The Lord's Will Is...

Notes

Two lessons I've learned along the way as to 'my plan' vs. 'God's Plan.'

1. God’s plan is ALWAYS HARDER... but,
2. God’s plan is ALWAYS BETTER! 

How might we help one another to know, understand and live our lives in view of God's plan for our lives?

1. Love the vertical more than the horizontal in people’s lives!
2. Love the vertical in your life more than the horizontal!

Verses

{And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. Philippians 1:12 NLT}{After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people... Acts 24:17 NLT}{And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. Acts 20:22-23 NLT}{After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. Acts 21:1-4 NLT}{But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Matthew 16:22-23 NLT}{The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” Acts 21:7-14 NLT}

Quotes

Oswald Chambers : God plants His saints in the most useless places. We say, “I should be here because I am so useful.” Jesus never estimated His life by the standard of greatest use. God puts His people where they will glorify Him, and we are not capable of judging where that is. (My Utmost for His Highest); Francis Chan : It’s much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future then to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes – it’s safe to commit to following Him someday, instead of this day. (Forgotten God);