January 28, 2008

         Options: Plan A or Plan B — You Decide!

Plan A=God’s Will (Long Term Joy)

Plan B=My Will (Immediate Short Term Happiness)

You Decide!

God gives us choices. He gives us choices regarding how we will live, where we will live, what we will do, what we will eat, where we will work and the list of choices goes on, and on and on. Each of us gets the opportunity to decide whether we will be fit, based on the choices we make, choices to overeat and not exercise, choices to smoke, abuse drugs and alcohol. We get to decide if we will go to the dentist regularly to take care of our teeth or just let them go, go to the doctor for regular checkups or just assume everything will be okay. We get to decide.

Some of our choices have an obvious eternal impact while others affect today. God has a perfect plan for us and He wants us to choose life. He wants us to choose the options that lead us closer to Him and His perfect plan, but He will not bum rush, because He is a gentleman. Luke 16:13: 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” For our purposes money represents the world.

We have choices, we have options, Plan A is making the decision to submit our wills to God’s will. This plan is not the easiest one to follow, but it is by far the most rewarding. You also don’t get to see the rewards right away and often things look crazy before they work out, but if you choose God’s Plan you will be promised Long Term Joy.

We also have the choice of a Plan B. Plan B is when we decide to do what we want, what feels good to us. Plan B is equivalent to feeding our flesh. We can do it with sex, drugs, alcohol, food and relationships, just to name a few. This plan results in immediate gratification, conforming to the way the world does it and will result in short term happiness and comes up short of the things that God wants for us. It will feel good for the moment but in the end you will miss out on what God really had for you. Many of us end up with Plan B, because Plan A takes too long. You know working out and exercising. Walking the 10,000 steps per day takes a long time, it is easier to be a couch potato.

Waiting for the person God has for you may take too long, when you could just settle for what feels good and seems good to you. I remember an old saying that says that everything that looks good ain’t good for you. The bible warns of false prophets and we have to be warned about plan B;s that look like they could be plan A’s.

Many of us have tried to have it our way, obeying and submitting to God one moment and doing what we want to do the next. Some of my friends call it having your cake and eating it too. Maybe that just sounds crazy to me. If you eat it, you can’t have it, you have to make a choice even with cake.

What kind of Plan A and Plan B choices do we have to make?

• A Choice between exercising and being a couch potato.
• Choices between living a life that glorifies God and doing what I want to do.
  
• Choices between eating healthy and eating unhealthy.
  
• Choices between reconciling our relationships and just leaving them fragmented. You will not have to deal with the drama if you choose Plan B and just leave it alone.
  
• Choices between the relationships or jobs that God has for you and the relationship or job you have chosen for you.

The relationship or job looked good it even seemed good for a while then the reality hit. The food tasted good when you ate it but the pounds don’t look good now that you are wearing them. It really was not what God had planned for you. What God has for us may require more from us, it may be difficult, it may not be as easy as getting what is behind door number 2 (Plan B), but the long term rewards are worth it. We encourage you to wait for God’s plan to be fulfilled in your life, because it will be worth it, but ultimately-Plan A or Plan B, whether you choose God’s Will or yours, you get to decide.

Choose Wisely!!!!

Weekly Scripture:

Luke 16:13: 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

We just worked out spiritually. If you have not worked out your physical temple get up and join us in the:

  New Beginnings 2008 Workout Focus
  10,000/steps per day or 70,000/steps per week Walking Program*

This is the fitness opportunity that New Beginnings is promoting for 2008. It is simple and easy and almost everyone can participate at whatever level of fitness they are at. There is no great trick to walking. It does not require any special skills, advanced conditioning, special equipment or clothing. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes, comfortable clothing, a pedometer, and you're all set.

For further discussion contact angela@mynewtemple.org or write to us on the message board http://mynewtemple.org/aMessages.html or the Fitness Blog http://mynewtemple.org/wordpress/.