Jul 3, 20216 min read

I Know...

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. ~ Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

The King James version of Jeremiah 29:11 states: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. What do you expect...of God? Of your future? This verse is a guide for what to hope for. There are so many beautiful things this verse relays. First, God is thinking about you. Not once in a while, but all the time. His plans are ongoing and He cannot get you off His mind. He knows your name and your innermost thoughts. You are one of the main reasons He created the world, created life, and created your Heaven. Secondly, God is concerned with giving you something holy that never fades, a future that outshines anything you have seen so far. In this one verse, you are told emphatically by God Himself what to expect out of all of this—far more. God is communicating, “HOPE…because I will never disappoint you.” And He doesn't.

You cannot HOPE higher than what God already wants to GIVE you.

For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” ~ Romans 10:10-11 (Berean Study Bible)

It is not that God doesn’t love us. He immeasurably does. It is that we cannot fathom something that good, at least not to its broadest extent. Therefore, sometimes, people doing their level best will experience feelings of hopelessness or discouragement. However, God is inviting you to hope fully…with Him.

Hope is not a solitary event.

We often do not know our own minds, but the Lord is never at an uncertainty. We are sometimes ready to fear that God's designs are all against us; but as to his own people, even that which seems evil, is for good. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, or the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith… [His] promises are given to quicken and encourage prayer. He never said, Seek ye me in vain. ~ Matthew Henry

God wants a dialogue with you. He wants you to talk to Him, just as He has sent the Word to you. Seek God not in vain, not in complaint, not in passing, but directly, actively and persistently. Ask Him for something very good. Up till now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be complete (John 16:24, Mounce). “Ask,” in the original language, is a continual verb.

Jesus Christ expects us to treat him as a living, powerful, interposing one, and to confide in him as such. We do not know what we miss through want of faith; we conceive that certain persons are in a hopeless condition, and thus we dishonour Christ and injure them. We leave some cases, and give them up instead of presenting them constantly to him; we limit the holy One of Israel; we grieve his spirit and vex his holy mind; but if, as children trust their father, we would trust in Jesus unstaggeringly with an Abrahamic faith, believing that what he hath promised he is able also to perform, then should we see even such cases as that before us soon brought into the light of day: the oil of joy given instead of mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. ~ Charles Spurgeon

Breath is prayer and the Word is life. God keeps His Word to you. Christ surrounds you. The Holy Spirit indwells you. So ASK God to fulfill His Word in your life, and in the lives of others. Be conjoined with Him and keep on asking (see John 16:24). There is always HOPE because there is always GOD! He is the Self-Existent One and He wants a life with YOU. No one else will do.

Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. ~ Romans 10:10 (New Living Translation)

Lift up your eyes on high and see Who has created these heavenly bodies, the One Who brings out their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one is missing. ~ Isaiah 40:26 (Amplified Bible)

Of the billions, not one is missing. Not one is absent their slot in Heaven because of His attentiveness. You will not lose grace. God will hand it to you, over and over, until you arrive. You will not lose face. God will make good on all He promised to you, so be bold here. It shall come to pass exactly as God has told you. Good faith flows from His presence like a river, so use it here. That’s what He wants.

God will never let you down.

You cannot have too much faith.

The One and Only LORD of the universe wants to share this beautiful, intimate journey with you. He is ushering you all the way Home. He is kind. He is right beside you. The pair of you have never lost stride. Your conversations are meant to be astounding. The amplification of the original Hebraic text of Jeremiah 29:11 might read something like this (all definitions taken into account), and it is awesome to contemplate; God says...

I know how to think; I know how to strategize and calculate and bring things to pass you cannot fathom. I think of you and take you into account in all that I do. I give utterance. I speak it forth. I am the Lord. My thoughts and devices are complete, not partial. They are sound, not feeble. My designs and methods are for your welfare and for your peace. I do not devise things for evil, for calamity, or to cause distress or injury [but rather] to give you, to set you, to put you in a future and after-life where your hope is proved eternally founded in Me.

Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? One can be on point with God’s tone if they carefully consider how much Satan does that God gets blamed for. There are still two sides on this earth: good and evil; and two places in the future: Heaven or Hell. God is clearly communicating in this verse Who He is and where He wants you to be. Your status with Him is secure. Stand solid in that.

You see, thrones are for high achievers and the heavens are for high believers. Therefore, commit to God. Maintain your faith at its ultimate level regardless of the road or the difficulty. When we listen to the unique voice of God, it is like water to a flower—our souls no longer fade and curl in, but bloom and open up. Hopelessness always fades away under the clear light of truth. You are truly ALIVE, so please enjoy it.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). ~ John 10:10 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.… ~ Jeremiah 29:10-12 (Berean Study Bible)

God listens to you. Speak to Him in good faith and enjoy good hope. The end is only a gate to a glorious new beginning.

May God bless you.

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

King James Version (KJV), Public domain.

REFERENCES

Blue Letter Bible, “Jeremiah 29,” https://www.blueletterbible.org/niv/jer/29/1/t_concr_774011.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, “Jeremiah 29:11,” Biblehub.com, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/29-11.htm.

NASB Lexicon, “Jeremiah 29:11,” Biblehub.com, https://biblehub.com/lexicon/jeremiah/29-11.htm.

Spurgeon, Charles. “Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 14: Hope in Hopeless Cases” (July 19, 1868), Spurgeon.org, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/hope-in-hopeless-cases/#flipbook/.

DAWN DYSON

I Know...

You cannot HOPE higher than what God already wants to GIVE you.

Hope is not a solitary event.

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