THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HEART

“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.” Jeremiah 29:11

No man knows by the present sign or situation what the future holds. Does your present situation cause you to doubt God’s promise in your life? It took 13 years for Joseph’s dream to come to pass but he never doubted the Giver of the dream. He knew he was a child of promise.

 

Although Joseph’s present condition looked so discouraging, his future was in his heart, because his focus was on God. From being sold into slavery to being falsely accused and thrown into prison, he was rejected, forgotten and abandoned by those he loved, served loyally and helped selflessly, yet all this time, God was preparing him for the future because the future was in his heart.

 

Where is your heart? Because Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:21 that where your treasure is, there your heart is. It is all about focus. If you give your attention to God, you become what God says you are, you have what God says you have and you can do what God says you can do.

 

It is when you give your attention to God that God can use you and develop your gift that will take you to a place of significance with Him. If Joseph’s heart was bound by the pain of the past, trapped by self-pity of the present or imprisoned by anxiety of the future, he would not have had a free spirit to be able to see the pain of those around him and be a problem solver.

 

What situation are you in? If you handle your present good times carelessly, they can soon turn to hard times and if you handle your present hard times with care, they can soon turn to good times.

 

Take this lesson from Joseph: your future is in your heart.

 

GOD FIRST

18 April 2024

“Let’s take a lesson from David who was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes, so that God could be honoured. Ask yourself: Where does honouring God appear in your list of priorities? Do you thank Him for all that He has done in your life, all the way long? While men look at the outside, God looks at the motives of the heart. Instead of worrying about the opinion of others concerning you, let the motive of your heart each day be to honour God before yourself.”

THE SACRIFICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

6 April 2024

“There is no time to do what is right. We must set our heart to obey the Word of God, all the time. God’s kind of lifestyle calls us to do what is right in the sight of God at all times, even though it is contrary to what we naturally want to do. Choosing to do what is right is a great test to the flesh.

What is the sacrifice of righteousness? Choosing to do God’s will rather than our own. When our flesh says hate, God says love. It takes sacrificial love to love your enemy and to pray for them. These are the weapons of righteousness. This is the sacrifice that Jesus looks at and rewards. Even though that might not be a grand, or outward sacrifice, it is what Jesus values.”

LIFE ANEW

1 April 2024

“When we talk of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking of the rare opportunity He has given to all believers to experience a new beginning – a situation in which every dead area of our lives receives life anew.

We are dead to our past and alive to our future. Sin’s power over us is broken and we now put on Christ’s new life: we live in Him, move in Him and have our being in Him. Herein lies the significance of resurrection.”