Jeremiah 29:11-12: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you."
When we give our life to Jesus, we enter into a covenant with God. God has promised us a life of spiritual worth and one of victorious living. Notice that nowhere in that sentence did I say that He promised us wealth, riches and easy living. In fact our lives, lived in complete obedience to Him, may very well become a life of trial and challenge.
God knows what it takes to mold us into His image. We may wear the righteousness of Christ, but living it is a much bigger challenge. That is why we must have a plan for how to rise up to meet the challenges that our Christian life now provides for us. That plan should be heavily rooted in the truth that apart from Christ we can accomplish nothing. He will live our lives for us, so that our actions, our resilience and strength flow through us because in fact, they are His!
In these verses from Jeremiah, we take heart in the truth that God knows His plan for us. He has a future for us, not just eternally but in the present life we inhabit. He has thoughts toward us that are of peace. He does not wish evil toward us, but that does not mean that He will prevent tragedy from befalling us. It does not mean that He will shield us from all bad things and shower us with all the things we have ever wanted. It means that He will give us the peace needed to get through the moments of grief, the peace to go through trials unbowed and the peace to believe that as it says in Philippians 4:19, "God shall supply all of your needs, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. " (Needs, not wants!)
Our future is one of boundless hope. Not the kind of hope that says "maybe God will come through, I surely hope He does..." but instead meaning that no matter what afflicts us, we have the hope given by the knowledge that we are destined for eternal life with Jesus our King. That we are headed for an eternity in the presence of a mighty and loving God. That by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, NOW is possible to endure.
When you pray this week, pray with the knowledge and understanding that God hears you. That when He hears you He is faithful to respond. It may not be immediately, but He will. Tell Him how much you love Him and worship Him and then let Him tell you, through the words of His Holy Bible, how much He loves you.
Have a blessed week... Remember, walk in His way, live in His will and obey His word...
Video of The Week:
Hillsong United - The Stand
In His presence we have the power to stand, and the strength to fall to our knees in worship! He is worthy of all praise!
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