YOU ARE PRECIOUS MORE THAN YOU HAVE KNOWN (Guest Post)

The most beautiful pearl of life are often hidden deep in the heart

Imprisoned by the hardness and the fragility of the soul

Covered by sorrow and a fleeting pleasure

Distracted by ambitions that sometimes makes man be delirious

 

There is no way to get there, except to surrender to the will of the Father

Allowing His hand to disclose all that is hidden

To let go off everything that you think of as a treasure but actually rubbish

 

Only by following His call and living in His ways

You will find the most beautiful pearl

At that moment, you will understand who you really are

That you are more precious than you have ever known!

 

(Sella Irene – Beautiful Words)

 

Have you ever felt that there is “something” that is lacking even though you have got everything you want? Have you ever felt you should be on a particular path or have to do something that you may not know exactly what it is, but you know that you are prepared for it? Does your heart flush with desire to be an extension of God’s hand more than you have been doing? I call it all “the spiritual hunger and thirst” that coming out of our souls and spirits that wants God. This hunger and thirst for God will push us to seek God, draw nearer to God, and find His calling.

We are designed to live in God’s call, and for that God has equipped us. If we think we have developed all of our potential, we are wrong! For surely God has invested in us a much greater potential than what we already know today. But we will not find it until we give our whole lives to enter into the plan that He has set apart for us from the beginning. The psalmist paints beautifully how God knew us long before we could know Him.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And [that] my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as yet there were] none of them. (Psalms 139:13-16 NKJV)

There are at least two things we can get from this Psalm: WE ARE VERY PRECIOUS FOR GOD and WE ARE IN THE PLAN OF GOD.

First : WE ARE VERY PRECIOUS FOR GOD

Man is the culmination of God’s creation. Every human being is created personally, not mass production, not copy and paste. Behold, no human being is physically identical to any other human being. Timbre sounds, face details, pupil color, hair, fingerprints, and so on. Even twin brothers still have differences. It shows how creative our Creator is, and how special every one of us is!

If we are so special to God, then there is no reason for us to disrespect ourselves. Therefore one of the fundamental things we must do is to fully accept our existence. This isn’t “accepting” in the sense of tolerating and compromising our weaknesses and sins by reason of “this is what I am”. No, this isn’t like that. To fully accept our existence is: on the one hand to realize our weaknesses, but on the other hand we also appreciate our existence as God’s grace, whatever and however our condition. God knows our weaknesses and ugliness, God knows all our sins, but God still loves us.

The Lord Jesus describes His love for us as the Father’s love for Him: I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]…… No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. (John 15:9,13 AMP) The Father is willing to give His beloved Jesus to save mankind and Jesus willingly laid down His life to do the Father’s will, so that the man who has been separated from God by sin can again have fellowship with Him and enjoy His love. Therefore the most important thing we have to make is whether we have accepted Jesus as the only Savior and the only God in our lives. Only by accepting Jesus into our hearts will we discover the true meaning of ourselves. But the story doesn’t stop at the moment we receive salvation. Furthermore, we must live according to His way so that we may find His calling for us, that is a special work that God has prepared beforehand.

Second : WE ARE IN THE PLAN OF GOD

In His omniscience, God has known our way of life from beginning to end. He works in everything with perfect calculation and planning. He assigns everyone to be born in a particular era and year, in a particular family, to a particular nation, and gives us the uniqueness that characterizes us. All there is purpose and reason, not random and not coincidental. You and I … are in a part of God’s whole plan for the world. The people of God are called to be specifically involved in His plan according to His timing and in harmony with the uniqueness that He bestowed upon each one of us.

In this regard, Luke wrote in Acts about King David: “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; … (Acts 13:36 NIV)

In the beginning, David was no different from most of the Israelites of the time. He wasn’t a famous person. He was just one of thousands of people. The youngest child who wasn’t too calculated, even by his own parents. David had reason to feel rejected, inferior, or became a rebellious person. But David chose to build a relationship with his Creator. This continued until he became king. He chose to be close to God in his success and in his failure. The result is as written by Luke: David had served God’s purpose in HIS OWN GENERATION. Even David’s life became the standard for kings after him. “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” (2 Chronicles 29:2 NIV)  We can find some similar verses in the Bible.

Not only King David, our Bible is full of God’s work through ordinary people God used: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Elijah, Elisha, Gideon, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Peter, Paul, and many more. They’re members of the community with various professions and backgrounds. They weren’t perfect people. They had flaws and weaknesses just like us, but they’re willing to be processed by God. They associated with God, found and received God’s call. They wanted to dedicate themselves and committed themselves to living in the call even though they had to let go of their own dreams. The Bible records their lives weren’t in vain, useful to their own generation, and God used them to do great things beyond their existence. I am sure that they are the people who arrive at the end of their lives with satisfaction. Not because they become rich, famous, or powerful, but because their conscience bears witness that they had lived according to the God’s plan. They’re the ones who did the God’s will in their era.

PRIVILEGE OF HEAVEN

How about you and me? Have we lived in His plan? God equips all human beings with various potentials, but what distinguishes us from those outside Christ is that each of those potentials must be used according to God’s will. Not to fulfill our ambition, but to please God. Not for our pride, but for the glory of God. Not in a good way according to our thinking, but must be in accordance with the word of God. The ultimate goal isn’t for ourselves but to bring many people to Christ.

Are the above statements idealistic and theoretical? It could be, but that’s what it should be. I’m sure Christians already know about it, but we have to be honest that it’s not easy to apply it. We must endure the suffering, surrender constantly, humble ourselves, submit ourselves and learn to obey God’s decisions, and abandon the things we love but are disliked by God. For some, it can mean giving up their dreams. The road to go is heavy. Some Christians choose to avoid, some give up and retreat in the middle of the road then turn to follow their own desires. It’s a pity, because they’ve let go of the opportunity to get the priceless pearl of life up ahead.

Nowadays wherever we are on the journey with Christ, don’t get tired to deny ourselves and take up the cross. Let’s be strong to walk to the end while continuing to hold on to God’s promise. God doesn’t leave us alone. He has given the Holy Spirit as a Helper and Comforter. He will guide us to the whole truth (John 16: 13-14) so that every decision we make in this life can be in harmony with God’s decision. The more we obey and diligently walk according to the direction of the Holy Spirit then the potential that has been planted by God from the beginning will emerge and grow. Even God will add new talents along with our increasing responsibilities and in harmony with the extent to which we can be trusted by God.

One day when we look to the years we have passed, we will realize how amazing the God’s works in our lives is. Maybe we aren’t as prosperous as our brothers, don’t have positions as high as our friends, and not as successful as others in the world eyes. But “strangely” our souls and hearts abound with satisfaction and joy. A satisfaction and a joy that can’t be measured by the doses of the world because it doesn’t come from the world. It’s the true satisfaction and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit because we have been living in His calling. How precious … How honorable … In our life that is only a blink of an eye in this perishable world, we – who are actually unworthy – are given the privilege of being fellow workers in the field of God. Ultimately we aren’t “just” being saved Christians, but also bringing others to salvation through every potential of our lives. How special are you and me. That is the true meaning of ourselves and our lives.

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV)

 

By: Sella Irene – Beautiful Words

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MAN PLANS GOD DECIDES

 “Let me think and learn this project” That’s my answer or response every time my company’s directors deliver a new business project. Then they’ll ask when they could get the fix decision and my answer was: “Could be tomorrow, next week, next month, or  maybe you’ll not get any decision from me” Often time my answer made them a bit upset because they expect me to approve their business plan very soon. Usually they’ll do anything they can to convince me that the project will be running successfully if executed soon.  My secretary once asked me why I always took a quite long time and seems too slow to make a decision and my answer was, “Beside I’ve to think and learn carefully about all details of the project, I’ve to take it into our prayer. I’ve to involve God in every decision I made” My other business colleague even extremely said, “Karin, I know you’re a good Christian business woman! But come on, this isn’t about spiritual matter! This’s about the big business opportunity that can give a big profit to the company and I do believe your parents would be definitely agreed with this project. Don’t let this opportunity be taken by others just because we are too much consideration and you aren’t considering business technical but you rather to the emotional consideration.”  I just smile and stick to my stance. I will take it into my prayer first. I don’t care people judge me too religious or godly. I have to do what I have supposed to do.

My beloved friends, why do I so insist like that? Well, I always remember one of my mother’s advices in doing business. She said, “You may have brilliant business idea, you may have very good business plan and strategy, but God decides your plans will work or not. Therefore, please involve God in every plan you make, involving God doesn’t mean we force Him to make our plans work successfully but trust and submit all the plans and everything you will do. Take it into your prayer!” Beside my mom’s advice, I also learn from one of my father’s friend experience. He’s Christians. I called him Uncle Joe. In all of his life, he has repeatedly failed in business. Actually he had brilliant business idea; he had very good and detailed planning, he also had good business estimation by involving consideration of various aspects. Unfortunately when executed, he failed and bears big loss. He actually should be a successful entrepreneur. Then he tried to find out what’s the cause of his failures by consulting to a pastor and He finally got a simple but important advice, “Don’t keep on building a blueprint that are different with God’s plan and you may forget to involve God in every of your plan.”

My dear readers, in this life, there’re always plans that we make and we certainly want those plans work well. My post this time talks about our plan and God’s plan and I choose one verse from Proverbs 16:3,

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans”

This verse is God’s command and promise. The meaning of this verse is very clear; if we want our plan work well we’ve to submit wholly what we plan and what we want to do. Not just submit but trust it all to God. This’s a simple to be understood but isn’t easy to do because once we totally trust and commit to God, we’re no longer commit to our ego, personal desire, and other motivations. What does it mean? I give a simple example, when I come to my parents with a new business proposal,  I cannot hold on my own ego because not all of my ideas will be accepted and at that time I must be ready and willing to sacrifice some of my ideas so that my proposal will be accepted and could be implemented. Because I’m totally submit my plan to my parents and I also completely believe in them, then I couldn’t  longer argue with them in order to stick up my opinion in the hope that they approve my proposal. Often my parents sharply criticize my ideas, they ask me to make big revisions and adjustment, or even if my plans and ideas not align with their main business concept they will hardly reject all of my ideas.  Like that anyway if we totally commit all of what we do to God. We must be ready to be rebuked, shaped, and advised, ready to be taught, or even rejected by God. We must be ready for a process and sometime the process could be uncomfortable, or even painful. We must be willing to accept if we’ve to make a big adjustment and if there will be an even bigger change of what we’ve designed and prepared. In this case, the strength of our faith plays an important role. How big our faith to totally trust that God will establish our plan.

I do believe that now among of us there must be someone who has a special plan.  We may have a new business plan, a plan for find a better job, a plan to buy a new house, or another big plan in our lives, and I also strongly believe that we want all of our plans will running well and succeed as we expect. Right now please allow me to ask something. Have we submit and entrust all of our plans to God as advised in that verse above? Have we always involved God in every of our plans and work? If not, let’s start now.  Let’s totally submit everything we do to God and really trust that God (with His way) will make us success. If we already submit and trust to God, Praise the Lord! That’s good. It means we already did God’s command. Then, what? That’s all? No, my beloved readers! Actually beside verse 3 in Proverbs 16 there are some verses we must really understand and obey if we want everything we have planned succeed. Let’s take a look…

 To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue (Verse 1). We have to really know and realize that God is the one who give us ability to carry out our plans. It means it’s useless if we’re only having ability to make a good plan if God doesn’t give us ability to execute it. We need God because all of our ability is from God alone.  Furthermore, God is “The ultimate decision maker” We may make a very good plans but God decides! God has full authority of our plans. He has authority to decide our plan will be work well or not.

All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord (Verse 2) in everyday life, we often judge ourselves to be always right. We always assume that what we’re doing is always true but who judge us true or wrong is God because only God who really know the inside of our hearts and minds. My father said, “Don’t ever make plans as if from the outside looks good and right but the fact you have bad and wrong motif and also have bad purpose behind of your plans. If you like that, don’t ever expect your plans will be success. God really knows what’s in our heart and mind.”

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished (Verse 5) , if we’ve a great plans and brilliant ideas please remember that we could be like that just because God gives us intellectuality, intelligence, and thinking ability. And if our plan is successfully implemented, please remember that it’s not solely because of our abilities but there is God’s intervention that decides the success of our plan. So don’t be arrogant! Not just our plans and ideas will be failed but we will be punished. God doesn’t like pride or arrogance. “…I hate pride and arrogance…”  (Proverbs 8:13)

… Through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. (Verse 6b) My dear friends, everything we do must be based on fear to God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” (Proverbs 1:7) Everything we plan and what we have to do must be done with attitude fear to God. Fear to God is a foundation and reason for us not to do anything that doesn’t please God and we will be avoided from the evil things that want to mess our plan up.

 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps (Verse 9) No matter how well our plans, no matter how great our strategy to execute our plan, we still have to remember that God establishes the steps, sometime  God even direct our step into the place that  we really don’t like and expect. But we’ve to know and understand God will not take us to the place that could harm us.

My beloved readers, it’s true we need to work hard seriously and earnestly, we need to make and do our planning for all the work we want to build, but don’t forget that all success is depends on God. Not solely on our own effort. Once again please remember that we make plans, God decides! We’ve to do our best, we’ve to make good plans, but the first thing we’ve to make sure is to roll our plans and works upon Him. This evening please allow me to encourage all of us to reflect some verses from Proverbs 16 and use it all as a foothold when we want to make plans or work out our plans. Let us continue to involve God at every step of our lives including in making plans and doing all our work. Submit and trust whatever we do then God will establish our plans and if our plans doesn’t work as we expect, it means God has another plan for us! Just completely trust to the His perfect plan as he promises to us, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) and don’t ever try to reject, change, and stop His plan because nothing can stop God’s plan (Isaiah 14:27) Amen!

Karina – Living by faith

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