I will bless you with a future filled with hope–a future of success, not of suffering. – Jeremiah 29:11 (Contemporary English Version)

If you study the Old Testament, you’ll see that no matter how often man disobeyed God, God would still develop a plan to bless them. Starting with Adam and Eve, God placed them in a garden with all kinds of blessing and good things, and, He gave them dominion over the earth and everything in it. God’s plan was for man to rule the earth.

27So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. 28God gave them his blessing and said:

Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.

29I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. – Genesis 1:27-29 (Contemporary English Version)

Even after Adam and Eve (they both ate of the fruit) disobeyed God and became disconnected from the original plan, God had a replacement plan ready to go. He decided to give His only Son (Jesus) to deal with Satan and everything that he has stolen from man.

15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants
will be enemies. One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel.” – Genesis 3:15 (New Century Version)

Whatever you’re going through right now or whatever you’ve been through, rest assured that God has a good plan for you. He created you to do good things and live up to the potential that He put inside of you. Even if you’ve intentionally walked off of the path that He prepared in advance for you, He will create new plan that will put you on an intercept course to do what is best for you and to receive His Blessing.

“10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation). All of us were created to be God’s masterpiece. He has a good plan for each of us, if we choose to accept His will for our lives and follow the path that he has determined in advance for us to follow. If you’re ready to find out what God’s good plan is for your life, the first step is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you’ve never done that before, find out how to receive salvation.

If you have already received Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life but are not walking in the plan that He has for you, there’s great news. It’s never too late to connect to God and His plan for your life. If you have sin in your life, turn away from it and ask God for forgiveness. “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” – 1 John 1:9 (New Living Translation).

What’s the Next Step?

Once you’ve made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior and have received forgiveness of your sins, it’s time to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ll explore this subject in greater detail in the next article.

Note: This article was inspired by Gloria Copeland’s book, God’s Master Plan for Your Life. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to tap into God’s plan.

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
—Psalm 65:11 NIV

Don’t look at what the world is experiencing. The Lord has already crowned this year with bounty! Remember He is the Ancient of Days. He knows all things and holds time in His hand. Everything He created was called good. In order to experience the Blessing all year long, we need to remind ourselves daily of Psalm 118:24 which says, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” That’s 365 blessed days and it equals a year crowned with bounty!

In the beginning God created. What did He create—time, days and seasons for people to enjoy. And, He said it was all good. Genesis 1:31 recounts, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” So regardless of what the media, politicians or your co workers are saying, THIS YEAR IS GOOD AND WILL BE GOOD BECAUSE GOD CREATED IT. Furthermore, His reason for making it good was and still is for His children to enjoy.

A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
—Deuteronomy 11:12

His eyes are upon you if you are in covenant with Him. This is included in our Blessing. The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:6). And we have biblical proof that anything God makes is bountiful, blessed and flowing with abundance. This should be our experience no matter what year it is or the economic status of our country. As a matter of fact, I believe when the world has lean times, it is a better opportunity for God to show off in our lives. People will want to know why and how our days and years continue to prosper.

Finally I’d also like you to meditate on God ending things the same way He began. Creating. Revelation gives us a glimpse. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal (Revelation 21:1-2, 10-11). This sounds like bounty to me! If none of the other verses convinced you, just focus on these. They will remind you of how the Lord is living and His expectations for you this year and every year until His return. He created it, crowned it and blessed it and He expects you to have a blessed year from beginning to end.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8
—Shontta

If you are stubborn at all, a hard lesson to learn for the believer is that God expects us to look to him for direction. You can work 80 hours a week and even make over a $100K a year and still be in the bondage of debt. God will allow you to live in the world and under the world’s system of money, which is by the sweat of your brow. After all, He has given us all free will. However, that is not His best for His children. He wants you, as His child, to live in His will. You know from Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan to prosper you. Wouldn’t you like to find out that plan for your life?

If you read 2 Chronicles 20, you will learn how God gave them great victory (and great plunder) because they looked to Him for direction. God knows the end from the beginning. Doesn’t it make sense to look to Him for the direction for places that He’s already been? God will reveal things to you that you can’t learn any other way.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.  – Deuteronomy 29:2

God knows countless ways to get you out of debt (if you’re in debt) by next week. However, you only need to know one. Why not seek Him to discover the way? Why not follow Him whole-heartedly and find out how far you can go? What makes walking with God so splendid is that your path is uniquely yours. You get to see everything He has for you when you willingly submit to His Word and His Ways. Success is simple, but it may not be easy. There may be friction. Your mind and body may not want to do what God has called you to do. When your mind and body want to go one way and your spirit (which is new if you’re born again) wants to go another, there is suffering. To relieve the suffering, align your actions with your spirit, which aligns with God. Follow God because He knows better than you do. As Isaiah 55:8-12 explains:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ”As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

God has a better way for you. Learn to listen to God. How do you hear from God? By reading His Word and spending time in prayer. You enter the Spirit-Realm (revelation knowledge) through the letter realm. You judge the Spirit by the knowledge of the letter (the Bible). Take time to hear what God says you should do, then do it. You will start to see blessing like you never imagined.