 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and then he goes on to say and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. So we see something that the Lord is clearly desiring for his sheep and he's also saying this is the capability of my sheep. They will hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. In other words, this is what he's desiring for us as his sheep and him being the shepherd, this is what he's desiring, that we hear his voice, that we know him, he knows us and we follow him, that we hear his voice and we follow him and this is something that we are designed for and this is something that he desires from each one of us. So we should always remember that and this is what God desires that I hear his voice and I follow him. Many times we take the following bit and say yes, I need to follow him, I need to be obedient to him, I need to do all that, I must do it. The first part of it is that we need to hear his voice and when we consider that he's saying that you're designed to hear his voice and not only is my desire that you hear my voice, in other words he's saying you are designed to hear my voice, my sheep hear my voice, we are capable of hearing. I just want to reiterate that again but even as we pray this morning we'll just pray that Lord you sharpen my hearing. I thank you for designing me to hear your voice, I thank you that you are speaking so I can hear your voice and your desire is that I hear your voice and thank you Lord. May I hear your voice clearly and whatever is hindering, whatever is causing any confusion, let it be moved out in the name of Jesus. Let's pray. Father we thank you for this day, we thank you for this morning and Lord even as we draw near God we thank you for John 10, 27, your reminder that your desire is that we hear your voice oh God and that you have designed us to hear your voice Father God. Lord even before we follow you oh God begin to follow you God, this is how you have designed us Lord and so God this morning we just want to thank you that each one of us are capable and able to hear your voice Father God and Lord I pray that if any of us are struggling if we are struggling to hear and we are at the crossroads of making decisions and we need your wisdom God we thank you, we rejoice that this is how you have designed us and this is your desire for each one of us God that we very clearly hear your voice and just because you are our shepherd and you Lord your declaration over us your rejoicing over us is this that you know us Lord you know us oh Father God yes Lord we are known by you the good shepherd we thank you Master and this morning Father God we come at ourselves to you we Lord submit all our ambitions and plans and desires and everything Lord into your mighty hands God and we pray that you would make things clear establish things for us God even as we go forward in the things that you have prepared for us we thank you Lord we give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus match this name we pray amen amen okay so Christian leadership I think where we stopped was about life plan right I think this towards the end of the you know the first section about leadership and Jesus as our leader and we looked at various things excuse me so Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10 remember the former things of old for I am God there is no other I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure right we looked at that scripture so saying my counsel shall stand his counsel his his plans will stand will which means that it will remain right and through ups and downs and everything his counsel stands so you know even as we pray today our privilege is to hear God's voice and plan according to it right and well God put certain desires in us put certain dreams in us we just need to be mindful of that and discerning of that because he puts certain things in us certain capabilities and the way he has designed us it's unique like we don't have to compare ourselves with anyone else he has put certain you know certain things that we are moved by you know certain burdens in our hearts and we look at some others and well they are not burdened the same way you know about maybe certain causes that you stand up for that you are moved stirred and so you realize that okay I've been fashioned this way right I've been fashioned this way to maybe to take up this cause or these causes for the sake of the kingdom right for the for the cause of Christ and and that's how he has uniquely fashioned us and he's also put certain likes and dislikes and all that then and everything goes together flows together even as he leads us so in our we looked at life plan you know it's it's good for us if we would you know we saw that how planning is important and how planning is a series of steps and it we need to plan in order to achieve these goals in order to move towards these goals so it's good for us so we saw that God is a God who plans and his plans stand his counsel stands so the God is not against us planning okay so definitely I just want to reiterate that yeah we can plan and we we have the privilege of drawing from God's wisdom we have the privilege of drawing from you know his wisdom and his leading and we can plan okay so the so many times what happens is we are we become very very passive right now in our lives we don't want to plan and and we we just think that okay if it happens it happens you know that famous I don't know whether it's latin or greek you know kisara sara right saying you know if it happens it happens and as believers there's a certain you know twist to that right we say if it happens it's God's will if it does not happen it's not or if it's God's will it will happen you know we forget our will is also involved right in in things happening in our lives our will is involved so we we just sometimes become we make the mistake of becoming very very passive and God in his grace you know well he he takes us along he he makes things happen for us he he brings those options he brings those choices in front of us and he leads us but his desire you know if you if you read that verse what do the what do the sheep do after hearing his voice they follow right so they do it they hear intentionally and they and they follow right so this following bit is also there it's it's not like it's going to happen right if there's a place that God wants to take us we need to follow actively we need to intentionally hear and follow in order to reach because he's leading us let's say he's going forward you know have this picture of someone who's going forward and saying you know come just follow me and I I'll take you to that place and we will reach that place and if we are saying it will happen but we are just there passively and not actively seeing looking focusing on the person who's actually going ahead then we realize that hey we're in the same place we've not reached the destination right and then and we begin to you know justify it or reason it out and say all kinds of things right so our life plan it's it's nothing wrong it's important but involve God in it you know involve God because he desires he has good plans for us Jeremiah 29 11 he has good thoughts for us John 10 10 talks about how he has come to give us life and life in its fullness right so his desires his thoughts his plans are good for us and he intends for us as his sheep even as he leads us as a good shepherd for us to hear and follow okay so let's look at you know a life plan and how we can have a life plan and what we can do in order to just show you know a sample this is something that we looked at in one of our Sunday services this was just recently so I'm just going to share that table with us okay just hope that's coming up right so you see that right that table where let's say you know the first column is the stage of life or the season of life that we are in right and we can plan according to seasons right so let's say we can plan in incremental time periods of let's say five years or ten years or even four years six years and so on whatever right and prayerfully consider these chunks of time and so let's say you know you for example if you've taken five years and then we're looking at that age you know you put your age and then 30 to 35 let's say what is the plan you know for example it could be this you know the purpose could be demonstrate kingdom living in you know maybe it's a working professional for a working professional in technology and business okay so someone who's maybe an entrepreneur maybe a working professional so in that age group or in that phase of life 30 to 35 now this is this is a plan okay so how are you going to ensure that this happens you know what is what is the plan to grow in to the next level in all these areas okay in all areas meaning when it comes to spiritual life personally family children finances professional christian ministry and so on so so what are we going to pursue it's good to be specific maybe in spiritual life it's good to be specific and say you know i'd like to achieve this this season you know in this five years i'd like to come to a place of maturity i'd like to come to a place of you know knowing certain things i'd like to come to a place of learning this or i'd like to come to a place of you know reading through the bible in number of times whatever you know so we can have you know maybe two or three things in each of these areas right personal life family finances children um and if if you're a dad if you're a mom um your mother's father so you know what is it that you would like to do in order to help your children or what is it that you want to do for your children right or your child um so we can be specific you know i i would like to spend more time or i'd like to um you know take some time to teach the skill to my child my your child maybe 30 35 you are 30 35 and maybe your child is like five years or so and and you could you know specifically write out like i know of a of this person is a working professional but every Saturday or more Saturdays you know i shouldn't say every Saturday maybe some Saturdays it gets messed up with most Saturdays it takes time to teach his children about about finances about money right um so the right way of handling money and his kids are teenagers so he takes time at home maybe an hour or so just to tell them the basics of uh of finances you know what is what is money all about what can money do um how should you handle money you know saving expense budgets uh and also the biblical perspective of money right so he's teaching them at that at that young age so that they remember and uh and you know at that impressionable age okay the important and also they they learn to be they will learn to be responsible uh when it comes to handling money so things like that right we can be specific so when when you when we pray when we ask the lord lord what is it that i should do well he is promised that we will hear his voice you know in all these areas right it's not just about understanding of scripture or you know uh what does this mean lord uh you know this verse it's about all these areas it's about practical every day you know living daily living right so we go to him we plan and and what about your work what is it that you would like to see in your work maybe you're you're a working professional what is it that you would like to see maybe your ministry what is it that you would like to see okay it takes time to uh it's good to take some time to take um you know as we say zoom out take maybe a day to to think through these things and put it down right um so this is something that you know all of us can really engage in um let me just show you another another picture of planning um so this is how it would look you know if you would if we would fill it up right um of course the pursuit is just having one uh one area which is just the profession okay so let's say the purpose is to become a tech entrepreneur launch a tech startup etc uh it just has one pursuit so it is there uh but similarly we could have you know other areas also profession marriage um everything else right so uh it would be you know you see this phase two years then four years then again maybe two to four years and so on so we we have those plans uh and and it's exciting to dream with God because he has plans for us he has dreams for us and and put these down right um so that's one part of it okay um so that's one part of it uh so we are not being presumptuous we are not being arrogant we are not being boastful okay so the many many times you know why do we stop short of doing it um because we do not want to be boastful like for example we are reminded in the book of uh you know James and James chapter four verse 13 he James chapter four and verse 13 um says come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city spend a year there buy and sell and make a profit okay whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away okay so um so we we encounter these verses and then we're like okay why should I even think of tomorrow all the day after here we are talking about like you know uh you know a fair bit of time like five years or 10 years right so why should I even think so let it just happen um forgetting that um you know if you look at verses 15 and 16 and so on so he says here instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we should live and do this or that okay so it's not wrong to put that out but it is if you look at verse 16 says now you boast in your arrogance and all such boasting is evil okay so what what is what is the person ought to say the person ought to include the Lord if the Lord wills so which means you're you're going to him and saying Lord what is your will like what is your desire what is your choice in this Lord you know this is what I sense um this is what I'm desiring but you know what is it right and sometimes you know it's like um we if you have this desire it's good and like we see in Philippians chapter four Philippians chapter four talks about what are those things that we are supposed to meditate on now that's a filter that we can run through right there's a check that we can run through it is good isn't holy is it excuse me is it virtuous it is pure is it of good report right just think on these things okay so we run through that test we run through that you know it's it's it's a desire it's a deep desire it's a stirring there's nothing unethical there's nothing immoral in it and there's a deep desire right your intentions are good and you feel that you've designed to do this you've created to do this and it brings you pleasure and you're sure that it brings God's heart it'll you know it'll delight God's heart as well right so you put that down right and the Lord will actually correct the Lord if there is anything that the Lord in our you know journey that needs correction that needs tweaking that needs any course correction the Lord will do it because he is he's good he's a good father like he's not going to say okay you make a mistake I'm going to wait till you make a mistake and then I will I will see you know when you fall down then I will see no the posture of our heart is God what is it that you want God you know I'm going with this understanding but I know that you are infinite in your understanding but now you're open you know you're open to make any corrections you're open to make any changes God and the Lord will right so the thing is to plan okay that's part one the second the second part of it is to pursue that plan okay pursuing the plan or the purposes of God okay so let me just share that also with you okay this is also something that we looked at on Sunday one of the Sundays pursuing the purpose okay if you look at Mark chapter 1 and verse 38 what he said to them let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also because for this purpose I have come forth okay so he he knew the purpose he knew what plans he had God had for him and he said let's do that okay let us go there so what was he doing he was actually pursuing that right this is the purpose of God this is the plan of God God has for me so now I need to pursue or I need to work that out or live that out right or I need to action it in my life execute it implement it in my life right so we see that so he understood this purpose and we see that in John chapter 12 he said you know should I say take this cup from me no but for this purpose I have come and so on Paul also says you know something very similar right Philippines 3 and verse 12 not that I have already attained or I'm already perfected but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has also laid hold of me okay so Christ has laid hold of me with a plan and a purpose so I'm going to press on okay that I may lay hold of that in other words what is he saying you know Christ is already you know in his wisdom and and goodness he has laid hold of me for something okay he has created he has redeemed me he has you know visited me with salvation and I've experienced all that I'm in the kingdom of God in the kingdom of life in the kingdom of light and he has laid hold of me and put me in this for something right and that's something I also want to have a strong grip off and I want to press on into it that's what he says let's read that again Philippines 3 12 not that I have already attained or I'm already perfected but I press on you know many times we want to wait till we are you know we have reached a certain I don't know we we think that okay I would I'm not ready yet I'm not ready yet yes there's some truth to it right the Lord is preparing and then commissioning preparing us sharpening us getting us ready and then commissioning right but the the thing is if we are if we continue to wait if you continue to wait you're saying we're not ready yet we're not ready then we also miss out okay saying that not that I've already attained or I'm already perfected but I press on that I may lay hold of that right so he's pressing on into the purposes that God has for him so in that pressing into the purposes of pressing on into those purposes is also the preparation like in one sense you know you're preparing so that you can they hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of you right you're preparing sharpening he's also preparing is he's preparing as he's commissioning he's bringing us to that place of commissioning and there's all always the season you know there is this one season of living and then he takes us into the next season of living right okay so so it is an adventure we need to pursue the purposes of God so we so one thing that we understand is okay we plan and those plans will not happen unless we journey into it right unless we pursue the purposes okay so which means that we take those steps that are required okay so reasoning is oh it looks like it's a fleshly attempt it looks like it's just you know it's it's looks like some human reasoning and all that is happening there you know where is God in it well God is in there in every step God is there in every step we are including him right we're not isolating God right so in the purposes in the walking through or journeying into the purposes of God he is very much there in each and every step okay so while we pursue the things of God we know that the some things that we need to see okay we see that yes we could make some mistakes or there could be some some hindrances something that could happen okay and it could happen because of you know these four these four categories one is our personal choice top left corner the personal choice so we make a personal choice we make personal decisions and we make mistakes right we could make some choices good choices and we could pursue the our journey into the purposes plans implement or we could also make some poor choices some poor decisions some mistakes which hamper slow down our journey okay then well some of the things that we could face could be because of people right it could be opposition it could be support right it could be attempt to stop thwart the plan and purpose of God people could do that right people in their sincerity to protect sincerity to care might actually speak some discouraging things right when we think about well this is a plan and there's a purpose and people might actually know carefully support or they could also oppose and sometimes these opposition is they you know they feel that okay they're doing us some good like like Peter was said to the Lord you know it shall not be so for you Lord and the Lord said you know the son of man will die and rise again and Peter was you know not mindfully he was thinking in a fleshly manner in that instant right and the Lord had to rebuke and he you know he was actually speaking from a different source Peter speaking as inspired not by you know by God but he was by Satan so he had the Lord has to have to say you know and rebuke Satan so it could be people then thirdly it could be Satan himself right and the powers of darkness opposing challenging because Satan knows that you'd be if you are a force to reckon with when your will is is completely sold out to the will of God right when when he knows that okay you're passionately going after the things of God so therefore yeah Satan tries to oppose but you know and you both you and I know that that we are more than conquerors and greater is he who is in us that he that is in the world and looked 10 19 the fact that we have been given the authority right over Satan was snakes and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy so so that's one thing to be mindful of to remind us of and Satan will go about like a rolling lion trying to intimidate trying to devour but we need to be we need to preempt we need to use our authority okay then there could be some unexpected situations that are beyond our control right and we might have to navigate through that also okay so some things that that we might be that we might have to be mindful of is are these right distractions okay if we actually when we when we when we hear heard when we spend time with God when we heard what he wants for us and we've written it down and as a life plan and it helps us it how in what way does it help it gives us clarity it gives us clarity it gives us a certain things you know direction in life so we know that we can go in wholeheartedly for certain things and say no to other things in life right go wholeheartedly after certain things and say no to certain other things like a friend a missionary couple right who have been preparing for they've been preparing for many years to go into some difficult nation it was a it's a difficult nation that they have been preparing they've been learning the language the customs the culture it's because they're not of that nation so they've been learning that and and looking for opportunities to enter in and so on so so for them there are certain things that certain decisions that are no for them in the sense they're not you know very interested in buying a property or settling down in that sense like buying a property buying a they they stay in a rented place and they do not because they are very clear that God has called them to another nation and the time that they are spending in the nation where they are is preparatory time okay so they don't want to they don't want to put the routes down you know say that okay because that is not the territory that is not where God has called them so they know that they need to go into that other place which is far more difficult far more challenging and well dangerous even right but but they know that they're called to that so so they don't want to put down routes in that sense you know and they also live a very minimalistic living very light in the sense well they do use technology laptops and everything but and they have their profession as HR consultants and I mean he's a HR consultant and she's I'm not very sure but but the thing is that they live light they don't want to accumulate things material things because they know that one day they have to move and then God's been putting in there so they they want to live light you know and so that's that's something that's a choice so it actually helps them it helps them to make those choices it helps them not to get distracted okay so avoid distractions because they know that okay this is what God has called and this is what I need to do so they've planned it out in this season of life this is what God is called okay second thing will there be mistakes there could be right we might make some mistakes we may we may not we may we may make some mistakes we might make some mistakes but we have to at the end of the day understand that God is able to redeem those redeem us from those mistakes right that he is bigger he is greater and he's able to redeem us the thing is we are not willfully making those mistakes right we learn from those mistakes and our hearts are sensitive to his leading but sometimes yes you know we might be totally blindsided by certain things maybe we we act in our in our flesh maybe we didn't really ask him we just rushed in maybe there could be some mistakes but we need to understand that well our God is bigger than that right and he's able to redeem us from those mistakes I always like to look at it like those google you know google map routes so the google map will never say you know this is the end of the road have you tried it right there's always a rerouting right you go and you're following the you know your destination there's always a rerouting you know you take you take a wrong turn a turn that is you know not as that now that is not there in the map you do the opposite of that there is a rerouting well that means the distance becomes more that means the time taken to reach the destination is well it depends it could be less it could be more now if it's a mistake it's it's more but there's a rerouting right that's what google map does and with God you know he's even able to redeem the time right so that's the beauty of it right maybe he was thinking God you know I just lost so much time doing these things I suddenly realized that I need to get back on track and I'm getting back on track I'm oh there's so much regret God so many years maybe wasted and all that well God is able to redeem that God is able to fast track certain things just trust him right he will he's able to you know be that catalyst to move us to push us into certain things right okay so there could be mistakes but um when we surrender when we repent he ensures that we are back on track okay then there are challenges right the Lord said in this world we will have tribulations but be of good care for I have overcome so we have the overcomer who is in us right and we also see that the Lord Paul declaring that he causes us to triumph he leads us in a triumphant procession in Christ Jesus right he causes us to triumph so yes there will be challenges but you know this is how we face challenges saying um with the victor's mentality and with the victory mentality saying that okay this is a challenge but I'm not going to be down and out I'm not going to be destroyed by this challenge I'm not going to be flattened by this challenge I'm going to face this challenge as a victor as the victorious one as the triumphant one right so now I just want to read that verse second contains two and verse 14 okay now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ right thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place okay through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place so we think about you know certain phases of our lives certain seasons of our life and we might you know we might be like Joseph you know wrongly accused put into prison for no fault of ours you know while we are holding on to our integrity and we and we think that okay you know it's you know how do I face this challenge right it is to we need to face it from not from a victim mentality but with a triumphant victorious mindset and mentality saying that you know the Lord will cause me to triumph in Christ here no matter how weak that that voice is or no matter how weak that a declaration is right we we declare it in faith saying this is what I believe this is what the Lord will do he will reroute he will you know change things right he will cause us to try in what seems to be like defeat he will cause us to triumph okay so then people right so we learn to work with people people might oppose people might challenge people might be encouraging people might be discouraging but we we learn to you know journey with people we learn to work with people we learn to bless them irrespective of whether you know what their response is to them to us or not okay they could also be unexpected situations where you know they could be God appointed surprises where you know gods we see God's favor we see a season of you know a bound abundant blessings and so on and we didn't even expect that right so but we we trust God and like Romans 8 and verse 28 37 says and I and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose okay and all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose okay so again I just want to say that we cannot be passive in our pursuit of the purposes of God okay we just need to be intentional pursuing the plans pursuing the purposes if you look at you know what Paul instructed Timothy he said very clearly you know maybe we have received instructions maybe we have received you know prophecies and and and so on and and and we're just saying you know we're just being passive about it maybe I'm saying okay God you said this this would happen and maybe we are you know we we didn't engage with the word of God you know God gave his word but we didn't really you know receive it in faith or actively pursue the word of God to see it to completion right um this is what Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse 18 right he says this charge I commit to you son Timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you may wage the good warfare having faith and a good conscience with some have with some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck okay so what is he saying he's saying you know this charge I commit to you son Timothy according to the prophecies previously made so he's actually charging you know in the sense he's saying this is a command Timothy this is what you need to do according to the prophecies that were previously made over you by them by those prophecies that you may wage the good warfare this fight of faith you take that use that in your warfare right because they are word word of God words of God right so you take that and use it let them be weapons in the warfare the words that he has spoken you take it and you use it so so these are prophecies right so Timothy would have been told Timothy you know this is what God wants you to become or this is what God says that he will he will do to you or this is where he's going to take you this is where you know you will be a blessing to many you will be a all kinds of you know words that are spoken over him before he was you know they laid hands and they commissioned him and he's in Ephesus and and so Paul is just reminding him you know I want to remind you that this I want to actually command you that these prophecies you fight the good warfare so so this mentality that Timothy is expected to have with all these words that God has spoken with all these prophecies that God has you know declared through his people is that he takes it and he fights the good warfare so what is he doing he's engaging with the word of God and he's not being passive he's intentionally he's taking it and he's when he faces those challenges right when he faces satanic opposition when he faces challenges maybe when he faces discouragement from people and now he's got this whole thing written down he's got this you know planned out suppose and and with these prophecies he's going to face any opposition to those plans right any opposition from the world any opposition any maybe maybe something from within you know fears and and doubts and and discouragement and in fact Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 1 says and he's again reminding Timothy 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6 therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands you know do you have this gift you have received this gift what are what are gifts given for you know that they might edify people and glorify God and so in the pursuit and plan of God you know you're going to be edifying people or building up people and and glorifying God so I saying you know stir up that gift that has been lying idle stir up that gift and look at the next verse verse 7 for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind so so something from within is cause Timothy to not really actively go out and do that right he knew these were the prophecies he knew these were things that were you know dropped into his spirit by the laying on of hands but there's something that was stopping Timothy from actively going into the plans and purposes of God so Tim Paul had to write and say you know Timothy stir up I remind you to stir up those gifts that were actually you know given by the laying on of hands God has not given us a spirit of fear so there have been some inhibitions from within Timothy and it's because of fear maybe fear of being rejected whatever be that fear of failure whatever it is that is holding you back God has not given us so if God has not given us why are you holding on to that right if God has not given it you just reject it you put it aside and journey into the purposes that God has for you in that place and journey into the fullness that God has for you in that place in that season of life in your ministry that's what you know Paul is encouraging right so also for us like in our in our planning well we've planned out something and we've heard the voice of God and he put things together and well that's good but the second part of it and the important part of it is to journey into it intentionally you know walk into it or pursue the word is pursue pursue the plan pursue purposes of God well it won't be smooth sailing there could be other things hindering challenging you know from outside from within but we we press on right okay so we'll stop here any questions we have a minute any questions okay so we'll stop here and yeah let me just stop the recording