LIFE PLAN

Synopsis of Bible Study July 1, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.

How does my life fall into purpose in alignment with the will of God? God has something in store for you. You were not created by accident. It is not God’s will for you to live a life of drudgery. There is a certain joy that comes with being in a place of purpose.

It doesn’t mean you won’t have temporary setbacks, but what it does mean is there is nothing that will rob you of the joy that motivates you to walk in purpose.

If you are not in alignment with the will of God, then your purpose can fail. Psalm 63.7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. –  How can we get to this place of purpose? The answer is, we have to first know what is hindering us.

I.            SIX SIGNS THAT YOU MAY NOT BE LIVING IN GOD’S PURPOSE

1. Blatantly Living in Sin
   1. This is doing your own thing or basically, living outside the will of God.
2. Lack of Joy and Excitement
   1. You wake up every day bored and unhappy. You realize that you are not where you need to be.
   1. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  – It doesn’t mean that it will be sunny every day you wake up, but it does mean that we should have a sense of joy in our life all the time.
3. Not Feeling Much Fulfillment in Life
   1. Doing meaningful and purposeful things is fulfillment. You are doing what you want to do, but you notice that it doesn’t contribute to anything.
4. You Work So That You Don’t Have to Work
   1. You work at the office and come home and collapse in front of tv. You are working to retire.
5. Feeling Stuck
   1. You project your frustration on others. You find yourself stuck in the same rut year after year.
6. No Direction
   1. Wandering from one thing to the next, without any forward progress. You don’t even set goals.

II.            FOUR QUESTIONS TO REGAIN YOUR PURPOSE

1. What Are My Strengths?
   1. God has given you specific strengths. Maybe its math or maybe you are good with electronics.
   1. Gods purpose is often aligned with something you are already good at.
   1. Sometimes you can go to school and connect with other people and this can help you discover you purpose.
2. What Is My Passion?
   1. You have to narrow down what your passion is. Don’t be so broad in your description. Passion is disciplined. For example, “I want to help people”. This is too broad.
3. Do I Bring Others into My Life?
   1. God used Abraham as the seed for the Nation of Israel.
      1. Genesis 12:1-3 1Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” – The focus her is God’s assignment for Abraham. It is about what God wants to do in Abraham’s life.
         1. We have to ask God, what is His will for our life in this situation.
      1. Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love – God knows where everything fits. Every purpose has a plan.
         1. Anything in your body that is not in position, throws the whole body off, so when you are not in purpose or alignment, the body of Christ feels the same way.
4. Do You Trust God?
   1. God created us to function in harmony with him. If our lives are out of control, it indicates we are not in sync with the purposes of God.
   1. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.-  If I stay on this path, I am in sync with where God wants me to be.

III.            GOD-CENTERED LIVING VS. SELF-CENTERED LIVING

1. Self-Centered Traits – These are people are self-confident. They are always needing to prove to people how good they did. Always asking, “How did I do?”. Looking at themselves selfishly.
   1. This is a subtle trap. If it all about you, then you start moving God out of the equation. Don’t allow yourself to lose sight of giving God credit for all that He does.
2. God-Centered Traits – This means I depend on God. My life is humble. I deny myself and pick up my cross. I don’t have to be center stage to do something. I am comfortable if I have to work in the background. Its not about you, it’s about God.
   1. If you seek God first, you will know you are centered with God.
   1. Are you more focused on yourself than God?
   1. If people aren’t talking about you, then you probably ought to be nervous. Those who live godly will suffer persecution.

IV.            BIBLICAL EXAMPLES

1. Adam And Eve (Self-Centered)
2. Genesis 2:16-17 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”-
3. Genesis 3:1-7 1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. – When you hear a scripture like this, you know exactly what God wants you to do, but we go back and decide to do what we want to do. You know clearly what God’s will is for your life, but you get consumed with desires of flesh and this is when Satan comes in does what he wants to do in your life.
4. Anyone self-centered finds himself out of alignment with God and as a result, walks around covering themselves up. When Adam a Eve ate of the tree, they came out of alignment with God and as a result, had to cover themselves with fig leaves. Never trust anyone that is not in alignment with God.
5. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (God-Centered)
   1. Genesis 39:7-9 7Now it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9“There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” – When your life is God centered, then it doesn’t matter what comes at you. You are not willing to sacrifice your relationship with God for personal gain.
   1. Thank God that Joseph saw the bigger picture. If Joseph had failed here, Egypt and Joseph’s people would have missed their blessings. Sometimes Satan will attack you in this season because he knows what God is about to do in the next season.
   1. Do the things you do edify God? 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. – There are some things that you can do, but they don’t edify. For example, you can post what you want to post and drink what you want to drink, but does it edify God?
   1. Do things in this season that bring glory to God. Ask yourself is what you are doing bringing glory to God?
   1. When God wants to do something in the world new, he talks to somebody so that they can relay what He wants to do.

V.            LIVING A GOD-CENTERED LIFE

1. To live a God-centered life, we must focus our lives on God’s purposes and not our own plans.
2. You can think you have it all together and suddenly, God can bring something to disrupt it.
3. When God wants to do something new in the earth, he takes the initiative to talk to someone and he give divine reason for doing it. He begins to explain his purpose in the earth.
4. What was God about to do when came to Noah and asked him to build an ark? He was about to destroy the world with a flood.
   1. Genesis 6:13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
5. What was God about to do at Sodom and Gomorrah when he came to Abraham? He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
   1.  Genesis 19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
6. What was God about to do when He came to Gideon? He was about to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites. Judges 6:14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
7. What was God about to do when he came to Saul on Damascus road? Acts 9:6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

• God always gives instructions when He’s getting ready to do something. He’s always telling His people to start making preparations. This is a Life Plan!!
  • 2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, – Why are you here, because before time begin, God called you. God is calling you and preparing you for a season that you have never seen before.
• This season of your life is going to set you on a projection that you have never imagined, but you have to be aligned and in purpose. Discover what He has for your life.