Welcome to Lifestyle’s edition of biblical teaching and principles on how to succeed in life or better yet, on how to get to the top...and stay there...The old Chinese proverb is true after all; “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step and that fi st step is what I’d like to share with you"

PLANNING.

Proverbs 16 v 1 – 3 says to man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue. All man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.

Everyone has the right to plan of course but God has the right to redirect our plans. In other words we must make the plan first and the God will reply to it--- whether it be a business plan, a change of geographic location, choosing a husband or a wife or even changing jobs.

When I had just become a born- again Christian it was the norm to hear people say’’ don’t ask God to bless your plans, fi nd out His plans and then they will already be blessed. ’’ That sounded good, however in a practical way how were we to discover God’s plan?

The passage in proverbs 16 v 1-3 put a smile on my face. I realized that it was our right to plan ‘‘to man belong the plans of the heart ‘’ and it was God’s prerogative to reply to our plans. So if you want to hear from God, then make a plan and God will reply to you about it.

I’ve now become a planner and would encourage you to follow suit. I’ve also discovered that some of the plans that I made wer not exactly God’s perfect will, but that was okay because I learned to hear God’s voice while pursuing my plans.

You should realise that God can over -ride your plans and give you something better You must have a plan if you want to succeed. A plan is a method of action to accomplish a defi nite purpose. A blueprint in short. A contractor doesn’t take a group of men and say‘’ lets build, do what you a led to do. ‘’ No way! He gives each man a blueprint and specifi c instructions on what to do. As long as they do what is on the blueprint; the structure will be built. —Thaddaeus Mphande