ellie's chat

How many times do we put "conditions" on God's plans for us? We somehow come to the conclusion that we have to DO something to merit God's goodness. We may even see a plan God has for us in our lives, but feel the pressure to "perform" in order to achieve that goal. 

Obedience is important in living a life of peace, but sometimes we take that to the extreme and try to put God's plans for us as conditional to our works. We remove God from the equation. We forget that we cannot obey God without God. It is impossible without His working in us.

2 Timothy states this. It states that God had already called us to a holy life, to a life filled with plans and goodness, not because of our own doings but because of God's own desired plans and His grace towards us. The beauty of God's love is that He sent Jesus ahead of us so that His plans for us could still be achieved through Him even when we would stumble or fall.

That fact should give each of us hope. Because of Jesus blood, all powers of the enemy have been broken. We just have to accept it. I don't have to earn God's plans. They are already there. I don't have to "perform" for God to be good to me. He already is. His love has already provided all I need to be set free. I just have to accept it. Yes, obedience is action indicating my acceptance, but it's the Holy Spirit in me that performs that task. Titus says, "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." The working of the Holy Spirit in me sets me free and changes my heart to fit into God's plan for my life. That's the whole secret the enemy wants me to forget.

Start your day by asking for the Holy Spirit to enter in. That is the key. Ask for God to perform his promise in Titus 3:5 for you today. His plans for you exceed your abilities. Otherwise, you might get the wrong idea that YOU somehow had something to do with it. He wants to be good to you and wants you to have a true understanding of His love. Don't let that moment pass today.