Spoken Word #29
“Purpose
and Plan”
Brian Kocourek
June 11th, 2008
2 Thessalonians 1:2-3, 2 Grace
unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is
meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one
of you all toward each other aboundeth;
Eph 1:15, 15 Wherefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease
not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Col 3:12 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and
forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ
forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 18 Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
1 Pet 3:8-11 8 Finally, be ye
all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not
rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing;
knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and
ensue it.
Pure thoughts create an
atmosphere of holiness and sobriety, which crystallize into habits of
sanctification and self control, which further solidify into circumstances of
rest and peace.
1Thes 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:17-19 17 But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19 I
speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye
have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness.
2 Cor 7:1Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there
be any praise, think on these things.
1 Tim 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for you all,
making mention of you in our prayers; 3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord:
Positive thoughts, along with thoughts of courage and
decisiveness, creates within you an atmosphere of assurance, and steadfastness,
which will bring forth circumstances of success, and freedom.
Eph 3:11-12 According to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Heb 10:35-36 Cast
not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For
ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might
receive the promise.
Heb 10:22-24 Let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that
promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works:
Gentle and forgiving thoughts create an atmosphere of love
and trust which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances, and
crystallize into circumstances which allows you to minister help and
forgiveness to others, which allows those affected to enter into an atmosphere
of hope and reconciliation.
Eph 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and
wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with
all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Col 3:12-14 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;13 Forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any:
even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And
above all these things put on charity, which is
the bond of perfectness.
Luke 7:40-47 And
Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to
say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed
five hundred pence, and the other fifty.42 And when
they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? 43 Simon
answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he
forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly
judged. 44 And he turned to the woman, and
said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet
with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no
kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 My
head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with
ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy
sins are forgiven. 49 And they that sat at
meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
If
you keep sowing the same particular seed thoughts, be it good or bad, it cannot
help but to create an atmosphere around you which will also affect your
character and the circumstances in which you live.
Now
a garden is a place or a plot of ground that you specifically set aside for growing things that you like, whether for food or for the beauty of
just looking at it, such as flowers and roses, etc. A garden is a place where
you sow seeds, and you come to water and cultivate those seeds, because you have a purpose in mind. And if we do
not cultivate our garden, then other seeds that fall into our garden will
compete with the specific thing we want to harvest. Therefore, we must
cultivate the seeds which we want and root out those things we do not wish to
come to harvest.
Now
we don’t go through all that work in taking care of a garden just for the shear
enjoyment turning over soil & breaking rocks, if we did we, then prison
would be fun. But we must have a PURPOSE.
A
garden has to be plotted out, and there must be a PLAN in your mind as
to how you would like to see your garden turn out. For if there is no plan, you
will have an awful time trying to harvest what you sowed. Could you image
planting a garden where you go out and grab a handful of carrot seeds and you
just toss them up in the air, not really caring where they land. Try grabing a
bag of corn seeds and toss them out onto the ground. Then repeat the same
process with watermelon seeds, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, beans,
peas, and whatever else you would like to harvest. I imagine the sowing might
easy, but come harvest time, you’re going to have a real mess trying to sort
out just what you sowed.
And
yet this is the way many of us go about our daily lives and especially our
spiritual lives. Can you imagine someone trying to store up earthly treasures
without a plan. And yet that is exactly what we do with storing up Heavenly
treasure.
Matt 6:19-20 Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Many
of us struggle because we have not learned this
first principle of sowing and reaping. We too often look at the
man who is wealthy and we say, "he’s a crook and that is why he is
wealthy". Now, that may be true in part, but the reason that man is
wealthy is because he has applied a principle of sowing and reaping which many
of us are not willing to do. He had a plan to gain wealth and he was dedicated
to that plan and so his whole life became structured around that that plan, and
therefore he reaped what he sowed.
I
have no jealousy for one minute of those who have worked very hard for what
they have. They deserve it. But, I do feel sorry for them in the same way in
which I feel sorry for the poor farmer who loses his crops to hail or tornado.
Many of them, if not the majority of them who are very wealthy, have stored up
their treasure in the wrong place. Because they’ll only be able to enjoy what
they have sown for a season. Therefore, I want what will not become rusted, and
moth eaten. I want that which will truly stay with me all throughout Eternity.
And Jesus told us if we "seek ye first the
Well,
let’s turn in our Bibles to Matt 6:25 – 34
Therefore I say
unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the
fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to
day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he
not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What
shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the
Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Now,
I want you to notice that we are told to take no thought concerning certain
things. Now He is not telling us that these things are not important to us, but
that our thought pertaining to these things needs to be directed, not at those
things, but at the Kingdom of God from whence cometh all good things. In other
words, Jesus is telling them that their focus needs to be on the right thing.
This is the same principle we see in dealing with the poor in very backward
countries. The people are starving to death, and we feel sorry for them, but if
we just feed them, then they will always be dependent upon us. But if we teach them how to sow and reap, then they will
learn how to provide for themselves. Therefore, what we are
looking at is having the right focus. He said take no thought for these
specific things. Take no thought with just the eating, or just the specific
piece of clothing that you need, but focus on where those things
come from and then you will always have plenty. Learn to sew and you shall also
reap.
2 Cor 9:7-10 Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of
necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And
God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work: 9 (As it is written,
He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness
remaineth for ever. 10 Now he that ministereth seed
to the sower both minister bread for your food,
and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]{so let him sow}; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. {This
reminds me here of the man whose family had a poor crop, and they were facing a
harsh winter. They had just a bag of grain left over from the poor harvest and
the children cried out to eat it. The father said, no for if we do then surely
we shall die. They made it through the winter, but it was a real struggle, but
when the spring came forth the father planted his seeds and they brought forth
a bountiful harvest. }Now, Paul continues, [Amplified] And God who provides seed for the sower and bread for
eating will also provide and multiply your resources for sewing, and
increase the fruits of your righteousness which manifests itself in active
goodness, kindness and charity, and thus you will be enriched in all things and
in every way, so that you can be generous, and your generosity as it is administered
by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.
And
so, you see, we must have the proper focus and the proper plan if we are to
bring forth out of the garden of our mind, a harvest of Eternal blessing. We
are promised that God, who gave us the seed to begin with will also
multiply that seed as we sow properly. [NIV]
Now He who supplies seed to the sower and
bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed
and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You
will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
We
know the seed came forth from Him and therefore it already has in it everything
that we will ever need for living and for bringing forth a Character that is in
His Image.
2 Peter 1: 2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as
his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust.
Isaiah 60:21 "Thy people
shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever,
the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified." Can you see God’s purpose in His planting?
Isaiah 61:3 "that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.. Therefore
the purpose of being planted by God is to bring forth His Glory, which is His
thoughts in an expressed form.
In
Eph 1: 2-5 We see that we were in Christ
before the world was framed, therefore we are a seed, that was in Him. And are
told here that while we were still in Him we were "Blessed with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places in
Christ." And then he
goes on to tell us that in order to bring forth these seeds that were in Him,
He had to have a plan. In verse 5 we are told that
He pre-planned for us to come forth to the adoption of children to Himself.
And this is according to His Will or plan, which He further elucidates
in verses [10-11] where he tells us that
it will happen according to His Purpose (Plan).
Therefore,
I hope you see the importance of having a purpose or plan for every seed
thought that we want to bring forth to harvest. In order to reap we must not
only sow, but we must learn how to sow as well. Because you can not sow just
any which way and expect to reap a harvest that is orderly.
Isaiah 61:11 "For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord
will cause righteousness to spring forth in the presence of all nations”.
Now
the garden is laid out with an order to it. As we see in Genesis 1:11 Everything will bring forth after
it’s own kind, or nature. But even before we see God laying out this law of
reproduction, he first brought together everything that was of like kind, and
then the law of reproduction was given.
Notice
in Gen 1:9-10 that everything was
gathered together with like kind before the law of reproduction was introduced
into His Creation. Therefore, if we are to be able to bring forth from the
garden of our mind in the same way that God has brought forth from His own
mind, we must also follow his Example. Therefore, we must have a purpose and
plan to the things which we wish to sow and harvest. Our gardens must have an order
to it if we expect to reap a good and profitable harvest. Otherwise you will
spend all of your time just trying to sort out what it is that you have in your
garden to begin with. As long as out thoughts are without purpose, they are
allowed to just drift aimlessly and will never bring forth any fruit. Thoughts
which have no purpose fall easily to the anxieties of life, and pleasure
seeking and other things which so easily rob you of victory of Peace and Grace,
and lead you to a life of weakness and self pity. Therefore, we need to have
purpose for our thoughts, and once we have purposeful thinking, we should set
out to accomplish what we purpose.
In
order to do this, our purpose should be that which brings together our thoughts
with our actions, tying together our body, soul and spirit into one energized
being with one focus.
We
should make this purpose our supreme duty, and we should devote ourselves to
the fulfillment of this purpose, not allowing our thoughts to wander away into
ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings.
"This
is the Royal road to self control and true concentration of thought. And even
if you fail again and again to accomplish your purpose, as you surely will
until your weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained from this
will be the real measure of success, and this will form a new starting point
for future power and triumph. Just look at Thomas Edison, He tried nearly
10,000 times to invent a workable light bulb, and finally he did it. But what
if he had stopped after 9,999 tries?
The
word discourage comes from two words which means to loose your courage. Don’t
be discouraged, be brave, be thoughtful and have a purpose in your heart that
whatsoever you set your mind to do, so shall you finish. after all, are we not
made in our Fathers image? And is not He the Author and Finisher or our Faith.
Did not He say, "That which I have began in
you I will perform it even unto the end"?
2 Tim 1:12 "For I know whom, I have believed, and am
persuaded, that He is Able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto Him against
that Day.
From
the message, [Serpents seed]Brother Branham said, A little poem, that used to help me so much when I was a
kid, goes something like this: There was a noble Roman, In the Roman
Emperor's days; Who heard a coward croaker, Before the castle say: Oh, it's
safe in such a Fir tree, There's no one who can shake it. 'Oh, no,' said the
hero, 'I'll find a way or make it.'
And
again from [Jehovah Jireh] he said, "When
you begin to seek the flower bed of ease, you're on your road out. I like that
old poem: Must I be carried home to heaven on a flower bed of ease, While
others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas? No, I must
fight, if I must reign, Increase my courage, Lord. And again
another Poem he told us goes like this, A man of
words and not of deed, Is like a garden full of weeds. And that
is exactly what I have been trying to bring to us in these message of the
garden of the mind. What have we in our garden tonight, thoughts with Purpose
or weeds.
[Mighty
Conqueror] Standing sometime ago, I was in the
Westminster Abbey at London, England, and I seen the form of the poet that
wrote the Psalm of Life, Longfellow, and I thought of his poem, Tell
me not in mournful numbers, Life is just an empty dream! (Just eat, drink and
be merry.) And the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they
seem. Life is real! And life is earnest! And the grave is not it's goal; Dust
thou art, and to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Lives of great men
all remind us, that we can make our life sublime, With partings they have left
behind us, Footprints on the sands of time. Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing over life's solemn main, For forlong and shipwreck brother, Deeds shall
take heart again. Let us be up then and doing, With a heart wherein we strive,
Be not like dumb driven cattle, be a hero in this your life. .... and from [Go Wake Jesus] he said, Be not like
dumb, driven cattle, have to be drove into anything. Let's believe, be a hero
in the strife,
Isaiah 58:11 "And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou
shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose water s
fail not.”
People
who have no central purpose in life fall easy prey to petty anxieties, phobias,
and cares of this life, and it leads to self-pitying, all of which are
indications of weakness, which weaknesses lead, just as surely as deliberately
planned sins; to failure, unhappiness, and loss. For weakness will not endure
in a world where the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may
devour. Just as in nature, the wolf-pack usually looks for the weakest lamb, or
the one straying from the flock, so too does the devil look for the weakest of
the flock to devour.
Therefore
you should have a purpose in your heart, and you should set your sights on
obtaining that purpose. You should make your purpose the centralized focus of
your being. And your purpose should reflect the season which you live. Even God
has a purpose to guide and direct the sum of His own thinking. For without
purpose our thoughts would only drift. When you have purpose guiding your
thoughts, you have a control tower of your thinking, that takes over the
control of your actions and speech as well.
Isaiah 14: 24 "The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I have
thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it
stand."
Let us bow our heads in
Prayer.