Good News Bible Chapel

Leading people to faith and maturity in Christ.

Main navigation

Blog

God is a planner

Steve DuPlessie | January 2, 2019

God is a planner. Actually, he has plans at work at many levels. You might know  the familiar verse in And Proverbs 16:9 tells us “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

It moves from the general to the specific in Jeremiah 29:11 – “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.” That’s echoed in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God didn’t just think of this plan for you yesterday. Ephesians 1:3-6 in the Message says, “Long before He [God] laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son.”

And his plan for you gets even more specific, with a particular goal in mind. Romans 8:29, 30 – “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

But God also has a plan for his church. Jesus told Peter, “…I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” Matthew 16:18. There’s an end-game picture of what that looks like in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28: “And then comes the end, when Jesus hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”

“And the last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”

Ephesians 3:10, 11 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The church is God’s “plan A” for working in the world. So when we pray for our world, the main thing we should pray for is the spiritual vitality of believers in the world.

What does this mean in the current season of political turmoil? It means you you should pray for the salvation of our leaders. At the least, that they would acknowledge and submit to God for guidance, wisdom and direction. But pray mostly for the church. Pray that the church will be healthy and bold and focused on and clear about the gospel.

It’s also important to note that in his final wishes, Jesus prays for us, as believers, to internalize God’s love. John 17:20-23 – “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

He’s praying that we would love Jesus the way that God loves Jesus and we would love others like Jesus loves us. Because when we do that, people will know that he is real. The church is Plan A. There is no Plan B. the local church is the hope of the world.

It’s better to obey than sacrifice

by Steve DuPlessie

King Saul was new at the job. He was less than a week in office as the new king, the first king the children of Israel ever had. And it was all over in that first week. How did that happen?

The children of Israel were really, really tired of getting bullied by the surrounding pagan tribes — Amalakites, Hitties, Jebusites, Moabites, Philistines — all nasty actors. For 400 years they had been terrorized by their neighbors and they were sick of it. So they pressured Samuel, the old priest and the last “judge” of Israel, to appoint a king to rule over them and help them defend themselves.

Samuel tried to talk them out of it (read the details here) but the people insisted. God told Samuel to give them what they wanted. And God led Samuel to a guy named Saul. He was young, tall, handsome — very king-looking.

Inaguration day…
So Samuel annointed Saul (annointing = pour fragrant oil over the head as a sign of divine selection; sort of like our modern-day swearing-in ceremony for public officials) as Israel’s first king. To launch this new administration, Samuel told Saul to meet him a week later in Gilgal where Samuel would offer sacrifices to God; they would begin this new reign with humble worship together before God.

Saul agreed to this plan. But things quickly went downhill. First, some Ammonite raiders attacked the Israeli city of Jabesh-Giliad. King Saul rounded up some troops, and fought off the raiders in a fantastic victory! And while they were celebrating the new king’s first battlefield victory, the Philistines attacked with an army that included 3,000 chariots! This time King Saul’s army disintegrated, deserted, ran for the hills.

Meanwhile, Samuel, the old priest, was late for the planned meet-up in Gilgal for the sacrifice. And king Saul was impatient. He needed to rebuild his army and drive off the Philistines the same way he had defeated the Ammonites. So rather than waiting for Samuel to arrive, king Saul went ahead and offered the sacrifices himself, without Samuel.

Pretty bad timing…
And that’s just the moment that Samuel arrived…

Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear.8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.

10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him,11 but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”

Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”

13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

In only one week, Saul’s authority (and God’s divine protection and blessing) as king was over. While it would actually be many years before David, the new king — “a man after God’s own heart — would take the throne, the Spirit of God left Saul, and he was on his own.

Samuel said, “Obedience is better than sacrifice” [Ps 40:6-8; 51:16; Pr 21:3; Isa 1:11-15; Jer 7:22; Hos 6:6; Am 5:25; Mic 6:6-8; S Mk 12:33].

Making excuses – missing out…
Saul made excuses. He decided that it was okay to disobey this time because… And so Saul missed out on God’s divine protection and blessing because he decided that he knew better than God.

There’s a lesson for me (and you) in king Saul’s fatal failure. I can submit and obey — even when I don’t understand the “Why” — and stay within His divine protection and blessing, or I can tell God that I know better than He does (and forfeit his protection and blessing). Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” Shouldn’t be a difficult decision…

 

 

 

 

A lot like us

by Steve DuPlessie

So maybe you’ve noticed that your story is a lot like Ruth’s story [from the OT book of Ruth – listen again to the 11/04/18 sermon here]. We too are poor, spiritually for sure, maybe financially too. And we wear the mourning clothes of death.

She had buried her husband. What have you buried? Maybe your dreams. Maybe your aspirations, your desires. Maybe someone you love. We’re out of options.

But our “Boaz” has noticed us. Just as Boaz covered Ruth, our kinsman-redeemer, Jesus Christ, has come to us. He spotted us in our deep need and he covered us. Just as Boaz protected Ruth from certain doom, our Jesus protects us from eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. Just as Boaz was able to meet all of Ruth’s needs, your Jesus is all that you need. Just as Boaz took Naomi and Ruth from bitterness to joy, your Jesus can do the same for you.

Your Kinsman-redeemer…
See, your Jesus is your Kinsman-redeemer. He spotted you out in the field, picking at the edges for the leftover scraps of life, and he chose to take you in and made you his own. “When we were utterly helpless, while we were sill sinner, Christ came at just the right time, and died for us.” He resolved to love you as no one has ever loved you. So he paid the full price required for your redemption when he died on the cross in your place. He redeemed you.

You might feel like you’ve been left behind in life, like you’re starving, living in famine; like you’re alone physically or emotionally or spiritually; maybe feeling like youre’ caught in a helpless or hopeless situation, and you’re getting bitter.  But God sees you as a chosen, loved prize worth giving heaven’s best to purchase your redemption. And he wants to cover you, not with a coat, but he covers you with himself.

Max Lucado tells the story about a flight, some years ago from Orlando to Atlanta, carrying mainly businessmen. Briefcases, designer suits, and newspapers. With exception it was a working flight – but that exception was notable; there was a young mom with her four-year old daughter in the middle of all those businessmen. While the men were digging out and setting up their computers, that mom was digging out and setting up crayons and a coloring book. Everyone settled back for what was an uneventful flight.

But just few moments into the flight they realized it was not going to be an uneventful flight. The plane tilted to the left, then to the right. Jerked back and forth. Bounced up and down. The pilot announced a hydraulic system was failing. They dumped fuel as the pilots struggled to get the plane under control. Passengers were told to prepare for a rough landing back in Orlando. Fear swept through the cabin.

Panic set in with solid businessmen turning white in fear, losing their composure. Some crying out in fear. But the one person who was calm was the mother of the little girl. One businessman remembered hearing her calm reassuring voice. He turned and saw that mom talk to her little girl, talking gently with her, saying, “I love you. I love you so much. Do you know that I love you?” “Yes mommy!” “No matter what happens, I’m here with you and I love you always.”

And that mom reached over, unbuckled the little girl’s lap belt. And then taking her daughter up onto her lap, she re-buckled her in her own seat belt and held her close in her arms as they prepared to crash. But the landing gear actually came down just in time, and they landed safely that day. Of all the passengers on the plane, that little girl wasn’t afraid because her mother wrapped her up in love to protect her.

The love of your Father in heaven…
That’s the kind of love our heavenly Father has for you. The kind of love that engraves your name on the palm of his hand: your name, written in red. The kind of love that gives heaven’s best to redeem you; nothing less than Jesus, God’s one and only Son to die so you can be forgiven and live.

God does this. God enters the dusty Bethlehem’s of our lives. And he brings hope where there’s no hope. He brings joy to replace bitterness. Believe this. Believe this. Just receive it down deep in the part of your life that has never felt loved before. Maybe it’s time for you to throw off your mourning clothes and come to your Kinsman-Redeemer who will find you and cover you with his love.

So there is a plan…
At the end of the book of Ruth closes with a remarkable detail. The last verses of the life story of Ruth show us the reversal of how the story began. We see a kind of a family portrait, with Boaz and Ruth posing with their brand new baby boy.

What began with bitterness and death ends with birth and joy! Boaz wanted to name the little guy Bo Jr. But Ruth preferred Obed, so Obed it was. And Obed grew up, got married and had a son named Jesse. And Jesse and his wife had a baby boy named David, the second most famous king to be born in Bethlehem.

And you know the most famous king to ever be born in Bethlehem, right? Jesus, the Christ, your Kinsman-Redeemer. Now here’s the thing. This is so cool. The genealogy list in Matthew chapter 1 lists all the ancestors in the family tree from Abraham to Jesus.

And right in the middle of that long list of men is this woman, Ruth. How did that happen? How did a foreigner, a poor immigrant, a lonely widow, from a pagan, idol worshipping nation, have a role in bringing Jesus, our Redeemer, into the world? Ok, so maybe God has an Upper Story that’s He’s working in out in our Lower Story, a grand, eternal plan to redeem the lost and lonely, the helpless and hopeless, turn death to new birth, turn bitterness to joy… you think?

What if I made a wrong turn?

by Steve DuPlessie

We talked this past Sunday from the Old Testament books of Numbers and Deuteronomy about the children of Israel on their wilderness road trip from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land (Listen again here). They sent 12 spies to scout out the land of Canaan that God had promised them. But after hearing there were giants in the land, they refused to move forward and instead turned back into the wilderness where they wandered around for 40 years — 40 years before finally entering the Promised Land with God’s help.

It’s possible, if you’re anything like me, that you’ve made some “wrong turns” in your life in the past, and missed out on what God has designed and prepared for you. Maybe you’re still “wandering in the wilderness” in your life because of bad choices, unwise decisions, and rebellion against what God has told you to do. So what if I made a wrong turn?

Well, there’s bad news and good news. Bad news first. Sin has consequences. And sometimes the consequences of sin cannot be undone. A child born out of wedlock. (There are no illegitimate children; but there are illegitimate parents!) Or fired from a job for bad behavior. Or a fatality on your conscience from a DUI driving accident. An abortion in your past. Sadly, some things cannot ever be “fixed” and the weight of those “wrong turn” decisions can be heavy.

The good news…
Here’s the good news! Jesus died for broken, fallen sinners like me and you! Here’s some powerful truths from the Bible. Read them over, let them soak deeply into your mind and your soul…

“The blood of Jesus (poured out when he died on the cross to pay the penalty required by a holy God for your sin) cleanses us from ALL sin.” –  John 1:7

“If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9.

Forgiveness from God is not only possible, it’s a gift ready and waiting for any and all who come humbly to God, confessing their sin and asking Him for His forgiveness.

All? Really?
Did you notice the word ALL in both of those Bible promises? Every sin — small and large and huge — Jesus died to pay the price for ALL your sin. So you can be forgiven by God (who’s holiness was offended by your sin), and “cleansed, washed, purified from all your unrighteousness.”

Beyond that forgiveness from God, a careful inventory of our failures should also lead us to confess our responsibility to all who have been hurt — except when that confession might make the problem worse, not better — and ask for their forgiveness. Humble confession, without excuses or blaming,  helps the soul.

You can’t control the other person, so they might be gracious and forgive you — then again, maybe not. But you have done the right thing to own it, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. [Forgiveness = Giving up the right to hold something against you any longer.] And if they give you the gift of their forgiveness, you can move forward in that previously broken relationship, while understanding that regaining trust takes time.

It might be that it was not a particular person that was wounded by your sin, but still, you need to “make things right.” Volunteering at a soup kitchen to serve the homeless, becoming a foster parent,  donating generously to a non-profit that addresses the issue (a battered women’s shelter, MADD-Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, a crisis pregnancy resource center, etc.) can all help to “atone” for your failure and support what is good and right and just.

Again?
Then there’s the question, How can I keep from doing stuff like that again? Ahh, the million dollar question. The book of Proverbs in the middle of Hebrew Bible is 31 chapters of simple, practical, advice aimed at young people (but really, really useful for all of us).

The book identifies two kinds of people: those who are wise, and those who are fools. The wise person learns from their mistakes, asks for and learns from wise counsel, and willingly learns from correction. The fool on the other hand keeps on doing the same stupid stuff over and over because they ignore wise counsel, refuse to learn lessons from their past and change their attitudes and behaviors.

I’ve observed that most “fools” are fools not because they’re dumb — frequently they’re pretty bright! — but because they refuse to listen to and follow good counsel. They always seem to think they are smarter than the average person, and they “know better.” “I’ve got street smarts” says the one who’s continually in trouble with the law. “I can handle it, I don’t need help,” says the habitual drunkard/addict. “Just bad luck” says the person who’s always behind financially because of repeated foolish and wasteful financial decisions. Their independent refusal to submit to normal, conventional, proven wisdom becomes their undoing time after time after time. They say “I know, I know…” but they, by refusing to follow good counsel, are in fact fools.

Redemption?
Is there redemption after failure? Yes. There can be redemption in relationships when humble confession is offered and forgiveness is sought. There can be redemption in a life broken by foolish decisions when the fool submits willingly to wise counsel, and pursues what is right, good and just. And there can be redemption before God because Jesus died as your substitute, bearing on himself your sin and shame, and offering you the grace-filled gift of his goodness and righteousness in exchange!

 

 

 

Father, show me your glory…

By Steve DuPlessie

So, will you value the presence of God in your life? Will you say to him, “My Father, I don’t want to go anywhere without you. Dear God, I can’t face this cancer without you; be with me. Dear God, I can’t face the loss of my spouse without you right by my side. Dear God, I can’t stay clean this week without your power and presence in my life. Dear God, go with me to work tomorrow, I need your favor in that meeting. Dear God, I’m pretty lost and don’t know where to go; show me my next steps to take.”

I offer you the prayer of Moses, the Prophet, who had the audacity to pray,  “Dear God, show me your glory, send down your presence, I want to see your face.” God says, “You can’t actually handle that, Moses. But I tell you what I’ll do, because I’m so pleased with you. I’m going to brush by you as you stand inside a large crack over here in this mountainside. As I go by, I’ll put my hand over the gap of the rock so you can’t actually see my face, but as I pass by, I’ll take my hand away so you will see the back of me.” Moses nestled back into the cleft of the rock, and the presence of God passed by him.

This needs to be our prayer. “Our Father in heaven, please show me your glory. Send down your presence. I want to see your face…”