Our Plans & God's Purpose
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
11For 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.
Psalms 37:23 NLT
23The lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Proverbs 16:1-2 MSG
1Mortals make elaborate plans,but God has the last word. 2Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good.
Proverbs 16:9 MSG
9We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
21Many are the plans in a personʼs heart, but it is the Lordʼs purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 MSG
21We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God’s purpose prevails.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
1st - What's in your hand is for today - what's in your heart is for years from now
Acts 9:15 ESV
15But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
2nd - What's in your hand if you're faithful with it - will set up what's in your heart in the future
Proverbs 22:29 ESV
29Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Dream Insight #1 - Don't let God's dream for you become more important to you than God's work in you.
Dream Insight #2 - Receive the dream but leave the details to God.
Genesis 22:1-2 NLT
1Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
Genesis 25:23 NLT
23And the lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”
Genesis 27:41-43 NLT
41From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.” 42But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. 43So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran.
Genesis 37:9 NLT
9Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
Genesis 37:36 NLT
36Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.
Dream Insight #3 - The bigger the dream - the more difficult the journey
3rd - What's in your hand demands perseverance - what's in your heart develops patience.
Acts 7:23-30 NLT
23“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. 26“The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’ 27“But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born. 30“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.
4th - What's in your hand is God's will - what's in your heart may not be God's will.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT
5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Psalms 62:5 KJV
5My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalm 62:5 MSG
5God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I hope for comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life.
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
21Many are the plans in a personʼs heart, but it is the Lordʼs purpose that prevails.
