Have you ever asked yourself the question, “what should I do with my life?” Maybe you are one of those people who instinctively knows your purpose. But those people are rare. I have met very few people who have a plan for their lives. Don’t you wish you knew exactly what God wants you to do? Today, I’m going to help you find your life plan. And if you will accept it, from now on, you can live your life on purpose!
It Starts in the Heart! 15
Your master plan must begin inside yourself
Finding peace is about letting Jesus rule the heart.
Don’t buy into the notion a weekend at the beach will give you peace.
Peace rules when we turn life over to God in prayer. Philippians 4:6–7
Peace rules when we live according to God’s Word: (Philippians 4:9).
Your second goal to be thankful.
Thankfulness will exponentially increase your peace!
Change your thinking and you will change your life!
It Flows from the Mouth 16
Do you have a plan for what you say out loud to people?
Get God’s Word deep inside.
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly!”
If you want to speak right, you have to think biblically.
Speak Scripturally.
Our words should be used to pass on truth.
Or mouth should not be used for falsehoods, gossip, or criticism.
The more that you speak biblically, the better off your life will be!
All Christians are called to teach and admonish.
To admonish means to encourage, counsel, and warn one another.
Sing joyfully.
Singing is a powerful way to teach.
Our songs ought to be biblically oriented.
Psalms Are scripture poetry put to music.
ψαλμός is literally, “to play a stringed instrument.”
Hymn ὕμνος humnos is used to describe truths ascribed to God in praise.
Spiritual songs are our testimony of personal response to God.
Change your Words you will Change your World.
It Affects every Action 17
What actions and what behaviors are truly worthy of your life?
Saying “in Jesus’ name” is not a magic formula.
“In Jesus’ name” means that we are doing it for His kingdom and glory.
We must set a goal to serve the Lord Jesus Christ every second of every day.
Doing everything in Jesus name results in thankfulness.
Change your behavior and you will transform your relationships. Imagine what would happen if Jesus were pleased with everything you do! Imagine doing everything you do to please Jesus! That is going to change your life! Change the way you think, change the way you talk, and change the way you act… that is the master plan. Whatever you do in word or deed, do it heartily as unto the Lord!
Have you ever asked yourself the question, “what should I do with my life?” Maybe you are one of those people who instinctively knows your purpose; and you know exactly where you are going and what you should be doing. But those people are rare. One survey shows that only 10% of people claim to know what their life purpose is, and only 5% say they are following that purpose![i]
I have met very few people who have a plan for their lives. Most are passive spectators, watching their lives unfold one day at a time. They may plan their careers, the building of a new home, or even a vacation. But it never occurs to them to create a master plan for their life. As a result, many end up discouraged and disillusioned, wondering where they went wrong, and wondering why on earth they are here.
Do you have a life plan? Let me explain what happens if you don’t have a life plan. If you don’t have a plan, You don’t know if you are doing the right things. You doubt yourself and your decisions. You don’t know the direction your life should go in the future. You feel lost, confused, uncertain and you struggle with motivation. [ii]
Now if I were a secular motivational speaker, right about now, I’d tell you that you need to dig deep inside and find out what really motivates you, what you really want to do, and then make plans to reach those goals. I’d tell you to list your goals for your finances, your family, your career, and your personal life, and the set out to reach them.
And there’s nothing wrong with that until one day, you wake up and find out that you’ve been climbing the ladder of success, only to find out that it’s leaning against the wrong building! What does it matter if you get the top, if you’ve adopted the wrong plan?
Have you ever wished that life came with a user manual? Don’t you wish you knew exactly what God wants you to do? Well congratulations on being here today, because this is your lucky day, because today, I’m going to help you find your life plan. And if you will accept it, from now on, you can live your life on purpose!
The plan that I’m going to share with you today is a little different than what you’d get from a high powered motivational speaker. The master plan that I’m going to share is an all encompassing life plan that will touch and energize every aspect of your life. Here we go, a master plan for your life. PART 1
It Starts in the Heart! 15
Your master plan for your life must begin inside yourself, where your feelings and thoughts originate. If you do not master your inner life, you will never master the rest of your life. Do you have a plan? What is the ultimate goal you have for your thoughts and feelings, and how will you achieve it. Let me describe, ideally, what your heart should be like. Verse 15:
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
There are two goals you must have for your heart. #1 To be at peace. #2 To be thankful.
But finding peace isn’t easy. It is easily stolen. It only takes a simple glance at the world news or a mounting to-do list for uncertainty and restlessness to rise up and overwhelm our hearts with anxiety.
Some people like to create chaos (and they are not happy unless they do), some people like to spread good humor (and they are always a barrel of laughs), and some people like to wield power and control as the primary focus of their heart; but for the Christian, the barometer and goal of their inner life must be peace. We must strive to make peace the norm for our inner life.
To be at peace, you must insist that God be allowed to rule your life.
Don’t buy into the notion that an afternoon of solitude or a weekend at the beach will give you peace. Peace is not a serene setting. This peace is not the absence of trouble. It is unrelated to our circumstances.
We let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts by taking every anxious thought and turning it into a prayer. Philippians 4:6–7 instructs, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts by living according to God’s Word: “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).
When peace rules in your heart, you will not only overcome stress and discontentment, but you will get along with other people better. To this we were called in the body of Christ!
Your first goal, for your heart is to be at peace.
Your second goal for your inner life is to be thankful. In fact thankfulness will exponentially increase your peace! The more you cultivate gratitude, the greater your peace will be. If you will practice gratitude and thankfulness in every circumstance your heart will slowly but surely begin to be ruled by peace! It may be a slow process, but it is a certainty. Thankfulness produces peace.
Change your thinking, change your life!
PART 1 of your master plan relates to your heart. PART 2 relates to your mouth.
It Flows from the Mouth 16
Do you have a plan for what you say, or do you just fling it out there, and let it stick where it may? I know people who don’t care about what others think; they are going to say what’s on their mind, and if you don’t like it, that’s your problem.
And, may I say, I’ve been known to say stupid stuff a time or two. I’ve said stuff that I wish that I could reel in and take back. Sometimes regret has been my old friend.
And then there are people who you can’t get a word out of to save your soul! Some people blabber like idiots, and other people keep their rusted trap shut! So what is your master plan for your mouth? How would describe the way you talk to others? Blabber mouth, Tape face, or another option… are you a fount of wisdom flowing over your lips? Verse 16 tells us God’s goal for your mouth:
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Let me give you three goals for your lips. #1 Get God’s Word deep inside. #2 Speak Scripturally. #3 Sing joyfully.
The number one life goal for your lips is to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly!” If you want to speak right, you have to think right. If you want to think right, you must think biblically! That is where wisdom comes from! That means that you must spend a lifetime meditating on God’s Word. Since we are on the cusp of a new year, now is a good time to determine that you will Read the Word every day in 2024! It truly makes a difference! It has radically transformed my life.
The second goal for your mouth is to speak scripturally. How should we speak to one another anyway? What does verse 16 say? It says that the goal of all conversation is to “teach and admonish one another using the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Our words should be used to teach truth. Or mouth should not be used for lies, falsehoods, prevarication, gossip, or criticism. Where do you find truth? In God’s Word. The more that you learn to speak biblically, the better off your life will be!
And to speak biblically we need to teach. All Christians are called to teach. A pastor teaches. A mentor teaches. A parent teaches. A coach teaches. A friend teaches. Teaching is just about passing on information that we know to be true. We are all teachers.
All Christians are called to admonish. To admonish means to encourage, counsel, and warn one another of the dangers we may be facing.
Now this verse isn’t talking about a lecture or speech, like the one I am giving. This verse raises the realm of conversation from the mundane into the realm of worship. In fact it uses a very specific form of verbalization: singing. Which is our third goal. We want all of you to become singers!
Singing is a powerful way to teach. I would venture to guess that most of us know dozens of songs by heart. And since we know the lyrics to these songs, we know what these songs are teaching! This leads me to say that our songs ought to be biblically oriented. Some songs have catchy tunes, but they have horrible theology. We shouldn’t sing songs that encourage anger, disobedience, fornication or any other work of the flesh.
There are three words used to describe our singing. The first is the word Psalm. Now we have an entire book in the Bible called Psalms. And this book has been the songbook of the church for centuries. The Psalms were poetry put to music. The Psalms are God’s word put to music.
However, there is a secondary meaning of the word ψαλμός psalmos. It is literally, “the twanging of a stringed instrument, or to pluck, play a stringed musical instrument.” If you wondered if instruments were part of New Testament worship, here it is.
The second word is Hymn. Now Paul did not have a copy of “The Baptist Hymnal,” or any other modern hymnal. The hymns we have today were not even composed back then. The word “Hymn” ὕμνος humnos is used to describe truths ascribed to God. Hymns are literally praise to God.
The third word is Spiritual songs. While psalms are a recitation of the inspired word of God, and hymns are used to recite doctrinal truth in praise to God, spiritual songs are odes… they offer believers the opportunity to express their personal responses to God. A spiritual song would be retelling the grace, mercies, and miracles of God from the singer’s point of view.
All three perspectives are good! We ought to sing Scripture! (Psalms) We also ought to sing good theology in praise to the greatness of God. (Hymns) And we ought to sing songs that tell of our love for Jesus and our heart for God. (Spiritual Songs).
This is what your lips should be used for. The purpose of language is to speak the truth in love. That is your roadmap for your mouth for life. If you Change your Words you will Change your World
PART 1 of your master plan relates to your heart. PART 2 relates to your mouth. PART 3 relates to your actions. The things that you do.
It Affects every Action 17
Why do you do the things that you do? Why do you go to work? Why do you go to church? Why do you help people? Why do you exercise or eat right? You take action on things you think will be beneficial to your life. You need these things, or you want these things. Or you want them for others.
But what actions, and what behaviors are truly worthy of your life? How do you know whether or not you should or should not do something: Verse 17
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
This is obviously broader than just actions, it is words and actions. It is anything you say or do. But the scope of our life plan has finally come to your behavior. Which behaviors are worthy? There are two answers to that. #1 If you can do it in the name of Jesus. #2 If it produces thanksgiving to God.
What does it mean to do something in the name of Jesus? And how do we do all things in the name of Jesus? We know we should baptize people in the name of Jesus, and we should pray in the name of Jesus, but this is bigger.
17 times in the New Testament Jesus used the words “in my name.” and 11 times the Apostles used the phrase “in the name of Jesus.” For example they said,
Mt 18:5 whoever receives a little child in my name receives me.
Mt 18:20 where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Mr 9:41 For whoever gives a cup of water in my name shall not lose his reward.
Ac 9:27 Saul preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
Ac 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Do you get the idea, that you must transform your life by doing everything that you do for Jesus?
Saying “in Jesus’ name” is not a magic formula. The phrase contains no power if it is misused or misunderstood. Something done “in Jesus’ name” means that we are doing it for Him, His kingdom and is for His glory.
We should be able to say that over literally everything we do. When we sit down at our desk and open our inbox to start our day, we should say, “In Jesus’ name.” When we meet up with a friend for lunch, we should think, “In Jesus’ name.” When a person tries to merge in traffic ahead of us—yep, even then—“In Jesus’ name.” When we kiss our spouse when we get home from work: “In Jesus’ name.”
In every interaction—not just the spiritual ones—we should be able to say, “I am doing this for Jesus.” We must set a goal to serve the Lord Jesus Christ every second of every day. Every single thing we do, every step we take, every word we utter should be thought of first and foremost as an offering to Jesus.
How do I know what to do in my life? Ask yourself the question, “can I honestly say that I can do this for Jesus?” If you can, do it heartily to the Lord. And if your behavior exhibits thankfulness to God, then, God bless you, for you are a truly fortunate individual.
What is the Purpose Statement for your life? Maybe you want to adopt Colossians 3:15-17.
Change your behavior and you will transform your relationships. Imagine that Jesus is pleased with everything you do! Imagine doing everything you do to please Jesus! This is going to change your life! Change the way you think, change the way you talk, and change the way you act… that is the master plan. Whatever you do in word or deed, do it heartily as unto the Lord![iii]
[i] https://discoveram.com/finding-purpose-why-it-matters-to-your-life-and-business/#:~:text=Most%20people%20don’t%20know,you%20relate%20within%20your%20journey.
[ii] “What Will They Say When You Are Dead?” This is an incredibly powerful question. To answer it, you have to “fast forward” to the end of your life and look back.
A case study at UCLA by psychologist Emily van Sonnenberg asked students to keep an intention journal. Each morning, they wrote down their intentions for the day. Sonnenberg found that students who wrote down their goals achieved them 92% more often than those who didn’t. This result proves the power of planning
[iii] “What Will They Say When You Are Dead?” This is an incredibly powerful question. To answer it, you have to “fast forward” to the end of your life and look back. You are forced to think about the things that matter most.
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