That’s the problem with a culture that worships self. When “you are your own god” becomes the national religion, eventually people realize their god is anxious, lonely, angry, addicted, and scrolling TikTok at 2:00 a.m.
So people drift into New Age spirituality, aesthetic Satanism, crystals, chaos, online occultism, or just plain numbness — because the human soul was built to worship something.
The Bible already diagnosed this centuries ago:
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” — Romans 1:25
Here’s the good news: Jesus didn’t come to make you more religious. He came to rescue you from emptiness.
Turn off the noise for 15 minutes. No phone. No music. No doomscrolling. Think about your purpose in life and ask this: “Are You really there?”
So, what have we discovered from our look at Your Life and What Comes After: Plugging Into God’s Forever Plan Now?
God has a grand plan and purpose for His creation and you have an important part to play in it. You get to choose how you will live in light of God’s forever plan; it hasn’t been decided for you.
The road you walk in this world, in this life, comes to an end, but there’s an eternity of glorious life waiting for each of us, and all of us together. Each new day is important not only for this life but also for what comes next because the way you live now will echo into forever.
Jesus Said It Best
In the Book of Matthew, when Jesus taught His followers how to pray, He said this:
Matthew 6:9-10 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Remember that heaven isn’t in outer space or in the clouds somewhere, it’s the realm where God lives, invisible to our eyeballs now. His will is being done in heaven perfectly and His grand plan is working in us, through us, and around us so that one day it will be done perfectly on earth as well.
Until then we can also pray:
Thy will be done in my home, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done in my heart, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done at work and at school, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done in my words, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done in my relationships, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done in my daily life, here and now, as it is in heaven.
That is how we plug into God’s forever plan now. When we walk with eternity in mind and keep our minds focused on God’s purposes, He will guide us into a life that is meaningful—though not always easy. A life that is fulfilling because we give and love as God gives and loves.
A life that will have challenges, victories, disappointments, and wonder—but that will always lead us to our Heavenly Father and the incredible and awesome things He has in store for us, now and forever.
Matthew 6:13b For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
My grandkids call me Bacca Ricky. It’s a title and name that is very, very special to me because I hold my children and grandchildren as exceedingly precious and as miracles.
So here’s a few things I want to pass along to them that l hope they will find useful in their journey through life.
A Bit About Prayer
I am an imperfect follower of Christ. I cuss occasionally and stumble often in this walk through the world. I try not to get preachy too often but just the other day I heard someone say, “Prayer doesn’t work”.
He’s right. If you think prayer is an app on your phone or some magic words that you say to make stuff appear, then no it doesn’t work. But that’s not what prayer is. God isn’t Amazon and Jesus isn’t your UPS driver delivering orders to your door, 3 day delivery guaranteed.
Prayer is a wrestling match with the Almighty, not a friend request on Facebook. It’s not about getting something, it’s about being something. Prayer is a hard admission made to your Maker about the desperately wicked condition of your heart and asking Him to help correct that situation daily.
It’s not a wish list thrown up into space. It’s not a lunch order off a menu given to your waiter, Jesus, expecting him to ask, “Would you like fries or cottage cheese with that?”
Prayer is asking God to turn you inside out and upside down. It’s opening the door to your heart and allowing your Heavenly Father to illuminate the dark corners in there and fill the empty spaces with substance.
Prayer is having the honesty to ask the Creator of the universe for a resurrected heart and a majestic character, not for a pile of money, a new car, a better job, or a cuter girlfriend/boyfriend.
Prayer is earnestly asking for the wisdom to know what’s right and the courage and strength to carry it out. Prayer is seeking to do God’s will, not whining for Him to do yours.
It is praise and thanksgiving.
Pray with the tongues of men and of angels. Pray for others.
Those kinds of prayers work.
Bacca Ricky’s Little Tips
Seek God daily, first thing in the morning. Take long walks as often as possible. Nobody gives a shit. Work harder. Control your appetites. Go to war with evil. Make your bed in the morning. Life isn’t fair. Get over it. Know when to bend – but never break. Don’t fear change, fear the same old same old. Cherish your family daily. Stir some pots and ruffle some feathers from time to time. Grow something. Be loyal. Wash the dishes after dinner. Get a good night’s sleep.
Finally, when you are ready—but not until you are ready—find a like‑minded partner, get married, have children, and build a home and life together. This is happiness and success. This is a perfect reflection of God’s love and His desire to create and have a family.
Next, we’ll conclude our quest into Your Life and What Comes After.
Jesus knew His purpose and He knew how to live according to God’s great purpose. He also understood that one of the most important skills to practice in life is focus.
Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem…
Jesus’ mission was to be the obedient servant God needed for His grand plan of saving the world to work. Jesus needed to get to Jerusalem, which was a very important part of the plan, so He “steadfastly set his face” to reaching His destination and His goal.
That’s what it takes to accomplish anything worthwhile in life – focus. There will always be a thousand distractions trying to pull you away from your purpose, but the people who are able to ignore those time-thieves are the ones who do great things.
Three Week Focus Challenge
Here’s a plan that I’ve found to be very helpful in steadfastly setting my face to get something useful done – I call it my Three-Week-Focus Challenge.
Step One Take a look at the six things you wrote down earlier: three things you like to do and three important life skills you want to get better at.
Step Two Pick the one that really stands out as something you are excited about getting to right away. Let’s say you choose learning to cook.
Step Three Be specific about what you want to learn or do by coming up with a “learning‑to‑cook” project. Example: I will learn the best ingredients and how to cook Eggs Benedict for breakfasts, Reuben sandwiches for lunches, and Beef Wellington for dinners. (Yum, sounds good.)
Step Four Define and write down how your project will add value to the world around you. Example: Learning to cook these delicious dishes will bless my family and friends when they eat them, and also give me the beginnings of a valuable new skill for a possible part‑time job or full‑time career in the future.
Step Five Steadfastly set your face to work hard on your project for three weeks, six days a week, in every spare hour of each day. Make it deep work, where you have no distractions—no phone, no social media, no TV, etc. You focus on completing your project until it’s done. You think about it, you dream about it, you make it your everything for three weeks, six days a week.
It Works If You Work It
When you work on your three week project, you have to have a quiet, private place to work with no distractions for 1-3 hours. When you’re in your work space set a timer for 30-50 minutes and focus completely on the tasks that will get you to completion of your three week project. After the 30-50 minutes of complete focus, take a 10 minute break, then do another 30-50 minute session. If you do 3-5 sessions like this, six days a week, you will be astonished at how much you will get done.
Depending on how involved your project is, you may complete it before the three weeks is over, or you may have to take a couple of days off, and start a new three week period on that project and work it until it’s done.
This doesn’t mean you ignore your other necessary tasks and responsibilities. It means you really set you mind to finishing a project in an area of your life that you have set as important and meaningful.
I hope you find this focus method useful, I came up with it and use it in my own life because I was having trouble really focusing on one thing at a time and this has helped me a lot. You should try it and make any changes you want in order to fit with your own life and goals.
Captain Elias set out across the open sea with a heart full of purpose. Ever since he was young, he dreamed of exploring uncharted waters, mapping hidden islands, and discovering new wonders that could help sailors travel safely. His ship, The Northwind, carried tools, journals, and a crew who believed in the mission. Every sunrise felt like a fresh invitation from the ocean itself. Elias wasn’t chasing treasure—he was chasing understanding. And with every mile, he felt more certain that his journey mattered, not just for himself but for everyone who would follow the maps he created.
Not far behind him sailed a very different kind of captain—a pirate named Brack. Brack didn’t care about discovery or helping anyone. He wanted gold, power, and fear. His ship, The Black Fang, cut through the waves like a hungry shark, always searching for someone weaker to take from. While Elias studied the stars and currents, Brack studied opportunities to grab whatever he could.
Set Sail
When sailing the seas of your life, it’s important to have goals—but what’s more important is to combine your values with your goals. Being a successful thieving pirate is as much a goal as being a successful explorer—but there’s a difference, isn’t there?
What you do isn’t as important as who you are while you’re doing it. So definitely set some long‑range and short‑term goals for your life, but keep in mind that those goals may change over time.
The kind of person you choose to be should remain at the center of all of your goals and achievements in life. Don’t be Pirate Brack; be Explorer Elias.
Have A Guiding Mission
Write out a short mission statement for yourself and refer to it often, every day is best. Your mission statement will be your compass as you sail the sea of life. It will keep you focused on the kind of person you work to become.
Here’s mine. Yours will be yours alone, so this is just an example:
To live in the presence of God, to bear His image to the world around me, and to add value to His creation.
To do my best to follow the example of Jesus Christ in character and action, to look every day for His return and the resurrection of the dead, the rescue of creation, and our glorious eternal life together with Him and His people.
To never stop learning, exploring, and developing myself in skill and wisdom.
To do hard things.
To question and challenge the comfortable status quo, starting with myself.
To wage war against darkness, hopelessness, and nihilism.
To help others in my family, faith, and community to have great hope, be well taken care of, secure, inspired, and challenged.
The more I look at life and the world all around us, the more crystal clear it becomes to me that none of this is by chance. God’s fingerprints are all over His creation—visible to all who choose to open their eyes.
This world isn’t a confusing mix of random, scattered coincidences. There’s a grand purpose, and we’re moving toward a definite conclusion.
Like a bus moving down the road, get on board, find the seat with your name on it, and play your part in the journey.
Luke chapter 2 recounts when Jesus was twelve years old and traveled with His family to Jerusalem for Passover—something they did every year. But this time was different. When the group started heading home, Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus was with relatives. After a full day of traveling, they realized He was missing.
They rushed back to Jerusalem and searched for Him everywhere. Finally, they found Him in the Temple, calmly sitting with the teachers, asking questions, answering theirs, and amazing everyone with His understanding. When His parents asked why He had stayed behind, Jesus said something both simple and huge: “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
About Your Father’s Business
Jesus started at twelve years old by learning the Scriptures, by being curious, by putting God first, and by daring to push the limits in order to understand the deeper things of God and life.
Make your heavenly Father’s business your business, and follow the example of Jesus. Jesus showed us what God’s business is.
2 Corinthians 5:19a God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself…
God’s business plan is to bring His creation and His people all the way back to Him, and Jesus kept busy doing exactly that. Wherever He went He taught people about God’s love and purposes. He healed the sick, forgave sinners, fed the hungry, shined light in darkness, and brought hope to the poor and needy.
Grow, Learn, Develop
Even though Jesus knew His Father’s business early in His life, He didn’t stay in the Temple forever, He went back home with Mary and Joseph and obeyed them, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” That means Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially.
He learned and developed character and wisdom. If you want to know what you are supposed to be doing in your own life, remember these two things;
Your calling and purpose in life are not about what you do; they’re about what kind of person you choose to be.
As you continue to learn, grow, and develop in the knowledge of God and the world around you amazing paths will open up for you.
Next, we’ll talk more about rumbling through the world.
Callum had been saving his allowance for weeks, tucking away each crumpled dollar with the quiet excitement of a kid who finally felt old enough to make his own choices. He’d planned to split it in half—keep some, give some—maybe to one of those charities for people in faraway countries he saw on TV. But when the first big March snowstorm hit and he saw Mrs. Halvorson’s walkway buried under a heavy drift, the idea came to him as naturally as breathing. She was nearly eighty, lived alone, and always waved to him from her window. Helping her felt like the right place for his “give‑away” half to go.
So Callum marched into the hardware store, allowance clutched in his mittened hand, and bought a brand‑new snow shovel—bright red, sturdy, and just his size. That afternoon he trudged across the street and started clearing Mrs. Halvorson’s walk, pushing the snow aside in long, determined sweeps. When she opened the door to thank him, Callum just grinned and said he was putting his savings to good use.
The second part of the Great Commandment, after loving God completely, is to love your neighbor as yourself. What does that mean, and how do you do that?
Who is your neighbor? Well, your neighbors are those close to you—people you see every day, your family, and your community.
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
It’s the same as saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Golden Rule.
Try some of these ideas in your daily life to practice loving and giving to others.
First thing in the morning, think of one nice thing you’re going to do for someone you see every day, and then do it.
Pray for a growing heart to love others, not a growing bank account. Pray for a shiny new heart, not a shiny new car.
Let someone else get in front of you in line if they need to.
Smile at folks, even if you don’t feel like it.
Listen more than you talk; that’s why God gave you two ears and only one mouth.
Tell your mom and dad, and your sister and brother how much you love and appreciate them.
Shovel snow off your elderly neighbor’s sidewalk.
Kindness and Forgiveness
To love your neighbor as yourself can be hard sometimes, but it’s always simple. The Apostle Paul puts it clearly in his letter to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Love God completely and treat others as you would like them to treat you. This is the not-so-secret key to plugging into God’s forever plan right now.
