Your God-given Treasure Map

ESV Jeremiah 29:11 says. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

There are God's plans and your plans, which do you think is the best to follow?

God has implanted inside you a treasure map that unfolds as you follow God to the treasure.  Your God-given heart desires to work together to reveal the map.  How do I know?  It is because "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be" according to Jesus (Matthew 6:21, NLT).  As you pursue the desires God has implanted in you, your life circumstances both good and bad will insect with the lives of others. Since the main treasure stored in heaven from this earth is people, these life encounters are God's open doors for you to share His life and love message. Jesus said, "…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and money… do not worry about your life… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:19-33, NLT).  Your life journey is not about making money, it is about making time with God to store treasure in heaven as you are making money and time to follow the desires God has implanted within you.

Write out your God-given desires, look for common threads to see the map forming.  The Hebrew word for "plan" has three parts/meanings: "thought, purpose, plan". Your God-given thoughts and God-given purpose work together to create your God-given plan. This plan was never designed to go at it alone.  It is designed to go with God leading with the advisors God has called to go with you.

To guide you in this process, here are some scriptures from the English Standard Version of the Bible:

Creating the Road Map

John 15:7            If you abide in me, and my words {meaning rhema words, living words God speaks into your thoughts, those desires God implants in you like a seed} abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Proverbs 16:9    The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Matthew 6:33, 7:8   But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you… For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Jeremiah 29:13  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

1 John 5:14-15   And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Psalm 145:19   God fulfills the desire of those who fear Him…{meaning you deeply value and respect God like that person you are attracted to that seem out of your league}

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 11:1    Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6   And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

James 1:6-10   But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

Mark 11:23         Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

Ephesians 2:8   For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...

Matthew 4:4   Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Monitoring the Road Conditions

Proverbs 4:23    Keep {also means guard and observe} your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Luke 8:15            As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word {the direction to go}, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Matthew 5:8      Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Psalm 40:8         I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

Proverbs 17:22   A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 13:12   Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Psalm 73:26       My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 24:4         He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

Psalm 51:10       Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Jeremiah 17:9    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Psalm 19:14       Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Hebrews 13:5    Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Luke 6:45           The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Matthew 23:12   Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Handling the Roadblocks

Romans 8:28      And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Jeremiah 17:7     Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.

Colossians 3:2     Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Psalm 37:5          Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.

Proverbs 16:1-3 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 3:5-8  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7          Casting all your anxieties on God, because God cares for you.

Psalm 55:22       Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:7   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:12   All things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful... I will not be enslaved...

Galatians 5:16    But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Psalm 119:11      I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Romans 12:2      Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 10:10   For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Luke 16:10          One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

John 15:5            I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

2 Corinthians 9:7   Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Psalm 94:19        When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Psalm 27:14        Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

 Isaiah 26:8         In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.

Psalm 119:10    With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Colossians 1:11-12   May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Deuteronomy 8:18  You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth