I Know the Plans…

As I am sitting at Starbucks (yes my home away from home) could not help but think “What are the plans for my life?” As I pondered my question a song from Martha Munizzi came to mind; “For I Know.” I am not going to go through the song as I would usually do, but it is based off of Jeremiah 29:11.

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

As many may know reading through my posts music is by far one of the areas I speak from the most. Martha starts off with referring to this verse, but goes one step further. The line that speaks volumes to me has to be “…for you can’t see what tomorrow holds and yesterday is through, I know the plans I have for you.”

We end up declaring the verse of God knowing the plans for us, but do we declare His promises for what we are going through? Too often, especially in hard times, we run around scared about our future or the things that are ailing us today and completely forget what God’s promises are for our lives.

Here are some of the promises to hold on to. I am giving you hope for your sorrows (Esther 9:22). I will NEVER leave you (Duet. 31:6). I will give you strength for all you are going through (Ps. 29:11). These are just a few promises and I encourage you to look for more in the situation you are going through.

Here is the challenge I want to give you in the situation which seems hopeless that you may be going through; call on God! As I was having a devotional the other day I opened up to Jeremiah 33:3.

When I was in youth group I remember the youth pastor talking about this verse as “God’s phone number.” Now (wow 25 plus years later) I still reflect on that comment and wanted to look at this verse just a little deeper so I started with verse one and went to verse thirteen. Well take a look and I will explain my point.

 1 While Jeremiah was still locked up in jail, a second Message from God was given to him: 2-3"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.' 4-5"This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what's going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that's happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.

 6-9"But now take another look. I'm going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I'm going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I'll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I'll build everything back as good as new. I'll scrub them clean from the dirt they've done against me. I'll forgive everything they've done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They'll get reports on all the good I'm doing for her. They'll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.

 10-11"Yes, God's Message: 'You're going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, "A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here." But the time is coming when you're going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, "Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He's so good! His love never quits," as they bring thank offerings into God's Temple. I'll restore everything that was lost in this land. I'll make everything as good as new.' I, God, say so.

 12-13"God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: 'This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks. You'll see flocks everywhere—in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Benjamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.' God says so.

These sets of verses have much more to them then just “God’s Phone Number.” To understand the full scope of the verses you have to understand the background. Here is Jeremiah who was thrown into jail for speaking what God promised because it offended those in charge. At one low point he was going to be put to death because what God revealed was, by the human eye, impossible to achieve and was considered threatening. It is also the second time God has revealed to Jeremiah the plans God had in store not only for his life but for future generations.

Here are a few things that stood out to me. God starts off with a promise to a people filled with sin. If they do just one thing, call on Him for forgiveness, He will open up His plans. As you continue on you find out that God lays out His plan and says “His stomach is turned with disgust” because of the evil things that have gone on with His people.

As I read on I noticed something rather interesting. God acknowledged the baroness and desolation of His people in the hard time and says that, I must say I love this part;He is going to give a thorough renovation, bring healing from the inside out and bring whole life where there is only desolation. If that were not enough He was bringing forgiveness of sin and scrubbing away the dirt as if it never happened.

Now think about this. Can you imagine a blessing or plan that can take your current situation and change it in a way that looks as if it never happened? I am not talking a surgery which can deliver you from pain and discomfort. I am talking a reversal of the situation and turn it on its head!

Here is the key to this promise if you didn’t catch it. This is what God showed me through this set of verses; blessing comes through forgiveness. Without true forgiveness there is no healing. It is through healing that will find restoration and blessing.

Being from the construction industry great satisfaction comes in restoring something, in my case houses and buildings. The greatest satisfaction though comes when the restoration is so good you cannot distinguish the restoration from the original. That is the goal of the restorer. That is God’s goal for you!

Maybe your hard time, time of desolation, has brought you to the point of not being able to forgive someone for what they did. As I stated to my pastor the other day I am so hurt by what someone has done to me I cannot even come to the point of praying for them. What I found out though thinking about it is the pain is so great that I am having a difficult time forgiving and in doing so not being able to heal in order to receive that restoration transformation God has in store.

I challenge you to reflect on this hard time. Why is it hard? Is it because of something you have done, maybe a lack of trusting God’s promises or probably that of not willing or being able to forgive someone for what they did or continue to do to you? Think about the situation and ask God to reveal everything from different perspective.

Call on Him. You will be surprised what things He has to show you!

CAL

Let Hope Arise

Have you ever felt that all hope is lost? You look under the bed, not there. Maybe it is in that mountain of boxes in the garage you forgot about many years ago, not there either.

Here is a portion of a text message I sent to my pastor about my day today.
"Hard to hold fast to God's promises when it feels as all hope has been sucked from the very marrow of your bones." Have you ever had a day or worse yet (as in my case) a year that has felt like that?

Maybe you feel like Bill Murray waking up to that silly Sonny & Cher song "I Got You Babe" only to feel that bad day is just the same old repetitious day. Unfortunately some of us find that day turns into a week then a year and don't sneeze because now it is a decade.

For the past several weeks my pastor has been talking about being a giant killer. Here is the issue though; we are all called to be giant killers. The first giant we are called to kill is our own fear of inadequacy. Funny enough my pastor stated it is our "but" that gets in our way from succeeding in God's plans for our lives.

This is where the heading comes into play. We are called to let hope arise.

As I was driving home from church yesterday a song came on called "With Everything." Let me share with you a couple lines from the song that did not stand out but screamed out.

With Everything

Let hope rise
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light
Every eye will see
Jesus our God
Great and mighty to be praised

When I heard this I could not help but think hope cannot arise until we get to the point of making Darkness tremble. Here is the exciting thing; YOU are the light of the world!

Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Jesus didn't just stop with us being the light of the world. He finished with likening you to a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden. Do you believe this or have you allowed the darkness/dark times consume you?

Until we confront the darkness and doubt in our life can we not fully understand that we are the hope in a dying world created with a purpose for God to be glorified through us.

God is calling YOU to let hope arise or better yet explode out of YOU. In order to do that though we must do a couple things.

First confront the giant of darkness. You may ask how to do so. Well look at Joshua and when the Israelites crossed the Jordan. He instructed the priests of each family or tribe to collect a large stone from the river to stand for what God did for them delivering them to the other side and His promises (Joshua 4). When someone asks, tell them what God did for you and how He delivered you. This concept is also later found when David chose 5 stones in the defeat of Goliath. Later Christ calls Himself the cornerstone and additionally refers to Peter as the Rock or Stone.

God has a purpose for you to stand unmovable in hard times as a stone. Don't think of yourself and those things God has done through you as just a pebble. No on the contrary you are large in God's picture.

In Illinois there is a park called Starved Rock. This park, hands down, is one of the most beautiful parks in Illinois. What most people do not know is how it received its name. There was a battle that took place in the park which today is dressed in large granite rock, water falls, maple and oak trees and cliffs everywhere. During the battle the Illini Indian tribe stayed in this area defending themselves during battle and did not give up even to the point of starving to death.

God has given us the drive to stand resilient as a stone in the midst of battle, but He will not let you starve. He wants for you to look toward the hope which is set before you and to stand firm on His promises. It is His plan that you will hold onto His promises made yesterday, in the present and for the future both for yourself and for generations to come.

When you catch the fact that your life is so important that it makes the enemy's knees bucket and darkness tremble you understand that the plan God has included you in is far greater than your problem of today. In fact it is what drove Elijah to out run Jezebel and Ahab's chariots after a long drought and seeing the cloud the size of a man's hand.

Get ready; the drought will not last forever. He has not left us to starve. He has allowed that cloud the size of a man's hand to bring vitality back into those dry areas of your life. Get ready to out run the chariots of the enemy. Get ready to allow hope arise and darkness tremble. YOU are a the light of the world set as a city on the top of the hill, a beacon of hope for God's continued promises.

LET HOPE ARISE!

CAL