I want to ask you four questions.

Your immediate and progressive response to these questions will determine, in no small manner, the way you'll finish 2015

First, how valuable is your life?

Second, how valuable is your time?

Third, how long did it take someone to design, engineer and construct the building you are sitting in?

Fourth, is your life and time more valuable than the building you are sitting in?

Now here are the answers.

 

First, how valuable is your life?  VERY!

Second, how valuable is your time?  VERY!

Third, how long did it take someone to design, engineer and construct the building you are sitting in?  A YEAR OR TWO!

Fourth, are your life and time more valuable than the building you are sitting in?  YES!

Then let me ask you a question.

If your life and time are more valuable than the building then you should have spent more than ONE TO TWO YEARS planning your life?

Winners. . .championship athletes. . .successful entrepreneurs are all planners.

Planning is the starting point for any dream or goal that you possess.

A plan is a written list of arranged actions necessary to achieve your desired goal.

Habakkuk 2:2 in the Amplified Bible says:

“And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.”

Jesus was a planner. . .He took time to plan.  He knew the plan from beginning to end.

John 14:2 in the Amplified Bible says:

“In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.”

God would schedule a meal, the marriage supper, six thousand years in advance!

Revelation 19:9 in the Amplified Bible says:

“Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, [a]to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God.”

God always honors people who plan.

Your Bible is the plan of God for you.

Luke 14:28-31 in the New Living Translation says:

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’  31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?”

Make a list of things you plan to do tomorrow and the day after that.

Alan Larkin, noted time management expert, once said:

“Planning is bringing the future into the present, so you can do something about it now.”

When you don’t have a plan, you miss His opportunities for your personal growth and prosperity.

What is your plan for each new day?

Is your plan to let things happen or make things happen?

Only you can control your day. It’s clear from this scripture that God wants us to take charge of every day that He has given us. . .make the most of it. . .make it count.

The Contemporary English Version of verse 12 says:

“Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.”

Do you have a plan for your day. . .if not, your day will have a plan for you.

I was just reminded of Proverbs 31:15 in the New Living Translation which says:

“She [talking about the Proverbs 31 woman] [she] gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.”

Write six things you want to accomplish today.  Focus your total attention on each task.  Assign each task to a specific time.

What do you want to accomplish between 7 AM and 9 AM in the morning?

Who should you call or email today?  Establish a priority on your communications.

Successes are usually scheduled events.

Frequently, the most important things on your to-do list are the least desirable.  But always remember that sometimes you have to do something you hate to create something you love.

Let’s go a little further.

Before you go to bed each night prepare your To Do list for tomorrow.

As Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, said:

“Plan your work and work your plan.”

When it comes to implementing plans on your part. . .there are three key words that signal you’re serious about being successful.

Until you say “I’ll do it” you’re just wishing and hoping.

Make a mental decision to do the things you’ve been talking about and dreaming about.

If God has given you a big dream, goal or vision have you made the verbal commitment to make it happen?

Have you said by word or deed. . .I’ll do it.

Proverbs 21:5 in the New Living Translation says:

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” 

One more verse.

Proverbs 12:27 in the Message Bible says:

“A lazy life is an empty life, but "early to rise" gets the job done.”

Here’s another important question.

Does God want us to plan ahead?

Proverbs 13:22 says:

". . .A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.”

Good people are those who have lined up their lives with the Word of God.   If we are expected to leave an inheritance for our children's children, that is no small amount.

Proverbs 21:5 says:

"Steady plodding brings prosperity, hasty speculation brings poverty."

Many people misunderstand the idea of being wealthy.   It would surprise many people to realize that statistically, most millionaires don't live in the kind of neighborhoods they can afford to live in.

Sam Walton, the late founder of the successful Wal-Mart chain store drove around in an older pick-up truck.

Wealthy people like Sam Walton are comfortable but realize that wealth doesn't mean "having the best of everything."

Wealth is what you keep, not what you spend.   It is a collection of assets, not things.   It is the attitude not the acquisition.

The Word of God recognizes this principle in the book of James 4:3 says:

"You ask and fail to get because you ask it with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures."   

Those who seek riches for themselves will never have wealth because they cannot resist the temptation to spend it.

It is the "steady plodding" referred to in the book of Proverbs that brings true wealth to the believer so that he may not only "establish God's Covenant in the earth

Retirement will not "take care of itself."   First you must decide where you want to go; then how you plan to get there.

Most of us are so caught up in the intensity of our "todays" we don't take much time to plan ahead.  That is exactly what has happened to most Americans who statistically have an average of $2000 saved at age 65.  That is a bit late to think about retirement.

Give some thought today as to what you would really like to put aside for building your "future."  Write down the programs that are already working on your behalf.

Jeremiah 29:11 in the New International Version says:

"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." 

It is God's will that you have a plan and a future.

Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, said:

“He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.”

Today is a great day to begin planning your future.

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