Monday Morning Devotion-April 9, 2018

The Project

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.   Ephesians 2:10

      "Your life is not your project.  Your life is God's project."

            All right!  That takes the pressure off doesn't it.  If you fail at something, it's not your fault.  It's God's fault, right?  Bye, bye fear of failure.  It won't be you failing, it will be God.

            Now how dumb is that?  If you fail a test, or get a rejection slip, or don't make a sale or underestimate your expenses…hey, any of those…it's not your fault.  That kind of thinking will surely cause you some problems.

            Remember: "Pray as if it depends on God."  See it's not your fault if you mess up but wait a minute.  The second part of that is: "work as if it depends on you."   You and God are a team.  Hey, if your team plays well in a baseball game but you make an error that costs the team the game…well, it is your fault, but the whole team suffers the loss.  And I bet if you go back and analyze the whole game you can find numerous mistakes that could, in the long run, have put the team in a situation to win so that your error would not result in the loss at all.

            How about this statement: "We have everything we need in God."  Really?  Is that true?

Let's analyze it.  Some people say: "If you have your health you have everything."  So, we will make a list and put health at the top of it.  1) Health.

            Of course, one thing that we do need, or we won't survive, even with good health is 2) Wealth.  But you have heard it said that money doesn't buy you happiness so we put 3) Happiness on the list too.

            Well, you can't buy love either and it would be hard if not impossible to have happiness without 4) Love.

            We need to apply all these good things in the best way, so we have to have 5) Knowledge. With knowledge we can make the proper decisions, and these will enhance our wealth, happiness and love.

            And we can't just live in a vacuum we must have 6) Family and Friends. 

So, there you have it we put together the entire list, worked it all out alone (well except for  www.cbn.com, they helped).  Everything we need is on that list and we didn't need God to put it together.

            But, what if you get the wrong advice that leads to a bad financial decision and your wealth is wiped out and you certainly are not happy and are not loving or even loved by the friends who desert you and you can't bear to look at the family that you have hurt.

            Where do you turn?  The only place you know.  You turn to God because you see, He has everything we need.  He has the power to make it all right.  To piece back your life that has been tattered and torn into a million pieces.

            Now you remember.  You are God's project.  He loves you and He wants you to be happy.  He wants that so much that He has given you a free will to make the kind of stupid, er…unfortunate mistake you made.

            You are not only God's project, but He made you to flourish.  John Ortberg, tells us how we do that.  You see as Ortberg points out "flourishing never happens by looking out for 'number one."  You see the thing about flourishing is it is tied to "a grander and nobler vision."

That's the kind of folks the world badly needs more of---flourishing human beings who will bring God's wisdom and glory to the world. 

            You see God wants you to have life outside yourself.  It is His gift and His plan for you. When you move beyond this inner focus and reach out you start to see why God made you. "He knows your full potential and He is guiding you toward that best version of yourself all the time."           

            Now listen to what Ortberg says further on this subject…It is truly inspiring:

            "You are not your handiwork; your life is not your project.  Your life is God's Project.  God thought you up and He knows what you were intended to be.  He has many good works for you to do, but they are not the kind of 'to do' lists we give spouses or employees.  They are signposts to your true self. "

            The way to find that true self is simply to believe in Him.  Sarah Young says: "Believing in Him, has many beneficial effects including joy that is inexpressible.  That is something too great and too wondrous to be described, but it can be experienced."

            That's what is in store for you when you come into His presence expectantly.  When you open wide your heart to Him.  Each day when you start your day in His presence expect to be blessed.  And you will.

            This inexpressible joy will come from knowing that you are communicating with Him and He is directing your way.  Peter wrote: "Though you have not seen Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul."  1 Peter 1:8-9.

            What more could you want.  Yes, the world will deal you some hard knocks.  But, your faith will teach you how to take those punches and turn them into inexpressible joy because you know that you are God's project.

Prayer:  Father God, thank you for making us Your project.  Help us to honor that each day so we may enjoy the inexpressible joy you have in store for us.    Amen!