Skip to main content

Call to Him

             ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3)

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. (Jeremiah 29:11)

          Again, we’re at the time of year when we need to look back (as we’ve done over the past few days) and to look forward. As we begin to look forward, the end of Renovation of the Heart suggests that we consider in what areas we are most in need of the most work in terms of becoming the sort of person who naturally does the things that Scripture tells us we should do. Logically, our first step should be to ask God His opinion on the matter.

          The first challenge to this is whether or not we believe that God will tell us. Yes, the passage above says that God will tell us things - and not just things but great and unsearchable things.  He knows the plans He has for us. They are plans for our welfare and the welfare of others. They are plans that will give us and others a future and a hope. They are plans that involve our being conformed to the image of Christ.

          It seems to me that when I call to Him, or ask Him about those plans, my attitude isn’t one of a child receiving a Christmas present. It’s more likely to be a cringing duck to avoid the cross on which I will be asked to put myself to death.

Dare I trust God that…

His plans are to prosper me?  

if those plans involve pain, that the pain will be worth it?

He will walk with me?

He is good?

I am not beyond His grace?

 

Lord, You have said that You know the plans You have for me, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give me a future and a hope. You have said that I should call to you and that you would tell me great and mighty things that I do not know. As I look toward the next year, give me a vision of the direction You have chosen for me. I lay my fears at Your feet, Lord, and ask that You would exchange them for your joy.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more