GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU?

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?
 

com7fy8

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I would say trust God to do what He wants with you. And it is good to do things together with Him guiding us.

There are various scriptures I go by, to offer this. Here is one >

"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

One thing I notice here is, that Paul says God works in us "to will" to do what He wants.

This is very personal, how God in us works in our wills to get us to do what He desires. So, He wants to be this sharing with us.
 
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Carl Emerson

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?

You might like to consider this passage in EPH 2:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

However there are many who refuse to have anything to do with God and reject Jesus - such folks have their wish to spend eternity isolated from God granted...
This is a sobering thought - Jesus offers life eternal - many refuse it.
 
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QvQ

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?
The only thing I have the slightest will power over is myself. The "hand of fate" whether it be of God or simply "just that" reaches out and touches or smacks me considerable...and the only thing that points "heaven or hell" is my reaction. For Example, if the baby is crying, do I touch it gently, soothe it or do I smack it? Which is exactly where I end up in the heavenly bliss or the depths of hell. Baby crying is not according to my will but according to the Will of God or "the hand of fate."
Where the situation goes from soothing or smacking is the road to salvation or the road to hell. In real life, there are consequences for good actions and bad actions. This world, if a person goes around smacking babies, could become the anteroom of hell.
 
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Mark Quayle

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?
Give up the notion that we even CAN choose in opposition to God's sovereign plan --the reason he made us. We can most certainly choose in opposition to God, in opposition to his command, or in simple hatred against him. But that is all according to his plan.

(As it works out, even atheists admit to this fact, by virtue of Cause-and-Effect, though they deny it has anything to do with God. And they are right about the logic. Whether Deist or Theist, what God did at the beginning caused every detail we see now, only in my opinion that, since he is First Cause, and independent of time, also sees time as instantaneous.)

But I suspect you were thinking of the more self-important "plan" some Christians refer to with, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." This life isn't about you. Give that up, but keep praying and reading what God says. "5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1 This is true, though it may take a lot of time to understand.
 
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I would say trust God to do what He wants with you. And it is good to do things together with Him guiding us.

There are various scriptures I go by, to offer this. Here is one >

"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

One thing I notice here is, that Paul says God works in us "to will" to do what He wants.

This is very personal, how God in us works in our wills to get us to do what He desires. So, He wants to be this sharing with us.
Thanks for the response. So it seems you're trying to say it's both, but if god works in us to will what he wants, I would take it to mean he does control our actions. Yet we still sin....
 
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God's plan for each of us is found IN Christ Jesus. Anyone outside of Christ will end up with a Christless eternity.
Thanks for the response, xaris. I'm taking this to mean you do think God has a plan for you.
 
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Mark Quayle

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Thanks for the response. So it seems you're trying to say it's both, but if god works in us to will what he wants, I would take it to mean he does control our actions. Yet we still sin....
Sin is all in God's plan. It doesn't look like what Christians nowadays seem to want it to look like. Ask Hosea about his wife.
 
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You might like to consider this passage in EPH 2:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

However there are many who refuse to have anything to do with God and reject Jesus - such folks have their wish to spend eternity isolated from God granted...
This is a sobering thought - Jesus offers life eternal - many refuse it.
Thanks for the reply, Carl. When I first read the highlighted portion I took it to mean that God does have a plan for us and we're bound to follow it. Which I would counter again with why and how could God create someone for good works that are prepared beforehand, yet they are capable of rejecting God and Jesus. But as I looked closer I could see that the highlighted portion could be referring to just the good works as being prepared beforehand. It's up to us to walk in them.
Btw, this strays a bit from the intention of the passage you submitted, but this is one of many passages that frustrate me as there is a contradiction. James 3- 2:17 says that faith alone isn't enough and that good works are necessary.
 
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Mark Quayle

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Thanks for the reply, Carl. When I first read the highlighted portion I took it to mean that God does have a plan for us and we're bound to follow it. Which I would counter again with why and how could God create someone for good works that are prepared beforehand, yet they are capable of rejecting God and Jesus. But as I looked closer I could see that the highlighted portion could be referring to just the good works as being prepared beforehand. It's up to us to walk in them.
Btw, this strays a bit from the intention of the passage you submitted, but this is one of many passages that frustrate me as there is a contradiction. James 3- 2:17 says that faith alone isn't enough and that good works are necessary.
James says good works are necessary for what? See, the notion that James is saying that good works are necessary to save anyone, is not accurate. Faith alone saves, but if there are no works, the faith is not real.
 
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The only thing I have the slightest will power over is myself. The "hand of fate" whether it be of God or simply "just that" reaches out and touches or smacks me considerable...and the only thing that points "heaven or hell" is my reaction. For Example, if the baby is crying, do I touch it gently, soothe it or do I smack it? Which is exactly where I end up in the heavenly bliss or the depths of hell. Baby crying is not according to my will but according to the Will of God or "the hand of fate."
Where the situation goes from soothing or smacking is the road to salvation or the road to hell. In real life, there are consequences for good actions and bad actions. This world, if a person goes around smacking babies, could become the anteroom of hell.
Thanks for the response, QvQ. I' m taking you to mean that God doesn't have a plan for you, at least not in the sense that he controls our actions. James Allen- known for writing "As a Man Thinketh" also wrote a book called "Mastery of Destiny". He doesn't come off as antichrist, but also doesn't appear to be Christian. Anyway, he suggest that everything is a result of cause and effect. You initiate the cause, but you can't control the effect. In many cases the desired effect will be achieved, but that's not in your control. As you say, there are consequences for good and bad actions. Allen suggests that the consequences/effects are governed by the laws of the universe. "Man has all power to act, but his power ends with the act committed........Thus man's power is limited to, and his blessedness or misery is determined by, his own conduct." This makes a certain amount of sense to me as it seems there are obviously laws in this universe. People are born, people die, babies cry, two plus two is four. These things don't change regardless of your actions. But every action we take will produce an effect within these universal laws, be it good or bad. The laundry ain't gonna do itself, you have to take the action to do it. Reading/referencing James Allen evokes that 'ol Catholic guilt in me because his views don't exactly line up with Christianity. After all, God and Jesus would prove themselves by breaking the laws of the universe. We call them miracles. But I haven't seen any miracles in my lifetime so I could find myself buying into the idea that God himself created these universal laws and it's up to us to work with them. God could be saying, "here's your world, I gave you a brain, use it". And in the end your blessedness or misery will be a result of your own conduct, not of fate. Can't this work for us, or is it completely sacreligous?
Heh-heh. Btw, I got a chuckle that you use the phrase, "in real life".
 
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Give up the notion that we even CAN choose in opposition to God's sovereign plan --the reason he made us. We can most certainly choose in opposition to God, in opposition to his command, or in simple hatred against him. But that is all according to his plan.

(As it works out, even atheists admit to this fact, by virtue of Cause-and-Effect, though they deny it has anything to do with God. And they are right about the logic. Whether Deist or Theist, what God did at the beginning caused every detail we see now, only in my opinion that, since he is First Cause, and independent of time, also sees time as instantaneous.)

But I suspect you were thinking of the more self-important "plan" some Christians refer to with, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." This life isn't about you. Give that up, but keep praying and reading what God says. "5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1 This is true, though it may take a lot of time to understand.
Thanks for the reply, Mark. I seem to be getting both ends of the spectrum in responses here. That is, if I'm interpreting you correctly. I'm taking you to mean that God is completely in control of our lives including the choices we make. Which could mean that God does indeed create people for the purpose of ending up in hell. No?
( So God doesn't love me nor does he have a wonderful plan for my life? Heh-heh, you seem to agree with the "God has plan for you" concept, but you don't agree at all with the sentiment that usually accompanies the phrase)
 
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James says good works are necessary for what? See, the notion that James is saying that good works are necessary to save anyone, is not accurate. Faith alone saves, but if there are no works, the faith is not real.
I didn't realize that Bible references would be automatically linked here. I'll have to figure out how to enter the passage references correctly as it linked to the wrong spot in my initial post. In James 3 2:17 he says" faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless". This seems to contradict EPH 2:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
 
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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?

The bible says:

Rom 8:28 And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.

God always has good plans for His children.

God's plan work together with our responses. When David sinned God said:

2Sa 12:7-8 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things.

God would have blessed David much more, but David's own sin prevented his own blessing. We need to be consistent in well doing:

Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

So basically as we follow God, removing sin from our lives, God will bless us.
 
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disciple Clint

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone. (But then I guess at least some people would have to go there, otherwise Hell would be out of business. But the need for a Hell could be a topic for another discussion.) What I’m interested in here is the distinction between what God controls in our lives and what we control. i.e.- is “The Hand of Fate” God, or is it simply just that- the hand of fate?
1. Jeremiah 29:11. "For 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."
 
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com7fy8

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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so? And if it is so, why would anyone end up in Hell? Doesn’t seem that would be God’s plan for anyone.
The Bible to me is clear, that there is hell. But His word does say it is not God's desire for anyone to so perish >

God "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (in 2 Peter 3:9)

So, we should not be hoping or glad or expecting for anyone to go to hell!

Our Heavenly Father does not desire that anyone goes to hell, and He is our example, for how we need to love any and all people. So, no matter what explanation there might be about hell . . . I need to love any and all people, and have hope even for any evil person, at all > love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7).

After all, Christ on the cross so suffered and died with hope for any person. And He is our example of how to love >

"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." (Ephesians 5:2)

And so, then, this is included in God's plan . . . for Christians! :) This is the love meaning of scripture and hell and the cross. Jesus suffered and died like that, partly because He knows about hell and He considered it quite worthwhile . . . quite logical . . . to suffer that much so we don't go there.

So, our attention needs to go to feeding on the love meaning of God's word, not first to jumping to intellectual conclusions and explanations when we haven't got all the facts.

So, I would say be careful about just drawing logical conclusions while we don't know everything. If you felt the trunk of an elephant and started to draw conclusions, then and there, you could conclude an elephant is like a snake or you might think an elephant is like a vacuum cleaner tube!!

The therefore of scripture, then, is not first or only explanations of ideas and theories. But God is personal, loving, kind; and so comes our "Therefore" >

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

So, yes God has this in His plan for every person who obeys God's word.

And He has us doing what He means by this > Philippians 2:13, Colossians 1:28-29. So, I would say He must have His plan for timing when and how we so pray, while we discover all else He has us doing to love and care for any and all people.

But what about ones who do not obey? Ones in pride can claim God does not have puppets, and then they run around getting themselves to do whatever they see fit. But God does have His plan in this life for ones who do things in their own egos >

"God resists the proud" > in James 4:6 and also in 1 Peter 5:5.

So, yes we all have God personally relating with every one of us . . . in the plan of His grace, or in the personal communication of His resistance.
 
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God has a plan for you. I hear this as a Christian all the time. Is this supported in the Bible? Do you believe this is so?

God has a plan for us, in the sense that God wants us to live in the way that Jesus showed us, a life of compassion and forgiveness. I think that God can imagine a version of PloverWing who is not corrupted by all of the sins I struggle with, a PloverWing who perfectly embodies the love and image of God, and God can work in me to perfect me in this way if I am open to God's presence in my life.

I don't think, though, that God's plan normally includes the many non-ethics-related choices we make: where to go to college, what city to live in, which house to buy, whom to marry. These are our free choice. I think God gives us freedom to explore the world, and the differences of choices we make adds to the delightful diversity of the world.

(I feel I should add a couple of disclaimers. 1) Once in a while, God tells someone to do something specific, like Abram leaving his homeland for a new land. If that happens, follow the instructions. 2) Some choices do have ethical issues hidden in them. If I choose a profession that profits by underpaying workers, or if I choose to live in a segregated, or integrated, neighborhood, choices like that can have ethical components. So pay attention to details. But generally, these kinds of choices are freely our decision.)
 
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