Winona - Its as Easy as 1-2-3 - AM
It’s As Easy as 1 – 2 - 3
Jeremiah 29:4-14
First Baptist Church, Winona, TX – In View of a Call – Sunday May 18th , PM
Consider these sayings
· Failing to plan is planning to fail
· You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything
· He’s the man with the plan
· George Burns – “If I had known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
· Oliver Wendell Holmes – “Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”
All of these are sayings from the world or from songs which deal with plans or direction
Scripture deals with this same idea
· Prov. 19:21, “Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.”
· Isaiah 25:1, “O LORD, You are my God;I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”
We come into this world needing someone to plan for us, needing structure
· Our parents demonstrate nurture and care for us
· They teach us how to live, to conduct ourselves, how to treat others
· Eventually a plan must be developed for our lives or we wander aimlessly
· We become ships without a rudder
God has not created any of us without a plan for our lives.
· Jeremiah the prophet understood that God’s plan for his life was to be a communicator of God’s plan for the people God called him to speak to.
· A prophet tells things just as they are – not any black or white about it
· During this time frame the residents of Jerusalem had been exiled from their homes
· They wondered if they would ever be able to return
· Wondered should they make a more permanent residence in exile or “camp out”
· They were in need of a plan – and some assurance
Here’s how the Lord responded through Jeremiah – Jeremiah 29:4-14
4"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5'Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6'Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.' 8"For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9'For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,' declares the LORD.
10"For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'
God had a definite plan for their lives
· Told them to build houses, live their lives, plant gardens, live as if this is permanent
· Told them to be good citizens and do things to promote the welfare of their area
· When the time is right, God will bring them back to the place that is their home
· Will restore their fortunes and gather them together.
· Consider verse 14 – does that not sound like the plan God has to bring us to Heaven?
Key part of this passage begins in verse 11
11'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14'I will be found by you,'
1) God has a plan for your life – it involves not only your immediate future but long-term
2) God’s plan involves your welfare – involves a great future for you
3) God’s plan includes our commitment to Him – to call upon Him, to come to Him, to pray to Him and Him listening to us
4) Without our commitment to listening to God, this plan ceases to be effective
March 1, 2008 – a day that changed a community forever
Terry & Penny Caffey – three children
As God protects His children, these God fearing parents tried to protect theirs
One was determined to go her own way
“For I know the plans I have for you”
How’s that plan working now?
God’s plan for our lives is the simplest, the best, and is as easy as 1-2-3
1) One Author – God is the only author of any truly great plan for your life. God plants in our hearts desires and dreams, that when we focus on Him, come from Him and honor Him.
2) Two provisions – “give you welfare and not calamity” and “give you a future and hope”
3) Three promises – a) you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart, b)I will be found by you and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, and c) I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile
Are you following His plan for your life? Are you seeking His face? Seeking involves surrender