Spiritual Alignment With God's Plan

The need for and approach to Spiritual Alignment.

Proverbs 16 ESV

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment. A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work. It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right. A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it. In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on. A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good. Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16

: Spend time reminding yourself of God’s sovereignty over the plans we make and the need to be right before the Lord so that our plans correspond to His will.

; : Where do you tend to rely solely on your own strengths and talents? Why would this disposition undermine what God wants to accomplish in strategic planning?

Spend time reminding yourself of God’s sovereignty over the plans we make and the need to be right before the Lord so that our plans correspond to His will.

; : What does it mean to “abide in the Word?” What does it mean to “abide in Jesus?” What are you attempting to do alone that needs to be a shared burden with the Lord? Spend some time evaluating your intimacy with your Heavenly Father. Ask Him to use this season of strategy planning to bring you closer to Him.

: Are you trusting the Lord in every area of your life? What would it look like if we trusted God completely? Spend some time repenting and confessing areas of your life in which you are prone to trust in something/someone other than the Lord. Ask for the Lord’s help to be a person of faith as we step out into this process of strategy planning.

: IN order to understand the will of the Lord, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Confess some areas you need renewal and pray for God’s transformation.

: Real righteousness is below the surface. Examine your own spirituality. Is is surface only or do the roots go deep? Spend some time reflecting on your own spiritual vitality and ask God to deepen the roots for this process of strategy planning.

· (). God’s Plan becomes our plan only through deep commitment to Him as we walk by Faith.

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

· We know from Old and New Testaments that the MOST IMPORTANT virtue in the life of any Christian is that of faith. The natural motivation for and expression of that faith is love. This is why the Apostle Paul told the church in Galatia

o “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” – (ESV)

· This gives us a helpful reminder that our maturity as a disciple of Jesus has less to do with “outward appearances” and more to do with the inward workings of the heart. Maturity in discipleship is simply deepening your trust in the Lord (in all three relational environments) and having that faith demonstrated through acts of love.

· The Test of Discipleship: Disciples Abide in the Word ()

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

o Abiding in the Word captures a disciple’s relationship with God.

· The Mark of Discipleship: Disciples Love One Another () He has loved us to make us lovers of people. We are to love him by loving others.

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

o Loving one another captures a disciple’s relationship with the Church (believers.)

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· The Proof of Discipleship: Disciples Bear Much Fruit ()

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

o Bearing much fruit captures a disciple’s relationship with the World (unbelievers.)

Bearing fruit: More than just fruit of the Spirit in our lives. That begins with abiding in Him and His word. It grows as we love one another in the body of Christ. But in the context of this passage, bearing fruit is about going out into the world with the intention of people seeing Christ in you and glorifying God. Reaching the lost and the wandering. Planting the seed, watering, harvesting we all have a part. But proof we are a disciple is that we bear much fruit. Proof that God’s plan is our plan – we bear much fruit. Proof that our church is on God’s agenda—we bear much fruit. Souls are saved, lives are changed, and more go out to bear fruit.

· People are priority on the agenda. What people have been, are, or do does not exclude them from his grace or from our involved concern. We are to go into ALL the world.

· How we react to people is the test of how we react to the lord himself. Whatever else we do with our time and resources and energy, if our passion is not people—loving them, introducing them to the new life, sustaining them in growing, and caring about their spiritual and social needs---we are not on the Lord’s agenda.

· There is a lot ruminating about knowing the will of God---The ultimate clarification of our agenda must be based on the life, message, cross and commission of our Lord Jesus Christ! That eliminates a lot of the ruminating....It becomes the narrow door through which many of our activities and expenditures will not fit.

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