God's Plan for Your Life

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's brand new book, Reignite. But first, here's his message, God's plan for your life. James 9 and 11 says, God's plan for you is not to harm you, not to hurt you, but for your welfare, to give you a future and a hope. So the message that I have for you today from James is a very practical and a very personal message. It regards God's plan and God's future for your life.

Interested? Good. James 4 verse 13, come now you who say today and tomorrow we will go to such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life? Good question. For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we will live and do this or that. As it is you boast in your arrogance.

All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James is telling us a story. It's a story that happens all the time in his day and in our day. It's about a businessman, a business person who is planning the future. This guy has got it together. He's obviously successful. He's ready.

He's read Trump's art of the deal. He's on his way. He's working his cell phone. He's got a corporate jet waiting and the wheels are about to go up. Again, so far so good.

It's alright. He's sure he's going to have a winning successful business trip. He's going to a certain town. He hasn't planned what he's going to do, how he's going to do it. But something is missing.

The most vital interest is missing. No God. He's planning his life and his future. His business without God. He's not living a godless life necessarily. In fact, he might even be a believer of sorts. He may believe in God. He's not godless but he's living his life godless without God. He's making decisions and making plans and God apparently isn't in his plans. And the fact is if you plan your life to do anything, to do business or whatever, if you don't know where you're from, who made you and why you're here, you'll never know where you're going and why you're going there.

God does have a plan for your life. And this man was miscalculating at several levels that I want to mention to you today. He was presuming, pridefully presuming that he was in charge of his life. That he was in control of his days and his destiny.

But he was missing on his own several counts. One, on the uncertainty of life. On the uncertainty of life. He says in verse 13, come now you who say today or tomorrow we're going to go here, we're going to go there, spend a year, train, make a profit. He said, but you don't know what tomorrow will bring.

You don't know how uncertain life is. Because this man, no man or woman is promised another day but today. This is the day God has made. And the Bible says in Proverbs 22 one in support of this passage, in fact, James and Proverbs are cousins in the scripture.

They're very practical and they're wisdom books. Proverbs 22 one says the Bible says do not boast about tomorrow for you don't know what a day will bring. This is why Jesus tells us live every day one day at a time. Don't worry about tomorrow. You can't change tomorrow. Don't don't spend your energy, your time, your efforts worrying about tomorrow.

Live today. This man is boasting. He's pridefully living without God. He's got a huge ego. He's prideful.

You know what ego is? E-G-O edging God out. And he's presuming on his life that he has another day. Life is tissue paper thin.

What is your life? James said it's like a mist, like a vapor. James is saying what is your life? It's so uncertain. It's like a mist.

It's so short. There's some scriptures about that. 1 Chronicles 29 15 says we are strangers before you and sojourners. As our fathers were, our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. That is nobody lives forever. Our lives are like a shadow. We're sojourners here. Job 7 6. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.

How could you live like that without hope? But my days are like a weaver's shuttle moving quickly. Psalm 90 verses 9 and 10. For all our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end with a sigh. The years of our life are 70 and even by reason of strength 80 and yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone.

And we fly away. Yes, life is uncertain. You don't have the promise of another single breath. This may be the last sermon you ever hear.

It may be the last sermon I ever preach. Life is uncertain. Don't presume on your life. Don't presume on the brevity of life. I don't know about you, but I'm wondering these days who pushed the fast forward button?

Really? I mean, when we're young, you know, time sort of crawls and you can't wait to get older. You can't wait to get out of class. You know, I remember sitting in class just watching the clock, waiting for it to move.

It never moved. You can't wait to get your driver's license. You can't wait to graduate.

You can't wait to get married. And it's just slowed down. And then maybe at midlife, it sort of stalls and you know, you're sort of churning water a little bit. But then as you get a little older, life starts speeding up, doesn't it?

And starts moving faster and faster. And we find ourselves in a race against time. Billy Graham in his biography was asked, what is the biggest surprise of your life? And Billy said the brevity of it. Even the longest life is brief. Life is short. We should all seek to live as long and especially as well as we can.

We ought to do the best we can with the time that we have. And your physical health is very important. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And you need to take time for the temple, your physical life. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, we are one.

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5 13 that we should be sanctified and made more like Christ, body, soul, and spirit. And this is a spiritual commitment to take care of ourselves. We should never abuse our bodies in any way, whether it is food or drink. It produces sickness and sluggishness.

And many people are old before their time because they're not really taking care of themselves. And yes, therefore, eat well and exercise well and rest well and manage stress well and all the rest. I would encourage you, as I do, to get a checkup, an annual checkup every year to measure your health and to pick up problems that you can deal with early. In 2009, in my annual physical, they picked up prostate cancer. Thank God I did that physical. I'm now healed. I'm now well. I'm through all of that.

But the fact is it could have been a very different story. All of you men, make sure you're getting your PSA checked. Make sure, guys and gals, that you're getting your body checked out. And then, based on your doctor's recommendation, get in a fitness program. Dr. Ken Cooper is my physician and he's known as the father of aerobics.

He's an outstanding Christian man and physician. Dr. Cooper says if you don't have time to exercise, then you better prepare to take time to be sick. So get moving. You don't have to be a marathoner.

Just get moving and get some counsel and drop some pounds and discipline your mind and body. It may not add years to your life, but I promise you it will add life to your years. Having said all of that, life is still very short, no matter how long and how well you live. And in the race of life, in the race of life, there's one that you cannot be. Father, time.

Amen. I mean, Father, time eventually wins. The Bible, therefore, tells us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. We're taught in the Scripture to redeem the time, to seize the day, live every day fully. Jesus promised a flourishing life, a full and fulfilling life. He said, I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. The key is not to aim for a long life necessarily, but as Jim Elliott, the modern missionary said, to live a full life like the Lord Jesus.

Make a difference while you're here. God did not give us life just so we could take up space or just to make a living, but to make a life and to make a difference in people's lives all around us. This is why it is so important to invest our time, our treasure and talent in the work of Christ and His church, in the ministry of evangelism as we're talking about. We're talking about the eternal impact you can have on someone's life when you pray for them, invite them and bring them to the church or to a crusade. And the thing about a crusade is that many people will come to a crusade, to a stadium who might not first come to a church.

And we can invite people. So I'm saying, you know, your life is short. You keep saying, you know, I'm going to share Christ with my family member. I'm going to share Christ with my child. I'm going to share Christ. Well, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Well, you know, I don't want to push too hard. I don't want to run people off.

Where are you going to run them to? Hell number two? People are without Christ. They need Jesus. And now's the time.

Today's the day. Look, reignite an intimate account of how God led Dr. Graham through one of the darkest seasons of his life. Whether you're facing disappointment, doubt, depression or heartache reignite offers biblical insights to encourage you in your pain and help fan the flames of faith in your life. And it's our way to thank you for your gift to PowerPoint. So call today to get your copy of reignite as thanks for your support. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, God's plan for your life. Don't presume on the uncertainties of life and don't presume on the brevity of life. One final thing. Don't presume on the sanctity of life.

Now here's the problem this guy had. He was, as I mentioned, living his life without God. He was living like so many people today live.

A secular life. Oh, he may have gone to church. He may have gone to worship. He may have had some notion about God, about Jesus. But every day of his life he lived as if though God did not exist. We call that a practical atheist. You say, well I'm no atheist. But you're living by all counts as though God does not exist because you're not including him.

You know, we divide life up too often between the sacred and the secular. Well, you know, Sunday morning that's sacred. I'm going to church. Good. Really glad you're here.

Really glad you're watching online. Good. But then if you think, but on Monday come Monday, it's business baby. And you don't live the same way on Monday as you say you live on Sunday. And you cut off.

You live in a little compartment. You have the religious side or the sacred side over here and the rest of the time you think that's my time. That's my time. That's making money time. That's business time.

Nothing wrong with doing business or making money. But remember this, if you are a follower of Jesus, every day is a holy day. Every day is God's day. All time is God's time. Everything belongs to him. That's why I say the sanctity of life. This guy's thinking I don't owe God anything on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. He lived his life without the Lord.

He didn't understand the sanctity of life. All of life is a gift from God. Born and unborn.

Created by God in mother's womb. Even before you were born, God had a plan for your life. Jeremiah 1 5, before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nation.

And what was true for the prophet is true for every person. The Psalm is said in Psalm 139 for you formed my inward parts and you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. So life begins before birth. Life begins in the womb and we are determined by God's grace to keep fighting the good fight of faith to end this holocaust in our nation which is abortion. In the past generation revolving out of the sexual revolution of the 60s came Roe v. Wade and now since Roe v. Wade 60 million abortions in America. But I tell you this, minds are turning, minds are changing. And we have an opportunity in this generation.

I say to the next generation, some of you are in your teens and 20s, you have an opportunity in your generation to end this terrible thing of abortion in America. You do. You do. Only God can fill the void, the vacancy, the hole in your heart. What is your life? For many people life is a vacation. It's just fun and games. And then they die and there's no fun and games in a Christless grave. For a lot of people life is a void. It's just nothing. It's vanity, a hole in the heart.

No purpose, no meaning, no direction. There's a man like that in the Old Testament. His name was Solomon.

You know Solomon is a great man, a man of wisdom. But he tells his story in the book of Ecclesiastes how early on he was trying everything and anything to find meaning in his life. He was partying, it was pleasure, it was women, it was wine, it was song, it was making money, it was all. And he had it all.

But he concluded life under the sun on a horizontal plane. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Meaning nothing, nothing, nothing. Empty. Life is empty for so many people. Jesus talked about a man who was a wealthy man, he was a wealthy farmer. And he had so much and he's on a hammock and he's, you know, drinking his margarita and he's having a great day and he's thinking, you know, how much more money can I make and how many more barns can I build? Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die. That's the way some people live.

Life's meaningless so I'm going to have as much fun as I can. But there came a knock that night, Jesus said. A knock at his door. He said, who is it? And he said, death is at your door. And that man awakened in hell, Jesus said. He had it all planned.

He had it all together, he thought. He was having fun. He was living the life. But without God and without hope. Again, Jesus said, I've come that you might have life. Life with a capital L. Life can be a vanity, it can be a vexation for so many people. Life can be miserable and there's so much suffering in the world and so much pain in the world. What is your life? Paul said, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Do you know Christ? The purpose of your life is to know and do the will of God. That's why James tells us here, you ought to have said, you should have said, this is how you live if it be the Lord's will.

I will do this, I will do that, I will go here, I will go there. If it be the Lord's will. Success, success in life is knowing and doing the will of God. It is the progressive realization in your life of God's will and God's purpose. Surrendering your life to do the will of God. I get asked questions all the time about the future, of course, and then about our daily decisions, how we make decisions, how do we know the will of God, should I buy that house, should I get marriage, should I go to this school. Here's what I've discovered about the will of God over time.

Romans 12, 1 and 2 referenced earlier says, present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God, your reasonable service, your reasonable worship. And don't be transformed or don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, the way you think, by the power of Christ, that you may demonstrate, prove, live the perfect, good and acceptable will of God. I know this about God's will for your life if you're a Christian.

It's good, it's perfect and acceptable. It may not always feel good, it may not always look good, but God is always working everything together for our good, for His purpose and His glory and for our best in life. And if you will surrender your days to the Lord, your destiny will be given to Him. And I found in life, most of the time, the will of God doesn't hit me in the face.

I mean, there are a few occasions when I just really sense God thundering something in my soul and speaking in my heart, and I know the Scripture says, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God. We're led by the Word, we're led by the Spirit, we're led by Godly counsel, but most of the time, I've seen God's will unfold in my life when I just am obedient to what is right in front of me and do what God's called me to do right now. The question of the will of God is not what am I going to do in the next 20 years, but what am I going to do the next 15 minutes? And yes, the will of God is not something you have to do, it's something you get to do. It's God's best, God's plan, God's purpose is good, perfect and acceptable. God would choose for you what you would choose for yourself if you had sense enough to choose it.

He knows what is right, He knows what is best. So just stay steady, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, you know your labor in the Lord is not in vain. So stay steady, stay strong, do what is in front of you and God will just unveil, God will keep showing you what the next step is and the next step and where are you to go now and what are you to do next?

That's the will of God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean into your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.

Do you know your future? Have you given your future to Christ? Look, the only way you can know you're going to heaven, the only way to go to heaven is through Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Him.

The way to go to heaven is to put your faith in the one who died on the cross for your sins to have your sins forgiven. And your sins can be forgiven. Your life can be changed. I mean we can't reverse the years or slow down time but Jesus did say you can be born again. An experience of salvation so radical, so life changing that it's like a new birth, a brand new beginning. You can have a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

By turning from your sins and trusting in Christ and Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. And when you do that these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life and that you have life in His name. You can know for certain that you're going to heaven. Do you know? You don't have to wonder about that.

You certainly don't have to worry about that. You can settle it today and today if you don't know is the only day you're promised to give your life to Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message God's plan for your life. Chances are you've faced your share of crisis.

Maybe you're even in the fight of your life right now. Or maybe you're simply feeling exhausted by the busyness of life and sapped of spiritual strength. Whatever you're facing we want to help fan the flame of faith in your life by sending you Dr. Graham's newest book Reignite.

This personal account of how God led Dr. Graham through his own crisis will help you focus on God during difficult seasons so you can experience fresh passion and joy in Jesus. And we'll send you a copy as thanks for your gift today. So call now to request your copy of Reignite. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? If you don't have purpose and meaning in your life then it's going to be a struggle. It's the very reason that we are created by God to fulfill his purpose for our lives. So I love Jeremiah 29, 11, one of my favorite verses. It tells us that God has a plan for our lives and that plan is good and it is filled with great hope.

We have a future with him. So many people don't accept God's plan because they must think there's a better one. Or maybe they've never even thought about it that much. But you need to consider what God wants to do with your life. Why God made you and he made you for a mission, for a purpose. So many people spend their days trying to figure it out on their own.

They try focusing on making money or climbing a career ladder, maybe finding love or a relationship. And in and of themselves these of course are not bad things. I love the scripture which says, the Lord our God is a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them who walk uprightly. That's Psalm 84, 11. The Bible tells us that our lives are very brief. That they're like a shadow or a vapor.

Here today and gone tomorrow. We don't know that we will see a next sunrise. But for the Christian that's not a bad thing. That's not a depressing thing because we know God has an eternal future for him.

And that heaven is real and that we're going to spend eternity with him. So real meaning and true happiness is found in the Lord. Success in life is the progressive realization of God's will for your life. When you find meaning and happiness in Christ by surrendering your life to him you will begin to live out and you will love it. And when God asks you, you will begin to live out and love the amazing plan and the lasting hope that God has for you. You have a future. Don't ever quit.

Keep living the plan and the purpose for God in your life. And that is today's Power Point. Remember when you give a gift to Power Point today we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand new book, reunite, as our thanks. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word Power Point to 313131. Text Power Point to 313131. And join Dr. Graham next time when he brings a message about how to make every day count for what matters most. That's next time on Power Point with Jack Graham. Power Point with Jack Graham is sponsored by Power Point Ministries.