Devotional--Plans, Part IV

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
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  It's tempting to believe that we will live on this earth forever.  We get so wrapped up in what we are doing in the day-to-day that we forget about the long-term.  We forget that we are going to live forever, but it will not be in this world, with the things we have now, living the life we are now.  This life will come to an end, and we will pass through the defeated shadow of death, and into full and eternal life with Christ.

  So when we think about plans, may we also think about how we are living here on earth, and how that is preparing us for what is to come.  Imagine this life as practice for heaven--think about the ways you serve God by serving others, the way you pray, the way you worship.  All of those are practice for heaven.  Think about making plans to be as focused as possible on God throughout your life, so that when you die you will be as ready as possible to spend eternity in heaven.  The Kingdom of God is coming, but it is also here and now, so let us live and plan as citizens of heaven.

  One way to do this is through a rule of life.  I'll put a couple of links below that might be helpful if you're interested in creating or exploring a rule of life.  It is simply a framework that helps us see all that we do as an offering to God.

  Blessings

Thoughts on the rule of life
Example rule of life