I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” is a question sometimes asked to temper distressing news with something that will offer some hope.
The people of Judah had been carried off to Babylon in Jeremiah’s day. Having lost everything, they seemed to have no hope. False prophets told them they would return home soon, giving them false hope. Mercifully, God revealed His plans to Jeremiah who sent a message of restoration and true hope to the exiles. The good news: they would return home. The bad news: it would not happen for seventy years, as God reclaimed all the Sabbath years they had not observed in the Promised Land (2 Chronicles 36:21). During that time, the Lord called them to settle into their communities, have families, and pray for the welfare of their city, “For in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). They were to obey God’s commands, seek Him, pray to Him, and ask that He would fulfill His promises to them.
For today’s believer, the bad news includes that you are living at a time when the world seems to increasingly pursue evil; but the good news is that God is faithful and He keeps His promises, both in this life and the life to come. Your responsibility is to seek the Lord through His Word and in prayer and be a beacon of His love.
For those in this nation who have accepted the Lord Jesus, life holds great hope. God’s plans for believers who hold His Word in their hearts include a home in His presence in the beauty of heaven as well as the indwelling of His Spirit on this earth. Be encouraged in the Lord’s plans for your future and your hope!
Today’s Verse: Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 10-13
These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
