The Spanking Plan

God wants to help us make progress.

God has two “plans” or “ways of life” for progress.

Both plans begin with God blessing us. Since God is right and just, it is our choice which plan we want to follow...

If we respond by thinking the blessing allows us to do whatever we want and rely on God less, then God’s only way to get our attention is by bringing adversity. I call this “The Spanking Plan”. Basically, we are telling God that blessings don’t cause us to focus more on Him and make progress…in fact, we are stating through our actions that blessings actually lead us away from Him. We are telling God to give us “spankings” in order to ensure our progress and reliance on Him.

(This is a topic for a whole series of entries, but try to think of an instance where someone in the Bible matured in God AND relied on God less over time. We are supposed to rely on God more over time, not less.)

Some people think that ignoring the spankings is telling God that spankings don’t work. Actually, the individual is telling God that the spankings weren’t hard enough.

The good news is that after God gets the individual’s attention, He allows the individual to get on the other plan…

I call the other plan “The Praise Plan”. Basically, when God blesses the individual, he or she can get on the praise plan by pushing into God more. The way is up to the uniqueness of the individual. It can be by praising Him, singing, listening to a taped sermon, reading the Bible, etc. The real key to staying on the praise plan is to realize this is not a one time thing. The emphasis is on more.

For instance, if the person chooses to read their Bible, they need to read it more. Specifically, if they aren’t reading it regularly, then all they would have to do is read one verse a day. This would constitute more. Some people over react and do a lot more immediately, however they can’t sustain this level. When they return to their previous level of interaction, they are showing they considered their response to be a work rather than a way of life…and they are opening themselves up to the spanking plan.

The next time God blesses you, think about your response to this blessing and what way of life you are exhibiting in the Long Term…

…this is the expression of your will that will determine which plan you want to follow.

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