8-30-18 Good Thoughts

Daily Devotion: Good Thoughts - By Greg Laurie -
 
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11
 
Sometimes my wife will say, "Let's go have a nice salad." To me, salad is like practice for eating real food. I'm usually drawn to the wrong foods. I don't like healthy things.
 
In the same way, we sometimes think that if we walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, it will be like going on a diet and eating all the things we really don't want to eat-things that are unappealing.
 
That is not the will of God. What you'll discover is that God's plans for you are better than your plans for yourself. Here is what the Bible says: "'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,' says the Lord, 'thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).
 
I love the fact that God doesn't say, "I know the single thought I once had toward you." If I knew that God Almighty had one single thought about me, I would be happy with that. But God said, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you" (emphasis added). It is not a single thought; it is thoughts. There are so many thoughts God has had toward you, they are like the stars in the sky or the sands in the sea. They are innumerable.
 
Someone might say, "What if they are bad thoughts? What if God is thinking bad things about me?" Let's go back to Jeremiah 29:11. What are the thoughts God thinks toward us? They are "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
 
It's true. God does love you. He does have a wonderful plan for your life. So just know this: God's will for you is better than your plan for yourself.

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