Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
This is easily one of my favorite Bible verses. Just imagine… in this verse, God is revealing His heart and His desires for us. Far too often, we assume that God is mad at us (usually we are not even sure why, but we are convinced that we have done something worthy of His wrath).
Until recently, I was unable to fathom that God could be truly pleased with me. I have learned that I must choose to believe that He has made me totally righteous in Christ before I could simply relax and dare to imagine that God was ‘smiling’ rather than ‘smirking’ down on me.
However, now that I know that I am undeniably, unequivocally accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6), my life has changed dramatically. I now truly believe that God has good things for me; His thoughts about me are for peace; He has my whole future planned out; I don’t have to worry about tomorrow, God is planning it for me and He says it’s a good one, full of hope.
Today, won’t you simply take the gift that God has offered us through Christ – His own righteousness. We can never FEEL right with God unless we understand that Christ died in order to make us completely accepted in the Beloved. It’s not because we are doing everything right, but it’s because He’s already done what we never could (lived the perfect life) and He offers us His perfect life in exchange for all our failures. And all we have to do is accept that precious gift by faith.
According to Jeremiah 29:11, we have an awesome and bright future, but that’s not all; when you truly believe that God is pleased with you in the here and now, it makes for an equally awesome, bright and peaceful present.
Okay, time for your homework assignment… stand in front of a mirror and say, “I am accepted in the Beloved; God thinks good thoughts about me; He is pleased with me; I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow holds – because the same God Who created the universe is planning my future and He says it’s a good one.”
I placed a picture of a pair of sunglasses on the frig to remind myself each day just how bright my future is.
