MKJV Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says the LORD; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

To be more like Christ, is God’s will for His saints, and it’s one of the greatest desires of the new man. The man Christ Jesus trusted His heavenly Father 100%, He had no doubt of His Father at any time.
When men considered their sinful state and said “then who can be saved?“, Jesus said “With men it’s impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27,
and in John 6:37 Jesus stated with no reservation:
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me”.

When Jesus said:
“I am the door: if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture….: I’m come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”, as with every word of God, these words can be relied on 100% !

Given that Every Word of God’s is 100% sure, why should the children of God doubt their Heavenly Fathers promises to provide all that’s needed, and what’s the source of the saints fear or doubt?
The answer is Sin.
– Sin causes men to be blind and deaf to the truth;
– Wisdom doesn’t live with unrighteousness,
– Fear is opposed to faith.
– Isaiah 59:2 Warns that sin separates the saint from God’s blessings, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

When we’re living with unrepented sin in our self, or practicing sin of any form; even by not trusting God in our adversities, when we speak to God telling Him we trust Him, and asking for our wants, God hears our words of request, but sees our heart of unbelief, and our actions which deny our prayers.
None of this is a surprise to God, He knew our tendencies before the foundation of the earth, and sent Christ to redeem us from our sin.
He wants us now to be walking in His light, walking in faith, trusting and confiding in Him, producing fruit for His glory, distributing it to the Saints. Growing in the knowledge of His wonderful truths, looking for the return of Christ, and fixing our thoughts and desires on His kingdom.

For faith and righteousness to grow, we need to be rooted in His Word, meditating on it day and night!

God doesn’t leave us to be slaves to sin, He wants us to grow to be more like Christ, and He works in us according to His wisdom, to accomplish this; remember the opening verse… “For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says the LORD; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
If we know that our fellowship with God has been reduced and feel like we’re in a barren land, God has provided the words for us to pray for our deliverance from its hold… Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if any wicked way [is] in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.”

God’s peace is granted to men who live in humility:
Isaiah 66:2 “…but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.“
Isaiah 57:15 ‘For this is what the high and exalted One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”‘

Sin has many forms; the flesh justifies its unrighteousness with impudence, it’s always desiring to control man and doesn’t want to be cut off, so it works to subtly maintain its influence over the new man to his detriment, the sinful flesh attempts to blur the definition of right and wrong, so that wrong becomes acceptable.

One sin that’s often not considered as such; is, the act of becoming settled on earth rather than living as a stranger here; its a form of idolatry, because it’s an act of placing anyone or anything as priority above God; It’s referred to in Hebrews where Moses, who was one of many men and women of faith who practically lived for the day they would inherit their eternal home. They were saints who chose to suffer affliction along with the people of God, rather than enjoying the temporary pleasures of sin.
Those temporary pleasures, are simply, choosing to live to self rather than denying myself; rather than taking up my cross and following Christ, who lived the perfect example of the action of denying self. and in doing so, because of His selfless obedience, many have been secured to eternal life. The fruit of His obedience is also paralleled in the saints to a degree, not in the terms of eternal salvation, but in the term of being saved from penalty and grief of sin : 1 Timothy 4:16 “Take heed unto yourself, and to the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you.”

There are many activities in life which although they aren’t sinful of themselves, they may be done as a sinful act, as a matter of choice contrary to God’s instruction, rather than suffering affliction along with the people of God; The Word says... “deny yourself“, but the flesh would rather make its own choice than submit the request to God to get His instruction. The root of the will to leave God out of any plan, is described as evil in James 4:14-18 “For what [is] your life? For it’s a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears. Instead of you saying, If the Lord wills, we’ll live and do this or that. But now you boast in your presumptions. All such boasting is evil. Therefore to him who knows to do good, and doesn’t do [it], to him it’s sin.”

The question of “what is denying myself?”, isn’t a question the man of flesh is too interested in answering; As humility goes out the door, pride, selfishness and darkness move in when the old man gets his way.
But when obedience is practiced, by way of taking up my cross, denying myself and following Christ, peace, joy, contentment and wisdom fill the house. Luke 8:35 “and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; …”

Faith is essential to receiving the blessings of God;
Consider: How would you feel if someone that you had selflessly given to over a life time, maybe a son, daughter, mother or father, came to you to ask a favour, and in the same request they said openly with impudence, “I don’t trust or believe that you will“. The “I don’t believe…” doesn’t come from a place of love, and appreciation. It’s cynical: distrustful of sincerity or integrity. How much greater is the sadness of such an expression from us the created, toward our Almighty Creator. Cynicism has no acceptable place of expression in God’s order between His creation and Himself, or between His Saints. The righteous man cuts off the flesh in all it’s forms, and “as it is written, The just shall live by faith.“

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it’s impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 3:17-19 But who was he grieved with forty years? Wasn’t it with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Jude 1:5 But I intend to remind you, you once knowing these things, that the Lord having delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, in the second place destroyed the ones not believing.

Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

1 John 2:15 “Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.”

May God grant us the strength to walk pleasing to Him every day, to put to death the desires of the flesh, and take hold of His promises, fixing our eyes on His kingdom, that we would be renewed in the spirit of our minds, that we live by faith trusting in the only one who has delivered the Saints from eternal grief, into the glorious light of His love, for His eternal glory to be revealed to the principalities and powers in heavenly places; through Christ Jesus!

Remember who it is we have our hope and faith in:
The First & The Last, The Alpha & the Omega, He is God and He never fails.

“For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says the LORD; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Picture supplied with thanks to Tony Robertson. APOMarch2019