God's Plans for Our Lives...

I am learning more deeply with each passing day:

God has thoughts and plans for our lives… 

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

D and C 130:20-21

2. "Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give.

3. Ye endeavored to believe that ye should receive the blessing which was offered unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you there were fears in your hearts, and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive."

D and C 67:2-3

I believe God is a loving Father, always there anxiously waiting to help and bless us. Sometimes we live in such a way as to allow God to bless us, and sometimes we don't... Not only are certain blessings predicated upon obedience to certain commandments, but even when we do keep the commandments,"Faith" (not fear) "precedes the miracle!

God wants us to know this and take accountability for doing our part by allowing Him to help us make our lives into what we want them to be; and He has granted us the freedom to do so.

I am absolutely positive that God doesn’t want us to be passive about living. He desires for us to actively DREAM, WORK and bring about many good things of our own free will.

It is Not God’s plan for us to have to be commanded in order for us to get up and do something good (this refers not only to service for others, but also to doing good to create prosperity and happiness for ourselves). The lord considers those who will only do what they are commanded to do to be lazy and unwise. (See D and C 58:26)

God wants us to be involved in doing good – and be excited and anxious to do good. And not just once, but over and over again. God desires that we choose to do many good things that we haven’t even been commanded to do… (D and C 58:27)

Along with free-agency, we have the ability/power to do many good things without having to be told to do these good things. We have the power to dream, think, plan, create, and make good things happen. (See D and C 58:28)

I am also learning that progress is not possible for those who:

        -Don’t do anything until or unless they are commanded

        -Doubt they can do what they are commanded to do or what they dream of doing (I realize that some of the things I have begun I have not been successful with because I have done them with hesitation rather than with surety, faith and thus vigor)
        -Are lazy (See D and C 58:29)

Here is one of my favorite quotes which I found on Piterole Postings some time ago (Patty, if you are there, please remind me who said this?) (I know, I have given it here before but it is worth reiterating):

 “God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future—to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities… God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.”

God’s plan for our lives – is that we DREAM and plan to do many good things of our own free will – and then go forth with faith, prayer, hope, belief, energy and hard work to accomplish our righteous plans. As we do these things, God steps in and helps to make our righteous dreams come true!

I'm very thankful for this new and growing testimony... and very excited to see what blessings will come of it! :)

*UPDATE - Feb 3, 2012 -
God has other plans for us as well... see my SECOND follow-up to this post here...
And my THIRD follow up here...

"Achievement seems to be connected

with action. Successful men and

women keep moving. They make

mistakes, but they don't quit."

- Conrad Hilton

*UPDATE- Feb 5, 2012 -
Here is a link to another person's blog about a scripture story of a man being healed by action (being proactive :)...