BIBLE READING PLAN
WEEK 1, DAY 4
This week’s theme sentence is “Never forget how God came through in the past when you find yourself in a present struggle”
Today’s reading is from James 4.
Reading: James 4:13-15
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Reflection:
As we make plans for the future, we should hold them loosely, knowing only God’s plans are certain.
- Take a moment to think about your hopes and expectations for tomorrow, for three years from now and ten years from now.
- As you think about those, do you hold them tightly, or are you open to whatever God has planned for you? How do you know?
Reading: James 4:13-15
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Reflection
With all the uncertainty we’ve experienced the last two years, we probably don’t need to be reminded that our plans are to be held loosely.
But even still, we often end up demoralized when things don’t go our way. It can be because we have placed our confidence in the wrong thing, in our plans rather than in God. James corrects that thinking. He points out two almost humorous truths to remember when we plan: we have no clue what tomorrow holds, and even our very lives can be gone in a moment. So should we not plan? James says we should plan, but with all our plans have the mindset of “if it is the Lord’s will.” This mindset puts our confidence and expectations of the future in the right place, in God.
- Think about a time when things didn’t work out as you planned. How did you respond? How might you respond differently now?
- Take a moment to think about your hopes and expectations for tomorrow, for three years from now and ten years from now.
- As you think about those, do you hold them tightly, or are you open to whatever God has planned for you? How do you know?
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Reflection: Do you like it when you have to follow a plan? Some plans are fun! Like if your family goes to Disneyland, and you make a plan for all of the rides you’re going to go on, in what order, so you make sure to get to ride them all! Some plans are… not as fun. Like when you wake up on a Saturday morning, and your parent has a plan to go to Home Depot and do yard work all day, and YOU have to do it with them! The plans that we make are sometimes fun, sometimes boring, and sometimes they are just in the middle! But did you know that God has a plan for you too? And God’s plans are SO much better than any plan that we make! God’s plans are definitely a bit different than a plan of DisneyLand, or of yard work for the day. God’s plans for you are choices that you can make, and amazing opportunities for you in the future! So no matter what it is that you have planned, make sure that you always remember that God’s plan for you is always best, so if they don’t match up, make sure you choose His plan instead of yours!- Do you believe that God has a plan for you?
- Have you ever made a plan, and then someone had a better plan that you chose to do instead?
Focus Verse: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15
Devotional:
As we make plans for the future, we should hold them loosely, knowing only God’s plans are certain. We often end up demoralized when things don’t go our way. It can be because we have placed our confidence in the wrong thing, in our plans rather than in God. James says we should plan, but with all our plans have the mindset of “if it is the Lord’s will.”
- Think about a time when things didn’t work out as you planned. How did you respond? How might you respond differently now?
- Take a moment to think about your hopes and expectations for tomorrow, for three years from now and ten years from now. As you think about those, do you hold them tightly, or are you open to whatever God has planned for you? How do you know?
Focus Verse: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15
Devotional:
As we make plans for the future, we should hold them loosely, knowing only God's plans are certain. We often end up demoralized when things don't go our way. It can be because we have placed our confidence in the wrong thing, in our plans rather than in God. James says we should plan, but with all our plans have the mindset of "if it is the Lord's will."
- Think about a time when things didn't work out as you planned. How did you respond? How might you respond differently now?
- Take a moment to think about your hopes and expectations for tomorrow, for three years from now and ten years from now. As you think about those, do you hold them tightly, or are you open to whatever God has planned for you? How do you know?
