We often speak of God’s plan for our life, and He certainly does have one; but, have you ever thought about the devil’s plan for your life?

According to John 10:10, the thief, or the devil, is come to steal, kill, and destroy.  The devil desires to steal the word of God from your mind.  He certainly accomplishes that, in many people’s lives, by stealing it from them before they ever receive it.  By the droves, people miss church because of this thing, or that thing, and the devil must love it, because a clear presentation of God’s word has been blocked.  He also steals the word of God from people’s lives by diverting their attention, so that they take a passive approach toward the word, and the cares of this world choke out the productivity of the word, just like the seed that fell on thorny ground in the Mark 4 parable.  Then, another of his devices, is to provoke one to doubt the relevance of the word to his current situation.

He wants to kill any potential you have for ministry.  The devil understands that as the Father sent Jesus, so has Jesus sent you, and he definitely doesn’t want that to be carried out in your life.  By stealing the seed of God’s word from you, the next step of killing your ministry is almost automatic.

Finally, the devil wants to destroy the peace, joy, and contentment in your life; in other words, he would like for you to be miserable.  He will lead you to believe that, like electricity, you must take the path of least resistance, but the end result of that course will bite like a serpent and sting like an adder.  So many times, failure to follow the ways of God winds up costing you the very things that you were trying to gain.

God’s plan is just the opposite.  He wants your life to be good, productive, and full of joy.  Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that more abundantly.”

What you do right now is of extreme importance.  Today, is the day to save your marriage by being a godly husband or wife, loving, honoring, and serving your mate, leading him/her to draw near to God with you.  Today, is the day to save your children from tragedy by bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, letting them see, in you, a parent who loves and obediently serves the Lord.  Anything less is child abuse.  What would you be profited if you gained the whole world and lost your own children?   Today is the day to prepare to meet God.  Meet Him in prayer and Bible study, in praise and devotion, knowing that you have an appointment to meet Him face to face at the judgement.

Miracles are wonderful when they come to your life.  Have you ever been the recipient of a miracle?  I have.  People call happenings miracles sometimes, when they really aren’t.  But, miracles do happen.  A miracle is something that God causes to happen supernaturally, that would never happen naturally.

Miracles are often needed because people have violated the teachings of His word and their own common sense.  There are other times when miracles are needed to deliver people out of situations that have been imposed on them by someone else.  Examples of this would be Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail.  There are other examples where people were born with some affliction, and a miracle was used to deliver them.

As wonderful as miracles are, there is something better, and that is to live under the umbrella of God’s blessing.  Miracles deliver you from an unfavorable circumstance, whereas, blessing keeps you from getting there in the first place, if your dilemma is something of your own doing.

There is a method to receiving both miracles and blessing.  Miracles most often occur as a result of strong faith in the promise of God to meet a particular need, but blessing comes as a result of consistent faithful obedience.

Miracles meet a particular need, but blessing meets all your needs!  Miracles are often a temporary fix, but blessing just keeps on going.

Everyone receives a certain amount of blessing, just by virtue of the fact that they are alive, but the Bible teaches that those who obediently follow hard after the Lord can walk in blessing, which means to live constantly in it.

There will no doubt be times that we all need a miracle, and thank God, He can do it.  However, God’s best is not a miracle, but blessing, so that you don’t need a miracle.  Deuteronomy 28 is a great chapter of the Bible, contrasting living in blessing, or not living in blessing.

I am seeing people who are frightened by the economic forecast.  If you are depending on the economy as your source, maybe you should be afraid, but if you depend on God as your source, and you walk in His blessing, you have nothing to fear.

Psalm 91 speaks of the secret place of the Most High.  This is that place of fellowship, assurance, and contentment that is available to those who are willing to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow daily after Christ.

It is called a secret place, perhaps, because so few find it.  It is not that God has hidden it from you, but rather, He has hidden it for you.

It is a place that you can dwell, as opposed to just stopping by for a short visit every now and then.  You can stay there all the time.  In Psalm 23, the Psalmist said, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.”

It is a place of blessing, where God’s grace abounds toward you, where you abide under His shadow, where you find complete refuge.

It is the secret place because most of the world is traveling a broad road that leads to destruction, but the relative few that find this place enter by the narrow passage-way, whose name is Jesus.