The Simplicity of God's Plan: It's Your Choice
()
About this ebook
Related to The Simplicity of God's Plan
Related ebooks
Twelve Steps to the Throne Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wholeness Action Plan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictorious Spiritual Scriptures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoldiers On the Wall Boot Camp: Spiritual Warfare Training Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGifted: How God Is Glorified Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReviving the Dead: 10 Keys to Unlock Purpose and Destiny Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeaven on Earth: Enjoying the Abundant Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Is Faith in God? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Spiritual Walk With God Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Behold Seeing God's Glory in Revelation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAccounts of Heaven And The Edge of the Pit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Presence the Power and the Authority Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealing Made Simple Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRediscovering Spiritual Warfare: How to Battle and Win Against the Unseen Enemy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBits and Pieces Through the Journey in Christ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Immeasurable Mercy and Grace of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings144 Thousand and Speaking in Tongues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving in the Reality of God's Presence: Golden Truths About Prayer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReleasing the Overcomer’s Anointing: Power to Overcome Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5AUTHORITY - CONTROL? OR RELEASE! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod’S Relationship to Mankind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImage After His Likeness: Beyond the Mortal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExousia, Your God Given Authority Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOvercoming Obstacles To Christian Growth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlimited: Walking in the Miraculous Power of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeliverance from Depression, Fear, and Stress: Biblical Prescriptions for Deliverance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Let The Pastor Curse You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom In God's Spirit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
New Age & Spirituality For You
The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reflections on the Psalms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Knowing God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's Purpose Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As a Man Thinketh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospel of Mary Magdalene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Three Questions: How to Discover and Master the Power Within You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Abolition of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Simplicity of God's Plan
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Simplicity of God's Plan - Sandra Thompson Davis
The Simplicity
of God's Plan
It's Your Choice
Sandra Thompson Davis
missing image fileCopyright © 2011 Sandra Thompson Davis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
1-(866) 928-1240
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
ISBN: 978-1-4497-0954-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4497-0955-6 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010941830
Printed in the United States of America
WestBow Press rev. date: 1/6/2011
Table of Contents
Chapter1. The Purpose for This Book and My Credentials
Chapter2. Why God Created Time
Chapter3. The Time of Man’s Testing
Chapter4. Faith Versus Reasoning
Chapter5. Is Man Basically Good?
Chapter6. God Reaches Down to Man
Chapter7. The Key is Faith
Chapter8. God’s Way is Simple
Chapter9. God’s Temporary Provision
Chapter10. Modern Discoveries Prove Old Testament
Chapter11. God Finishes His Plan
Chapter12. Jesus' Ministry
Chapter13. The Simplicity of Jesus' Teachings
Chapter14. The Cohesiveness of the Bible
Chapter15. Jesus' Final Instructions
Chapter16. The Early Church
Chapter17. What Historians Would Have You Believe About the Early Church
Chapter18. The Triumph of the Early Church
Chapter19. Errors of the Catholic Church
Chapter20. We Live in Troubling Times
The Purpose for This Book and My Credentials
This book in not intended to prove the various aspects of the Bible, nor to argue its points. I leave that for those who study religion. I am writing from the viewpoint of the fact of the Bible, the reality of God, the Creator of all that is, and what all of it means for mankind today.
I have no need to prove any of this for I know from sixty years experience with my Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that they are in fact true, real, and personal to me and everyone who wants to know them.
I am a child of God, the daughter of my Heavenly Father. He is my best friend, and we fellowship together. How I got here in my sixty-sixth year of life is the point. I grew up the middle child of chronically ill and dysfunctional parents. I was not nurtured as a child should be, but I learned a lot of things. In the first six years of my life, I had two life-altering experiences. First of all, I learned from an older couple who lived across the street that it is not the color of a person’s skin that makes a difference, it is what is in the heart. Mr. Nelson and Miss Minnie became my grandparents of choice. They loved me, and I adored them. I learned just this year of 2010 that they died in that home. I had thought they went to live with their children. But, they didn’t have any children. So, I guess I was their grandchild. I grieved for them this year. Then, I realized they are with my Jesus. And I will get to spend all eternity with them.
My second lesson was the beginning of my life-long journey with God. I was invited to go to church with my playmate and her mother. That Sunday I learned three important songs. The first one was This Is My Father’s World.
To a little girl who didn’t even know her father, although he lived at home, this was a new and wonderful revelation. Somewhere out there I had a Heavenly Father who owned the whole world. He made it all, and it was His. The second song gave me a warm feeling, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." Me! Jesus loves me. I knew Mr. Nelson and Miss Minnie loved me, but Jesus loves me too. As we sang these songs, thoughts were swirling in my head. Then, on the third song, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam," it hit me. Jesus wants me, me. I didn’t know what a sunbeam was, but as I saw the sun beaming through the stained glass windows, I knew I wanted to be one. The tall lady teaching us the songs came by my chair. I tugged on her long, black dress, and she leaned down to me. I will be a sunbeam for Jesus,
I said, and I will shine for Him every day.
That’s nice,
she answered. But at that moment, God looked straight into this little girl’s heart and put a red check mark on it. Then, He said to His angels, That one is Mine.
I missed most of the first grade that year because I was sick a lot. I had sore throats and ear aches. But I think also my mother couldn’t walk me to school with a sick baby at home. My sister, three years younger, had chronic asthma. I never saw her, but one day I tried to sneak into my mother’s room to see what she looked like. My mom caught me before I could see, and she warned me never to go in there again. My brother, three years older, was in school all day. So Mom sent me out to play if it wasn’t raining or too cold. I wandered all over the back yards and down into the woody areas. I found a little creek and delighted in playing in it. It was my Father’s world, and I could play all over it.
We moved north to a large city for my second grade year. I was a good student and enjoyed learning. Reading was a great pass time for me. I read everything I could find. When we weren’t in school, I had a new friend to play with. The second major event in my relationship with my Heavenly Father occurred when I was in either the fifth or sixth grade. Russia had launched its Sputnik, and American kids wore dog tags in case of an invasion. One day at school, the teacher told us that if the Russians invaded our country, they would line up all the Christians and make them deny Jesus. If they didn’t, they would be shot.
Going home from school that day, I had a heavy heart. After changing clothes, I walked down to the little church I attended. Since my parents didn’t go to church, I walked by myself. My mom always got me dressed, and she let me go. So, that day I went there because I felt my Heavenly Father was there. I lay down against a little hill and talked to my Father as I usually did when I was troubled. I asked him out loud if I would be alive when Jesus came, and would I be faithful. At once, I heard a sound like a very deep voice. The words were out loud, and said just this,
You will be alive; you will be faithful; but you will endure much persecution.
I sat up thinking someone had heard me talking out loud and was making fun of me. But no one was anywhere around. So, lying back down again, I asked my Father, If that was You, please say it again.
Nothing more was said.
Now, I didn’t know the words endure
nor persecution
. That I would be alive really didn’t register with me either. But what did register that day was that I would be faithful.
After that, I didn’t think about it anymore. But one Sunday the preacher said if anyone wanted to belong to the kingdom of God, just come to the front. I went. The preacher put some water on my head and told me I could return to my seat. When I got there, I asked the woman sitting next to me if I was now in the kingdom of God. She said I was, so I guess I was. But I sure didn’t feel any different.
Time passed and I had to leave that school and go to a large junior high school. We had to move again so I could walk to school. My dad had a car, but we didn’t get to use it. He worked on the railroad, and was gone much of the time. We lived respectfully, but in reality we were poor. Dad used all his payday on drinking and gambling. So, often we had nothing much to eat. But we got by. I had a friend across the street and some other girls to pal around with. One girl was Joyce Cate. She and I waited for the church bus on Sundays and rode to church together.
One Sunday, as we waited, Joyce asked me if I had a personal savior. My insides leaped with a jolt, and I grabbed her shoulders wanting to know more. But all she could tell me that it was Jesus, and I should ask my Sunday School teacher to tell me the rest. Now, children in a dysfunctional family soon learn not to ask questions. So, I tried to find a picture of Jesus or hear his name, but with no success.
Then, my Father in Heaven got really serious with me. It was in the spring of my seventh grade year, and the day was warm. I was on my way out to play with the girl across the street when my eye caught a scene on the television, which was always on. I saw a man carrying a heavy wooden beam across his shoulders. He was bleeding, sweaty, and looked like it was very hard for him. Dropping to my knees, I watched as men whipped him and people jeered at him. Then, at the top of a hill, he was laid down on that wooden beam, and some men drove nails into his hands and feet. Raising him upright, they hung him there. By this time, I was mesmerized. Intently I watched the crowd as some laughed and mocked him while others cried and called him Jesus. J E S U S….this was Jesus. I knew that name. He was the one who loved me.
By this time, my heart was beating fast. As I gazed at Him hanging there, it seemed He looked straight into my eyes. It wasn’t an actor who looked at me; it was my Jesus. He looked at me as if I was the only one he saw. Then, he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
At those words, I rolled over onto the floor and burst into tears. I moaned the words, Oh, I am nothing but a pile of filthy rags.
I had never heard these words before, but I sure did know what I was saying. I felt unclean, filthy. I knew if I was the only one in the whole world, he would have just hung there for me. After a bit I sat back up, tears still streaming. I saw him die, and they took him down from the cross and put him in a tomb. I don’t remember any more of it at that time; I just got up and went out the