{"id":3692,"date":"2015-10-13T00:22:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T07:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3692"},"modified":"2015-10-13T07:24:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T14:24:37","slug":"1013-gods-good-plans-for-your-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/10\/13\/1013-gods-good-plans-for-your-future\/","title":{"rendered":"10\/13: God’s Good Plans for Your Future (\u8bd7119:25-32 \u5e16\u540e1:1-12 \u803627:1-29:23)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd7119:25-32 \u5e16\u540e1:1-12 \u803627:1-29:23<\/h2>\n

God’s Good Plans for Your Future<\/h2>\n
\n

Futurologists are people who make predictions about the future. One prediction is that some babies born now are likely to live to the ripe old age of 150. Wired <\/em>magazine recently predicted that meal replacement patches (taking nicotine replacement patches a step further) will be in existence by 2018, and that by 2020 there will be a new financial currency introduced for purchases in space!<\/p>\n

Some look to futurologists to know what is coming. Others go further. Many people read their horoscopes because they want to know what the future holds. Jeremiah warns in the passage for today, \u2018Don\u2019t for a minute listen to\u2026 spiritualists and fortune-tellers, who claim to know the future<\/em>\u2019 (Jeremiah 27:9, MSG).<\/p>\n

As the one who holds the past, present and future in his hands, only God truly knows the future. Much of it is hidden from us. However, there are certain things about your future that God tells you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. Your future is freedom<\/h2>\n

Psalm 119:25-32<\/a>The study of history helps us to predict the future. As Winston Churchill once said, \u2018To understand the future we need to understand the past.\u2019<\/p>\n

I love the psalms. There is an honesty, reality and authenticity about them. The psalmist does not disguise his feelings. He speaks openly and vulnerably about them: \u2018I am feeling terrible \u2013 I couldn\u2019t feel worse!\u2019 (v.25a, MSG).<\/p>\n

We all face temptation, sin, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes and desires. The psalmist says, \u2018I recounted my ways and you answered me\u2019 (v.26a). He spreads his case before the Lord, opening his heart with sincerity to him. There are times of deep sorrow: \u2018My soul is weary with sorrow\u2019 (v.28a).<\/p>\n

How does he respond to all these difficulties? He prays, \u2018Preserve my life according to your word\u2019 (v.25b). He meditates on God\u2019s word (v.27b) and prays, \u2018Strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law\u2019 (vv.28b\u201329).<\/p>\n

Resolve to follow God\u2019s ways in everything, but not out of a sense of obligation or guilt. Choose to run in the path of God\u2019s commands, for he has set your heart free<\/em> (v.32).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you that you have a path of freedom for me, and that in times of struggle I can turn to you. Help me to run in the path of your commands.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2. Your future is secure<\/h2>\n

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12<\/a>Jesus is coming back. The second coming is the most important thing to know and believe about the future. It changes everything about how you live your life now, and infuses every moment of the present with hope. No one knows exactly when it will happen, but live every day as if he were returning today \u2013 doing what he would want you to be doing.<\/p>\n

Paul begins this letter with the assertion that \u2018our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you\u2019re to be\u2019 (v.2, MSG). He thanks God for their growth: \u2018Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully\u2026 We\u2019re so proud of you\u2019 (vv.3\u20134, MSG).<\/p>\n

There is a great deal of emphasis in the New Testament on spiritual growth. You are not meant to stand still. Your faith and love should grow. God is trying to increase the muscles of your faith. Is your faith getting stronger? Is your love increasing? Do you react differently from two or three years ago?<\/p>\n

So often, it is our struggles rather than our \u2018successes\u2019 that make us stronger. The Thessalonians\u2019 faith and love was growing in spite of \u2013 maybe even because of \u2013 the persecution and trials that they were enduring (v.4).<\/p>\n

Paul tells them that in the future God will put things right (vv.6\u20137). \u2018Justice is on the way\u2019 (v.6, MSG). When Jesus returns he will execute a perfectly just judgment: \u2018This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels\u2019 (v.7).<\/p>\n

God desires that all people repent and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But he warns those who consistently reject the knowledge of God throughout their life, and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8) \u2013 as was the case with those who were persecuting the Thessalonians \u2013 that there is a judgment to come. They will miss out on the possibility of eternal life.<\/p>\n

The opposite of eternal life is \u2018destruction\u2019 and being \u2018shut out from the presence of the Lord\u2019 (v.9). Those who know God and obey the gospel will experience his presence and his majesty into eternity, \u2018on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed\u2019 (v.10a). Paul says this includes the Thessalonians \u2018becauseyou believed<\/em> our testimony to you\u2019 (v.10b). Their long-term future is totally secure.<\/p>\n

Their response to the gospel determined their future. The gospel message is urgent. As Carl Henry put it, \u2018The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.\u2019<\/p>\n

As far as their short-term future is concerned, Paul writes, \u2018We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith\u2019 (v.11).<\/p>\n

Do not simply sit around waiting for Jesus to return as some of the Thessalonians seemed to have been doing. God has a \u2018good purpose<\/em>\u2019 for your life. He has called you. He puts ideas into your heart. He works in you both to will and to act according to his good<\/em> purpose<\/em> (Philippians 2:13).<\/p>\n

In all this, Paul prays that the name of Jesus will be glorified: \u2018If your life honours the name of Jesus, he will honour you\u2019 (2 Thessalonians 1:12, MSG).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you so much that my long-term future is secure and that I can know your presence into eternity. Help me to make the most of my life here \u2013 to grow in faith and love, fulfil the purpose you have for me and bring honour to your name.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3. Your future is hopeful<\/h2>\n

Jeremiah 27:1-29:23<\/a>This passage contains one of the most wonderful and often quoted promises of God about his future plans for our lives. Jeremiah was a true prophet. He heard the word of the Lord.<\/p>\n

But there were false prophets around<\/em>, like Hananiah. Jeremiah says, \u2018The prophet who prophesies peace will be recognised as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true\u2019 (28:9). Hananiah\u2019s predictions did not come true because the Lord had not sent him (v.15).<\/p>\n

Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies did <\/em>come true. The people of God did go into exile as he had warned.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah speaks the message from the Lord to his people in exile. He tells them, \u2018Seek 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\u2019 (29:7).<\/p>\n

There is an important principle here. Generally you should seek the peace and prosperity of the place in which God has put you and pray for it. This includes places where you may work, your local church, your city and your nation.<\/p>\n

There is an expression: \u2018Bloom where you\u2019re planted.\u2019 This passage encourages you to make roots even where you feel uncomfortable or isolated (like in exile). Sometimes the place where you find yourself is not where you want to be but if God has led you there, then that place must be fertile ground for God\u2019s work in you to thrive.<\/p>\n

God promises his people that the exile will come to an end: \u2018When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place\u2019 (v.10).<\/p>\n

This is the context of the wonderful promises: \u2018For I know the plans I have for you\u2026 plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future<\/em>. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you\u2019 (vv.11\u201314a).<\/p>\n

God has good plans for you. They are not plans for your failure or defeat. They are plans to \u2018prosper you\u2019. They are not average or mediocre plans. They are good, pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).<\/p>\n

But God will not force his plans on you. All God\u2019s plans require your cooperation. If you want his plans to be fulfilled in your life, you need to seek him. He promises that, if you do so, you will be found by him (Jeremiah 29:13\u201314b). As you spend time with him, you will become like him and he will lead you into the good plans he has for your life.<\/p>\n

Lord, today I want to seek you with all my heart. Thank you that you have a great plan for me. Help me to walk in your paths and fulfil the purpose you have for me<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Pippa Adds<\/h2>\n
\n

Jeremiah 29:13\u201314b<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is very exciting to be part of the new Alpha term. During these first two weeks, people have spoken of their curiosity and search for God. It is good to know that if they search for God with all their heart he promises, \u2018I will be found by you\u2019. I can\u2019t wait to see what happens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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