A Hope and a Future [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright while I was only whining about there being no player that actually had been a master plan for my good to bless me.

I just didn't know about and that's pastor other message of good. You will help you see your life in old I'm being excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series remain as presented with an old church in North Carolina that will stay with us throughout the entire program today. Mr. would make sure you know how to get our special resource right now you can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright so as you listen to the page message go deeper as we send you today's special openness contact as a Pastor Alan.org that's Pastor Alan.RG or call 877-5448 60 really be more on all this later in the program but right now it's digging to get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright to try with all your mind and your highest imagination to dream up. Best possible future for your own life, you could not come close to the goodness of what God has already prepared.

We are in the prophet Jeremiah where we've been for a number of weeks. Building really towards these prophetic passages of restoration hope that come here and Jeremiah chapter 29 a word to people who've been exiled to Babylon, and it is a word of profound hope and today we're going to focus in on two verses, which are two of the most beautiful prophetic verses in the Bible that carry magnificent wait for our own Jeremiah 29 starting at verse 10. Thus says the Lord. When 70 years are completed for Babylon. I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare not for evil to give you a future and hope that you will call upon me calm and pray to me and I'll hear you you seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart now be found by you, declares, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from the nations and all the places where of revenue, declares the Lord, and I'll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile, I know the plans. Verse 11 plans for welfare not for evil to give you a future and a hope that verses where I want to focus our attention.

I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare not for evil to give you a future and hope when I was approaching my 40th birthday. I was a little surprised that my wife, who is the queen of celebration had no big plans for my 40th.

You know I'm not too big and too birthday but it was my 40th and just a few years ago and I was a little surprised and as it drew closer, I found myself disappointed. She said that when you want to do for your 40th answer will you got a nice dinner. I guess we'll go over to Ryan's restaurant where we go from other celebrations. The plays were celebrated so many birthdays in the and anniversaries in the place where she pushed a little gift box across to me one year and that and sign it where some little pink baby booties announcing the conception of our second child, you know, stuff like that on it, Ryan's, and that I like I like it. Send us a syllable ago will have a nice dinner that be great, but a whole time I was like what's happened here. No plans being made for the 40th and this is good at that.

But so be it. Going have a wonderful day with my with my wife and we go walking into the restaurant and they said we have table for you and the back to back room where we been a number of times walked back there and everybody shouted surprised. Should rented out the whole back room at Ryan's and I thought was how has she pulled this off my second thought is, how much does this cost by CMI favorite appetizer. The scallops wrapped in bacon if you wrap some in bacon.

I don't care what it is.

It's good and NSR look around the room and my jaw dropped because people like my spiritual mentor Dudley had flown in from Texas and my good good friend from Florida had flown in and my college roommate and on and on it went and I realize that this is been planned for months and people that I treasured. She had written many months in advance to people that have been important in my life and asked him to write a blessing on a card and she compounded in this huge notebook and she had my favorite desserts from one of the best bakers that we've got and the church and every detail was planned, including the next day. The amount of time and where and when I'd spend with these out-of-town friends and and it was remarkable. I was so surprised that while I was on the edge of whining about there being no plan actually had been a master plan for my good to bless me.

I just didn't know about it yet is it not possible that God could have a master plan for your good.

You just don't know it yet is not all been unveiled to you but is a loving wife would want to plan something like that. Much more so would your perfect loving heavenly father have good things in store for you. These are exiles who have been deported to the land of Babylon where Nebuchadnezzar who was a tyrant had deported them.

It had been prophesied that they would be taken away. It was a matter of discipline, not punishment and not something that was forever. But discipline to teach them something. The people of God ultimately teach them what we read about today, there's going be a day which you want me to call upon. I will be found like the Lord is saying the one thing that in a sense he can't. He's sovereign so he can do everything. But the one thing than a sense he just Forced to happen and that is for you to want to feed on his grace so sometimes in his sovereign goodness he would bring about the conditions, wherein you want love and I wish I could tell you how much God loves you and how much good he has in store for you.

I wish I could explain it.

Wish I could fathom it myself but I know enough of it to say that the only real hindrance is our hunger for him and so these exiles would learn in the whole nation would learn what it is to hunger for God and appreciate God and want God with all their heart and soul and mind, and strength.

It was a matter of a temporary discipline and exile. We learned last time is an in between place. It is the place between where you once were comfortable and where you want to know that you will be, but right now it's not comfortable the in between places are difficult because it requires clinging to promises without falling into nostalgia for what once was is difficult for those people because they're away from their families and their way from their businesses in their way from their temple.

So when life strips you of the things that you've always counted on for your comfort and you find yourself in a in between place you can think of that as an exile time and this prophetic word of hope comes to those people who are in exile in the word of the Lord came saying don't think that this just a blip on the radar. No, don't deny it, but don't postpone your living. It's a word in which first, he says, essentially, I want you to prosper and increase even in your place of exile. Bloom where you're planted now. Don't postpone living and then we come to this at verse 10, when 70 years are completed for Babylon will visit you.

I want you to notice of the 70 year reference here does not refer to the duration of the exile, but I notice this for the first time this week. It refers to the duration of Babylonian rule. The important thing for the exiles to know first is that there is going to be a completion of Babylon's time. There's a limit to the span of wickedness.

There is a limit to the rule of evil God's grace never runs out.

But evil empires always do talent right will have more teaching moment from today's important series.

Many Christians in America today. Your starting nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed. Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a difficult one to make you feel like an alien in your own culture. There's a lot to learn from when he was exiled to the patient through our special outfit is not you can learn to live under the favorite Aryan culture the way Daniel dad gave before the end of the month senior Pastor Alan's idea series favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is not shared favor to Daniel and his four man God's grace is a timeless brown nation will not only help these troubling times. It will also help someone else. Thanks for your partnership with our night ministry. We must call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.like today's teaching you once again is God has a way of bringing what looks like it has sovereign control in matters of the world to an end in an instant it would come in Belshazzar's drunken fees as he drank from the golden goblets that had been stolen from the ransacked Jerusalem Temple and had his party toasting his pagan gods. And just in a moment, in the blink of an eye. There is suddenly handwriting on the wall and the kingdom of Babylon ends so this period is over, God says I'm going to bring you back do not think that Babylonian rule is your destiny and in the next part of the verse 10 I will visit you. I will fulfill to you my promise I will bring you back I will I will like you to notice that though repentance is commanded all throughout the prophetic oracles of Jeremiah repentance means attorney means a change of mind.

It is an invitation to return to God is an invitation to see God's perspective that even though repentance is required of the people there's no mention of it here body is not going to allow his ultimate destiny for his people to depend on any capacity of the people. Instead, he says I'm going to visit you and I'm going to bring you back regardless of how much you've learned there's a limit to this and I'm going to bring you back. He's good is powerful. I will visit it means attend and he says and I will fulfill in the ESV that word fulfill but it comes from a Hebrew word that means to stand or to rise up like in Exodus chapter 2 where Moses has fled for his life to Midian and he doesn't know anyone there yet until eventually marry their but these women, daughters of Jethro. They are out trying to get water at the well and some shepherds came and were preventing them and maybe going to attack them were not sure and the text says the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and save them and water their flock and that word when Moses stood up to the shepherds who were going to perhaps attack these women or weren't going to let them come to the well Moses stood up. That is the word that in Jeremiah 29 is translated fulfill.

So God stands up for his promises, I will fulfill cost and Simone were what he saying and the promise that he's talking about is actually in Hebrew two words here it is told which means good and the dull borrowings word so it's it's it's God saying I will stand up for my good word that I gave you God and God is God is true to his word, and so he says I will fulfill my promise I'll stand up for my good word and then at verse 11 for I know the plans that I have for you and I just just want I just would just were just looking at one verse today and I'd I just want you to be excited about some Hebrew works with me as much of this is that this is an iconic verse of Scripture. This is one you want to put on a poster and hang on your wall. This is one you want your Bible to flop open to this is one you want to to put on the dashboard of your car.

I know the plans I have for you as I want to understand it deeply that this word I is actually in Hebrew, a grammatical point of emphasis, so it probably should be translated.

I myself or I I alone I I alone know the plans I have for you. I know deepest understanding and the word for plans here is really more the idea of thoughts and the theological wordbook of the Old Testament says the basic idea of the word is the employment of the mind in thinking activity so that word for plan here is not so much a reference to understanding as it is to the creating of new ideas. Some translations I know my thoughts towards you. We don't have a good word for this is like saying I know my holy imagination towards you.

I know how I think about and that's what matters was interesting is that if you were with us for recent message from Jeremiah on the Lord is our righteousness. We spoke of what theologians call imputed righteousness, which is to say that when you are in Christ. It doesn't just mean that the blood of Jesus has paid the penalty for your set. It means that God begins to think of you as if you had lived Jesus's own meritorious life. He credits the righteousness of Jesus to you, which means he imputes it, just don't have another word for that, but what it means is that he thinks of you this way. So this word in Hebrew that the Lord is referencing here. I know my thoughts toward you. This is what is used in Genesis 15 six we read that Abraham believed the Lord and God counted it to him as righteousness. It's this word I know my thoughts. God thought of it as righteousness to him saying yes. What matters is how God thinks of you because God doesn't have wrong thoughts. His thoughts are never wrong. So if he thinks of you as the righteousness of Jesus, you are if he thinks of you in the same way that he thinks of his only begotten son, Jesus, then you are like Jesus in his eyes is and have wrong thoughts is beautiful thoughts. His expansive thoughts can form a cosmos that can design a way in which he could be just and just a fire away in which his wrath and mercy could both meet at a cross so that you would be is now and forever more, always has beautiful thought I might fall for you, says the Lord know but I do Lord always saying to us.

I wish you could know more about how I think about you ever had somebody misunderstand you that you had good intentions toward them and they interpreted as something bad and you just want to say I wish you knew my thoughts. You don't know my thoughts. You have no idea how many times that in this role that God has given me this privilege that I stand in a position as a human being just a human being with no particular symbolic place that should be in anybody's life, but oftentimes people look somewhat like a pastor or some other authority is see one thing with this and think this are that we form judgments. With so many times I sat as if you knew my thoughts towards you, how much more so are God I I know my thoughts towards you thing about God's is that they are not only 100% real and true because he can't have incorrect thoughts, but whatever he thinks comes to pass, if he thinks tree tree will be all we we do this in part, we can think and then to a certain degree, bring it Alan Wright today's teaching of hope in the future from our series remade and Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day. In just a moment. Many Christians in America today. Your starting a nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed.

Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a difficult one to make you feel like an alien in your own culture. There's a lot to learn from Danielle when he was exiled to the pagan man. Through our special office not you can learn to live under the favor of God in Aryan culture the way Daniel gave before the end in mind. The senior Pastor Alan Zaidi, a series Daniel favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is God shed favor to Daniel and his four man God's grace is upon you as well. Nation will not only help you navigate through these troubling times. It will also help someone else.

Thanks for your partnership with our night ministry. We missed 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.org but you're now with Pastor Alan are good news. Thought for the day getting in the series remade an individual behind this going back to the potter's wheel and making a claim against bowl directly cup you know and and and there's something good here for you.

This teaching, so God knows the plans he has for you. Like the potter who has the clay on the wheel spinning and spinning it, keeping it moist molding. It pressuring it in with his hand, shaping it, and so like the clay, the clay doesn't know what's happening just bothered us, and I think they know that there's something incredibly nourishing, comforting, peace giving life-giving of just saying to ourselves every day. God knows the plans. I don't know he really knows them and those plans were good and you take this Jeremiah 29 passage and let it go deep in your heart. I know the plans I have for you and their plans for your good for your welfare, not for evil to give you a future and a hope saved yourself everyday. It's the word of God quote for you by your bootstraps doesn't doesn't work with a lump of clay lawmakers up here a week done more. Thanks for today. Visit us online@pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 if you only caught part of today's teaching.

Not only can you listen again online also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources@pastorout.org that's pastor out.O RG.

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