Devotional Thought of the Day:

¹¹  I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. ¹²  Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. Jeremiah 29:11-12 (TEV)

545    Live a special Communion of the Saints, and at the moment of interior struggle, as well as during the long hours of your work, each of you will feel the joy and the strength of not being alone.  (1) 

The above quote from scripture (the red quote) is often used to lift people’s spirits,  It appears on cards and meme’s with beautiful sunrises and glorious backgrounds.  People share it with those they know need a spiritual boost, a holy “pick me up,” assurance.  jeremiah, the prophet of troubling messages assured us of a light at the end of the tunnel.  He promises, as God’s spokesman, that there is hope, and it is found in the presence of God.  The presence that we are believers dwell in, for we are His people!

He will hear our prayer, He has a plan, He has an answer, and all of that is true.

You might ask where the fine print is, and there is something in the context of this verse that you need to hear. Read this carefully,

⁷  Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too. Jeremiah 29:7 (TEV)

Read the verse again?  Do you realize that God is tieing the future of the Babylonians to the future of the Jewish people?  That God’s people are to pray for their enemies, their persecutors, that the future and hope of both Jews and Gentiles is linked?  That the people of God should work hard to benefit those who oppress them,

We are called to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute.  That is what we do, as we trust in Jesus’ promise to us in the sermon on the Mount.  And it is nothing really new.  That kind of love Israel was supposed to show people back in the Old Testament.  It is very radical, it is not logical by man’s standards!  Yet in 1 Cor. 5 we are told that we don’t judge men by those standards, but by the value Jesus has placed on them. They will become part fo the Communion of Saints, the very people that will lift you up.

God has radical plans for you, plans that are beyond awesome.  Those plans include all He brings into His family, all He wants to bring into His family.  That includes those people, the ones you struggle to love.  The ones who take every bit of trust you have in God to deal with, and then some.

Pray for them, do everything you can to help them… trusting not in their response, but in God’s role in your life. You will be amazed at His plans, at the reconciliation and restoration he accomplishes!

(1)  Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1317-1319). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.