Open Heavens for Teens Thursday 9 January 2020 Daily Devotional was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Topic: Planning Without Your Maker?

MEMORISE: “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” – Psalms 127:1

READ: James 4:13-17

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 23-24; Matthew 8

MESSAGE:

Many times as teenagers, we make plans based on what our friends are saying or what is trending at the time. We plan on things as important as which school to attend based on these things, and we forget to ask the One who has the blueprint of our lives in His hands. God is your creator, He knows everything about you, so it is to your advantage to ask for His will concerning your life at all times. He has made you for a purpose and He already has a plan for you. If you want to fulfill the purpose of God for your life, then you have to follow His plan. In following His plan, you need to ask questions before you make your own plans. Ask Him which school you should attend, club or association to join in school and subjects to pick.

When you plan without God, you stand the risk of going out of His will for your life and that can be very dangerous. Also, when God is not involved in your plans, He is not under the obligation to ensures it becomes reality. So, if you want Him to help you achieve your goals, you need to ask Him for His will from the onset. When you do things according to His will, you will find out that they are easier to accomplish because God will have gone ahead to make the crooked path straight (Isaiah 45:2).

KEY POINT: Always ask God what His will for your life is, before you make plans or set goals.

Hymn 3:

1 When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Chorus:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2 Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

3 Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

4 But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

5 Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.