Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
We often develop strategies, game-plans, life-plans – and then, at some obstacle or critical point, we say – “Just stick to the plan!” It’s usually good advice.
Life is always sending unexpected surprises, but praise God, nothing takes Him by surprise. He’s the master planner. Our family might turn against us, our friends let us down, illness, afflictions, problems and “situations” on every side…God still has a plan, for you, and for me.
Joseph is a prime example of life’s surprises. It took 13 years of endurance and character-building for him to fulfill this part of God’s plan. Sold as a slave into Egypt by his own brothers, betrayed and imprisoned, he must have wondered a lot where God was and what He was doing. But finally, as a prepared vessel, Joseph was placed in the highest position in the land, second only to Pharaoh, and commissioned to execute God’s plan for saving the world from famine. So the Lord had surprises of His own. Revealing himself to his brothers, Joseph summed it up beautifully: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, in order to bring it about as [it is] this day, to save many people alive. .” (Genesis 50:20)
When our situations are difficult to handle and downright impossible to explain, we need to remind ourselves that God said, “I know the plans I have for you.” Through these situations we discover how faithful and sovereign He truly is. He knows what we can handle and He will never give us more. When the test is completed, we come out with character, stronger in faith, more in love, more useful to Him, and ready……….. for our next test. 🙂 (Oh yeah…)
The fact that we have problems is a sign that we also have a promise. It’s only a matter of time before God reveals His good intentions – so until then, let’s stick to the plan! His !!!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.
New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.
This weekend, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim. This holiday commemorates Israel’s amazing reversal in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) when Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai gained victory for the Jews and protected them from annihilation at the hands of the evil Haman.
Over two decades ago, when I moved to Israel, I had the opportunity to spend considerable time with a pastor and his wife. This pastor imparted significant wisdom to me during that period, counseling me to “be like the children of Issachar,” he directed me to this specific passage in 1 Chronicles 12.
Over the past few days, I’ve been discussing the will of God and how to walk out His will daily in our lives. The Lord’s general will involves the development of our character and the ways in which we relate to Him and to our fellow man. Much of this is the same for every believer. But each of us is unique, and each has a potential life vision unlike any other. God has an individual will for every soul that belongs to Him, an individually shaped destiny which varies according to our gifting and calling and purpose in His Body.
As God worked on creation for six days and rested on the seventh day, so our seven day week is established on that pattern. If, as the scripture declares, with the Lord one day is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years as a day, then the seven-day cycle also finds expression in a great historical “week”. As we approach the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah, this “millennium” as it is called, (described in some detail in Revelation chapter 20), is clearly understood as a time of global rest, peace, and righteousness throughout the Earth.
The word for “restitution” in this passage is the Greek word – “apokatastasis”. This is the one and only place it is found in the New Testament. The word literally means to “restore again” or “to repair”. The plan of God in sending His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was to restore that which had been broken and ruined. The Lord’s saving work is a global repair job. Each one of us has come to Him already ruined by sin. But God’s will and His promise is to restore and renew us through His Son.