The Divine Deal: Life Lessons on Preparing for Adulthood

By Sherry Matthews Plaster

As you prepare to begin your life as an adult you will be faced with many important decisions today that will greatly influence the rest of your life. Are you ready?

Before you begin making these important decisions it is imperative that you know the answers to these questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is most important in life? How do I go about achieving success in every aspect of life?

Your Bible is your instruction manual for life. In it you will discover that God loves you and has a plan for your life. Discover who you are and how to begin your journey to living your best life. God won’t let you down; don’t you dare let Him down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ambassador International
• Release date: Nov 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781620206539

Book preview

The Divine Deal

© 2016 by Sherry Matthews Plaster

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-62020-578-5

eISBN: 978-1-62020-653-9

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the Women’s Devotional Bible Copyright © 1990 by the Zondervan Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version, The Authorized Version.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover Design & Typesetting by Hannah Nichols

Ebook Conversion by Anna Riebe Raats

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In memory of Gail Matthews. My life’s first blessing. I love you.

To Jesse, Joey, and Emily. Serving as your mom is my greatest honor. You bring such joy to my life, and your love is my greatest blessing. I love you.

To Rebecca and Ken. You have been a blessing in my life. I love you.

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

~ Deuteronomy 28:13

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

~ 1 Timothy 4:12

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Information

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter One: Love is the Key

Chapter Two: Who Are You?

Chapter Three: It's Time to Talk

Chapter Four: Resisting Temptation: It's Your Choice

Chapter Five: Believing is Seeing

Chapter Six: Two Kinds of Fear

Chapter Seven: Do Your Best

Chapter Eight: Two Kinds of Anger

Chapter Nine: Forgive Everything?

Chapter Ten: Your Greatest Fans

Chapter Eleven: Loving Others

Chapter Twelve: No Room for Envy

Chapter Thirteen: How Serious is Gossip?

Chapter Fourteen: How About a Little White Lie?

Contact Information

INTRODUCTION

YOUR LIFE IS YOURS. NO one else can live it for you. As you prepare for your life as an adult, you will face many crucial decisions that will greatly influence the rest of your life. Whether you think you know what you want to do with your life or have no idea at all, the one thing you’re probably sure of is that you want to live a successful life, right? How do you propose to achieve this success you’re hoping for?

Trying to live your best life without God is like trying to nail gelatin to the wall; it simply can’t be done. Our God and Creator is love, and He loves YOU and has a divine plan for your life. You were put here for a purpose, and God has plans to prosper you, plans to give you the desires of your heart, and plans to use your life to make a difference in the lives of others. However, whether or not you fulfill the plan He has for you and live your best life—thus achieving success—is entirely up to you.

Life is full of decisions, large and small, with many mountains to climb. Your Bible is your instruction manual for life. Discover the person God says you are and believe Him. Learn His instructions for life. Follow them, asking Him daily to guide you, and you will achieve great success. With God in control, you ultimately cannot and will not fail. It’s just that simple.

Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God. Take all that you’ve been given and leave your mark upon this earth. The choice is yours. God will never let you down. Don’t you dare let Him down.

CHAPTER ONE

LOVE IS THE KEY

Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

~ Matthew 22:37–40

LOVE IS OUR GREATEST HUMAN need. Without it, life is meaningless. And to love is to honor. Success today and in the future is determined by whom we choose to love and honor. Therefore, it’s no surprise that God’s two greatest commandments have to do with love, and everything else revolves around these. God’s instructions are clear: first and most important, honor Him in love. Second, we are to honor others in love just as we love ourselves.

Probably the most famous or well-known of God’s instructions for our lives are the Ten Commandments given to Moses (Exodus 20). Four have to do with our relationship with God, and the remaining six have to do with our relationships with others.

In considering whether or not loving relationships are what’s most important in life, imagine this scenario: You wake up tomorrow morning and find you are alone. The house is empty. You go outside but can’t find anyone anywhere. You walk around the corner to one of the busiest streets in town, and it’s empty. You then pick up your phone, begin calling everyone you know, but no one answers. Lo and behold, everyone has vanished off the face of the Earth—everyone except you.

Now you are alone in this big world, and not only is it yours but everything in it is also yours. You now have everything you could possibly want. All the designer clothes, all the food you will need to last a lifetime is available to you; all you have to do is walk into any store and get it. You are free! Alone and free to go and do as you please for the rest of your life.

Now think for a minute. How would you feel? You have it all; you have every material thing you could ever possibly want but not one single person to share it with. Are you excited? I had this very dream as a teen, and I can tell you it shook me to my core. I was so frantic I actually awoke from the dream shaking. I was never more relieved when I realized it was a dream—a nightmare is more like it.

While it is nice to have nice things, it’s certainly not what’s most important in the grand scheme of life. You will never encounter anyone who, at the end of life, tells you he wishes he had worked more, saved more, won more awards, or earned more degrees. The focus of success or failure in our lives will always ultimately be measured by the difference made in the lives of others through love. Love is the greatest gift anyone can have and give in this life. And where love is given, it is most always returned. This is where differences are made and ultimate success comes from.

Now that we agree that life without others to share it with is meaningless, let’s take a look at God’s instructions. First of all, God, Creator of the universe and all livings, has instructed us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. Why does He want to be Number One? It may appear at first to be a tough question, yet the answer is simple.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

~ 1 John 4:16–17

Indeed our Creator is love. He represents all that is pure, all that is good, and all that is right. And WOW, He wants us to be like Him!

Many years ago when I was young, I learned God wanted me to be like Him, and I was confused. Dumbfounded is a better word for it. I knew then, as I know now, that God is the only perfect being, and as humans it is impossible to even begin to measure up to Him. How then, could God expect us to be like Him? Of course He knows we are all imperfect sinners. We were born into sin, and He loves us in spite of our many imperfections. Therefore, God does not expect perfection from us, but He does expect us to strive to be the best we can possibly be in all aspects of our lives, all the days of our lives.

To love with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind essentially means, in human terms, to be in love. To be in love with God is to have an intimate relationship with Him. To have an intimate relationship with God means He is always on your mind and always present in your heart. He comes first, and the desire to be like Him is greater than any other. To become like God is to first think like Him. Once you begin to think like Him, you will begin to act like Him. Once you begin to act like Him, you will begin to love like Him. This is what He wants from us.

Where do we begin in an intimate relationship with God? Where do we begin in our effort to become like Him?

Jesus said:

If you love me, you will obey what I command . . . Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

~ John 14:15, 21

Many people think that just believing in God is enough. It isn’t. The Bible says:

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even demons believe that—and shudder.

~ James 2:19

Know for sure and never doubt that God never plays let’s make a deal. He has said