God’s Desire For My Life

“We often wonder or are confused by what God’s plan is for us and or what He might want for us. In most cases, we choose for the worst and believe for the worst, as this is human nature. There is so much dissension on beliefs and what God’s intention is and or was at that time but I believe if you take the time to look at what is seen below, you will find what God’s plan is for our lives and it is GOOD.” — Rick Cox

In Jeremiah 29:11, different Bible translations transcribe the words a bit diverse. A few of the different versions are as follows:

KJV: “I know the thoughts I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

NKJV: “For I know the thoughts I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

NIV: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

NLT: “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.”

ESV: “For I know the thoughts I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

The translators obviously had an issue but did their best to translate based on the King James language at that time. Click here for the original Hebrew (from the Online Hebrew Interlinear Bible).

This line of thinking is expanded by E.W. Bullinger: Here the A.V. gives “to give you an end and expectation” in the margin, and translates it “to give you an expected end.”… All this is a recognition of the difficulty, without grasping or catching the spirit of the figure: “to give you the end, yes — the end you hope for”: i.e. the end which I have promised and on which I have caused you to hope and depend. All this and more is contained in and expressed by the figure Hendiadys. Using Strong’s Dictionary the word expected in Hebrew is “tiqvah” which is noted as H8615 and defined as, “hope, expectation, the thing that I long for, and expected.” Therefore, you can see the connection between hope and expected.

What will help is for us to be able to tie Jeremiah 29:11 with Romans 8:28. Before we do let’s take a look at what that says in a few translations.

In Romans 8:26-28 NKJV, we find the following: Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not always know what or how we should pray, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with a groaning that cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the Will of God. Moreover, we know that ALL THINGS work together for the good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.

In Romans 8:26-28, Living Bible we find the following: And in the same way, by our faith, the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t often know for what we should pray, nor how we should pray, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in our own words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, what the Spirit is saying as He pleads for us in harmony with God own will. And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into His plans.

In Romans 8:28-26-28, Amplified Bible we find the following: So too, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weaknesses; for we often do not know what prayer to offer, nor how to offer it properly the way we should, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning’s too deep for our utterance. And He, Who searches the hearts of men, knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit, that is His intention, because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God on behalf of the saints according and in harmony with God’s will. Therefore, we are assured and know that (since God is a partner), all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose.

What is important to see is this: Jeremiah said God’s thoughts and plans for you are for good and not for evil. God wants to bring you to an expected end that has hope with a good future. After telling us His thoughts and plans are for good and how He wants us to have that for which we longed for and expected, he then adds to this in the New Testament by telling us, “ALL THINGS, WILL WORK FOR YOUR GOOD!

It may not look like that right now, but if we maintain faith in Him, or putting it in the today’s vernacular, maintain an optimistic view and things will work out for our best and to our advantage. We will not fail we will win. We need to be optimistic in our thoughts. Too many people are pessimistic in their thinking. They always expect the worst. They think of how bad they are and how God wants to judge them and keep them down and punish them. That is a mind of sin. This represents a mind dominated by and overcome with fear and remorse. This is not what Paul spoke of in Romans 7. Paul said sin has NO MORE DOMINION OVER YOU! Sin has been defeated and we should no longer allow it to dominate our thinking. Should we make a mistake, we then ask God for forgiveness AND JUST AS IMPORTANT WE MUST FORGIVE OURSELVES, and move forward as if it never happened. Therefore, REMAIN OPTIMISTIC!

When we learn to do this, we will KNOW that God’s thoughts and plans are for our good and He will bring us to the future of our hopes because all is working to our good.

Print the following page and put it in several places in your home…

God says to me/you,

“(your name), I know the plans I have for you and they are plans to prosper you and not to harm you. They are plans to give you hope and a great future or expected end.”

For all things will work out to your expected end of good.
Jeremiah 29:11 & Romans 8:28

Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…

Respectfully,

Rick Cox