You won’t be able to move forward effectively without goals, plans, and strategies. It is vital for you to find out what God’s plans are for you. Rom 8:29-30 (NIV) For those God FOREKNEW He also PREDESTINED to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. God knew you before you were born; He knew what kind of personality you were going to have; and, He knew what kind of atttudes and character you were going to develop.

Gen 1:26-27 (NIV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. You have self-identity; you have a God-given free will; you have powerful thought processes; you have talents, skills, physical abilities, and feelings that no other creature has.

When you were made in God’s image, that made you a very powerful being. You aren’t programed by other people or your circumstances. You are a REACTION to all those things that have come your way. You have been DECIDING how YOU feel about all those things others have tried to teach you. You have DECIDED who YOU want to be; you have DECIDED how YOU want to react to all the things, circumstances, people, and influences you have experienced. You may blame all of these things for how you are; but, you are putting the blame in the wrong place. You were created in God’s image and you have been deciding and reacting based on what you wanted to become.

Machines can be PROGRAMED; they are a PRODUCT of those things programmed into their memory. They can’t feel, decide, analyze, self-identify, dream about the future, or compare the true value to the things around them. You were created in God’s image and that made you a real challenge to God, yourself, the people around you, and the world. Because you are such a powerful being, God makes YOU responsibile for your thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. You have rejected even those things God has sent your way. You have such God-given freedom, you can even reject some of the most important wishes of God.

2 Pet 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not WANTING anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Even though God doesn’t WANT anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance, He doesn’t get His want from a lot of people. They insist on perishing by refusing to repent (make a U-turn). They refuse to change their ways and their thinking. You are a human; you have abilities and powers that are beyond your imagination. This is wonderful; and, this is very scary.

It doesn’t do any good to have all this power and abilities as a human, if people and circumstances keep you from being able to use them. So, God had to look at you and your future and know who you were going to want to be. He had to have a complete understanding of all your desires, dreams, and wishes. He knew you before you were born; He knew things about you that were so complex that only He could understand them. THEN, He started on PREDESTINING you so YOU could have your very best chance of the very best He has to offer.

God gave you the VERY BEST CHANCE of becoming the VERY BEST He has to offer. He used His foreknowledge to shape you, your environment, your circumstances, and your future so you could USE your God-given free will on all of it. That doesn’t mean you get everything you want because that wouldn’t be good for you. God designed your environment so you would have the very best CHANCE of turning out the very best that a person can be. You have some things in you that aren’t good for you; but, you got them yourself. God did the very best in giving you the right body, the right family, the right geological location, the right time in history, the right circumstances, and the right opportunities. Then YOU decided what to do with them.

God brought you into this world at the right time, place, relationships, and circumstances. He gave you the very best opportunity to reach your highest potential in this life. But, with your incredible human abilities, you have been deciding and reacting to all these provisions of God. You are now who you have decided to make yourself. You have reacted to all God’s provisions and have turned yourself into who you now are. BUT, Jesus has produced a WAY, a TRUTH, and a LIFE that CAN give you another chance to start all over and take advantage of all God has provided you.

God loves you more than you love yourself; God knows MUCH more than you know about yourself; God knows how to help you become the person you have always wanted to be; and, God knows what it is going to take for you to reach your FULL potential. If you can fully trust Him, He can help you see all the things He gave you; and, He will help you use it all to reach your highest goals, dreams, and aspirations. Put your life in God’s hands and He will prove to you that He is TOTALLY trustworthy with your God-given free will. He is the ONLY ONE Who totally and completely honors your God-given free will. You will be TOTALLY involved in all the decisions; He will just be trying to help you see why He wants to do what He wants to do in your life.

Jesus will be using The Strategy Courses to help you find out how God designed you, how He structured your life and circumstances. He will help you see your strengths, likes and dislikes, talents, skills, abilities, and potential. He will be taking who you are and what you are struggling with and enhance it with spiritual growth. The person you are, will be able to take advantage of God’s power to win over the problem that is bothering you the most. You will be able to strategecally move forward in God. That will empower you to be who God has shaped you to be.