GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!

"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." - Jeremiah 29:11.

Psalms 139:16 Says "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God has a hope and a future for you. He has a date book with your entire life planned out for you. I grew up in a home with eventually two alcoholic fathers and no spiritual influence. But then one day at a public high school a man came to speak whose father had been an alcoholic, but he spoke that God had a plan for his life and my life. That day he shared with me God’s plan for my life from the Scriptures. That day I accepted His plan for my life and my life has never been the same since.

What is God’s plan for your life, you may ask?

The Plan:

God Loves You and wants you to have an abundant life. - John 3:16; 10:10; 6:47.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting Life. - John 3:16

“… I have come that they may have life, and that they have it more abundantly.” - John 10:10

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life.” - John 6:47

God wants you to have eternal life and the abundant life now.

But there is a problem.

God cannot let sin into heaven; otherwise it would ruin heaven, because God is perfect and holy. He cannot be contaminated by sin.

The Problem:

Man has sinned and come up short of perfection - Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12; 6:23.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …” - Romans 3:23

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned …” - Romans 5:12

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23

Many people feel they are good enough to get to heaven, but the problem is that does not do away with our sins. And God cannot let one sin into heaven (James 2:10). It’s like trying to jump the Grand Canyon. You may be able to jump 25 feet across and I may be able to jump 22 feet, but the problem is that both of us fall way short. The gulf between our sin and God’s perfection is too great to bridge. Or think of it this way suppose you only sinned three sins at day that would come to 70,000 thousand sins in a seventy year life span. Is God going to let someone into heaven with 70,000 sins? Yet most of us will probably exceed more sins than that number. While God loves us, in order to remain perfect and just He must punish sin. Sin must be punished otherwise God would not have perfect love. For true love cannot tolerate sin.

So what can I do you may ask?

The Payment:

Jesus Christ was punished for your sins and paid the price for you to have eternal life. - Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God …” - I Peter 3:18

Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for your sins and to give you eternal life. Jesus Christ bridged the gap for you bringing you to God and forgiving you of all your sins. You can never be good enough on your own to get to heaven, but only through the blood of Jesus Christ (See Romans 3:25). Eternal life is a free gift from God that you cannot earn or merit. Only Jesus Christ can pay the price for your sin. It would be like if I took you out to dinner and paid the bill. Yet you insisted on paying the bill after I already paid for it. I already paid for it all you have to do is receive the gift. That’s why the Scriptures teach in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The Promise

If you repent (Surrender your will to Christ) and commit your life to Jesus Christ, He will forgive your sins and give you eternal life. - Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 5:11-13

“… Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” - Acts 2:38

“That is you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” - Romans 10:9-10

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” - I John 5:11-13

Repentance means a willingness to turn your life over to the Lord and let Him change you. Commit means that you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead to give you eternal life and His plan for you. Commit also means that you are willing to follow and obey Him from this day forward. It’s like a marriage commitment. You can think that person is the right one for you, feel that they are the right one for you, but until you as an act of your will give yourself to that person, you have not really made a commitment. But when you make that kind of commitment to Christ then you will discover that God has a plan for your life (see Ephesians 2:10).

If God is leading you, pray a prayer of commitment to the Lord right now. Pray something like this …

“Dear Lord Jesus Christ thank you for loving me and dying on the Cross for my sins and rising from the dead that I can have eternal life in you. I realize that I am a sinner and cannot be good enough to get to heaven on my own. So right now I turn my life over to you and believe that you died upon this Cross for my sins and rose from the dead that I can have eternal life in you. Thank you for coming into my life by faith in you and your Word. Now help me by your grace, strength, and mercy to follow you the rest of my life.”

If you prayed that prayer and meant it then according to the Word of God you are now a child of God and have the gift of eternal life. (See John 1:12; 10:27-29)

Now What?

* Start reading the gospel of John daily.

* Talk to God in prayer each day.

* Get into a good Bible preaching Church.

* Tell someone today about your commitment.