God's Plans for You are Good

Jeremiah 29:11 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.

Do you know what the future holds for you? If you are sick with a terminal disease you might know that you don't have many days left to live. However, even then you don't know what the future holds. That is because the future belongs to God and not you.

When God uttered the a above words to Israel the scene was bleak. We often hear these words quoted out of their context and think them so lovely. But these words were spoken as Israel was being taken into a captivity that would last for 70 years! This plan that God had for Israel would only see its fulfillment in the following generations.

You talk about a long term investment! This was it. This entire generation would pass from the world scene and into eternity without ever seeing their promised land again. They serve as a warning for you and me. When God's plan is finally worked out and displayed for all to see, we will be in awe of its detail and design. His plan is for our good, even though it might take us out of familiar surroundings now and then.

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Caught up to Paradise - 2 Corinthians 12

Residing in Michigan for over half my life, I had heard about Paradise. Because Paradise is a small town in the Upper Peninsula, you may have never visited there in your life, but you knew it existed. It was WAY up there next to Tahquamenon Falls and nothing else. Where's Tahquamenon Falls? Next to Paradise and nothing else. It's a long way from home. Why all of the talk about Paradise? Because Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12. There was this guy who had been caught up to Paradise. Not in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but into the REAL Paradise. While there, he'd heard things that he was unable to repeat. What on earth was this? Who was this guy? Here's what was going on. Paul defended his position of Apostleship in chapter eleven and gave the Corinthians an idea of what Apostleship looked like in chapter twelve. It came with great wonders, like seeing or instead hearing unimaginable things. But, too, that position came with a terrible cost. God gave Paul a &q

What to get God for Christmas

Jesus left perfect surroundings, relationships and glory to be born into squalor. He was homeless before birth. His father was a carpenter in a culture where carpentry was a despised trade. His, mother though young and giving birth to her firstborn, had no attendant nurses, helpers or friends. Rather than a pristine hospital, birth was given in the filthy stench of a stable. Romantic? Hardly. This sacrifice brought a life of hardship. Why? Why this odd story? Obedience. God's gift to humanity was His son. Jesus' gift was obedience to the Father. He paid the greatest price. Not because we are special but because he loves His Father. His gift was the perfect gift. Our Father wants obedience for Christmas and every other day for that matter. In Brazil Christmas is becoming commercialized. A phenomenon familiar for years in the United States tickles a growing economy. There is little time for meditation on God's Gift. There are no chestnuts roasting or Jack Frost nippin

Stop Trusting

Isaiah 2:22 says Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Prophet is saying that we shouldn't put our trust in humankind because they are so finite. They are not like God, who is infinite. People are fickle. They change their minds. They love you and then hate you in moments. God invites us to trust him completely with everything that we have. He doesn't show himself to us physically or as a spirit. He demands that we have faith. However, he also gives us the faith to trust him. The universe shouts "Creator!" and yet we often ignore the proclamation. This ignorance does not make God's creation any less a physical demonstration of his grandeur. God's boundless being becomes more amazing in his presence within us. How can the infinite God dwell in the mortals he commands us not to trust? Jesus said, "with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible."

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