We could talk about the Biblical word “plan” for goals and the planning that goes into them. Plans themselves can be blessed or not. God has plans and so do people. God blesses righteous plans and blasts away ones that aren’t so righteous! Above all, plans are subject to the will of God. Is goal setting and planning even Biblical? You bet! God gives people plans: [King David] gave [Solomon] the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the…

As Christians, we are called upon to set an example of what is good and pure in this world, so that people of other faiths will notice that there is something unique and different about the followers of Jesus Christ. “You are the light for the whole world….your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Mt 5: 14 – 16). While, just being good Christians does qualify us to be “the light for the whole world”, it certainly does not provide us with a blanket permit for our light to “shine before people”. The intensity of…

Image via Wikipedia “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.” (Jeremiah 29:11) My friend Ron had been laid off from his job. He was his young family’s sole support. He loved and trusted the Lord, but he felt little sense of guidance about his future. Trying to collect his thoughts, he decided to make a day hike by himself. An experienced hiker, he went up the mountain trial of a lone peak in Southern California in December. It was a grey winter day, and the mountain peak was…