Once we were dead, but God, in His great mercy, loved us enough to give us life when He raised Jesus from the dead. Once we were dried bones, condemned by our own sin. Now we are God’s masterpiece – created anew in Christ Jesus. Why? So we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Eph. 2:10).

That’s where we left off yesterday and that is where God brought me back today. Let’s take a break from the exiled Israelites in Babylon and take a deeper look into the letter Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus. We’ve spent weeks talking about God’s plan for His People – the punishment for their sins, their exile and their future redemption. Now let’s focus in on the plan God had for Paul and the plan He has for us. So we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Eph. 2:10). God has a plan for our life. He saved us for a reason, for a purpose. What were we made for and what were we saved for?

Ephesians 1:1 – This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Paul greets the holy people in Ephesus, those who were faithful followers of Christ Jesus, by pointing out that He has been sent by God to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was CHOSEN by God and is now an apostle because it is the WILL OF GOD – God’s specific plan for his life. Just as God had a plan for Paul’s life, He has a plan for my life and for yours.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace (1:2). This is a common greeting for the apostle Paul but he goes on in his letter to elaborate on the grace and the peace that God gives us – the grace that plans for our future and the peace that He gives as we walk in His plan.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us to be holy and without fault in his eyes (1:3-4). What were we made for and what were we saved for – to be holy and without fault in his eyes. How is it possible to be without fault in God’s eyes? The answer can be found in the previous sentence – because we are united with Christ.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure (1:5). Read that again and let it wash over you fresh and new this morning. This is what he WANTED to do, and it gave him great pleasure. What were we made for and what were we saved for – to be adopted into his own family through Jesus Christ because He WANTS to be our Father, because it brings Him great pleasure to call us His own.

The plan God has for my life and yours is all a part of the plan He had for His Son. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles who have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him (Eph. 1:6-14).

What were we made for and what were we saved for – to be filled with His Spirit, to receive the inheritance that is ours through Christ Jesus and to praise and glorify God! Precious Father, fill us with Your Spirit today! May every word we speak and every decision we make glorify you, for you are worthy of all of our praise! Help us to fully understand today what we were made for and what we were saved for.

The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out (Ez.37:1-2).

Can you picture this – a valley covered in old dry bones? It makes me think of the scene towards the beginning of The Lion King movie where the young Simba and Nala run through what they call “the elephant graveyard.” God was using this imagery to represent the people of Israel. By now Jerusalem had been destroyed and all of God’s people had been scattered. The Jews feared they would never be a nation again – that the people of Israel would slowly fade away and die.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones – all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’” – Ezek. 37:11-14

As angry as God was with the unfaithfulness of His children, He still heard their cries and wanted to give them hope. He spoke to his people through the prophet Ezekiel concerning the dry bones: “Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life.” – Ezek. 37:4-7

Then as Ezekiel watched, that is exactly what happened to the valley of dry bones – They all came to life and stood up on their feet – a great army. Praise God! The people knew with confidence that God COULD extend grace to them, forgive them and breathe life back into their nation. The question was whether or not He WOULD. They needed to hear that He was not completely abandoning them in their sin but that there was indeed hope for their future (Jer. 29:11).

And that is the God we serve! There are times when God allows us to experience the full consequences of our sins. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). But the God we serve is also a loving God who does not give up on us – He breathes new life into us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil – the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this, it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:1-5,8-10

Let’s praise God along with the psalmist David (Ps. 16:9-11):
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
Or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the joy of your presence and
The pleasures of living with you forever.

“You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people and I am your God. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken” (Ez. 34:31).

I find great comfort in the imagery that God is my shepherd, caring for me and watching over me each day. God uses the comparison of the sheep and their Shepherd over and over again in the Bible and Jesus used the same description more than once. Of course, we could be a little insulted by being called sheep because they are so dumb and yet we find ourselves agreeing with the fact that alone we are lost and unprotected and most definitely in need of a Shepherd.

In Ezekiel, the Lord expressed anger with the leaders of Israel who were supposed to be “shepherding” the flock – “you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve” (Ez.34:8).

Jesus expressed this same frustration with the leaders of Israel during His time on earth: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (John 10:11-15).

This is what the Good Shepherd has to say about how He will care for his sheep after their time of exile in Babylon: “I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak” (Ez.34:11-16).

Oh, how our Heavenly Father loves all of His sheep. He takes care of His flock, caring about each and every lamb. He doesn’t give up on the lost but actively draws them to Himself and heals them from their time away from the flock. This is what Jesus had to say about our Good Shepherd:

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven in not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (Matt. 18:12-14).

What?!! He cares more about the one who has wandered off into sin than for the one who has remained with the flock. We should be hurt by that, shouldn’t we? Oh, the sin of self-righteousness that trips us up over and over again. The prophet Isaiah clears this one right up for us: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Let’s join the psalmist David in this prayer:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.
Even though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps.23).

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance – 2 Peter 3:9.

This same message is evident in the book of Ezekiel. Even as God is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem as a punishment to His people for their sins, He speaks of His desire that all should come to repentance – than none should perish. He appointed Ezekiel as a “watchman” to tell those who were sinning to repent and to warn those who were not sinning to continue in their righteousness (Ez.33:7-9). The same message of God’s desire to save the lost and to bless His people is presented in chapters 18 and 33 of Ezekiel.

“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live…

“The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins. When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right…then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live” (Ez.33:11-16).

I love that our God never gives up on us – that He is always willing to forgive, always desiring for His children to come to repentance. Often we give up on the chance that our friend or loved one will ever turn from their sinful lifestyle but God never gives up. Just like Ezekiel, He has appointed us all as watchmen. He wants us to help bring back the lost sheep and watch over those who are not lost to help them stay in the flock. He is a loving God who wishes to extend grace to His people.

But our God is also a jealous God and a just God. We have a choice to either sin or not sin and we will be judged by our choices. “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die, says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins” (Ez. 18:23-24).

In Ezekiel 16, the Lord used a parable to describe His people who had been as unfaithful as a wife is unfaithful to her husband – His people whom He had blessed and they in turn had put other things ahead of God, making idols of the very things God had blessed them with. Reading through this parable, I could not help but see the resemblance of this kind of unfaithfulness in America, among Christians and non-Christians. We so quickly fall in love with the things of this world and are willing to sacrifice so much of what God has blessed us with in order to have more and more of what the world has to offer instead of running after what God has to offer.

“On the day you were born, no one care about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die. BUT I CAME BY AND SAW YOU THERE, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ And I HELPED YOU to thrive like a plant in the field…

“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute…so eager for sin…you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!” – (Ezekiel 16:4-16, 28b-34)

Oh, help us, Lord! In a book that describes the wrath of God and His severe punishment on a nation that was unfaithful after He had done so much for them, He uses a parable that could easily be used to describe us. God blesses us with time and we spend it on ourselves. God blesses us with money and we use it to buy more of what the world has to offer. God blesses us with a tv and we watch unwholesome programs. God blesses us with beauty and we use it to bring attention to ourselves. God blesses us with beautiful bodies and we dress immodestly. God blesses us with a sense of humor and we participate in coarse joking. God blesses us with intelligence and we consider ourselves smart.

Forgive us Lord! Forgive us for the importance we put on the things of this world and on our own physical beauty; forgive us for embracing “the land of merchants” and always wanting more; forgive us for thinking that our fame and beauty are our own; forgive us for thinking anything You have blessed us with is ours to enjoy.

Dear God, may the words of Ezekiel 11:19-20 describe us as we return our attention to You and remove every trace of idols from our lives:
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

Jeremiah was not the only one God called to prophesy to His people during this difficult time in the life of Israel and Judah. While Jeremiah was hearing from God from within the walls of Jerusalem, Ezekiel had already been exiled to Babylon when “he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him” (Ezekiel 1:3). I love that description! Can you testify to that action in your life? Have you felt the hand of the Lord take hold of you?

The call on Ezekiel’s life would be a very difficult one but God equipped him for what was ahead, just as He continues to equip us today. Through visions, God would show Ezekiel the worst side of the Israelites. Ezekiel’s eyes would be opened to the horrific things God’s people were doing – the reason God was so angry and His punishment was so harsh. That is a lot for one person to know and you can imagine that Ezekiel’s burden was very heavy.

With this call came a great deal of responsibility which added to the weight on Ezekiel’s shoulders. “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me” (3:17-19).

The call on Ezekiel’s life was great but so is the God who called him and who would equip him! Just as Ezekiel saw the horrible and heartbreaking actions of his people, he also saw the glory of God and was filled with the Spirit. Above the surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me. “Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words (1:26-2:2).

Praise God that the Spirit of the Lord continues to fill us and set us on our feet when we feel overwhelmed. God also gives us His words to fill and prepare us for what is ahead. “Open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom. The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you – eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth…Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.” Then the Spirit lifted me up… (2:8b-3:3,10-12a).

What God is calling you to do today is not a heavier call than He gave Ezekiel. Perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed and have fallen on your face before the Lord. Trust God’s Spirit to lift you up off your face and fill you. Rest in His hand as you feel the strength of the Lord’s hold on your life. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord’s hold on me was strong (3:14). Notice Ezekiel did not say that he went in joy and peace but rather bitterness and turmoil. God allowed Ezekiel’s heart to break at the things that were breaking His heart. The road ahead of Ezekiel would not be an easy one but neither would God leave him alone to face what He was calling him to do, just as He will not leave you alone.

If Ezekiel resisted God’s call and disobeyed, people would die. That is a lot of pressure. Those of us who have been called by God to work in the prolife pregnancy center ministry face this kind of pressure every day. If we resist God’s call or refuse to speak the words His Spirit gives us to say, babies will die. If any of us give in to our fear and to the lies of the enemy, God’s children might not hear the message of salvation. We do not know for sure if there will be another opportunity for them to hear that Jesus died for their sins, that there is forgiveness and hope in their future if only they will repent and make Him Lord. They might not listen but God is calling us to obey him regardless of the response of His people.

Are we ready to accept God’s call? When He places His Word in front of us and tells us to eat, will we find the time to consume his words and let them sink deep into our heart, listening carefully to what He has to say to us? Do you feel the hand of the Lord on your life? His hold on you is strong – Do not resist.

This morning I read through the book of Lamentations, possibly written by the prophet Jeremiah whose book we have just studied. The five poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem have new meaning after spending time looking at 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and then the book of Jeremiah.

Using poetry, the author of Lamentations mourns the loss of what Jerusalem used to be. He weeps over the conditions of those who have been left behind as they starve behind the walls that were built to protect them. It would have been better for them to be captured and exiled than to remain there to watch what Jerusalem had become and to watch her children begging for food.

“And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers” (Lam. 3:8). Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever gone through a time when you wondered if God was even listening anymore? “Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!” (3:18).

As we read through the grief expressed in the book of Lamentations, many of us can relate to a time when we were hurting over a loss of some kind. Perhaps you are in the midst of your grief right now. I watched a friend sing over her sick baby as she took her last breath. I held a friend as she collapsed in grief when her husband told her he was leaving. I cried with my best friend when she was diagnosed with M.S. I have wiped the tears of my own girls as we told them we were moving again. I have mourned with families as they surrounded a loved one whose battle with cancer was coming to an end. I have watched nurses tell pregnant women that a heartbeat cannot be found…

We have all experienced loss and grief in our lives and we have all watched others around us suffer. But in the midst of utter sorrow, we have also experienced the mercy of our wonderful Lord and Savior. When grief threatens to overwhelm us, God steps in and we experience a moment of hope. We serve a God who is faithful and never abandons us, even if it feels like that at times.

“I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord” (Lam. 3:20-26)

I do not know everything that is going on in the lives of those who will share my morning coffee with me but I know that this is what God wants someone to hear today. There is one who is not looking back at a time of loss in their life but who is in the midst of their grief right now or who continues to seek healing or rescue. My prayer is that God will use these verses to give you hope and remind you that He is faithful.

For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love…
Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the Lord.
Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,
“We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us…”
My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.
My heart is breaking…
But I call on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit.
You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”
Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear” (Lam. 3:31-32,39-42,49-51a,55-57).

Sometimes our present suffering seems more real than the hope of our salvation – the possibility that God will step in and rescue us from our pain. Remember God loves you. Hold on to the fact that God is faithful. If you seek Him, you will find Him. If you pray to Him, you will be heard. If you cry out to Him, He will hold you. God has not abandoned you. He is with you.

A big part of Jeremiah’s message to the people of Judah – both those already in exile as well as though still fighting or not yet taken into captivity – was that there was HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. God had promised He would bring them back to their land in 70 years. Jeremiah wanted the people to know that they could trust God and that this return to Jerusalem someday was possible because nothing was too difficult for God. What a great message for me to hear today and to enjoy in my morning coffee.

To show the people that he trusted God and fully believed that the promised land would once again be theirs, God told Jeremiah to buy a piece of land that his cousin was going to ask him to purchase from him. As you can imagine, for anyone to purchase land at this point in the battle would appear very foolish yet what Jeremiah was doing was making an investment in the future that God was promising – that’s how much he trusted his God! Do we trust God that much?

Jeremiah 32:17
“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and the earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!…You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles…You performed miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt – things still remembered to this day! And you continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name famous to this day. You brought Israel out of Egypt with might signs and wonders, with a strong hand and powerful arm, and with overwhelming terror. You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before – a land flowing with milk and honey. Our ancestors came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or follow your word. They have not done anything you commanded. That is why you have sent this terrible disaster upon them. See how the siege ramps have been built against the city walls! Through war, famine, and disease, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as you said. And yet, O Sovereign Lord, you have told me to buy the field – paying good money for it before these witnesses – even though the city will soon be handed over to the Babylonians” (Jeremiah 32:17-25).

This sounds like a conversation we might have with God at times, pointing out to God how ridiculous it is that He would ask us to do ______________________when we are in the midst of ___________________ (fill in the blanks). Yet God calls us to trust in His promises, just as He wanted Jeremiah to show his trust in God.

Jeremiah 32:26
Then the message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?”

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

And this is what God was promising His people at this time as they were gathering everything they could from within the city of Jerusalem to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps, trying hard to fight the Babylonians and resist captivity:
“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellions. Then this city will bring me joy, glory and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them” (Jer. 33:6-9).

What battle are you fighting right now that you need to hear God’s promises that He will heal…restore…rebuild…cleanse…and forgive? Enter into the presence of your God and trust that nothing is too hard for Him!
By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, the let us go right into presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him (Heb. 10:20-22a).

“I will be their God and they will be my people” (Exodus 6:7).

These are the words of God when He made a covenant with the people of Israel right before He sent the plagues to convince Pharoah to let God’s people leave Egypt. It is interesting that God uses these words again through the prophet Jeremiah as His people are once more entering captivity. He reminds them that, just as He rescued them from Egypt, He has plans to deliver them from the exile they are beginning in Babylon.

We may read right over those words without thinking much of them, but to the people of Judah, “I will be their God and they will be my people” meant something. It reminded them that God had once rescued them and made a covenant with them on Mt. Sinai – a covenant written on stone tablets that required them to obey ten commandments as a way of remaining faithful to God, the first of which they broke over and over again – “You must not have any other god before me” (Exodus 20:3).

“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will NOT be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves a wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the NEW COVENANT I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…And I will forgive them their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

This new covenant would not be written on stone tablets, it would be written on their hearts. The old covenant required obedience and faithfulness to the God who met with their leader on the mountain while they stayed at a distance. The new covenant would be deep within each individual child of God, written on their hearts as each one had the opportunity to experience a personal God living within them. What a God of restoration we serve!!! God’s people were experiencing the fury of God while He equipped Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take His people captive for 70 years. Yet, in the midst of this sentencing, God was expressing love and promising to bring them home again starting over with a new covenant that would draw them closer to Him instead of pushing them away – a covenant that would last forever!

“They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one purpose to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an EVERLASTING COVENANT with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land” (Jer. 32:38-41).

These words of God are repeated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and explained in Hebrews 9 & 10, helping us understand that the new covenant was put in place when Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins. But first let’s look at Romans 8:3, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

Hebrews 9:1 and verses 6-8 explain why the temple and its traditions had to be destroyed as Jeremiah prophesied: That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth…When these things were in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

With the old covenant, God’s people were not given access to freely enter His presence as we are given now. Because Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins by the power of the eternal Spirit, He mediates a new covenant with God as he appears before God on our behalf. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, the let us go right into presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him (Heb. 10:20-22a).

So here I am today, enjoying my morning coffee in the presence of a God I can trust and it all goes back to the time we have studied about as we read through 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles and now the book of Jeremiah. The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple Solomon built led the way to a new and everlasting covenant through the death of the perfect sacrifice – Jesus Christ. This covenant is written on my heart and I have been given one heart and one purpose: to worship God forever! He has placed a desire in my heart to worship Him and I will never leave Him! I will find joy in doing good for Him because He finds joy in doing good for me. I will serve Him faithfully and wholeheartedly because I serve a faithful and wholehearted God!

“Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the Lord. “I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him. Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again…” (Jeremiah 31:20-21).

I think these verses sum up the prophecies of the book of Jeremiah. It’s a difficult book to read. It’s hard to hear chapter after chapter of the painful consequences God’s people suffered due to their sin and unfaithfulness. But there are several chapters here in the middle of Jeremiah that speak of God’s love and His mercy, of hope for the future of God’s people.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). This is one of my favorite verses – one of my life verses. Taking this verse and studying the context of the time in which it was originally spoken does not take away from its meaning but rather enhances how we can apply this verse to our lives.

God’s people have been unfaithful generation after generation and He has handed them over to the King of Babylon as a consequence of their sin. After bringing them into the promised land after 40 years of wandering in the desert and then dwelling among them in the beautiful temple Solomon built, God is taking away His gift and sending them into exile for a period of 70 years as a punishment for their sins.

At the time this letter in Chapter 29 is being written, the attack on Judah and Jerusalem has been going on for years. Thousands of the Israelites have already been captured and exiled to Babylon while Jeremiah is imprisoned in the heart of Jerusalem while the attack on the city continues. After years of proclaiming the message of painful consequences, now God has a message of hope for His people. God wants them to know He loves them and that their time of pain and suffering will not last forever – that He has a plan to bring them back, a plan to bless their lives once again.

Let’s read through these verses of hope and allow God to speak to our hearts. To get the full message, I encourage you to read through Jeremiahs 29-31. I have pulled a few verses and phrases that spoke to my heart this morning. I pray that as you read them the Spirit will fill you with today’s message God has for you.

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce…Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper…”
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity…” (29:5,7,10-14a, NIV).

“I will restore…For I will bring you home again…For I am with you and will save you…I will give you back your health and heal your wounds…There will be joy and songs of thanksgiving and I will multiply my people, not diminish them…You will be my people and I will be your God” (30:3,10,11,17,19,22, NLT).

I love this part! Even in the midst of suffering, God promises His people that they will find blessings:
“Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of Israel…I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will be happy again and dance merrily with your tambourines…Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care….The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock…Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone…I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing…Do not weep any longer…There is hope for your future,” says the Lord…”For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing” (31:2-4,9-10, 12-13, 16-17, 25, NLT).

“There is hope for your future.” This is the message that we speak to the men and women who come to the Pregnancy Resource Center (www.hopeforafuture.com). There are often natural consequences to our sin, to a life of doing what we want to do instead of following God’s plan for our lives. But God’s plan does not go away – when we seek Him with our whole hearts, we will find Him! Even in the midst of suffering the results of our sin, God will be with us and we will see His blessings in our lives. He will restore us and bring us joy.

It’s time to stop resisting God’s plan for our lives. If you seek Him, He will be found and there will be HOPE for your future.