What Does God Think of You?

 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about you? Wonder no more. He has clearly spelled it out for you in these verses. When He thinks of you, He thinks of His plan to give you peace. He doesn't thing poorly of you no matter with evil (sin) you might have committed. (He already knows it all anyway.) He isn't mad at you for not doing things right - not living a holy enough life. Instead His intention is to give you peace, a great future and hope.

Next, He tells us to call on Him, to go and pray to Him and promises that when we do, he will listen. He promises that when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him.

What great promises!

Now, pay attention to what He's not saying. He's not saying you must come to polished and spotless. He's not saying you need to have it all together before you can approach Him. So, my friends, let's not hesitate to call on Him, to pray to Him (pour out your heart completely. He can handle it.) And let's seek Him with all our hearts, for His promise is that we will find Him, for He will reveal Himself to us.

Deeper:

Psalm 139:1-6    Matthew 11:28-30    Proverbs 18:17    Psalm 105:3-4

Questions:

What promises did we find in this study?

What is our part in receiving these promises?

Let's come to Him just as we are. Seek Him and see how He keeps His promise. Ask God to show you something about Himself that you didn't know.

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God, I trust you, but...

 The trust factor - we know that it's vital in our relationship with God, but trust is not always easy, even when it comes to trusting Him. 

So, what is trust anyway? 

Trust is - the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

It's hard to admit that sometimes we don't trust God. Why is that?

FEAR

Nearly all of us have experienced broken trust in our lives. Someone that we trusted let us down. didn't keep their promise, hurt us deeply. That kind of experience can make us fearful of trusting others. But God's not like that. He's never made a promise that He didn't keep...and He never will.

Psalm 145:13 assures us that "...The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does."

Over the next few posts we will take a look at some of God's promises and talk about how we can let go of fear and increase our faith and trust in God.

Deeper:
Romans 8:28    Psalm 28:7    Jeremiah 17:7-8    2 Timothy 1:7

Questions:
In what area(s) do you find it difficult to trust God?
How has God come through for you in this area in the past?
How does fear play a part in your struggle to trust God?

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Before We Kick 2022 to the Curb

 "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell all the miracles you have done. I will be happy because of you; God Most High, I will sing praises to your name." Psalm 9:1-2 (NCV)

If you're like me, there are some things about 2022 that you'd just as soon forget. Hard things happened last year. Some were life-altering and the hurt is raw. Some were downright embarrassing. But there were good things, too. Happy times, joyous times. Times when God came through and provided just what you needed in the moment. There were births to celebrate, accomplishments, personal growth, changes for the better.

So, before we kick 2022 to the curb, let's take some time to recall God's blessings last year. Let's name them...maybe write them down so we don't forget. Let's give Him thanks and praise Him for His loving care, for even in the hardest places in life, He is with us. He will comfort and strengthen. He will make all things work together for our God if we love him.

Let's take a look back.

Deeper:

Psalm 95:1-2    Isaiah 41:10    Romans 8:28    Psalm 118:1

Questions:

What were some of the hard things that you went through in 2022?

How did God help you through them?

In what ways did God bless you last year?

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New Year - New You

 "If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him." 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

There's something about the beginning of a new year that's invigorating. A fresh start. A time for leaving the past behind and looking forward to brand new possibilities.  We get the same fresh start when we become followers of Christ. The old us is gone. He has made us new. Our past with all it's failures is gone. Our spirit has changed from one of carnal man to a Holy Spirit filled child of God.

Just as we start the new year with the opportunity to make changes in our lives, God begins our new life in Him by making changes is us that begin to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ. Our thought processes, our habits, our desire to love and serve others grows as we surrender ourselves to His loving care.

Dig Deeper: 

Romans 12:2    2 Corinthians 3:18    Galatians 5:22-23    1 John 3:2

Questions:

What are you hoping for in 2023?

What are you leaving behind?

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