There Are Two Plans for Your Life

By Dr. Larry Ollison

There are two plans for your life. God has a plan, which is abundant life, and Satan has a plan, which includes defeat. These two plans are diametrically opposed to each other. 

Notice the contrast in John 10:10 where Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
We must recognize this: God's plan is prosperity, health, abundance, peace, love, and life. Satan's plan is poverty, sickness, lack, stress, hatred, and death. And as strange as it may seem, the choice is ours. Both plans are set before us and we must choose. Do we want life or do we want death. It seems like a "no brainer" of a choice, but many are choosing death. How can this be? 

Well, it's this way. Even though they are choosing death, they think they are choosing life. They are deceived.

Satan is a liar. Jesus said in John 8:44 when He was talking to the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him." Then Jesus goes on to say, "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me." 

Satan is the master of deception. He can take darkness and make it look like light. Second Corinthians 11:14-15 says, "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 

Do not allow yourself to be deceived. Satan wants to destroy you. If you are not a Christian, he wants to keep you from accepting Jesus and becoming one. If you are a Christian, He wants to derail you, to distract you, to destroy your life and your witness any way he can. He is relentless and he does not give up. 

But today I have good news. We do not have to accept Satan's plan for our lives. We have a choice, but more than that, we have been given authority over the devil. Jesus has paid the price and defeated Satan. He took back the authority that man gave up in the Garden of Eden. Jesus then gave that authority to everyone who would accept Him as Lord and Savior. Every Christian has been given authority over the forces of evil and can live a life of victory. 

But there is one catch. You must not only know you have the authority, but you must take authority. 

In Luke 10:19, Jesus said, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." 

A person can be given authority but unless that authority is exercised, it is useless. Again, Satan is a liar and he does his best to convince Christians that they do not have authority over him. He uses fear and intimidation to cause Christians to step back and do nothing. But this should not be. Jesus defeated Satan and made a public display of him. As a Christian you are a part of the body of Christ. You have nothing to fear. Victory is yours if you believe the truth and discard the lie. 

Remember, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." 

Daily Smile: 

My boss phoned me today.

He said, "Is everything okay at the office?"

I said, "Yes, it's all under control. It's been a very busy day, I haven't stopped for a minute."

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked.

I said, "Of course, anything, what is it?"

He said, "Hurry up and take your shot, I'm right behind you on the 7th hole."

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Comfort

Ask ye of the Lord…for the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain – Zechariah 10:1-2

There are a thousand different places and people and pleasures that promise comfort and healing and satisfaction…but their comfort is vain, their promises are empty. Cosmetics are not the fountain of youth they claim to be, cars do not satisfy the cavernous need for pleasure that people have, and college will not fill the need for knowledge that every one of us feels. They comfort in vain.

Many religious leaders or philosophical seers or academic icons pretend to understand the needs of mankind and claim to have found the answers to life's big questions. But they have seen a lie. They are just as blind in their own musings and speculations as those whom they persuade to follow them.

The only true promise, the only full comfort that is to be found in all the universe is found at the feet of Jesus. He is the Way, He is the Truth, in Him is the Life. Everything else and everyone else that makes a pretense of substituting the creator God is telling you a lie, is offering empty promises, is plying a false comfort.

Are you looking today for a soul-filling, need-meeting, pleasure-supplying comfort? The greatest pleasure the world will ever know is the satisfaction of submitting to God, confessing our desperate condition apart from Him, and begging Him to fill us with Himself.

Ask ye of the Lord.You will not be disappointed. His comfort is not in vain.

Daily Smile:

A young woman brought her fiance to visit her parents. After a nice dinner, the father invited the fiance to the library for a talk. 

"So what are your plans?" he asked the young man. 

"I am a seminary students," he replied. 

"A seminary student. Hmmm," said the father. "Admirable, but how will you provide a home for my daughter?" 

"I will study," the young man said, "and God will provide for us." 

"And how will you buy her an engagement ring, such as she deserves?" 

"I will focus on my studies and God will provide for us." 

"And how will you support your children?" 

"Don't worry, sir. God will provide." 

The conversation continued like this; each time the father questioned, the young man insisted that God would provide. 

Later, when the mother asked about the male conversation, the father sighed, "Well, he has no job and no plan, but the good news is: he thinks I'm God!"

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Living Water and Crack-free Cisterns!

"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13, NIV

There were many different things that God’s people did when they turned their back on the living God – the list of sins that would be needed to describe all their ungodly activities would have been very long! But when, through the prophet Jeremiah, God began to speak words of rebuke, he reduced all their sinful behaviour into just two categories.

Firstly, they had deserted the only source of living water and secondly, they had tried to generate their own ‘water supply’ as a substitute for the living water that flows from the heart of God.

In Israel, underground cisterns were vital for the storage of water for use during the dry season. Without a good cistern people would die through lack of water. A cracked cistern was useless, water would flow into it alright. But the water would all leak away through the cracks so that when the water was most needed, there would be no water there.

God uses this picture to speak to His people about what they had been doing. He uses the need for physical water as a parable of the need for the living spiritual water, which sustains God’s people through all the ups and downs of life. The first sin of God’s people was to decide that they wanted an alternative source of supply, so instead of constantly coming back to the only source of living water, they did what mankind has tried to do throughout history – they built their own cistern, which embraced everything from idolatry to sexual immorality. They finished up believing that good was bad and bad was good and going in the opposite direction to the ways of God.

God had provided for them everything that was needful for living in covenant relationship with the God who had created the world and everything in it. But pride in the heart of man will always want to build an alternative way, and say it’s better than what God provided in the first place. Ultimately this is the foundation for every alternative belief system, false religion or moral order that has ever risen up in the heart of man and practised on the face of the earth.

It’s easy to look at the people of Jeremiah’s day and ask, “How could they?” But all we need to do is look at our own generation and see that 21st century man is no different. Part of the reason why I believe God put the vision for Ellel 365 into my heart was to ensure that within Ellel Ministries there’s a constant flow of living water from God’s Word and that people are able to know how to build a cistern in their own lives that is sound and without cracks.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to only ever want the living water which flows from your heart to the heart of man. And give me the determination to rebuild sound and crack-free cisterns in my own life, so that the Water of Life will always be available to me throughout my days – even in seasons of drought. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Today's Writer : Peter Horrobin

Daily Smile:

A lady who was speeding had an officer pulled her to the side of the road.

She didn't have her seat belt on so as soon as she stopped, she quickly slipped it on before the officer got to her window.

After talking to her about speeding, the officer said, "I see you are wearing your seat belt. Do you believe in wearing it at all times?"

"Yes, I do, officer," she replied.

"Well," asked the officer, "do you always do it up with it looped through your steering wheel?"

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Living a Life of Conviction

by Michael J. Knight
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-C-T-S/

"For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." - 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5a 

Everyone lives a life of conviction. Whatever we give our greatest time, our greatest energies, and our greatest resources to is a good indication of where our convictions lie. Some live a life of conviction about sports. Some live a life of conviction around pleasure. Still others live a life of conviction about very little that matters at all. 

Whenever God chooses to do a deep work in a life, a strong conviction is born of the Holy Spirit. Conversions in the early Church resulted in changed lives that held to a deep, life-transforming conviction regarding what they believed and how they lived out that belief. Paul explains that the gospel they received came not just in words, but also in power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. 

In order to impact the workplace for Jesus Christ, each of us must be reflecting a faith that is demonstrated through deeply held convictions. Are you living a life of deep conviction that spurs you on to reflect the power of Christ in your life and the lives of others? Paul was willing to suffer great persecution for his faith in a living God. God calls each of us to a life that is supernatural, not simply a good, moral life. The early Church understood the role the Holy Spirit played in demonstrating this power of the gospel. It was this deep work that resulted in living the gospel with great conviction. If you are not living the gospel with great conviction, ask the Holy Spirit to so fill your life today that the power of His Spirit is truly reflected in your life so that you may impact others in your community.  

Daily Smile:

A juggler, driving to his next performance, is stopped by the police. "What are those machetes doing in your car?" asks the cop.
"I juggle them in my act."

"Oh, yeah? Says the doubtful cop. "Let's see you do it.” The juggler gets out and starts tossing and catching the knives. Another man driving by slows down to watch.

"Wow" says the passer-by. "I'm glad I quit drinking. Look at the test they're giving now! 

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The Challenges of God’s Call

"The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Judges 6:12, NIV

At a time when Israel was living in disobedience to the Lord, and behaved in the evil ways of the nations surrounding them, they were oppressed by marauding bands of Midianites.

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. In response to their cry, He sent a prophet who reminded them that the reason for this oppression was because they have been disobedient and not listened to the Lord.

Then the angel of the Lord came to Gideon as he was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites. The angel said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’ (Judges 6:12).

At this, Gideon asks, ‘If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? Now the Lord has abandoned us and put us in the hands of Midian.’

Then the Lord says, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’

I wonder if there are times when we become a bit like Gideon, when we find the going tough, making feeble attempts to survive and our faith falters to the point of doubt. In such circumstances what is God trying to say to us?

Could it be that God wants us to look back to those experiences of the past, where He brought us out of a severe bondage and oppression, and how He helped and delivered us? This could be the point where He says, ‘Go in the strength you have - My strength. I will be with you, and you will overcome this problem.’

When we know we have drifted from the Lord, and we’re aware of our own weakness and inability, and yet we recognise the power of The Lord’s presence, we’re on the road to victory, whatever the enemy might throw against us. God being with one individual results in a powerful majority.


Like Gideon, there may be things we need to put right before we go into battle. We may need to put aside some things we consider essential for success. But when the Lord has promised ‘I will be with you, and you will be successful’, we can rest assured that this will be the outcome. Again, it is all a matter of dealing with any sin, and responding to God’s call with an obedient heart.

Prayer: O Lord God, please forgive me for those times when I’m disobedient to You and help me to recognise that You’re still with me and ready to help. Forgive me for those times I doubt and question where You are in a situation. Please enable me to recognise that however helpless and hopeless I might feel, You’re always with me to help me be an overcomer, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Today's Writer : David Silvester

Daily Smile:

A cocky State Highways employee stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer. He told the farmer, "I need to inspect your farm for a possible new road."

The old farmer said, "OK, but don't go in that field." The Highways employee said, "I have the authority of the State Government to go where I want. See this card? I am allowed to go wherever I wish on farm land." 

So the old farmer went about his farm chores. 

Later, he heard loud screams and saw the State Highways employee running for the fence and close behind was the farmer's prize bull. The bull was madder than a nest full of hornets and the bull was gaining on the employee at every step!! 

The old farmer called out, "Show him your card!!"

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