"A MAN'S HEART PLANS HIS WAY, But the LORD DIRECTS his STEPS."
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 WHO, CONTRARY TO HOPE, IN HOPE BELIEVED, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 AND NOT BEING WEAK IN FAITH, HE DID NOT CONSIDER HIS OWN BODY, ALREADY DEAD (since he was about a hundred years old), AND THE DEADNESS OF SARAH'S WOMB. 20 HE DID NOT WAVER AT THE PROMISE OF GOD THROUGH UNBELIEF, BUT WAS STRENGTHENED IN FAITH, GIVING GLORY TO GOD,
21 AND BEING FULLY CONVINCED THAT WHAT HE HAD PROMISED HE WAS ALSO ABLE TO PERFORM."
Romans 4:17-21 (NKJV)
• Success is not accidental. There are covenant softwares; the Acts or practices to be employed, for Success, which every believer who desires lifting should pay attention to:
I. Hope is one of the covenant softwares for Success. When hope is lost, success is gone.
Faith can only work when hope is in place. Thus, if you want to experience success and perpetuate it, keep your Hope alive.
Some basic truths about hope:
a. Hope does not consider the negative:
"AND NOT BEING WEAK IN FAITH, HE DID NOT CONSIDER HIS OWN BODY, ALREADY DEAD (since he was about a hundred years old), AND THE DEADNESS OF SARAH'S WOMB" (Romans 4:19 NKJV).
b. Hope never gives up. It thus knows that whatever God has spoken would surely come to pass: "WHO [Abraham], CONTRARY TO HOPE, IN HOPE BELIEVED, SO THAT HE BECAME THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS, ACCORDING TO WHAT WAS SPOKEN, “So shall your descendants be” (Romans 4:18 NKJV).
YOUR case or situation might look impossible, but If God says it is possible, that settles It. Whatever God says will surely come to pass!
c. Hope builds courage. It builds courage and strengthens the trust in God. Without courage, you might not be able to take your land of inheritance, Thus courage is important:
6 BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 ONLY BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 9 HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE; DO NOT BE AFRAID, NOR BE DISMAYED, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO" (Joshua 1:6-9 (NKJV).
Remember it takes the union of hope and faith to have a good testimony, or to be approved or commended by God (Hebrews 11:1,2).
II. Planning
God has given Man, humans, to devise or decide what to do, however, He expected whoever is following Him to be flexible in whatever they have devised, or decided to do.
Whatever you devised should be in line with His plans for your life. Being rigid with whatever you had devised could lead to a regret and sorrow.
When you are rigid with what you had devised or planned to do, you are indirectly telling God not to be involved in the matters of your life.
God has the prerogative to attest or cancel whatever you had devised to do.
When you Acknowledged Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you have given God the right and permission to do whatever He might deemed fit in, or with, your life.
If whatever you had devised or planned to do would not be appropriate for your life, or would not be in line with the programme He has for your life, He may need to cancel It.
Usually at the beginning of the year, many endeavour to plan or devise what to do in the course of the year, Believers and unbelievers alike.
THIS may be all right, only If whatever you had planned falls in line with what He, God, had in plan for you, about the year in question.
Many devised and planned independently of God, that is, without God's involvement at all. It should be known to every Believer that God does not want whoever belongs to Him, lives or plans things to be done without His knowledge.
Even If what you had planned is good and beneficial, If God was not carried along in the process, It might not materialize. The reason being that whatever is born or birthed of the flesh would not submit to God, thus, He would not want it to stand (Romans 8:7,8).
So, in planning, you had to wait on God to know what He would have to say or tell you to do: "I WILL TAKE MY STAND AT MY WATCH-POST AND STATION MYSELF ON THE TOWER, AND LOOK OUT TO SEE WHAT HE WILL SAY TO ME, and what I will answer concerning my complaint" (Habakkuk 2:1 ESV).
And If you think, or it seems, you could not receive anything, and you decided to use your mind to devise or plan whatever to do, you must be submissive and flexible enough to allow God to change or alter whatever you had set or plan to do: "A MAN'S MIND PLANS HIS WAY [as he journeys through life], BUT THE LORD DIRECTS HIS STEPS AND ESTABLISHES THEM" (Proverbs 16:9 Amps).
YOU must not be rigid about It At all!
• What are the benefits of planning
a. Planing helps you stay focused. You would know where you are going, and be able to face It, and remained focus on it.
b. Planning makes you effectively effective, achieving the intended results. And it makes you efficiently efficient as well, producing results with the little or no wasted efforts.
c. Planning gives you rest. You would be able to conserve your strength. You would not be dissipating your energy on irrelevant things.
d. You would not be busy without results, when you had a divinely guided plans. Concentration produces consecration, someone says. The devil likes to dissipate the people's energy or efforts, but planning according to God's Will would make you escape such traps (Ecclesiastes 10:15).
e. Through the Divinely approved planning, you would experience steady and consistent progress.
f. Planning gives room for appraisals. You would be able to know at end of the day, whether you are progressing, moving forward, or not.
III. Faith (Hebrews 11:1,2).
Faith substantiated hope as said earlier.
When your faith is built through the Word of God, It delivers good reports or testimonies.
You will be commended by God for such a Faith.
• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
That ailment in your body is rebuked in Jesus' name.
You live in divine health, As from now onwards, in Jesus' name.
Peace!
STEPS TO SALVATION
• Take notice of this:
IF you are yet to take the step of salvation, that is, yet to be born-again, do it now, tomorrow might be too late (2 Corinthians 6:1,2; Hebrews 3:7,8,15).
a. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and confess your Sins (1 John 1:9); And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life (Revelation 3:20).
b. Confess that you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that you confess it with your mouth, Thus, you accept Him As your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9,10).
c. Ask that He will write your name in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:8).
If you took the steps As highlighted above, It means you are saved—born-again. Join a Word based church in your area and Town or city, and be part of whatever they are doing there. Peace!