God of Hope and Future

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

…another version says: “For I know the thoughts, that I think toward you…”

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I believe, many of you already read this scripture several times, and it always served as a great reminder of God’s faithfulness and love towards us. However, have you ever read the context of this promise? I have to admit: I haven’t until a few days ago. After reading the whole chapter, I really wanted to learn more about Jeremiah 29. I found two sermons by Christian Wegert and Joshua Harris. God used those messages, and spoke to my heart in a wonderful way. Two thoughts in particular encouraged me a lot:

1.) God’s Thoughts Toward Us (Christian Wegert)
God thinks about us. That’s amazing! He is the almighty God, and we’re only human. But still, He cares for us. He even thought about us since all eternity. He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). And He thinks about us right now. God’s focus is on His people.

But why does He think about us? Because of Jesus.
He does not care for us because we’re such wonderful people. We’re definitely not. But God does not see our selfish, sinful heart anymore. If we are united with Jesus, He sees His righteous son in us. Because Jesus is our high priest, God’s grace is constantly on us (Hebrews 7:25).

God knows the thoughts He has toward us. He knows the plan even though we might not see it. We don’t have to understand every detail but we need to know that His focus is on us. His thoughts are full of love and hope.

„God of Hope and Future“ by Christian Wegert (German)

2.) God’s Good Plan Starts Right Where We Are (Joshua Harris)
We sometimes think that God’s good plan is not happening until we get into a different situation. “If I just could be over there…” (e.g. graduation, wedding, job, beauty…)
However, His good plan with us is not on hold. It’s starting right now. We can worship God wherever we are. Everything we do has a purpose because we are serving the king. He already uses every detail of our lives in order to fulfill His good work in us.

„Living in Babylon“ by Joshua Harris (English)

God bless,
Joy