30 Days of Unlimited Grace – Day 7: Planned Grace

Morning Greeting

Good Morning Father! Good morning friends! I am currently reading 30 Days of Unlimited Grace: Daily Prayer Devotional by Unlimited Grace Ministries (Bryan Chapell). This is day 7.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Worship For Today

Jesus, Take The Wheel (Official Video) – Carrie Underwood
So Will I (100 Billion X) // Do It Again – Cross Worship ft. Osby Berry
Seek you First – Shenica Graham

Bible Basis

Day	Book	Chapter	Verse(s)	Devotional
7	John	16	23 – 24	Planned Grace
	Jeremiah	29	11
	Proverbs	16	9
	Proverbs	19	21

Memory Verses

²³And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:23-24 KJV (Public Domain)

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Reflection

No matter who you are, God has a plan for you. That does not mean that you cannot have plans of your own. It means that God who has your best interests at heart, has created a master blueprint for your life. He has even designed a process for you to achieve your goals and dreams. What He wants is for you to put Him first in every arena of your daily walk. That is, before you take on each major task of the day, pray. Ask God to direct your footsteps and word your communications to give you what to say and how to say it, and let all things work together for your good. When your wants line up with his plan, your breadth of fulfillment will expand. See, God is not opposed to you getting what you want out of life. He is opposed to you loving what you wanted more than you love him (that’s called an idol).

One of my favorite songs is “Jesus, Take The Wheel” by Carrie Underwood. Not only is it a truth-bearing medium, I was in a car crash at age 18 that could have ended the life of my mother and myself – but God said, “Not So.” After driving at stick-shift for 18 + hours, non-stop, from Kansas to Tennessee, we ended up in a tailspin on the Interstate. Moving 70 miles per hour, I fell asleep at the wheel. When I awoke, the car was spinning down the road. My mother was also sleeping. I took my hands off the wheel and cried, “Mercy!” I was asking Jesus to take the wheel.

Like the Genie (Will Smith in Disney’s remake of Aladdin), God whisked the car into a rear-facing position before it went off the right-side embankment and slammed into a tree. Had that car struck the tree at 70 miles an hour front-first, I do not doubt that my mother and I would have been ejected through the windshield. After getting out of the car, we had no injuries. That’s when we saw an angel, who called for help. Because I never pressed the brake as the car went off the highway, there were no skid marks left on the road. When the State Trooper arrived, he said that had the woman (angel) not called, they never would have found us because there was no proof that a car had gone off the road. That crash was 26 years ago. He knew that you would be here, right now, experiencing this morning with Him on your mind.

God wants to be the source that you trust to infuse your every experience with grace. He wants to be the first name you call not only when you are in trouble, but when you are navigating this life through any and every experience. If you call Him first for the little things, when you need Him to take the wheel, He will be the first reference in your mind. And He is the one who has the power to intervene in your situation.

Today, I celebrate my 44th birthday. I have a wonderful family including an amazing son – God knew that He would bring “Emanuel” (a Kenyan American born April 21, 2009) into this world in the year that America inaugurated (January 20, 2009) its first African American President (44th). For all the years that the enemy told me I would be nothing more than a failure, God sealed the example for my son that he can be anything he wants to be.

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 KJV

Submit to God’s plan today. His plan is greater than anything you can imagine.