to remove, prevent and dislodge last spring’s weeds doesn’t apply to this year’s crop of nuisances.  Your flower beds may have been pristine to the onlooker, but you or your lawn service know what it took to get it that way.  It was a continual removal of anything that doesn’t belong in the landscape. 

It only takes a few days for new weeds to appear and attempt to take over.  Even in homes that are well established and have had landscaping and gardens for many years it must be continual. Watch a home where the family has gone and it sits idle. It’s not long before small trees pop up in flower beds and huge thistles push through the soil in the gardens. What looks beautiful and brings a bounty of flowers and vegetables becomes an eyesore and quits producing within a few weeks without constant care.

Our lives are like this. We come to the Lord and we get a clean slate, but without constant care, the weeds of life begin encroaching on our fresh new soil. The weeds of the past -  those habits and desires we left at the altar of our hearts when we came to the Lord - they want to return. The weeds of the present -  fresh hurts, new problems, unresolved situations -   will come in and take over quickly. The weeds of the future – fears, indecision, ignorance, angers- may lie dormant, but unless we keep them at bay they too will bound through the soils, sooner or later marring the landscape of our lives.

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life! He is the specialist in weed control and He freely gives you everything needed to keep the landscape of your life pristine and presentable! How do others seem to be so full of joy and peace, you may ask? Because they spend plenty of time working the ground of their hearts. You too, beloved, must work your fallow ground – it is imperative that you fill your mind and heart with God’s loving Words! It is the ultimate weed killer! Without God’s Word, implanted firmly into your heart – the enemy of our souls can come in and ruin things. He will try to sow discord, animosity, fear, sin and more. It is a continual, daily event that you spend time with the Lord to fill your heart and mind with His words so that the weed producer cannot fill you with untruths and half-truths! Time with God will produce much fruit – love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control and these things will root out the weeds that may try to steal God’s place in your heart!

Rejoice that God Himself wants to speak into your life! Everything you and I need is found in His Word. If you let Him, He will make your life and beautiful living example of His watchful care, His eternal love and His rich blessings!  Spend plenty of time with your Savior – let other things go, but do not neglect your time with Him! The rewards are out of this world!

Hosea 10:12 I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,  and you will harvest a crop of love.  Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come  and shower righteousness upon you.’

Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Psalm 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. KJV

Want a Lush and Productive LIfe?

This year’s garden is done. Even though the weather was hot and dry, some folks did manage to make a decent crop. We’ll know how it went this week when they bring in their horticulture and farm crops for the fair.  Next year’s gardens are already being planned.  There’s more to it than just buying the seeds and plants.  You can’t just go put them into the old garden. Nothing would grow. The weeds will take over and the old plants will die.  No, you have to till the ground and prepare the dirt. Even if the garden produced a bumper crop you have to till it under and prepare fresh and new for the next growing season.  You can’t get fresh results without breaking up the ground.   

Have you been doing the same old thing, expecting different results? It just won’t happen.  New plants on old ground won’t bring fresh results.  It won’t produce a thing.  Even if last year’s blessings and work were outstanding, you can’t live on that the rest of your life. It’s time to break up the fallow ground.

Oh beloved, It’s time to run to the Lord to get His instructions for your life garden. He says to you this morning Let Me break up your fallow ground, let Me help you with the weeds that want to encroach on your life and cause problems. Let me help you pull up the dead plants and work the ground of your heart. I have great plans for you but it requires My constant care and oversight. I love you and if you will let Me, I can repair everything that needs repairing and I can make your life like new! My desire is that you produce a bumper crop by My Spirit.  I the Lord Am the Great I AM.  You are my beloved and all you need, all your heart cries out for is found in Me.

If you will let Him, your life will be lush and productive. It will be beautiful and full of life.  He’ll take you from where you’ve always been and make it all brand new.  Fresh fruit in your life will bring joy and peace and comfort.   Try Him for He is all about His glory and your good.   He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters!

 

Hosea 10:12 Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.

 

Psalm 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

 

John 15:4  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.