"Fulfill My Good Promise"

Scripture:

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. 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. Then you will call on 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,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.

Today is Part 2 of our series looking at the context surrounding one of our favorite verses.  Jeremiah 29:11 is probably one of the most quoted scriptures in all of the Bible because it's so jam-packed with hope and encouragement straight from the Lord.  It points us to a God who loves us and is in complete control amidst the chaos of our lives.  If you missed yesterday's post, check it out.  It really lays the groundwork for a shift in perspective about Jeremiah 29:11.  And please come back for the rest of the series!

Part 1: "When Seventy Years Are Completed"

Part 2: "Fulfill My Good Promise"

Part 3: "With All Your Heart"

Part 4: "Back from Captivity"

Observations:

What is the "good promise" that God says he will fulfill?  "To bring you back to this place."  If we keep with yesterday's parallel between bringing the Israelites back to the Promised Land and bringing us home to heaven, we see a major insight into the heart of God right here: His ultimate goal is to see every heart come back to him.  He wants to bring us all home to heaven.

1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."  If this is the case, why did God ever give us choice in the first place?  Why didn't he just make it impossible for us to sin?  Here's an analogy that helps me understand:

Which would you rather have-- an arranged marriage or a marriage of choice?  Would you rather have someone force you to marry a guy for the purpose of family or political alliances or would you rather choose to marry the person you've fallen head over heals in love with?  I think the vast majority of us would choose Option B there.  And we want someone to CHOOSE us!  We don't want to be someone's obligation; we want to be their choice.

Genesis 1:27 says that we are created in God's image… and this is just one example of a way we are just like our creator.  God wants to be chosen too.  So before creation he came up with this amazing master plan.  He decided he would:

• Give us choice.
• Allow us to fall.
• Show us a need for a savior through an imperfect law.
• Send us Jesus.
• Let him die for us.
• Raise him back to life.
• Give us time to choose life in him.
• Send him back for us.
• And then recreate heaven and earth- this time with all of us fully knowing the consequence of sin and what separation from God feels like- and CHOOSING to be with him!

Application:

2 Peter 3: 9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."  God desperately wants every heart!  And he has done EVERYTHING he can do to fulfill his good promise of bringing us back to him.  He even went as far as giving us Jesus to take our place.  

But he loves us enough to give us the choice.  So what is our response?  "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).  Call out!  That's all we have to do.  He has taken care of EVERYTHING else in an effort to fulfill his good promise!

Prayer:

God, you are good!  Your promises are good!  You keep everyone of them!  Thank you so much for the amazing, divine plan that you had from the beginning of creation.  It's beyond our understanding.  Lord, thank you for saving me through Jesus.  And thank you that I am going to get to spend eternity with you!  Lord, give me a heart to share this truth with others so that they can live with you forever too.  In Jesus' name! Amen!

Confident in this…

Miranda