“At the south of Africa the sea was generally so stormy, when the frail barks of the Portuguese went sailing south, that they named it the Cape of Storms; but after that cape had been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. In your experience you had many a Cape of Storms, but you have weathered them all, and now, let them be a Cape of Good Hope to you.” (Spurgeon)
It begins with…
RIGHT THINKING ABOUT GOD;–
“But This I Call To Mind,…”– {v21}
What you think of will either rob you of hope or impart hope! Your Thought life is key,to Developing and Maintaining Godly Hope amidst the uncertainties, sorrows trials of life! And the foundation to Build Godly hope is in god Himself as Revealed in His Word.
“Set your mind on things above!”-{Read Col 3:1}.”Whatever is TRUE… dwell on these…”- {Read Phil 4:8}. God’s Word is “TRUE”-{Read John 17:17}. Jeremiah in the midst of horror, sitting in a cave overlooking the devastation of Jerusalem… gives us spiritual insight and begins with what he RECALLS to his MIND. And what he thinks on produces…
1. HOPE –
“… Therefore I have HOPE.” -{ v21}
And as he Thinks right about God-certainty, confident expectation that what God says HE WILL DO…It produces Hope- HOPE is produced! Not “hope” by chance as a gambler placing a wager on a horse, cards, football game and really his hope is based on “chance,” rather than the CERTAINTY of Hope which Jeremiah finds based on the Certainty of the Character of God…
2.- LOVE –
“… Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.They are new every morning… “ -{v22-23}.The Hebrew word used for this love is “hesed,” it speaks of the constant love that God shows to His people because of His covenant relationship with them. Whether translated “loving-kindness,” “unfailing love,” “constant goodness,” or simply, “love,” the word always refers to God’s loyalty. His Covenant LOVE of commitment, consistency that is not based on someones supposed merit, but His own choosing a love that gives and gives and gives. Love, the foundation which Hope springs for and based on…
3. – FAITHFULNESS –
“…great is Your Faithfulness…” – {v23}. His FAITHFULNESS, the word speaks of reliability, permanence! And he ends with saying the Lord is his…
4. – “PORTION” –
“…The Lord is my portion…”– {v24.} Which speaks of Him being his Life; sustenance, significance, security, satisfaction. His all in all. To him He is Life itself, and his “portion” is anchored in the Person- The Lord!
If we do not allow the WORD to Guide, Govern our thinking, then no hope, no love, no faithfulness will we look to God for. Instead we will be eaten up emotionally with anxiety, despair, doubts. “As a man Thinks in his heart so he is!”-{Prov 23:7}. Everybody “thinks…” everybody faces sorrow, pain, troubles, some more than others, severer than others, horrifically so in some cases. It is what and Who you will choose to Think on and as a result, believe in such times. Jeremiah testifies and his testimony has been preserved through generations...”This I call To Mind, and therefore I have HOPE!” “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have HOPE…”- {Read Rom 15:4}. Truth Transforming and unleashing God’s HOPE!
THINKING RIGHT ABOUT GOD…
” BUT THIS I CALL TO MIND…” He recalled the truth about God. His character. Left to ourselves when troubles come we tend to turn inward, fall back and think on the same old sinful pattern habits… excluding Him and His WORD AS OUR GUIDE AND GOVERN for living daily! We must resist the temptation to do so by RECOGNIZING the sinful, lying thoughts!, REJECTING them by REPLACING them with TRUTH from His Word, instead choosing to SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE, not on the things on earth.. THINK from the Scriptures, RENEWING your MIND -{ Read Col 3:2; Rom 12:2}.
The Consequences of Thinking Right about God for a believer, produces Hope, based on the Love of God through Him who is Faithful who is your Portion!
4 KEY WORDS RESULTING ON THINKING Right About God…
1. HOPE…
2. LOVE…
3. FAITHFULNESS…
4. PORTION…
* SPEAK to yourself these words, “But I Call to mind, and Therefore I have Hope…” and…
* THINK on His Love, Faithfulness and Him as your Portion!
* SHARE with Others His Means to Hope…a BETTER FUTURE! For the sorrow, pain, devastation is not the final destination for you “In Christ…”
READ, RE READ AND THINK… AND THANK HIM
“Yet this I CALL to MIND
and therefore I have HOPE:
Because of the Lord’s great LOVE we are not consumed,
for His compassion’s never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your FAITHFULNESS.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my PORTION;
therefore I will wait for Him.”- {Lamentations 3:21-14}.