Tag: My soul knows the world too well

A Ransom Paid in Full: Reflecting, Understanding, the Justice of God. Matthew 20:24-28

Matthew 20:24-28 Amplified Bible

24 And when the [other] ten heard this, they were resentful and angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Background: He Who Has Ears, Let Them Hear …

Matthew 20:17-19Amplified Bible

Death, Resurrection Foretold

17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve [disciples] aside, and along the way He said to them, 18 “Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and they will [judicially] condemn Him and sentence Him to death,  19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.”

On the journey to Jerusalem Jesus predicts that his death will take place there.

Jesus takes his disciples aside to report to them that it will include wholesale betrayal, humiliation and condemnation by the religious leaders of his people.

Those who should be welcoming him as the promised Messiah will instead sentence him to suffering and death, thoughtlessly handing him over to to a brutal time and season of mocking, flogging, and crucifixion by the Romans.

Then Jesus also shockingly predicted that he would rise again three days after!

But it seems that after hearing the predictions about Jesus’ suffering and death, the disciples somehow tuned out.

It’s as if they missed hearing the promise that “on the third day” he would be “raised to life!”

When the time came and Jesus died on a cross, the disciples were a despondent group of followers wondering about the suddenness what had just happened.

As predicted, in the Garden of Gethsemane they scattered in fear, at the arrival of the Temple Authorities unjustly leaving the burial, preparations to others. (See Matthew 26:56; 27:45-28:10.)

In this critical moment, there was no expectation of Jesus’ coming to life again!

In our own day and age, considering the number of years which have come, and passed us by since those events transpired, is our own “hearing” any different?

As we again, for the umpteenth time approach Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, as we again come to the umpteenth recitation and those sermons of Palm Sunday, as we again try to come to realization of what we know is to come, has already transpired, has already been written and narrated – why is any of this relevant?

We have not heard with our own ears the actual voice of Jesus as the disciples.

We could not immediately begin the process of giving it our fullest attention.

We could not be stunned in the same way as the disciples were upon hearing it.

We could not be apathetic or excited or wondering or stunned or any of that.

We did not talk, or walk, hear or listen to and with Jesus in that moment – in a more contemporary colloquial sense of the moment – “walk and chew gum and do everything else (preparing ourselves for the Passover) all at the same time.

Nowadays, we do not all concern ourselves to prepare to celebrate the Passover.

We are not looking for donkeys or mules or horses to ride to be paraded about.

We are not looking for “Upper Rooms” – Just sanctuaries inside our churches.

No Gardens of Gethsemane …

It is doubtful to the utmost we are worried about our running away naked in the middle of the night with thoughts of running away, betraying our own Savior.

Jesus will not be arrested again.

He will not be betrayed, mocked and humiliated in such a horrible way again.

We will not have to subject ourselves to the sight, witnessing him dying again.

All these things have already come to pass and by faith we believe and accept it.

Now, what experiences do we have to substitute for those of what the disciples witnessed first hand, experienced to the utmost first hand, threatened by too?

We hear pandemic, dire economic warnings or a doctor’s frightening diagnosis, and we’ll soon forget Jesus’ words: “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

We experience ridicule or rejection and forget that God’s Word warns that we may be called to share in Christ’s sufferings (John 15:18-20; Romans 8:17).

Facing them throughout the year is hard enough, but how much of that effort includes an intense time of self examination, reflection upon the Cross itself?

Facing them mutually, letting God work, let’s remember Jesus was raised to life.

We know what happened then to Jesus – three days later, as promised, he arose!

Our belief in the Resurrection of our Savior is core central to our Christian faith.

Yes! We absolutely love and live for and utmost sacrificially serve a risen Savior!

But the lingering question, the utmost intense question we probably devote so precious little of our time to study, reflecting upon: what relevance is the Cross?

A Personal Reflection: Why the Cross?

24-28 When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

Why does Jesus take his disciples aside to shock, awe them with his prophecy?

Why are such momentous words and such miraculous history transforming events still to be read and found, studied and prayed over and celebrated too?

Why is such a detailed, embarrassing account of the failure of the disciples?

Why do we celebrate ourselves being re-subjected to these terrible moments?

To give us another opportunity to run away from Jesus, recoil from them, him?

To mostly learn and then relearn to repeatedly avoid re-living the indescribable intensity of those moments, to make them our own as God repeatedly call us to?

Why the ugliness of the Cross … to learn, to relearn to hug its wondrous beauty?

Why such an intense concentration, centralized focus on the Cross at Calvary?

Why such an ugly, not so gentle, intentional, purposeful, graphic reminder?

Why didn’t God simply say, “Look, everyone, I know you have sinned against Me, but I am going to pardon you right now. It’s okay. I forgive all of you!”

God didn’t do that because it doesn’t work with His nature and character.

The justice of God requires obedience and sacrifice.

He could not accept us into fellowship with Himself unless we paid the penalty—or someone paid it on our behalf.

Romans 3:25 tells us, “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past” (NLT).

The cross demonstrates the ultimate expression of the justice of God.

At the cross of Calvary, the love and justice of God met.

Yes, God had to satisfy His justice.

The Scriptures say, “The person who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20 NLT), “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NLT), and “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22 NLT).

God was saying, “My righteous requirements must be met.

But I love humanity beyond their ability to acknowledge, fully measure and comprehend, and there is no way they can do it on their own.

So, I must, and I WILL help them.”

Therefore, He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to bridge the gap. (John 3:16-17)

This is why Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

People like to say that all roads lead to God.

People also like to say that the road to hell is paved with our good intentions.

It really concerns me when I hear Christians parrot statements to that effect.

There is only one path.

There is only one way.

If that were not true, then why did Jesus have to die?

If all roads lead to God, then why did Jesus go through the indescribable anguish, the immeasurable humiliation, torture, and pain of the cross?

Matthew 20:26-28 Amplified Bible

26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].”

The primary reason Jesus came to this earth was to save us, to die for our sins.

Paid in Full

Jesus’ mission was a matter of “search and rescue.”

He came to seek and save those who were lost (Luke 19:10).

He not come to be served but to serve, give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:42-45 Amplified Bible

42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them]. 43 But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first and most important among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a [a]ransom for many.”

He fulfilled that mission by giving his life at Calvary “as a ransom for many.”

As Jesus hung on the cross and spoke the words “It is finished” (John 19:30), he was announcing that his mission was now accomplished.

Because he was obedient and faithful to His Father, offered his perfect life as the sacrifice for sin, God was pleased to welcome home all his lost children!

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jhn/19/30/t_conc_1016030

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5055/esv/mgnt/0-1/

The brief sentence “It is finished” translates from just a single word teleō in the original Greek text.

The same word was used by shopkeepers to announce that someone’s bill was finally paid.

When the final payment was made on a purchased item, the merchant would say “Tetelestai” (“It is finished”) – in other words, the debt was paid in full.

When I made the last payment on the first car I ever bought, I remember how good it felt to see the bank teller stamp “Paid in Full” on my loan documents.

Never again would another payment be required!

As Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, he was assuring us that his mission was complete.

He had paid in full all the costs required for our sin.

And when we faithfully focus our lives, when we centralize our lives now place our full faith-filled trust in him, our debt for sin is forever wiped off the books!

On that Hill far away, stood an Old Rugged Cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Loving Lord, I praise and thank You for Jesus, my Mighty Savior and Servant King. Lord, today I pour out my life as an offering to You. I pray that I would serve You wholeheartedly and my service would bless those around me and be a witness to bring many to the knowledge of salvation in Jesus. O God, thank you that Jesus has bought salvation for me! He has done everything needed for me to know you, love you, and serve you now and forever! Amen. Thank You that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for me and for all who would believe in His name. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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God’s Justice In Jesus: The Greatness of Grace Is Reflected in Our Salvation from Sin. Romans 3:21-26

Romans 3:21-26 Amplified Bible

Justification by Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. 22 This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] [a]grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,  25  whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] [b]sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. 26 It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

God’s Justice In Our Savior Jesus

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace.—  Romans 3:22-24

So there is no difference.

You, me, people all around the world, family members, coworkers, and all our neighbors—together, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

None of us is in this alone.

Paul’s intent, though, is not to clarify that sin has a lot of company.

He is setting the stage for what Jesus came to do.

God’s goal from the beginning, when sin first entered the picture, was not just to judge us; nor was it just to rescue us from eternal punishment.

God’s goal has always been to get us back with him.

But for that to happen, there needs to be a sacrifice, which we can’t provide.

And there is no difference: whenever we live, whoever we are and wherever we live, we all need Jesus to be that one and only sacrifice of atonement for us.

Sometimes we lose sight of why God had things go this way.

A philosopher once suggested that it’s really not a big deal; God ultimately has to forgive us because that’s his job as God.

But God wants us to understand that Jesus’ sacrifice is not just some neat and ultra dramatic, ultra manipulative “love gesture.”

It is a big deal because as God, his job is also to be just.

The difference is that God gives us His only Son Jesus—because his goal is not his job.

God’s goal is us.

2 Peter 3:8-9 Amplified Bible

8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God’s Goal: We Should Know Him as He Knows Us.

If you have ever felt depressed, ashamed, condemned, forgotten, or alone, or forsaken or abandoned or homeless, then you understand what sin feels like.

In our fallen world, sin is intricately woven into the fabric of what it means to be human, and even without a theological definition, all of us can recognize it.

We recognize the sorrow and emptiness of sin every day.

Sin is not just about ‘doing bad things’:

sin corrupts who we are created to be and separates us from the relationship with God we are designed to know and love.

The Painful Roots of Sin.

Romans 3:22-23 Amplified Bible

22 This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,

The truth is that we are all born sinful – each and every one of us – and within our own power we have no means to escape our sin.

We can never ‘be good enough’ to shake the curse of sin.

As Paul writes in Romans 3, there is not a single person who is righteous on their own, nor can anyone even say that they are ‘a good person’ (Romans 3:11-12).

Nothing we can think, do, or say will free us from sin. 

This seems harsh, but any parent knows what this looks like.

No child has to be taught how to lie.

No child needs to be taught selfishness, greed, or anger.

Left to our own devices, we all come by these emotions naturally and must be diligently taught how to avoid them.

This is the nature of sin at work within us.

The Glory of God

Fortunately, this is not where things must end!

Sin entangles itself into every aspect of who we are, leading to hopelessness, until we understand that there is a way to be cleansed of it.

This is the good news!

We do not have to live in the shame and pain of sin! 

Leading up to this assertion of sin, Paul wrote “our unrighteousness” serves a purpose, as it “serves to show the righteousness of God” (Romans 3:5).

Our sinful nature is not who we are designed to be, nor is it where we are designed to stay.

The fact we cannot make ourselves ‘good’ only serves as proof that God alone is good, that through Him, we can have everything that sin holds us away from!

Sin reveals a sharp contrast between the love of God and the evil of the world.

In accepting His grace and forgiveness we see His truth and beauty tear down the lies of sin.

Redemption in Christ Jesus

Romans 3:24 Amplified Bible

24 and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] [a]grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

It sounds silly, but when I see the word ‘redemption’, I often think of …coupons.

Whether you find them online, in a mailer, or even if you still bust out the scissors and clip them from the newspaper, all coupons state what it is to be redeemed, and where this redeeming can take place. 

When you ‘redeem’ an item with a coupon, you pay less (or sometimes nothing) for that particular product.

The important thing is that the price and value of the product have not changed.

The retail price is still the retail price.

But when you walk to the checkout counter and hand over that coupon, you do not pay that price because it has already been paid for you.

The coupon is a gift that just needs to be acted upon.

The entirety of scripture is filled with accounts of God’s redemptive work among us, a redemption that we cannot ever possibly earn enough to pay for ourselves.

Not even close!

Our redemption is a gift of God’s grace alone.

Our eternal worth in Christ is not something we could ever afford to pay, but the price is already paid through Christ’s redemption on the cross.

It is for us to simply accept this redemption of our souls.

When we learn to embrace and proclaim this truth, we find the freedom we cannot even imagine any other way.  

Justified by God

Even once we have accepted His infinite grace, can we truly be justified before God?

We may often ask ourselves this question, as many have asked it for generations before us.

Throughout scripture we see the question written ‘in between the lines.’

In Ecclesiastes 3:16, King Solomon clearly states the difficulty in finding justice in the world, saying “in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness”. 

We humans regularly fail to define and determine justice.

True justice is found only in and only from God.

The justice he offers us through his redemption is completely unmerited and unrestrained by anything we consider ‘just’.

The good news of the gospel is that we who are guilty before him can be justified, the price of redemption has been paid, and God’s justice satisfied.

The Gift of Grace

Earlier in Romans 3, Paul drives home the fact that we are all sinners deserving of God’s wrath, but he doesn’t end the discussion there!

He continues on into verse 24 with the truth that we are justified through the gift of grace!

Paul, in his letter to Titus echoes this thought, as he writes, “being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

Through this gift of God’s grace, we are justified, made clean, made Holy, and given the opportunity to share this grace with those around us.

Our freedom in Christ springs from the fact His grace is free, His justification is final, and His redemption is complete.

Through His holiness alone, through His righteousness alone, we are each free to live for Him, unhindered by shame and guilt, strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, and equipped to do what only He can do in and through us.

The Greatness of God’s Grace Is Reflected in Our Salvation from Sin.

To God, and God alone, be the glory for His matchless, infinite grace!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a righteous God and that You chose to redeem mankind by means of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You that I have been imputed with righteous – even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ and that all who trust in Him for salvation will also be declared righteous, through time and into eternity. Heavenly Father, your justice is real, because you have given your Son, Jesus, to die in my place, paying the price for my sin. Thank you that through the sacrifice of Christ I may know freedom from my sins, to live in your love alone as my Father in heaven. in Jesus name, AMEN

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Let Us All Give Thanks To God For Our Foundation of Hope! Colossians 1:3-8

Colossians 1:3-8 Amplified Bible

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] [a]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. 7 You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 8 and he also has told us of your love [well-grounded and nurtured] in the [Holy] Spirit.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

The Root Of Our Hope Is Our Savior Jesus

It’s wonderful when someone comes into the kingdom of God.

That person receives God’s gift of grace through faith in Jesus, and they begin a new life of walking with the Holy Spirit.

The new believer realizes that the full measure of their “sacred cow” plans for their old life of selfish pursuits offers them nothing that will ever satisfy them.

By their new hope in Christ Jesus, they have turned their back on the darkness and are enjoying the light of the world, Savior Jesus – Praise God for his love!

Paul is filled with thanks to hear that the people of Colossae have come to faith in Christ Jesus and are showing their love for all God’s people.

He even says, “We always thank God . . . when we pray for you . . .”

They have become wonderful examples of living by faith in Jesus.

They believe and trust, they love, and they hope in what God has already stored up in heaven for them.

Drawing all this together, today we can echo with great assurance with Paul that the new faith of the Colossian believers is decisively rooted in Jesus Christ.

Friends, my prayer is you will have faith in Christ Jesus; my hope for you is that in Jesus’ name you are loving others, giving yourself up for them, and growing in hope in all that God has promised and is storing up for you and me in heaven.

Stay rooted in Christ, stay united in His hope anticipating the reality of our own resurrection, the reality of God’s coming kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

The Hope of Resurrection Brings Us All Together

What is the basis for Christian unity?

What is the basis for being able to correct another believers doctrine?

What is the foundation of love and faith in the Christian life?

Paul answers these questions in the beginning of his letter to the church at Colossae.

In the beginning of Colossians, Paul teaches that the basis of Christian faith and love is hope.

We can view hope as elemental to the gospel message, proclaimed to all who believe.

This foundation of hope in the gospel unites us with other believers, for all believers share the same foundation of the message of Christ.

From those foundations proceed faith and love, essential to the character of believers.

Faith And Love As Reasons For Giving Our Thanks

Paul thanks God for the faith and love evident in the church at Colossae.

The believers at Colossae were believers in Christ Jesus, found in Him and known by Him.

Their faith set them on the side of light.

For, Christians have been rescued from darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of the Son, Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13-14).

The Incomparable Christ

13 For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty].

Faith is what made these believers dwell in a new understanding about life, truth, what matters on this earth, and what matters for times to come.

And Paul even heard about the faith of the Colossians, so completely notable was their expression of it.

Paul also heard about the love that believers had for the saints.

The believers had love for their fellow believers, and this was an outworking of the eternal truths of the gospel.

Their love is further identified in the letter as being “in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:8), the mark of its veracity.

Paul notes the rich and beautiful Christian love of the Colossian church:

Colossians 2:1-3 Amplified Bible

You Are Built Up in Christ

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at [a]Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face.  2 [For my hope is] that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in [unselfish] [b]love, so that they may have all the riches that come from the full assurance of understanding [the joy of salvation], resulting in a true [and more intimate] knowledge of the [c]mystery of God, that is, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [regarding the word and purposes of God].

Paul will ultimately write to the church at Colossae about heresy creeping in, and with that in mind, he writes he desires the body of Christ to be encouraged together with hearts unified in love.

This is Paul’s desired way for the church to have reception of truth and correction of error: to write to a church about these matters who is knit together in the love of Christ.

Then, they would be able to further share in the genuine message of Christ, separate truth from error, and have the full experience of Christ leading and guiding in truth amidst His very own body at Colossae.

No wonder Paul thanks God for the love he sees in the saints at Colossae: it gave him genuine confidence about the message of correction he would be sharing.

That love in the context of faith was made possible by the foundation of hope in Christ and Christ alone present in the church.

The Hope of the Gospel in Us

Hope as a Foundation

Paul credits hope as the foundation for the believers’ virtues. Hope is the basis for Christian faith and love.

Hope is the basic element of the faith — that we have a future with Christ through the truth of the gospel.

And hope is the basis for Christian love — that we have a future with One who unites all believers.

Faith springs from the message of hope. Love flows through the message of hope because the message is what unites the church, one to another.

Hope from the Gospel

Hope comes from the gospel, the word of truth.

The hope of the gospel is restored union and communion with Jesus Christ, the God who made us. 

Colossians 1:27 says that Jesus Christ in us is the hope of glory.

Surely this is the center of Paul’s message in the opening words of his letter.

Hope is the basis for faith and love — and the basis for this hope is that we have restored relationship with Jesus Christ.

This relationship means we have a future of even closer communion with Jesus when we are one day with Him in glory.

Hope Passed On

The word of truth is learned through the teaching of another.

The gospel is passed from person to person through teaching.

Hope becomes passed through the fellowship and instruction of other believers.

Not only had Paul and this church not met face-to-face, so it was with many believers spread throughout the world.

The gospel — the hope of Christ — spreading is an encouraging point of union between Paul and the church a Colossae.

Their shared hope is spread by Jesus Christ who would surely build His church (Matthew 16:18).

Hope is the foundation from which virtues spring and is testified to in the gospel of Christ.

The Blessed Unity of Believers’ Shared Foundation of Hope

Because Paul and his fellow believers at Colossae had a strong foundation of hope — with evidence he could hear about — he is solidified in his union with them through Christ.

Paul’s Connection with the Church at Colossae

Paul uses this expression of prayer-filled thanks to establish his unity with the church at Colossae.

He would be writing to warn against heresy creeping into the church.

But at this juncture, He is establishing truths about the faith, love, and hope that are basic to the Christian message.

He heard about this church’s faith through Epaphras, not being a church that he planted.

But he had thanksgiving-filled unity with this church nonetheless because of the message of the gospel.

Paul’s Connection with All Churches

With thanks, Paul indicates that the message of the gospel was spreading throughout the world — and not only through Paul’s ministry.

What joy that these Christians could receive a message of warning through Paul based on Christian gospel unity — and not based upon personal connection.

Many could, and indeed would, be wary to receive correction from someone not personally known, but Paul would deliver this message faithfully and with great hope that it would prayerfully be received well by those he had never even met.

Through the unity of the gospel and on the basis of broad Christian unity through Jesus Christ, Paul would be proceeding with his message of correction.

Suggested Points of Meditation and Application

As we consider Paul’s opening comments of the letter to the Colossians, we can note hope as the central theme, and basis for his commitment and unity with the church members.

This commitment and unity comes from a heart that shares the indwelling of Christ Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit with fellow believers.

As you take these teachings to heart, pray over the following application points:

1. Strengthen your understanding with conviction in the hope that you have

2. Ensure that you are loving others in the church because of the hope that you share from the hope to be found only in resurrection of our Savior Christ Jesus.

3. Know that your hope means your faith is in a different world, for a different life to come. John 17:6-12 Amplified.

6 “I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept and obeyed Your word. 7 Now [at last] they know [with confident assurance] that all You have given Me is from You [it is really and truly Yours]. 8 For the words which You gave Me I have given them; and they received and accepted them and truly understood [with confident assurance] that I came from You [from Your presence], and they believed [without any doubt] that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them; I do not pray for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and [all things that are] Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; yet they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and protected them, and not one of them was lost except [a]the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

4. Trust a shared foundation of hope with other believers provides a foundation for doctrinal correction—should you ever be placed in the position of giving or receiving such correction

5. Be ever more thankful to God than to humanity for the unity of the gospel being spread throughout the world.

Resurrection of Hope

It’s not the experience of hope but the object of hope that is stored up for us in heaven–and that gives rise to faith and love, says the apostle Paul.

Colossians 1:27, Paul talks about “the hope of glory,” meaning the final unveiling of our salvation, when “righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Psalm 85:10). 

This grand source of hope does not mean we ignore this present life.

Instead, this hope encourages love.

In a sermon on this text, author John Piper says,

“Only one thing satisfies the heart whose treasure is in heaven: doing the works of heaven. And heaven is a world of love.”

He adds, “It’s not the cords of heaven that bind the hands of love. It is the love of money and leisure and comfort that do that, and the power to sever those cords is Christian hope.”

To live in the utter certainty, centrality of the hope of His coming glory, frees us all from greed and bitterness, despair and laziness, from impatience and envy.

Being fully captivated by this future Paul says we’ve heard about in the gospel empowers, inspires, moves us forward against the tsunami’s of culture, to give us grace to live in faith and in love to become examples of God’s new creation.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

In your kingdom, Lord,
there are no favourites,
all are equal,
all carry the image
of the one who made all things,
and all are welcome in your home.
You forgive those who in humility
make the journey to repentance,
even those who now reject you.
Such love, Such faith, Such hope,
beyond our imagining.
Such love, Such faith, Such hope,
that could die for us.
Such love, Such faith, Such hope,
sown into hearts,
that we might display its beauty
through hopeful lives and hope-filled words.
Thank you Lord!

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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God’s Plan For Us All: We Should Each Come to Know God, As God Knows, Us. 2 Peter 3:8-9

2 Peter 3:8-9 Amplified Bible

8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.

Many of God’s plans are detailed throughout the Bible.

He has plans for nations, for people groups, and for individuals. 

Isaiah 46:10–11 summarizes what God wants us to know about His plans:

“My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.”

It’s one thing to recognize that God has an overarching plan for the world; it is quite another to acknowledge that God has a specific life plan for each person.

Many places in Scripture indicate that God does have a specific plan for each human being.

It starts before we are conceived.

Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

God’s plan was not reactive, a response to Jeremiah’s conception.

It was preemptive, implying that God specially formed this male child to accomplish His plan.

David underscores this truth: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13).

Unborn children are not and never will be accidents.

They are being formed by their Creator for His purposes.

That is one reason abortion is wrong.

We have no right to disrespect God’s plan and violate God’s workmanship by killing a child He is in the process of forming and shaping into His Image.

God’s plan for every human being is that each one comes to know Him and accept His offer of salvation (2 Peter 3:9).

He created us for fellowship with Him, and, when we reject the reconciliation He offers, we live at cross purposes with His plan for us.

Beyond salvation, God also designed good works for each of us according to our gifts, strengths, and opportunities (Ephesians 2:10).

He orchestrated the location, time into which each of us is born (Psalm 139:16).

If He knows the number of hairs on our heads, then He knows us better than we know ourselves (Luke 12:7).

He knows the gifts, talents, strengths, and weaknesses He gave us, and He knows how we could best use them to make an eternal impact.

He gives us opportunities to store up treasure in heaven so that, for all eternity, we can enjoy His reward (Mark 9:41; Matthew 10:41–42).

God’s plan for each person is generally stated in Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

His plan is for relationship over duties.

When we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), enjoying a loving relationship with the Lord, our actions indicate that closeness.

Pleasing Him is our delight.

His plan unfolds naturally as we grow in faith, mature in knowledge, and practice obedience with all we understand.

As we obey His general plan for His children, we discover His uniquely designed plan for us individually.

We know God’s plan for those who know Him includes reaching others with the good news of reconciliation and salvation (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20).

His plan is for His children to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).

He wants us to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18).

He wants us to love other Christians the way He loves us (John 13:34).

As we diligently read, and study and follow His Word, we will discover our own spiritual gifts and abilities that specially suit us to serve Him in unique ways (2 Corinthians 12:4–11).

God’s plan unfolds in our lives as we use all we have exclusively for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).

We often become impatient in wondering what God’s plan is for our lives.

But it is not as complicated as we make it out to be.

God’s plan for us is revealed a little at a time as we follow Him, and His plan may look different in different seasons of life.

Hypothetically …

A middle aged person working hard to support the responsibilities of career and family, an older person working hard to successfully get into their retirements.

An already retired person looking to quietly move and gradually settle into their “time away” years, a young person may ask God to direct their steps to His plan for their lives and believes college or vocational training is part of that plan.

But halfway to their happiness and joy through their plans for themselves, they fall ill and must spend an extended and unknown period of time to rest, recover.

Are they now out of God’s plan?

Not if their hearts and souls are set to focus exclusively upon Him.

In that time of rest and recovery and rehabilitation, the young women meets a young man who becomes her husband.

They both love the Lord and desire to serve Him and believe that His plan for them is some ministry or mission field which they have had their hearts upon.

They begin planning and preparation, but halfway through the training, she becomes pregnant with what becomes an unplanned high-risk pregnancy.

Did they miss God’s plan?

Does the Lord have a plan to forsake them?

Has the Lord got a “plan B” to abandon them when things go awry?

Will the Lord abandon or forsake the middle aged person when plans change?

Will the Lord subtly or suddenly turn His face or His back unto the aged when their lives subtly, or suddenly become diverted by health or financial concerns?

Will the Lord change His plan for everyone to come to know Him in these times or from these times and seasons?

Not at all.

Proverbs 16:1-4 English Standard Version

16 The plans of the heart belong to man,
    but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
    but the Lord weighs the spirit.[a]
3 Commit your work to the Lord,
    and your plans will be established.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
    even the wicked for the day of trouble.

We must recall, God guides and Shepherds us in and unto HIS plan not our own.

The answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

The Lord alone is the one who weighs the spirit.

Commit your work unto the Lord and your plans will be established.

The Lord has made everything for its purpose.

The Lord alone has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:10-13 English Standard Version

10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

All this is of God, from God alone, to fulfill God’s own purpose, plan for them.

Hypothetically,

Perhaps because of their experience caring for a child with special needs, they are able to get closer to God and minister to other families with similar needs.

A person coming through the harsh reality of a Cancer diagnosis may find the need to share their experiences with treatment and surgery – to give comfort.

Whatever was “their planned mission field” will subtly, suddenly look much different from the one they had envisioned, but it is now God’s plan for them.

Hopefully, Prayerfully, Faithfully, Lovingly so …

They are able to look back and see God’s hand in every turn along their way.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 English Standard Version

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.[a] 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[b] every secret thing, whether good or evil.

“Will God please make up His and my mind so I will know what I am to do!”

We will struggle mightily acknowledging and accepting God’s plan as rarely being a straight shot to, as much as we can tell anyway, a clearly visible goal.

Psalm 57:2 English Standard Version

2 I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

His plan requires of us a journey, illustrated so well in Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, and that journey may be filled with detours and diversions, sudden and slow crawls, stops, and hosts and myriad and myriads of confusing turns.

Psalm 138:8 English Standard Version

8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Romans 8:28 English Standard Version

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.

But if their hearts and their souls are genuinely set to obey Him in all that they know to do, then they will be at, in the center of His will every step of the way.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 8 The Message

8 God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.

2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
    toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
    and silence atheist babble.

3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?

5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
    repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us stewards of sheep and cattle,
    even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
    whales singing in the ocean deeps.

9 God, brilliant Lord,
    your name echoes around the world.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Could Jeremiah 29:11 Have A Far, Far Deeper Meaning, Truth for Us Today? Jeremiah 29:8-14

Jeremiah 29:8-14 The Message

8-9 Yes. Believe it or not, this is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: “Don’t let all those so-called preachers and know-it-alls who are all over the place there take you in with their lies. Don’t pay any attention to the fantasies they keep coming up with to please you. They’re a bunch of liars preaching lies—and claiming I sent them! I never sent them, believe me.” God’s Decree!

10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

How rare is the Word of God today?

How rare is the genuine understanding of the Word of God today?

How rare is the genuine truth of the Word of God sought after today?

How rare is the person who seeks after the genuine truth of God’s Word?

How rare is the person who actually, diligently, genuinely, seeks to apply the wisdom and the genuine truth of the Word of God to their lives?

How rare is the person who actually, diligently, genuinely applies the genuine truth of the Word of God to their lives?

How rare is the person who then actually, diligently, genuinely, seeks with all of their heart, souls, minds and strength, to diligently, genuinely teach all others? (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Do we genuinely want to know, love, experience God through His Word alone?

Do we really and genuinely want to surprise ourselves by seeking His Kingdom?

The True Deeper Meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 Might Surprise You

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most well-known and quoted verses in the Bible.

It’s promise is held dearly by Christians all over the world.

But despite it’s popularity the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 is often misused and misapplied.

It’s one of the most misquoted verses in the entire Bible. 

While many Christians have this verse memorized and hanging on their walls, the context in which it’s written is often ignored.

The Bible passage of Jeremiah 29:11 is a popular verse that we, as Christians, cling to in times of trials and hardships.

Whenever problems occur in our earthly lives, we always find safe refuge in the Word of God and one of those verses is Jeremiah 29:11.

Because of this,

it is essential to understand the historical as well as the literary context of the verse to give us a deeper understanding as to why Jeremiah wrote it.

When we ignore the context in which the Bible is written we can quite literally make it say anything we want. 

What We Commonly Get Wrong About Jeremiah 29:11 Meaning

Jeremiah 29:11 is everywhere.

From coffee mugs to graduation speeches this verse is plastered everywhere.

Yet despite the popularity the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 is often misapplied. 

Most commonly the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 is applied as a personal promise.

That God has a wonderful and perfect plan for ME.

Many take this verse and apply it specifically to them, that God has their life perfectly mapped out, and that they only have to walk in obedience to God. 

Others take this verse a step further claiming this verse is a continuous promise of health and wealth.

Since we are children of the King we would, could, should only hope to expect the best from God.

With this view, anything less than that view, pain and suffering are interpreted as a sign of disobedience, being disciplined by our God for our true lack of faith. 

The main problem with these interpretations of Jeremiah 29:11 is that they are very ME centered.

It’s all about what God can and is going to do for ME.

And that’s not the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11.

Or the Bible for that matter. 

Where do we begin to more deeply, genuinely acknowledge, the grace of God?

When do we acknowledge the genuine authority, sovereignty, power, of God’s exclusive to God truth behind Psalm 46:10-11?

Psalm 46:10-11 The Message

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

11     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

See all of the marvels of God and God alone!

The alleged marvels of humanity are not even mentioned by the Psalmist!

The sovereignty of God and God alone is where everything remains the same.

Psalm 46:10-11 Amplified Bible

10 
“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.

So, accounting for it being about God alone, what does Jeremiah 29:11 mean?

Let’s dive into the context and find out. 

The Meaning Of Jeremiah 29:11 In Context Historically

Context matters. In fact, I would say context is king.

When we are reading the Bible we cannot ignore the context in which what we are reading is written in. 

That means we should do three things when reading the Bible: 

  1. Look at the surrounding verses
  2. Consider the original audience 
  3. Look at the larger narrative of the Bible

What is the history behind his words and what is the reasoning?

What is its literal meaning and how can we apply it to our daily lives, not just during tribulations, but rather, as followers of Jesus Christ and children of God?

To help us understand the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 we will focus primarily on the first two in the list above.

Let me just say this, the common ways this passage is interpreted does not fit the Biblical narrative – the Bible teaches selflessness not a ME centered faith. 

When you rewind a little bit from Jeremiah 29:11 what you see is God talking to the nation of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.

What Does ‘For I Know the Plans I Have for You’ Mean in Jeremiah 29:11 

Based on the historical context of the verse and the major events that happened in the past, we can understand why Jeremiah said the words in Jeremiah 29:11.

His primary goal was to speak to God’s people amidst hardships and suffering.

The people on the long march into Babylonian captivity needed to know there was some kind of hope they could latch themselves onto to face down reality.

The people were ready to grasp onto any smidgen of reality that would reveal for them that somewhere in this national tragedy befalling them, there is hope.

The unfolding breadth, unrelenting scope of trauma in every which direction of recent events of Babylonian siege, and plunder and war, of this disaster abound.

No one was immune from the impossible to measure effects of its devastation.

National identity was being systematically, violently stripped away from them.

Even their beloved Temple, where God was always to be found – was destroyed.

The Temple where God resided, was desecrated beyond repair – God was gone.

No God in residence…the spiritual trauma behind that thought – unfathomable.

Can anyone of us identify with this feeling?

Their lifeline to God and His divine protection – violently, visibly, severed.

Can anyone of us identify with this feeling?

No lifeline to God was equated with having no Hope of seeing Hope ever again.

Can anyone of us identify ourselves with this feeling?

The people of God were asking for an immediate rescue from the suffering that they were experiencing, and the counter-cultural, against the grain, prophet Jeremiah had a huge responsibility to tell them the truth about God’s promise.

He was also tasked to rebuke a very huge and ultra convincing lie that the false prophet Hananiah had widely circulated, which was not a very easy task to do.

This verse was his message, inspired by God’s guidance, to tell the people that God’s response is not an immediate answer, rather, God has a plan to prosper His people amidst hardships, God has a promise for the future of His people.

The needed caveat to these words – being after seventy years of exile is done.

The duration of the exile would continue until God had designed it to be over.

There would be no avoiding it or getting away from its experience or its effects.

The exile was a done deal.

Praying would not end it before its anointed and appointed time.

The exile was going to have to be fully, inescapably, endured. (Psalm 137)

Considering the coming tragedy of that march to Babylon, and what the people already had to endure and bear witness to (Psalm 137:8-9), it was a bitter time!

If we reflect on the words of Jeremiah, we can see the wisdom that God gave him during those trying times.

He starts with a clear, direct message, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,”

These words can be interpreted as a direct message and an assurance that God knows their plans.

And then, the verse continues with a more profound explanation of God’s plan, “‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

These words give more detail of His plan — to inspire His people to continue on, to persevere through the very harshest of seasons, times and circumstances.

The Historical Context of ‘For I Know the Plans I Have for You’ in Jeremiah 29:11

In its context, Jeremiah is speaking to his fellow people as they were forced to exile from their home in Jerusalem to Babylon and, now, under enemy rule.

There was too much turmoil in terms of emotional and physical stress among the believers of God during this time.

To add to this, there was also a false prophet named Hananiah who gave false hope to the Jews regarding the prophecy of God.

According to Hananiah, God promises to relieve the Jews of their suffering after two years and would come back to their home.

This was a false prophecy that Jeremiah heard and rebuked. We can read this verse further in Jeremiah 28:15-17;

Jeremiah 28:15-17 Amplified Bible

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to send you away from the face of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken  and have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 So Hananiah the [false] prophet died [two months later], the same year, in the seventh month.

Imagine Jeremiah having to tell the Jews that instead of two years, they would live in Babylon for 70 years and endure it as it is written in Jeremiah 29:4-10,

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”

Jeremiah was tasked to deliver a message that God’s people would have to live, build houses, marry, pray for peace, and prosper in a city that was not theirs.

It was an arduous, difficult task, and Jeremiah had to give the people an inspirational message and thus the words in Jeremiah 29:11 were written.

What Deeper Meaning Would, What Could, What Should, ‘For I Know the Plans I Have for You’ Genuinely Mean for Us Today?

Indeed, Jeremiah 29:11 is a great reminder amidst the longevity of suffering, God alone has a boundless God sized plan for us to prosper and hope for our future.

We should not give up. We may be experiencing different situations such as the severe health or a financial crisis or a family relationship on the brink of being torn apart, the verse tells us that these things are in passing and God has a plan.

Just as what happened in the past with the Jews in Babylon, we may experience “lets grasp for human straws” hopeful words of false prophets like Hananiah.

The much beloved verse also reminds us not to believe in human things that are too good to be true and instead, trust God alone, His Grace, His processes alone.

For it is only in trusting His process we can all be assured of hope for the future.

Lastly, this much cherished verse also reminds us that if we seek God in our hearts, we will never be weary even if we experience suffering in our lives.

Let God alone transform our mindsets of unrelenting suffering to unrelenting joy in the Lord and the Lord alone who is our strength. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

More Bible Verses about Hope

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  ~ Isaiah 40:31

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. ~ Romans 8:24-25

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ~ 1 Peter 1:3

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ~ Romans 15:4

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ~ Romans 15:13

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ~ Romans 12:12

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ~ Hebrews 11:1

2 Timothy 3:14-17 Amplified Bible

14 But as for you, continue in the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced [holding tightly to the truths], knowing from whom you learned  them,  15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings (Hebrew Scriptures) which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus [surrendering your entire self to Him and having absolute confidence in His wisdom, power and goodness]. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; 17 so that the [a]man of God may be complete  and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Seek out the deeper meanings, immeasurable truths of the Word of God.

The entirety of our lives is a Tapestry weaved by the Grace of God by God.

In Christ Jesus, our Savior, in Him alone our hope is found (Acts 4:8-12)

Give God 100% of the Glory – saving or hoarding none of it for yourselves.

Give God 100% of the Praise – saving or hoarding none of it for yourselves.

Give God 100% of the Honor – saving or hoarding none of it for yourselves.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Majesty, worship His majesty
Unto Jesus be all glory, honor and praise,
Majesty, kingdom authority
Flow from His throne, unto His own
His Anthem raise
Majesty, worship His majesty

Unto Jesus be all glory, honor and praise,
Majesty, kingdom authority
Flow from His throne, unto His own
His Anthem raise

So exalt, lift up on high, the name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship His majesty

Jesus who died, now glorified
King of all kings

Copyright: 

1981 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

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The Compelling Truth: What is the Importance of Family Devotions? Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Amplified Bible

4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your [a]children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand (forearm), and they shall be used as [b]bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the [c]doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.

Parents, Grandparents and God’s Children of all ages and walks of and among life, what first comes to our mind when we meditate about “family devotions”?

Does it include regular times set apart for your family read Scripture? Prayer? Worship in song? Formal Bible instruction with age-appropriate resources?

Yes, all these things and quite a few things more characterize family devotions.

And all serve to glorify and honor God and too will definitely come to benefit our children and our families as we instruct them in what is most important.

I don’t think there’s a mandate to be found in sacred Scripture that is more solemn than this one. That we are to teach our children the truth of God’s Word is a sacred, holy responsibility that God gives to His people. And it’s not something that is to be done only one day a week in Sunday school. We can’t abdicate the responsibility to the church. The primary responsibility for the education of children according to Scripture is the family, the parents.

(R. C. Sproul, “The Most Solemn Mandate in the Bible for Parents,” ligonier.org)

God instructed the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:6–9,

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

This ancient passage of text makes it abundantly clear that God’s forever intent is for parents to teach their children and each other about God and His ways.

God’s Word should be at the forefront of our lives and the center of our homes.

Thousands of years later, Apostle Paul echoes the importance of these words.

Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” One way we teach our children this truth is by coming together as a family to be in God’s Word and praying together.

The wisest of the wise King Solomon: Proverbs 22:6 gives this wisdom: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

As parents who love God and who deeply believe and cherish Him, we want to help our, and future generations of children also come to love and believe Him.

Deliberately, Intentionally, Purposefully, our setting aside time for our family devotions each day will show our children that God is the very center of our lives, and spending time with Him is our priority, and we desire to do His will.

We want to show them that it’s okay, God can be the center of their lives, too.

We also want them to be taught, see how God guides them through life in their community, schools, family, and decisions – so they may teach their children.

To raise them up with critically important biblical values that they may one day, as might be needed, to emphasize these values before school board authorities.

Advocate, Communicate, Educate, the highest values of acceptance and sanctity of all life which God indelibly places upon everyone – without any exceptions.

Living, Loving, Moving, Being enveloped in the Word feeds us with everything we need from advice, to wisdom, to morals and ethics and unto His salvation.

It sets us up with a rock solid, sure and certain and steadfast and immovable foundation, a place for all to turn to in times of trials, tribulations, and praise.

Family devotions are a wonderful time for discussions with your children.

As you and your family read through God’s Word together, you can discuss the ways in which it is inescapably relevant to their lives.

For example, some of your discussions might include the ways in which God’s character applies to our understanding of our morals, attitudes and behaviors.

Be sure to not only discuss troublesome behaviors, but positive ones as well.

Your discussions might also include questions about how and why the world works the way it does.

You might just find yourselves talking about your relationships with others and all the ways in which God’s character and His commands help transform those.

These discussions can help your children see that God’s Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16b–17).

Family devotions help create a firm foundation for your children’s spiritual growth.

In diligently and prudently practicing the spiritual disciplines of reading and studying God’s Word of fellowship and praying together, you help train your children to incorporate and carry these “God” practices with them through life.

You’re also helping them to learn the immeasurable dimensions, the infinite applications of the truth of God’s Word and to come to know, love, Him better.

When we dive into God’s Word, we are teaching our children that God loves and cares about them and us relentlessly.

When we come together to God to pray, to seek Him, we are showing our children we have access to a God who is holy, loving, able to meet our needs.

Our family devotions will likely challenge our faith and contribute infinitely to our spiritual growth as well.

Family devotions also help us meaningfully connect with our children in the midst of a sometimes hectic world.

Taking time to pause to focus on God together is the sweet intimacy of Christian fellowship.

A family time that is deliberately, intentionally, personally, purposely set apart can also serve as a time to honor God and each other, to relate with one another.

As we share our joys and our concerns, our struggles and trials, prayer requests or discuss how God’s Word applies to our lives, we are sharing God in our lives.

Dedicating this time to focus on your children and on God can help strengthen your relationships with your child.

Family devotions do not have to be elaborate.

You can keep them as simple as reading through a passage that pertains to issues you might be facing in your family, to reading through a certain book of the Bible, or purchasing age-appropriate devotional books.

You can include time for worshiping with music if you desire.

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified Bible

23 
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

There is no set time-length that family devotions have to last, but you can be assured that you will soon find this experience to be a joyful time together.

At the conclusion of your time together, pray for God’s goodness in your family, any requests of friends and family, and for His abundant guidance in your lives.

Psalm 139:1-18 Amplified Bible

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
2 
You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];
You understand my thought from afar.
3 
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 
Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.
6 
Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.

7 
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.
9 
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11 
If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,
And the night will be the only light around me,”
12 
Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day;
Darkness and light are alike to You.

13 
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
14 
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16 
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

17 
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

Remember to always praise God for His answers to your prayers, too.

Create an environment that is calm, loving, and memorable, one that your children will want to foster, nurture, impress, upon the lives of their children.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

Family devotions are a crucial means of declaring, living out family priorities.

By turning to God’s Word and prayer together every day (or most days, at least), we model the uncompromising centrality of these practices in our Christian life.

These daily times together will also prove an important means of our building closeness within our family…

Our devotions call us to a family experience each day.

Hebrews 6:19-20 Amplified Bible

19 This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells],20 where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of [a]Melchizedek.

Our time away with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and each other gives expression to this “confident assurance” we have all an anchor for our souls.

We each have our own hopes and dreams we desire to see lived in each other.

And while few of them are remarkably miraculous on their own, it is their gradual and steadfast accumulation which will add up to something special.

And then there is the benefit of building a habit that adds structure and stability to the family’s shared life.

As we have emphasized family devotions, we will gradually find out it becomes a kind of disciplined, organizing structure to the God life we all share together…

Through disciplined family devotions we model our own discipline of personal devotions, for the two closely, inextricably, inescapably, resemble one another.

By relating to the Lord as a family, we teach how to relate to him as individuals.

Growing up in a prayer-filled home is a beautiful and powerful thing.

Parents can pray over their children from the moment they are conceived through adulthood.

Children can learn alongside their parents how to pray to the Lord themselves.

Siblings can pray for and with one another as they resolve conflict and build strong relationships.

Extended family can cover loved ones in prayer through both joyful and challenging seasons.

Families can pray together more often than just before dinner, and it can be a life-changing and spiritually transformative experience that not only brings family members closer to God, but blessedly, ultimately closer to one another! 

It is the kind of disciplined habit, perhaps like eating and praying together, and attending church together, that anchors family to the centrality of Jesus Christ.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16-17

Lord, I pray that the message of Christ and his sacrifice is the root of gratitude in my and my family’s heart. That His gracious gift leads me and my family into thankful living, setting a timeless example for the rest of my family and their children. That they will have their own truly abiding relationship with Jesus one day, and that You would grow gratitude in their hearts out of the acceptance of Jesus as their Savior. Lead us to do everything in the name of Jesus and give thanks to You through Him.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Tune My Ears, God! I Will Choose to Listen and Believe the Voice of Truth. John 10:1-5

John 10:1-5 Amplified Bible

Parable of the Good Shepherd

10 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from some other place [on the stone wall], that one is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider]. 3 The [a]doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture]. 4 When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Whose Voice Are We Following?

Internet, iPad, iPod—the “I”s certainly have it today!

At home and at work we call on Siri, we talk into our phones, we sit or stand or lie down in our living rooms or dining rooms, of kitchens or even bathrooms.

We will talk into our television remotes and search for a particular favorite channel or programming station, for whatever it is they call entertainment.

We call out to some voice identified only as Siri and ask her or tell her to call up some random search parameter – a recipe, or a song or list of vacation spots or whatever happens to land into our wandering randomized thought processes.

And in an instant a disconnected computer voice from our phones or Alexa chimes in with “okay, this is what I found…!” and we are on our way to read whatever information was “found” in less time it took to type this sentence.

At the beach, in the department store, on the college campus, everywhere people have “earbuds” wireless listening devices planted deep in their ears.

While both technology and music are gifts of God, I hope we also take time to listen to the springtime chatter of robins or to the hoot cry of a Barn Owl.

What we hear and what and who we listen to makes a difference in our lives.

What information we hear, and who we hear it from, will end up profoundly influencing our thought processes and will inevitably guide our actions, into how we respond to a particular life altering, life transforming circumstance.

How we make decisions, how we judge what is morally and ethically right and wrong, how we interpret whether what we see and hear is truth or a deception.

People will tell us anything to sell their products and increase their profits and their bank accounts, to sell us a bill of goods which ultimately has little value.

Do you read or listen to, or hear the lyrics of the songs your children listen to?

Do you take any quality time with your children to discuss their song choices?

Together, do you come to a place where you can share your thoughts with them, they can share their thoughts with you – come unto an “acceptable boundary?”

Do you know what they are hearing and how it impacts what both of you have both come to be known as “morally and ethically right versus wrong” truth?

Jesus is the good shepherd.

Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6)

He laid down his life for us on the Good Friday cross.

If we are to follow Jesus and avoid impostors, we must recognize his voice clearly and quickly in every situation we encounter.

To do that, we ought to be considering counseling others away from technology and spending more time studying, hearing, listening, to his Word in the Bible.

Spending quality devotional time with the children (whatever their ages are).

Talking about current events, their impacts on what is understood to be true.

There are words spoken through whatever social media medium which are worded with the intent of moving their version of truth into our forefronts.

“Words of someone else’s truth” specifically spoken, specifically manipulated, of what someone else desperately wants us to unequivocally believe as gospel.

Differentiating between the voice of someone else’s truth and God’s truth?

What possible difference could it make, what possible influence could it have to one life knowing what the difference is between the world’s truth and God’s?

Love Letter to my Ears, “Whose Truth Guides Us?”

John 10:1-5 The Message

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

When I became a new Christian, hearing and knowing God’s voice and differentiating from the world were the things I struggled the most with.

How could I know whether I was hearing from God when I didn’t know His voice?

How could I be sure the Lord was speaking to me while reading Scripture, listening to a sermon, or going to Sunday school or a Bible study lesson?

I was so afraid of missing God’s instructions, warning, and encouragement that I often found myself paralyzed by raging questions of faith, my truth and doubt.

Sorting through what I had “known and believed” was truth and what the Word of God, the often complicated “Parable” teachings of Jesus and Paul was tough.

Unraveling and un-weaving of the mess I made of my own interpretation of the word truth along the long, winding and hardened concourse of my life – was a complex time of hardcore self introspection, challenging my life against God’s.

As I began studying the Bible, I learned how God’s voice matched the Scriptures.

Thus, if I wanted to know what God had to say on a particular topic, I had to devote considerable time to studying, to know what the Bible said on that topic.

If I heard a voice and was unsure whether or not that voice was the Lord’s, the Bible through Holy Spirit, would work with me to confirm whether it was Him.

I have learned the hard and soft way God’s voice will never contradict the Bible.

If the voice you’re hearing is encouraging you to take Scripture out of context to make it fit your situation, the voice is not of God and the truth is not of God too.

We can grow, we can mature to learn and discern God’s voice by studying the Holy Scriptures, praying, and asking and pleading with our Savior to teach us.

God invites us (not forces us) to ask and answer the question on all our minds:

In this time when our available resources are stretched nigh to invisibility;

Isaiah 55:1-5 The Message

Buy Without Money

55 1-5 “Hey there! All who are thirsty,
    come to the water!
Are you penniless?
    Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
    Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
    your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
    fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
    listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
    the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
    made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
    You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
    will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
    because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”

Jesus, the good shepherd, says, “Listen, listen to me … that you may live.”

Those who have ears, let them truthfully hear and let them truthfully live!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Precious Holy Spirit, I come to you today asking for guidance. I feel lost and overwhelmed, and I need your help in finding my way. Please open my eyes and heart to the direction you want me to take. Help me to make wise decisions that will lead me closer to your path for my life. Give me the strength and courage to persevere when times are difficult. Lead me with your truth and love, so that I may live a life that brings glory to your name. Thank you for your guidance and protection. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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