Favorite Scriptures
This verse comes to us from Sis. Donna S.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
It is necessary for us to understand the context of this verse. When the Prophet spoke this, Israel was in a very bad place. They had stopped following God and had gone in to sin.
It was not what God wanted to happen but because the Children of Israel refused to hear the Word of the Lord, it left God no choice but for judgment to come.
No, it wasn't God’s desire for Babylon to take Israel captive, but the people left Him no choice.
Yes, we serve a God of grace and mercy. Yes He is patient and slow to anger, but sin carries a penalty.
The Prophet is letting them know that what is happening to them was not God’s intention, but the result of their own choices.
Its very similar to what is happening in the Church today. We are living a very loose lifestyle and are taking for granted the grace of God.
When the Prophets today call for a change in the way we live they are shamed and labeled as judgmental, and harsh.
We are all going to come to an expected end. But each of us must examine our lifestyle and how it compares to what God has laid out for us in the Word.
There are two EXPECTED ends and all of us will arrive at one or the other.
ONE: To arrive in Heaven and spend an eternity with God. We will hear our King say in Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
TWO: To continue on a road to destruction assures us we will spend an eternity separated from God. Sin carries a terrible penalty, even though that’s not what God wants for His creation. As the children of Israel, OUR choices bring us to an expected end. 2nd. Peter 2:4-6 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; [5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person , a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; [6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Church, let’s live a holy and righteous life before God.
