In this piece I want to share with us very briefly what has been titled: God and your future in Him”, and I want us to begin our meditation from the book of Jeremiah 29, we are going to read verse one and then we will jump to verse eleven. The Bible says: “Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 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.”

 

Now, I believe we know what Jeremiah 29:11 says. Many of us can quote that aspect of the Scripture without even opening our Bible. But the point is, there is a reason why God made that statement and that was what the verse one of chapter 29 exposed to us. God made that statement to a people who were in captivity. God made that statement to a people who had been held under the rule of a man against their own wish. It says: Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive.”

 

So, that statement that God made in verse eleven was actually to a people that were in captivity. They were not free men; they were not free women; they were under a rule of Nebuchadnezzar. They were taken away from their own land and were held as captives. But in the midst of their circumstances and situation, God said “for I know the thoughts.” Now, what does that tell us? Irrespective of where we are or what out situations is, God is thinking about you, God is thinking about us. Whether your situation is palatable or unpalatable, whether it is giving glory to God or it is not giving glory to God, the Bible says God is thinking about you.

 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you”, towards these people in captivity, it was the word of the Lord unto them through Jeremiah, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” So, irrespective of your state, the Bible says there is a future for you, and there is a hope, in God. God is always thinking about you. And I want us to take note of that statement that God is always thinking about you.

 

Now, one of the things that the devil does and always want us to realize, is that God is responsible for our woes. You know, the devil always plays around that mindset, that thought, that each time things are not working well for us, each time things are not going the way that they should go that God has forgotten us, that Gid is not mindful of us. The devil always wants us to believe that narrative. And the reason why a lot of people are unthankful, ungrateful is because they have thought their lives and situations to a point that they feel that God is not aware about what I am going through. Because they assume and believe that is God is aware that they exist, they should not have been a captive in the first place or going through the challenges and the problems that is confronting them.

 

The year 2020 for example, has been a challenging year for many people. Many things have happened to a lot of people this year alone that have made them to lose hope, many people have thought about their life to a point that they have concluded that nothing good can come out of them and the best thing they could do is to take their own lives. That is how the devil makes many people to feel or to think each time things aren’t going the way they should. But this is the word of the Lord to a people that are in bondage, they were not enjoying or partying so to say. They were in captivity, slaves. They were held against their own wish and freedom.

 

But despite that, God said I am thinking about you even in that state, I am thinking about your Future, even though your present state does not look like where you are going. You know, there is a saying that “may we not look like where we are coming from” especially when you have a rough past. Now, even though it looks as if your state right now is not where you want to be, God says I am thinking about you, I have a thought and a plan for your future. Most of the times, we are fixated with our present and the reason for this is because many of us find it very difficult to see what God is doing.

 

You know, sometimes, we just feel like “how I wish I know what God is doing, how I wish I could have a peep into what my tomorrow would look like.” So, a lot of people who don’t have that understanding of how their tomorrow would look like, either in God or in themselves, give up on life. And there was an example in Job 2:9-11. The devil used the wife of Job to paint that picture to us. You know, most of the times when we feel like God isn’t doing nothing or God is responsible for our calamity, it is a lie from the pit of hell. Job 2:9-11, the Bible says: “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” In other words, Job’s wife was trying to persuade her husband to curse God and die because she believes God must have been responsible for his state and his current predicament. She was like “why are you still holding on to this God that has forgotten you, that has struck you so much with this adversity?”

 

“But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” Adversity there means, misfortune! Now, even though Job was speaking from an unregenerated mind, but he still spoke his mind. He said “even though God is responsible for my state, then shall you not enjoy good from God and also not enjoy the opposite?” Despite the fact that most of the times, God does not think evil about us. God’s thoughts concerning us are always thoughts of peace and not evil, to give us a Future and a hope. So, Job said to his wife that shall you enjoy good from the Lord and not enjoy misfortune?

 

“In all this Job did not sin with his lips” because if Job had concluded that God was responsible for his state, he could have curse God and then moved on. But in that state that he was, the Bible says Job did not curse God because Job had an understanding about the fact that there is s Future for him irrespective of his current state. The challenge is many people don’t know that future and I want to show you that Future in God, that is where we are going. 1 Corinthians 2:9 in The Passions Translations. It says:

 

“This is why the Scriptures say.” Now, the Scripture is the word of God, it cannot be broken. The Bible says somewhere that God send His word and it will perform that which God has sent it to accomplish. So, if the Bible says this is what the Scripture says, it is talking about what God has said. In one of our meetings in the month of September, we were made to understand that everything that God wants to do, He has done them. God has accomplished everything, and He will not begin to do things right now for you. The things that He wants to do for you, He has already done them, they exist in Him and with Him. When the time for it to manifest is around the corner, He makes them manifest in the physical.

 

So, don’t begin to think or hope that the future you are expecting is going to be created brand new, No! That future already exists in God and this Scripture is going to prove it to us. It says: “This is why the Scriptures say, things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine— these are the many things God has in store for all His lovers.” God has lovers, and I believe you are one of them. If you are a lover of God, God says “He has things for you.” Now, they are not common things, because it says “things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine.” So, that tells you that it is a new thing because, by the time it dawns on you, everyone would open their mouth and say “Wow! So, this still exists in God”, this is the kind of future that God says He has in stock for you.

 

“But God now unveils these profound realities”, notice the Bible called them realities. Why did He call them realities? Because they already exist in God. He unveils them “to us by the Spirit.” Now, this is where the equation completes or balances. The Spirit of God. You may not know what God has in stock for you if you don’t have His Spirit. Because these things are in the Spirit. There are two realms: We have the Spiritual realm and the Physical ream. The physical realm is that place where the devil dwells. It is the realm where you have to see things with your naked eyes before you believe. It does not require any spirituality to see with your physical eyes. And it is the physical realm that the devil dwells.

 

So, most of the times, the devil begins to show you so many things that are not working in the physical realm, forgetting that there is the spiritual realm. And the things you are hoping and trusting God for, they are not in the physical realm. They are in the spiritual realm. You will only be doing yourself a disservice if all you do is to fixate on this physical realm. The reason is because what you can see with your physical eyes, they are limited. And so, if you begin to look for your realities in the physical realm, you will just continue to look and get the more discourage.

 

Let us continue with the reading. It says: “Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things.” So, the things that you don’t know in the physical realm, the Holy Spirit knows and He is aware of them. The Holy Spirit has been into your future, He was there when God was creating your future. Somewhere in Acts 15, the Bible says “known to God are all His works from the foundation of the world.” The Holy Spirit was in your beginning, He has seen your tomorrow even before you arrive there. And that is why the birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament, God revealed His intentions to people. So, your realities is in the Spirit already even though it hasn’t manifest in the physical.

 

So, it says the Holy Spirit searches all things. Where you have not been yet, that your tomorrow, the Holy Spirit has been there. But you will find out where the problem is right now. Verse 11: it says: “After all, who can really see into a person’s heart and know his hidden impulses except for that person’s spirit? So, it is with God. His thoughts and secrets are only fully understood by his Spirit, the Spirit of God.” So, the question is: How do I know my Future, the hope that God has in stock for me? Even though things are not working right now, how do in know that my tomorrow would be fine? The Bible says it is through the Spirit.

 

If you partner with the Holy Spirit, He can take you into that future but you need to first and foremost see it in the Spirit so that you can take hold of it physically. You must see it before you can take charge of it. Verse 12 says: “For we did not receive the spirit of this world system but the Spirit of God, so that we might come to understand and experience all that grace has lavished upon us.” Now, why did we receive the Spirit of God? The reason is what we just read now. It says so that you can understand all that grace and God has made available for you in Christ Jesus through grace.

 

It says further: “And we articulate these realities with the words imparted to us by the Spirit and not with the words taught by human wisdom. We join together Spirit-revealed truths with Spirit-revealed words.” How do you bring to pass your spiritual realities? The answer is just revealed to us here. It says you bring together the spiritual revealed truths with spiritual revealed words. So, the truth we are talking about or your realities that we are talking about is in the Spirit. You must first and foremost accept it as truths. So, when you accept it as truths, it become what you speak, your words. The combination of these two bring about to pass that reality in the physical realm.

 

Verse 14 says: “Someone living on an entirely human level rejects the revelations of God’s Spirit, for they make no sense to him.” Now, if you are in the realm of the physical, the things of the Spirit do not make sense, and that is what the Bible is saying there. You can’t remain in this physical realm; you cannot partner with the devil in the physical realm and still expect to enjoy the future that is in God. If you are going to enjoy these realities, that future you are talking about, you must cross to the spiritual realm. That verse says further: “He can’t understand the revelations of the Spirit because they are only discovered by the illumination of the Spirit. ¹⁵ Those who live in the Spirit are able to carefully evaluate all things, and they are subject to the scrutiny of no one but God. ¹⁶ For Who has ever intimately known the mind of the Lord Yahweh well enough to become his counsellor? Christ has, and we possess Christ’s perceptions.”

 

Now, look at what is saying here: Your Future, your reality is in Christ Jesus. That is what he says in that other verse that grace has made them available to you. And how did we receive grace? Through Christ: Ephesians 2:8 says “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves but the gift of God.” Now, how did we know these realities? It says “Christ has made them available to us because we have Christ perceptions.” What does that tell you? You need the perception of Christ to be able to access your future in God even though your state right now is not looking like it. You need to have the mind of Christ and understand what has been made available for you in the Spirit and then articulate it in Christ Jesus and then you possess that future.

 

How do you articulate this future? What is God expected of you? Mark 16:15-16 says: “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Now, what is our future in God? God has committed something into our hands, He has committed the preaching of the gospel. Let us go to 2 Corinthians 5, so that we can understand these things and know how to position ourselves in God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20. It says:

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

 

Now, the latter part of that 1 Corinthians 2:10 says our realities is in Christ and we need to see it from Christ perception. Now in this place, it is telling us that God has reconciled us back unto Himself through Christ. So, how do we lay hold of that future in God? It is by partnering with Christ in the assignment that He has committed unto us. And what is the assignment? It is what we read in that Mark 16 so that we can begin to see it. The reason is because if you want to enter into the fulness and reality of God, we must partner with God because there is a place of partnering with God in order to access your future.

 

So, that Mark 16 says: “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” n My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 

So, what are we supposed to be doing in order to enter our future in God? The answer is simple! We are supposed to partner with Him. There is the place of partnering with God. God has made all things available to you in Christ, fine! But how do you lay hold of these? You need to partner with God in His Business. And what is the business of God? The business of God is soul winning. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:30 that “the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that wins a soul is wise.” Now, the reason why I am saying all these is because we must be committed to missions, reaching out to lost souls and it is important that if we will ever enter into our future, God Himself has a future for us and it is that future that I am revealing to us.

 

The Bible says the grace of God has appeared to all men, bringing about salvation. God wants all men to be saved. It is not enough to say “God, wat do you have in stock for me? How do I know my Future?” Your future is in the Scripture, it is in the word of God. It says go therefore and preach the gospel, partner with God and as you partner with Him, He begins to unveil His plans, His thoughts and His purpose for your life. So, it is not just enough to sit down and wait and enter into your future, you simply enter into your future by partnering with God in His agenda, in His assignment here on earth. And what is this assignment? He says go out there and preach the gospel.

 

I believe you have been blessed!

Thanks for the gift of your time, Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!
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