a future and a hope

     Jeremiah 29:11 has been something of a "cliche" verse for me. Not in the sense that it's overrated or whatever, but it seems like I've heard it quoted so many times in so many contexts, that it's lost some of it's meaning to me. That's why I'm so excited that God has given me a new meaning to it. And that's why I'm writing this post. :)

     For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

     My former thought process when hearing this verse: It's very comforting that God knows exactly what is going to happen in my life, and I don't need to worry about it!

     It's not as if there is anything wrong with thinking that. It's the truth: God does know what is going to happen in the future (he planned it), and I really don't have to worry about anything. But that's as far as I got with this verse. The fascinating thing about the Bible is, since it is the inspired word of God, there are always new layers of meaning to it. God uncovered a new layer of this verse, and I'm just so excited about it. 

    I first realized it whilst doing math homework.

     Funny how this post was triggered by my math homework. Didn't I just write a post that started the same way?

;)

      It's hard being a sophomore in high school who happens to be doing a much more rigorous curriculum than most people my age that I interact with on a daily basis. For example, while they're watching a movie, I'm doing math or some other form of homework. Almost every single time. I use that example because that's precisely what happened to me an hour or two ago. My parents keep reminding me that all this school is necessary if I want to be accepted into Hillsdale (my dream college). I called that to mind as I was sitting on the floor doing math, just ten feet away from the happy, math-free movie-watchers. I thought of the work that was necessary if I wanted college. I thought of Jeremiah 29:11. 

     And I realized.  That future starts now. 

God has plans for me now. It's not like I'm just living my life, and one day, it will be THE future that's referenced in this verse. I'm living it.

     (It's super late at night as I'm writing this, so I know it's on the brink of incoherency. Sorry about that.)

     I suppose what I'm trying to say is that what I do now matters. It's part of God's big plan for me, and in the grand scheme of things, having to do math instead of watching a movie isn't really significant at all. Because it's part of God's huge and exciting plan for my life. It's nice to think about when I'm feeling discouraged about school and such (especially now, with four weeks of school left and finals looming ahead). I know that my hard work WILL pay off soon.

Anyway, that's my two cents on Jeremiah 29:11. I hope it was encouraging/enlightening/et cetera.
Excuse the rather flustered nature of the post. . . I'm tireeedddd. Haha. :)

Have a nice Tuesday.
-Sarah :)

 

who we are in Christ - God doesn't create junk

     Christians need to have a certain amount of self-esteem. I'm not talking about constantly doing things to keep people thinking highly of them. That's more of what the world (read: unbelievers) would say self-esteem is. People are always saying "believe in yourself!" As if you were something so amazing, that you could rely on yourself to accomplish anything.

     But we can't do that. We can't rely on ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

     So, as Christians, where do we get self-esteem? We all need it. Otherwise, we'd have such a low opinion of ourselves to the point where we would start lying to ourselves about our worth. We do have worth. But it's not in ourselves. If the heart is deceitful, there's no way we could look in ourselves for truth about who we are. We are more critical of ourselves than anyone else is. We all have our insecurities, and NO ONE on earth is entirely immune to peer pressure.

     We get our worth from JESUS. Since Jesus bore the punishment for all of our sin and fear and insecurities and failings, we have HIS record. That doesn't mean we don't sin. It does mean, though, that we aren't going to be punished for our sin. God looks at us as beloved sons and daughters. I don't know about you, but I find it comforting to know that God thinks I'm beautiful. THAT'S how I should look at myself. The devil likes to whisper in our ears and tell us lies about how we aren't worth anything, how we can never be a success, et cetera. That's when I look at what God thinks of me. He loves me as a Father loves his child! And his opinion will never change. Oh, happy thought!

     I'm an introvert myself, so I count myself as one of the socially awkward club. You know, the kind that go to Chick-fil-a and have to muster up all the courage in their being to go up to the counter and order lemonade. (True story.) So, when I go out in public, I'm constantly comparing myself to people, whether it's my physical appearance, or the way I speak, or my sense of humor. It's easy for me to sit here on my bed and type a bunch of words about how comparing yourself to others doesn't get you anywhere, and how God made you unique and for a special purpose. It's harder once I go out there and try to apply it to my life. But God's always working. He really is. He's showing me this and, slowly but surely, bringing me out of the pit of low self-esteem.

     God has perfect timing. I started attending my new church around August of last year, and last September, youth group started. Our theme for this whole year in youth group has been: "Be yourself; who you are in Christ." It's amazing and wonderful that God would place me in this group, talking about this subject, right around the time I started struggling with self-esteem. Last week at youth group, we did a sort of recap of everything we've learned in the past few months. I wanted to share with you who we are and what we have in Christ.

1) We are inseparable from Christ.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

2) We are sanctified (set apart and being made holy).
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," - Ephesians 2:4-6

3) We have the Holy Spirit in us. 
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8

4) We are free. 
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1

5) We have authority. 
". . .so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs  according to the hope of eternal life." - Titus 3:7

6) We are masterpieces. 
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10

     Everyone in my youth group also received a card with the following printed on it:

I am a child of God.

I was created in His image for a unique 

purpose that He prepared for me before I 

 was known to this world. 

     I constantly need this reminder of who I really am, otherwise, I would always be beating myself up for my shortcomings and mistakes that I'm bound to make. When I read this card, I'm reminded that God is a forgiving and loving God, no matter how many times I mess up. 

     I'd like to leave you with this video made by the Skit Guys about being who God created you to be. Enjoy. :)

-Sarah :)

do not worry about tomorrow

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

     Lately I have been looking at colleges and considering possible majors, looking at scholarships, et cetera (and yes, it's true I'm only a sophomore in high school). I often worry about my grades far too much (what if my GPA isn't high enough to get into a good college?), and about how well I'll do in PSATs and SATs and all that. 

     I have to constantly remind myself of the verse above. The truth is that God already knows what my GPA will be. He already knows whether I will go to college or not, and if so he knows what college I'm going to end up in. He knows what I'll major in, and how I will use (or maybe not use) that to get a job after college. I have all my current plans and hopes for the future laid out, but he knows which ones will be realized and which ones aren't in HIS plan. 

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

     So why worry? "Each day has enough trouble of it's own." Honestly, I don't really have the time or energy to worry about what's going to happen in three years. I'm too busy with the next three hours. So, I'll do my best at what's in front of me right now, and wait and see what God has for me later. 

-Sarah :)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

wednesday verse

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Jeremiah 32:17