“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 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 search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NASB1995)
What are God’s plans he has for his people, the body of Christ, today? What is for our welfare? It is what is for our well-being, for our good, for our spiritual benefit. So first of all it has to do with our salvation, that by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we would die with Christ to sin, and now walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living. Sin is no longer to be what we practice, but now righteousness and holiness are to be our practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God, as we cooperate fully with God.
And what kind of future and hope? Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that we would die to sin and live for him in walks of obedience to his commands. And living for him means we give up our former self-driven lives to now surrender our lives to his will and purpose, to be who he wants us to be, to go where he sends us, to say what he gives us to say, and to do the things he has called us to do, in his power and wisdom, under the guidance and direction of God’s Spirit.
And the hope that we have, if by faith in Jesus Christ we have died with Christ to sin, and if by the Spirit we are putting sin to death daily, and if we are walking in obedience to our Lord, and to his commands, in practice, is that we will be delivered out of our slavery to sin and we will have eternal life with God in heaven. But all of God’s promises have conditions, and the condition is that we must continue in Christ, in dying with him to sin, and in walking in obedience to his commands, for us to have eternal life in him.
And what should this look like when we call upon the Lord, and when we pray to him? If he is going to listen to us, our hearts must be in the right place. And I am not saying that we have to be perfect in everything we do, for we are still clay in the Potter’s hands being molded into his likeness, and that process will be going on until death, or until Jesus returns. But our prayers need to be centered in the will and purpose of God for our lives, and we should desire to do what pleases the Lord, and to follow in his ways.
For we will seek the Lord, and we will find him, when we search for him with our whole hearts. And he knows our hearts. He knows who is genuine and who is not. He knows who is just playing a game, going through the motions, and putting on a performance with no true interest in following the Lord in obedience to his commands. And he knows who is sincere and who truly wants to follow him and to do what pleases him. And to them he will listen, and he will speak, and he will share his heart with them.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:22; Luke 9:23-26; John 8:31-32; John 10:27-30; John 15:1-12; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-24; Romans 11:17-24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5,9; 2 Peter 1:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,24-25; 1 John 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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