Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place. (Proverbs 16:3) Have you ever wondered why some things you have planned to do just don't go as planned? You work and rework those plans, trying hard to think of every inevitability, then 'bam', something doesn't go as planned and the whole plan has to be rework - or worse, abandoned entirely. I am an amateur woodworker (emphasis on amateur), abandoning more than just a few 'misguided' projects. They started out well, but that old adage of measure twice, cut once didn't get followed and the 'object' of my plans didn't quite work out. Life is more than a 'measure twice, cut once' kind of deal. It is a seek God repeatedly, let him refine your plans, and don't move until he does kind of deal! Put God in charge of your work. That doesn't mean we just throw our plans out there and 'tell' God how to make them work out as we planned. It means we submit eac...
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. (James 1:22-25) We sometimes forget God's Word is more than a message we merely hear. We must take it a step further - obedience. Obedience to God's Word may seem to be a bit 'unconventional' to the majority who surround you, but it doesn't make it okay to ignore it. It is not obeyed in bits and pieces, but in its entirety. It was given to us to help us know God, understand how he works and moves, and to pattern our lives accordingly. Whenever we ignore God's Word, we might not think it will matter all that much, especially when it is ignor...