John K. Jenkins Sr - An Inside Look at God's Thought Life

I want to talk today about the subject of an inside look at God’s thought life. Say that with me: an inside look! One more time, everybody. Now, I want you to think about what life would be like if you could know what everybody was thinking. Come on, tell the truth; that would be horrifying, wouldn’t it? Here 's what would be more horrifying: if people knew what you were thinking! You all know that saints have learned how to smile and look at you like this, and they’ll say one thing but be thinking something else. You all know what it is. Just imagine, " I really like that outfit you have on,» but your mind is saying, «That 's the ugliest outfit I’ve seen in my life!» Fortunately, thank God that He does not give us the ability to read other people’s minds or know what goes on in their hearts or thoughts. However, in our text today, I want to discuss this because God allows us to get a glimpse of the way He thinks. This is probably what messes folks up: we don’t recognize that God does not think the way we think. We think one way; God thinks another way. The scripture says, «As far as the east is from the west, so are God’s ways from our ways and God’s thoughts from our thoughts.» The challenging trauma we have is that we try to run our lives and discern the affairs of our lives based on how we think, rather than how God thinks. Because God wants us to understand how He thinks, He gives us a glimpse of His thought life right here in Jeremiah chapter 29. Now, I wish I had time to go through the whole twenty-ninth chapter. I don’t, but I’m going to zoom in today on my assignment, chapter 11. As a matter of fact, you all know today is my birthday, and every employee at the First Baptist Church gets their birthday off. So y’all know I must let you know I’m working on my day off today. I’m working because this scripture has been spinning around in my spirit now for a couple of weeks. I almost beat up Bishop Courtney Macbeth and made him sit down so I could preach it last week, but I held off, amen! I let him finish his message last week, and it’s been stirring up in my spirit for a couple of weeks now. I want to talk to you all about the way God thinks. Now, the essence of it is from this 29th chapter when the prophet Jeremiah has the assignment and the responsibility of preaching and prophesying to a people who are in captivity. He is preaching to some Jews who remain captives in Babylon. The challenge is that these Jews have watched some of their relatives and friends get free while they have remained captive. It’s tough to watch other folks get blessed while you are still stuck behind. It’s difficult to see others getting a new car while you are still driving your hooptie. It’s tough to see other folks moving into their new house while you are about to be put out of yours. It’s difficult to see others get married while you’re still single. Come on, talk to me for just a minute! It’s tough; it’s a challenge, and that’s where they are. They 've watched other people gain freedom while they have remained captives. As a matter of fact, the challenge is so great that they face two significant issues. They are challenged by the fact that, number one, they are in exile. Someone say " away from home.» They are in a foreign land, they are in a foreign country; they are in a place that is not their home, and they are not accustomed to being away from home. They are in exile. Secondly, they are challenged by the fact that they are not in control. They are under the auspices and control of the Babylonian Empire. So they are stressed because they cannot be in charge. Now, your mouths would tell the truth: some of us are stressed out because we’re not in charge. You like being in charge of your life; I said, you like being in charge of your life. You like sleeping as late as you want. You can always make it to the 12 o’clock service. Come on, talk about it for just a second! Darlin', a preacher in this crowd ain’t gonna say anything. David Sheff just got in from the club last night; they should just be glad they’re here today, amen! But what got most of us in trouble is when we were in charge of our lives. Some of us messed up because you chose whom to marry, you chose where to live, you chose the job to take. That creates drama when you’re in charge of your life. But these folks are frustrated because they’ve lost control. They feel like they are slaves in a foreign land, and they have begun to feel like God has abandoned them, forgotten about them, and doesn’t care about them. Some of you have found yourselves perhaps thinking that because of the drama going on in your life and because things are not going the way you want them to go, and you don’t have things flowing the way you want them to flow, you feel and you have thought…