“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
Just like a good father who plans activities for his family on certain days to go out together, bond, and have fun, God is like that. He is YOUR GOOD FATHER in Christ Jesus. He has good things on his agenda for you already planned, blessings in store, waiting to be unlocked in the context of a relationship with him.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10
Knowing all this, and that God is Lord over my time, I started the practice of downloading God’s agenda for me. Little did I know that I’ve set myself up for ongoing amazements, surprises, and of discovering more and more the reality of the Lord and that He is Emmanuel, who indeed is God with me.
I printed the monthly calendars on an A4 size then I got home, excited to fill in the blanks with the God substance! I took the monthly calendar paper that just started, lifted a prayer asking God to rule and reign over it, and fill each day and hour with his goodness.
I asked the Lord to give me a title and verse for that month and so He did. Then I continued in prayer and looked at the blank days of that month before my eyes, and asked the Lord to highlight the days marked on his agenda for me. Slowly I began scanning each section and I marked the days I felt Holy Spirit was hovering on. After finishing my spiritual scanning, I stopped on each highlighted day and asked the Lord to give me a title for that day. He was faithful to download his headlines to me for each coming highlighted day that month.
That created a great expectation in me to see the fulfillment and the download of His goodness into His marked days. The days that weren’t highlighted didn’t mean they didn’t belong to the Lord. It is just that there are some specific days where the FATHER has planned something special for me.
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” Psalms 139:17-18
If I write all my testimonies, the surprises, and the fulfillment of God’s agenda for me each month, I don’t think I will be able to keep this devotion short. But one of the remarkable things that happened to me that I can tell you about and I can't forget is this incident:
I live an hour away from my family, and it is rare for my mother to visit me and if she does, it must be on a weekend. On a Monday, Mom called me. She said she was passing by. I was surprised, and I told her, “Sure, it is always joyful to see you.” That Monday afternoon, Mama came, cleaned my little house, filled my fridge with all kinds of foods that last for a month, brought some accessories and decorated my rooms, and gave me money. I felt FULL on so many levels. I was so filled with gratitude to God and to her.
After she left back to our small hometown where she lives, the night fell and I spent some time with the Lord before going to bed, as I usually do. I forgot that day to check my calendar to see if that Monday was highlighted by the Lord. I grabbed the calendar, looked at the day, and to my shock I’d written at the beginning of that month this little title for that Monday: “MAMA’s BLESSINGS”. OMG! … I went crazy!
Happy downloading of God’s agenda for yourself!
Tony Francis