I’ve never lost my excitement over God’s Word. Every verse in the Bible is a gem, full of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. I’m like a kid in a candy store running to each one saying, “this one is my favorite.” Over the years I have probably had more than a dozen favorite verses. In previous blogs I have identified at least half a dozen verses as my favorite. We usually all start with John 3:16, as our favorite verse. Then we migrate to Psalm 23:4, and possibly the Lord’s Prayer. Personally, I’m fond of Isaiah 1:18, because God is telling us to come reason with him about our salvation. I’ve always been impressed by the fact God is inviting us to come talk to him any time about our salvation.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are like red crimson, they shall be as wool.
Psalm 23:4 – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
My newest favorite Bible verse, and I’m really serious about it this time, is Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet. In the Old Testament times God spoke to Israel through his prophets. God spoke to the prophet directly and the prophet relayed God’s message to the people. In this verse God is sharing a personal message not only to the Jewish people in ancient times but to all people in all times. God is also speaking directly to you as if you’re the only person who matters; as if you’re the only person who has ever lived. Pay close attention to this message from God just for you:
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.
God is sharing a lot of information in this short verse. I’ll break it down into words and phrases so we can discuss each part and what it means for us personally:
1. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,”
God is speaking to us in the first person by repeatedly using the “I” word which means we’re in a one on one personal conversation with God as if there was no one else present in the room. Because God says “you” it’s just God and you and there’s something he wants you to know from him personally. We know that God thought about us in the past because God made us and we are wonderfully made. By using the word “think” instead of “thought” God is letting us know not only has God thought about us in the past, God is thinking about us now in the present time and he is always thinking about us. We are always on God’s mind. Imagine that, the Creator of the universe is always thinking about us which means we’re important to God. If we’re important to God that means God cares about us. If God cares for us it means he loves us.
2. “says the Lord,”
When God speaks to us directly we’re very important to him. In addition to using the first person “I”, God indicates the situation is current and ongoing by the word “says” instead of “said”. This confirms to us again that God never stops thinking about us. It tells us not only does God love us, God dotes on us like we would for a favorite grandchild.
3. “thoughts of peace and not of evil,”
In this phrase God is telling us what he’s thinking about pertaining to us. We know that our enmity with God came about because of our sin and this resulted in our broken fellowship with God. We know that our sin from Adam has led to our separation from God and the prospect of eternal death in the lake of fire. By using the word “peace” God lets us know he has a salvation plan to end the enmity between God and man, which is faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, not only results in peace with God, it gives us the peace of God. God doesn’t have any evil thoughts. Evil in this phrase refers to the wrath of God, which God has reserved for the unrepentant sinner. This word “peace” lets us know God has only good thoughts toward believers. The saved children of God need not worry about the coming wrath of God and the condemnation which is reserved for the unbeliever. The unsaved will go to hell forever.
4. “to give you a future and a hope.”
Again, because God is saying “you”, it’s meant to be a one on one personal conversation between you and God. “To give” means God is giving something to his children, believers in Christ Jesus. In this phrase when God says “a future” he’s referring to being in heaven with him. After we die there are only two places we can go, heaven or hell, and there certainly is no future in the lake of fire where we’d be in torment forever. So God has in the past, and is now, thinking about our future in heaven in his presence. You’ve got to remember that the Bible says whatever God wants will come to pass so our presence in heaven with our Father is a certainty. When God says he is going to give us “a hope” he is talking about the cross, the resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus paid for our sin debt by his sacrificial death on the cross. In Scripture our blessed “hope” is that when we die we will be also be resurrected and receive a glorified body like Jesus. The Bible assures us Jesus was the first fruits of salvation of which we also will partake.
In summary, Jeremiah 29:11, tells us God is crazy about us and he’s always thinking about us. God has a salvation plan so we can get to heaven and be with him forever. God can’t wait for us to get to heaven so he can shower us with honor, glory and riches beyond our wildest dreams. Do you remember the Bible story about the prodigal son? This story of the prodigal son is really about us and the father in the story represents God. God is revealing something about himself in this story. The father in the prodigal son story sat on his front porch every morning looking off to the horizon hoping to see his boy returning home to him. The father never stopped loving his son and never stopped watching for him to come home. The father never gave up hope that his boy would return to him one day.
Our God is the same way. God made us and sent us off into the world to find our salvation. God is on the front porch of heaven watching and waiting anxiously for us to be saved and return home to him in spirit first and then eventually in heaven in person. The father in the prodigal son finally saw his son coming down the road and rushed to meet him. The father showered his son with kisses, placed a new robe on him and a ring on his finger. The father ordered a celebration feast in the son’s honor. The son didn’t deserve the father’s grace but such was the father’s love that he gave his son all that he had. God is waiting to shower us with the same kind of love, honor, and glory that the prodigal son received.