“I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the LORD. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NCV
Along this “Journey of Life” as you have stood with me in reaching the lost, I want to stand with YOU that everything God has planned for YOU will be fulfilled: your health, your home, your family, your finances, your dreams, and your God-ordained purpose.
“I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the LORD. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NCV
In this letter of encouragement to you, I feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to focus on you, my precious and loyal partners and friends of this ministry.
First of all, REST IN THIS PROMISE: “I have carried you since you were born. I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has tuned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you.” Isaiah 46:3-4 NCV
There is one thing you can count on as an absolute truth: GOD’S PLAN AND PURSPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE WAS SET IN MOTION EVEN BEFORE YOU WERE BORN…..long before your parents were born….long before your grandparents were born…God’s plan for you was already set in motion. WOW!!! Let that thought sink in! HALLELUJAH!
When I was a teenager, I had an opportunity to work for a missionary group in Mexico. This was a group of pilots who had small planes. They would fly into remote areas of Mexico and drop Christian literature over these small villages. Many of these villages were in mountainous areas and places where no automobiles could go. They were called: Airmail from God.
My job was to sit in the back seat and throw out the literature over the villages. The people in the villages would run out into the streets and wave at us. They were always so excited to see us. After landing, we would stay in villages for a few days and have a soul-winning crusade.
As a teenager, this missionary opportunity was very thrilling to me….and it was also dangerous! But when you are a boy, you don’t give much time thinking about the risk. It was just fun. Since this place did not have a starter, I would stand in front of the plane and spin the prop. Sometimes, I would have to do this several times before the engine would cough and the sputter would finally start. It was all part of the Job.
On three or four occasions, when we were flying, the carburetor would freeze over and the engine would stop. While that was exciting to me, it wasn’t to the pilot. I recall him praying loudly and yelling at me to look for a place that was flat so we could set this plane down. On one such emergency landing we took some branches out of the top of a tree.
On my preparation for my second missionary journey to Mexico, I recall vividly my mother’s concern. While I was putting my duffle back into the car, my mother put her arms around me and was praying for my safety. She abruptly stopped in the middle of her prayer and said to me, “Dwight, I don’t have peace in my spirit about this trip.” She continued her prayer with these words, “Lord, protect Dwight and block anything that might prevent your will for his life from being fulfilled.” I kissed my mother goodbye and she stood there waving at me and blowing me a kiss. Oh how I thank God for my precious praying mother and father. Without their love, patience and prayers this story would have a much different ending.
I stowed my duffle bad into the plane. Just as we were making the final flight checks, a pastor walked over to me along with the pilot and explained to me something that would alter the course of my life. He said to me that the Lord instructed him to go on this trip and would I mind if he took my place. I respected his request and went back home. A few days later, their plan crashed and both were killed.
I’ve thought about that tragedy many times. Both of these men loved God and were committed to His will for their lives. Why did God spare MY life?
How many of you even now can look back and recall many “close calls” in your lives? You walk away from that near disaster and wonder why you survived. Many people have told me of the escapes from serious accidents that could have certainly been fatal, yet look back on it now and realize it was truly a miracle.
There is no doubt that these close calls are more than “luck” as the unbeliever might conclude. Nor can we be so flippant to say, “It wasn’t our day to die.” It is very important that we step back and take these “close calls” as “wake-up calls.” God’s purpose for our lives must never be taken lightly.
“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in….” Each time we neglect His appeal…each time we ignore His knock at the door of our hearts….we continue on the path of our own choosing…not His.
There will always be events that happen that we can’t completely understand, and there have been other events in my life that were “close calls”, but God’s purpose for my life is yet to be fulfilled. “With your own powerful arm you keep me safe.” Psalm 138:7 CEV
As of this writing I am in my 50th year of preaching the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am deeply humbled and most unworthy of our God’s mercy. Let me repeat it again: GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE….His design, His purpose and His will must become the top priority of each of us. Anything that is hindering His purpose must be dealt with and removed with all speed.
Seek the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit to go into the secret places of our hearts and cleanse us. Even things in our lives that we are blinded to…ask Him to show you and then remove it.
“Though I am surrounded by troubled, you will bring me safely through them….” Psalm 138:7
ONLY GODS DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE WILL ALLOW YOU TO REALLY ENJOY THE JOURNEY.
Let me pray for you right now: Father, in Jesus’ Holy name, I pray for your divine and perfect will to be done in my precious partners of this ministry. Anything that prevents the fulfillment of your plan for their lives, remove it in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
