“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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13 (NIV)

The word hope today is used in so many different ways such as  ‘I hope this exam is not too hard’, ‘I hope that my football team wins on Saturday’, ‘I hope I don’t embarrass myself tonight at the dinner part’, ‘I hope my Mum doesn’t find out it was me that spilled the tomato sauce on the carpet.’  Yes, most of us use the essence of the word hope in these sentences at least once a day and never think anything about it, but that is not the hope that God speaks about.

To people who have no place to sleep each night or are hungry and cold, those in countries torn apart by war, the many lonely people marginalized because of illness or situations not of their making, to so many, this world must appear to be a world without hope.

What do we, as Christians, have to offer them in the way of hope?  We need to read again and again the verses of scripture that we have been given, in order to keep seeking this Awesome God who gives us the inner strength and the words and deeds to offer to those who are without hope.  If we truly believe that God is in every situation and works alongside us, then we focus our hope on God and we can help those who are in need of a glimmer of light.

Verses like these:  1 Peter 1:3  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you“.

2 Thessalonians 2:16  “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word“.

Giver of life, focus our eyes on the promises which you give us so that we may bring hope to those who despair. Amen.

by Terry Stead
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

Our Hope in Him

The Cradle of Hope

Hope is In Himv

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“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Have you ever had a dream die? Something you wanted to accomplish in life but “life” got in the way? A desired friendship dissolved because of distance or misunderstanding? Marriage and family never became a reality? What you thought was the call of God never materialized?

Madeleine L’ Engle writes, “Until I can mourn the loss of a dream I cannot be comforted enough to have vision for a fresh one.” Many North Americans are not comfortable with mourning. We feel it is appropriate to weep at the loss of a loved one, but when the weeping goes on for what we believe is “too long,” we counsel the individual to “get over it,” face reality, or any number of other equally comfortless bromides.

The Bible describes several people who lost their dreams: Naomi turned bitter when her dream of husband and family dissolved; Job’s wealth, health and family evaporated and he had many questions of God; Hannah waited “too long” for a child; after Jesus’ death, two of his friends walked sadly to the town of Emmaus and said, “we had hoped that He was the one.”

Since it is God’s great pleasure to give us new dreams and fresh hopes, perhaps it’s time to sit quietly in His presence, mourn the loss of our dream, then listen to the still, small voice of the Giver of Dreams for the better things He has planned.

Father, weeping isn’t comfortable and often isn’t socially acceptable, but thank you for knowing and understanding my tears and loss. Help me to feel your care, then move on to seek your new dreams for my life.

by Marilyn Ehle
Used by Permission

More Dreaming Articles:

A Time to Dream

My Dreams Were too Small

Accomplishing your Dream

Don’t Let Fear and Self Doubt Kill Your Dreams

Dream Big

Dreams – Another Perspective

Your Dream Job

The post Lost Dreams appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Is God still good? Is He still in charge? Is He still working out a good plan for me?

“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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you” Jeremiah, 29:11,12 (NIV).

On this broken planet we all experience unfairness. You don’t get the raise someone else did. You’re fired from your job for no reason. You’ve studied and worked very hard and, in the end, someone less qualified gets the position you want. You think, ‘I thought God was in this. And now? Nothing’s working out like I thought it would’.

Oswald Chambers says, “I don’t ask what is God doing? Rather, I ask “Who is God?”  That’s the important issue: Is God still good? Is He still in charge? Is He still working out a good plan for me?

Yes. We must look beyond the human element to the divine. It makes a great difference when we put God in the equation, like Joseph and Paul did when life was turning ugly.  Paul, imprisoned by Roman authorities for preaching the gospel, identified himself as a prisoner of the Lord, not a prisoner of Rome (Ephesians 3:1).

Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, said to them many years later when they came to Egypt to buy grain, “You sold me…but God sent me ahead (Genesis 45:4-8) You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:19,20).

“I hold onto the promises of God no matter what I see on the outside,” writes Nick Vujicic “I know that God is good. If He allows something bad to happen, I may not understand, but I can hold on to His goodness.”

Don’t miss out on a blessing because it isn’t packaged the way you want.

Father, I thank you that you are working all things together for good in my life.

By Helen Lescheid
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•   How to Pray
•   Understanding the Holy Spirit
•  Salvation Explained

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The post I Can Trust Him Always appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

I am in the midst of a kitchen reno and my house looks like a disaster zone.

The simplest tasks are complicated and frustrating. The kettle is in the en suite bathroom, the tea bags are on the coach, the mugs are somewhere in the living room. Everything takes longer. Nothing looks familiar.

Even when it’s time to rest it’s hard to relax in a room that is literally stacked to the ceiling. The other day I stood on the bare concrete floor and thought about the beautiful kitchen that is going in. I remembered all the years I had prayed for a place of my own and I took a deep breath. “It’s chaos now for beauty later,” I said to my roommate and I heard a whisper in my heart. Oh, there’s a lesson in that.

If your life feels like a frustrating mess right now is it possible that God has renovations underway?

Isaiah 43:19 reminds us that God is at work before we’ve even noticed what He’s up to. We see the inconvenience; God sees a temporary diversion that sets us on the right path. Renovations, whether they’re in your kitchen or your heart, are a messy business. But it’s easier to tolerate the inconvenience when you have a picture of what’s coming.

God’s plans for us are so much more beautiful than the kitchen my little brain dreamed up. His plans give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) So if you’re in the midst of unwanted change, take a deep breath. It’s chaos now for beauty later.

Father in Heaven, When I look around me and see confusion and loss, pain and longing, injustice or slander or lack, remind me that You, the very God of Heaven know my name. You know the cry of my heart and You know the character I need to build to live out the plans You have for me. When it’s time to renovate, help me to yield graciously to the changes You have ordained for me. Help me to be quick to see You in the chaos and quick to remember that You have not forgotten me, or left me behind. I am never leftovers in your economy, never second best. Give me Your peace as I wait to see the beauty you are creating. In Your name I pray, Amen

Question: Is your life under construction? What verses do you find helpful when the world tilts? How has God brought beauty out of your chaos in the past?

By Claire Colvin
Used by Permission

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“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

In a very dark moment in my life a friend said, “Do not doubt in the darkness what you have come to know in the light.” At the invitation of a ministry leader whom we loved and respected, our family moved across Canada to take on the “perfect roles” for both my wife and me. Within eight months the roles and the leader changed. On top of this, two of our four children were having significant struggles adjusting to the move. I was deeply perplexed and discouraged. Nothing was going the way we had planned.

The backdrop of Jeremiah 29 is the nation of Israel going through a long season of darkness in which they had many reasons to doubt. They were in Babylonian captivity because of their disobedience and rebellion. God gives them His promise that He is with them and has a plan — a good plan for their well-being that involves a promise of a good future.

In my family’s dark season, we began to focus on the clarity of God’s call. Our decision to move was not based on the circumstances but on a deep soul searching after God’s direction. God made it very clear this move was His clear direction and plan. Like the Israelites, we had to trust. It was hard but we lifted our heads and affirmed that what God had shown us in the light would guide us during this dark time. We passed through the darkness into hope, not because the circumstances changed quickly ? they didn’t ? but because our confidence in the midst of disappointment did.

God I confess that I have doubted you. At times I do not like what is happening around me and I want to quite, give up, and make the pain stop. But by faith I’m going to trust that you have a good plan and you have a future for me that fits into your plan. I will keep seeking and trusting you. I know you are good and you love me. Amen.

By Mike Woodard
Used by permission
www.thelife.com/dailydevotions

Would you like to accept Jesus into your life today and give your burdens to him and have a relationship with Him?  It doesn’t mean that life will be easy but it does mean you have Jesus walking by your side. It starts with a simple heart felt prayer:

Lord, thank You for dying so we can be set free from all of guilt and sin — no matter how big or small.  Your blood has erased all of our sin. Thank You so much! Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen

It is the first step.  Keep learning more….

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