SIGNPOSTS ALONG LIFE’S JOURNEY

Proverbs 16:9


Happy New Year!
Is your new year new?
As you travel along the national highway there are signposts that give direction or warnings to travellers. Those signposts are very important especially when you’re travelling in an unfamiliar place, or when you’re travelling at night.
We Filipinos have many traditions in celebrating the new year (pagkain ng pansit, maghanda ng mga bilog na prutas, magsuot ng mga polka dots, maghasik ng bigas, magpaputok, at kung anu-ano.) Ginagawa ang mga iyon para daw pampaswerte. If it is true, eh di sana wala ng mahirap na Pilipino. Sana lagi na tayong swerte at wala ng mga calamities na tumatama sa ating bansa.
What does the word of God say?
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” Proverbs 16:9.

What are the signposts that we should observe as we go through 2010 and beyond?

1. PLAN BIG
“We can make our plans…”
What are your goals for 2010? What do you want to achieve? What are you aiming for? Or bahala na si Batman o ang tadhana o kuntento na tayo kung ano ang dumating? Many go through life without any plan/goal because planning is hardwork.
For those who have plans, how big are your plans? Are they humanly possible or impossible? If it is humanly possible then you do not need the power of God. Our God specializes in the impossible. If your plans are humanly possible, then, there is no room for God. You don’t need God.
I dare you to plan big. Dream big dreams. Dreams that will outlive you. Dreams that are humanly impossible.
In A Savior for All Seasons, William Barker relates the story of a bishop who paid a visit to a small, religious college. He stayed at the home of the college president, who also served as professor of physics and chemistry. After dinner the bishop declared that the millennium couldn’t be far off, because just about everything about nature had been discovered and all inventions conceived.
The young college president politely disagreed and said he felt there would be more discoveries. When the angered bishop challenged the president to name just one invention, the president replied he was certain that within fifty years men would be able to fly.
“Nonsense!” said the outraged bishop. “Only angels are intended to fly.”
The bishop’s name was Wright, and he had two boys at home who would prove to have greater vision that their father. Their names were Orville and Wilbur.
Keep asking yourself, “Survival, success, or significance?” Are you striving simply to survive, are you dreaming about success, or are you really out to make a truly significant difference? Making difference by being different.
Let me ask you, “What are you praying for?” What are you goals for your studies? What do you want to achieve? What are your goals for your business? To our cell leaders, do you have a goal to multiply? How many cell groups are you asking the Lord for? How many people are you asking the Lord for? Ask the Lord for a specific number? To those who do not have a cell group yet, what are you asking the Lord for? To those who are not yet committed, when will you commit? When will you make an influence? When will you truly live? If you are not making an impact, you are not living. You are merely existing!
The Lord challenges us, “Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession” Psalms 2:8.
“Keep on asking , and you will be given what you ask for….For everyone who asks, receives” Matthew 7:7-8.
Illustration: Keziah’s prayer (tindahan, car, house, money)

DREAM BIG DREAMS.
“By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope for” Ephesians 3:20.

II. HAVE FAITH
“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see” Hebrews 11:1.
Faith deals with things future (what we hope for) and things unseen (what we do not see). The NIV translation (Being sure of what we hope for) puts the emphasis on faith as an expression of our confidence in God’s promises. However, it is also possible translate, ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for’ or ‘faith gives substance to our hopes.’ It suggests that what we hope for becomes real and substantial by the exercise of our faith. Faith is being certain of what we do not see. It is the means of ‘proving’ or ‘testing’ invisible realities such as the existence of God, His faithfulness to His word and His control over our world and its affairs.
The world says, “To see is to believe.” The word of God says, “To believe is to see."
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” Matthew 21:22.
Faith is to believe what we do not see. The reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
Faith begins where man’s power ends. We have a God who delights in impossibilities.
III. TRUST GOD
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” Proverbs 16:9.
“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires” Psalms 37:3-4.
The word trust suggests the physical experience of supporting yourself on something or someone in total and helpless reliance and commitment.
As a proof of God’s trustworthiness, Paul says, “Since God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also gives us everything else?" Romans 8:31.
Christ is the ultimate proof that God can be trusted to keep His promises.
“Even strong lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will never lack any good thing” Psalms 34:10.
In what are you trusting? Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in your friends and they will die and leave you. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you. Trust in reputation and some slanderous tongue may blast it. But trust in God and you will never be defeated in time or eternity.

As a challenge, write your goals/plans for this year 2010 or beyond. Believe that God will accomplish great and mighty things through you. Be amazed as those dreams will come true. Never forget to give God the glory. Have a safe trip and enjoy the journey.