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Plans to Prosper
by Randal Matheny
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”‘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 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.’” (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV)
God disciplines his people for their good. He wants to bless and will inflict pain to provoke repentance. He wants to turn our face toward his goodness. For this to happen, three things are necessary:
- We must be convinced of God’s plan. We think of the present, but the Lord sees our future. We complain that he does not give us what we think best. We doubt his goodness and love. His plan always focuses our benefit and we must be convicted that God constantly works for our peace.
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God constantly works for our peace.
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- We must pray to God. Our supplication will make it clear we are dependent upon God and none other. We will confess without offering any excuse or justification. We will ask the presence of our heavenly Father for our comfort and consolation. We will plead to be instruments of peace.
- We must seek God with all our heart. We will reject apathetic service. We will denounce in ourselves the divided heart, the compromising thoughts, the questionable conduct. We will deliver up body and soul as living sacrfices to please the Eternal.
May our pain, divinely supplied, lead us to the plans of prosperity that God has prepared for us.
QUOTE:
Repent!
The fastest way
this choice
To know the good
of Heaven’s voice.
—Silas Abreu Nazano (my translation)
PRAYER:
Lord, we trust in your goodness. We confess our need for your forgiveness and presence and offer, not things, but a whole heart. By Christ’s redemption, amen.
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