"I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer. 29:10-11).
Wow! What an incredible 'promise and hope' for all God's children. Our Heavenly Father knows our every thought, our every need and our every longing. He also knows all of the mistake we've ever made and are going to make. God is not angry with us, he still loves us. He has already made plans for us even before we said,"yes". We can't even grasp it, how much He wants that intimate relationship with us. He never gives up seeking to draw us closer to Himself. In the next verse the Lord shares His heart's desire and the conditions he asks of us.
"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. I will be found by you," declares the Lord,"and I will bring you back from captivity." (Jer. 29: 12-14).
What God is telling us here is that no matter what our situation is, He wants to draw us closer, to see our remorse, to hear how sorry we are and to show Him how much we love Him. He doesn't want a 'quickie.' He wants us to wait upon Him and to really know Him and His ways, which means He wants intimate time with us, honest words from us and a heart felt relationship of total trust and obedience to him. He love us with an incredible passion, calling us back home where He is waiting for us to return to His side. He has forgiven us of all of our sins and promised to restore us to our rightful position in His Kingdom.
The Lord Almighty has and is breaking the bonds and chains off our hearts and minds, that have kept us enslaved and apart from Him. Whether our situation is financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, or addictions of any kind; nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible with God. It's never too late and we're never too old and the past is not our future. There are so many examples of His love in the Bible, where God took the nobodies like Abraham (from childless to father of many nations), David (a forgotten son becomes a king), the prophets (many from farmer to oracle), Simon Peter (fisherman to fisher of men), Rahab (harlot to lineage of Christ) and countless others who were transformed into great men and women of God. All those who seek God with their whole heart, are called to be Kings and Priests of the Lord. So let us not despair or give up, no matter how bad things may look for the moment. Just keep seeking, trusting and waiting on God, He wants us to let go of our past and grab hold of our future in Christ.
The Lord Almighty has and is breaking the bonds and chains off our hearts and minds, that have kept us enslaved and apart from Him. Whether our situation is financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, or addictions of any kind; nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible with God. It's never too late and we're never too old and the past is not our future. There are so many examples of His love in the Bible, where God took the nobodies like Abraham (from childless to father of many nations), David (a forgotten son becomes a king), the prophets (many from farmer to oracle), Simon Peter (fisherman to fisher of men), Rahab (harlot to lineage of Christ) and countless others who were transformed into great men and women of God. All those who seek God with their whole heart, are called to be Kings and Priests of the Lord. So let us not despair or give up, no matter how bad things may look for the moment. Just keep seeking, trusting and waiting on God, He wants us to let go of our past and grab hold of our future in Christ.
"I'm somewhere in the future and I look much better than I do right now."
Kim Clement
