April 19, 2024

This Week…Jeremiah 29:11

June 19, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster,
to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we are continuing a mini-series on the subject of HOPE.  Our devotional writers have shared the Truth given us in this week’s passage reminding us that God’s plans give us ‘a future and a hope!’  Here are a few of their thoughts….

In Hope for Good, Ahmee wrote reminding us that God is good and only gives good….

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most popular Scriptures known to Christians…that and John 3:16.  Jeremiah 29:11 has been misquoted, misused, and misunderstood, as well.   Sometimes, we like to take Scripture and toss it around, in a well-meaning (but incorrect) fashion.  What I like most about Jeremiah 29:11, though, is that it reminds you that God cares for you and all that you do.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God is on our side.

  • He does not harm us
  • He does no ill to us
  • He does not give us cancer
  • He does not cause accidents
  • He does not burn down houses

He does not do any of those things!  There is no burning down your house to give you a better house.  God doesn’t do wrong, bad things, or cause harm.  God, however, can make good come out of bad.  But He does not make bad happen so that good can happen.

❦

In God’s Declarations and Thoughts, Ann wrote about the importance of following God’s example in making declarations….

The Jeremiah 29:11 declaration which God made is so powerful.  This shows that declarations are a way of establishing things in our lives.  His declaration shows how He thinks of us, along with His will and His purpose for our lives.

Thou shall declare a thing and it shall be established.
Job 22:28

What is it you declare and think about your life…family…job…school, etc?  Be positive: declare and think that which will make your future bright.  God’s thoughts over us are of good…not of evil; and He declares the same.  As we think of ourselves, we, too, should not think that which is evil but only that which is good and declare it.

❦

In Hope in the Lord, Tina reminded us of Daniel’s example of holding to hope through intercessory prayer….

Daniel, who was one of those who were taken into exile in Babylon.

In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, saw clearly from the books
the number of years given by the word of the Lord
to the prophet Jeremiah, in which the making waste of Jerusalem
was to be complete, that is, seventy years.
Daniel 9:2 BBE

Daniel was a man after God’s own heart.  He immediately began praying, asking forgiveness of sins for himself and for those of God’s people.  Daniel was in reverent awe of God’s mercy, grace, and righteousness toward them.  Daniel’s prayer is an example of intercessory prayer.  We should all strive to do this, and most of us moms do pray and intercede regularly for our children and our family.  Our hope is in God’s mercy and forgiveness.  We have to be willing for God to use us where needed.  He will use our willingness to serve to give hope to those who have no hope.

Often, when we feel we are not worthy, that is when God will use us.  When we are empty of ourselves is when God can fill us with His hope and joy until it overflows and effects others around us.

❦

In The Big Picture, Cynda reminded us of the security our hope gives us because of the One in whom we trust and hope….

Job 11:18 ESV states “And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security.”  Hope gives us security.  There is no need to rush ahead, to solve the problem, or to  resolve the issue, without waiting for God’s instructions.  Because we have hope we can rest, secure in the knowledge that God has the perfect plan for us.  He sees the big picture and knows exactly what needs to happen and when.  His time frame, not ours.

When the Lord is our hope,

  • He becomes our Help and our Shield (Psalm 33:20)
  • He shows us mercy and love us steadfastly (Psalm 33:18)
  • He faithfully answers our prayers (Psalm 65:5) [just not always in the ways we think they should be answered]
  • He is our trust and confidence (Psalm 71:5)
  • We are blessed (Jeremiah 17:7)

The Lord is our hope.  We can have confidence that our future is secure in His hands.

Let all that I am wait quietly upon only God.
May I silently submit to Him,
for He is my hope.
Psalm 62:5

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The Big Picture

June 18, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

“For I know the plans I have for you” 
— this is the Lord’s declaration —
“plans for your welfare, not for disaster,
to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 HCSB

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

H. O. P. E. =  Holding On Praying Expectantly

So many times we’re in captivity or we’re having great problems; we think, “Oh, God has forgotten me.  He is not thinking of me anymore.”  Oh, that’s not so. God is thinking of you.

“But God is always looking down at the end of the road.  Our common mistake is that we are always looking for immediate advantage, immediate fulfillment.”

– Chuck Smith (click here to read entire commentary)

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have jumped into something considering only the immediate results instead of thinking about the long-term consequences.  I wanted the problem fixed NOW and knew just what to do.  How many blessings have I circumvented?  How many additional problems have I caused simply because I didn’t see the big picture? How much different might things have turned out if I had just held on to hope and continued to pray expectantly?

And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
you will look around and take your rest in security.
Job 11:18 ESV

Hope gives us security.  There is no need to rush ahead, to solve the problem, or to  resolve the issue, without waiting for God’s instructions.  Because we have hope we can rest, secure in the knowledge that God has the perfect plan for us.  He sees the big picture and knows exactly what needs to happen and when.  His time frame, not ours.

When the Lord is our hope,

  • He becomes our Help and our Shield (Psalm 33:20)
  • He shows us mercy and love us steadfastly (Psalm 33:18)
  • He faithfully answers our prayers (Psalm 65:5) [just not always in the ways we think they should be answered]
  • He is our trust and confidence (Psalm 71:5)
  • We are blessed (Jeremiah 17:7)

The Lord is our hope.  We can have confidence that our future is secure in His hands.  God is always thinking of us.  He has great blessings in store for us when we wait patiently and follow His lead.  He sees the big picture and has our future all mapped out accordingly, as long as we don’t rush ahead.  So my prayer today is:

Let all that I am wait quietly upon only God.
May I silently submit to Him,
for He is my hope.
Psalm 62:5

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God’s Declarations and Thoughts

June 17, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo
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

The Jeremiah 29:11 declaration which God made is so powerful.  This shows that declarations are a way of establishing things in our lives.  His declaration shows how He thinks of us, along with His will and His purpose for our lives.

Thou shall declare a thing and it shall be established.
Job 22:28

What is it you declare and think about your life…family…job…school, etc?
Be positive: declare and think that which will make your future bright.  God’s thoughts over us are of good…not of evil; and He declares the same.  As we think of ourselves, we, too, should not think that which is evil but only that which is good and declare it.  “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).  If we are filled with wrong thoughts then the declarations we speak will be of evil and destruction.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done.
The things You planned for us no one can recount to You,
Were I to speak and tell of them, they will be too many to declare.
Psalm 40:5

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.
How vast is the sum of them.
Psalm 139:17

David came to a point of realizing that in anything and in all things about his life was centered on God and that all things were being managed by God.  Let us also align our thoughts with the thoughts God has for us so that we may accomplish His will in our lives.

As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55: 9

Blessed be the Lord who has good thoughts for us and declares them.  May we  have good thoughts for ourselves, our family and friends and declare good over everything.  May we remember this lesson that we need to be thinking and declaring good things.

  *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Dear Lord, we thank You for the word that has come at the right time when we needed it most.  Your Word gives us life and teaches us new precepts every day.   Thank You for showing us how deep Your love is to a point of thinking and declaring good things (and not evil) over our lives.  King of glory, we worship You.  May we walk in that grace of thinking and declare good for ourselves, our families, friends and all that concerns us. For with our mouths we shall declare a thing and it shall be established to the glory of Your holy name.  Be exalted always, Jehovah.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen.

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