John K. Jenkins Sr - An Inside Look at Gods Thoughts

Go to Jeremiah chapter 29. In Jeremiah chapter 29, I love verse 11: «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.» I want to take an inside look at God’s thought life. Look at your neighbor and say, «I’m glad you don’t know what I’m thinking.» How many of you would honestly admit that it would be a horrible world if everyone knew what everyone else was thinking? Now, I want to be honest with you all-I’m glad you don’t know what I’m thinking because my thought life is still being redeemed; God is still working on it. All right, you can be seated. I told the earlier service that most people can hide what they’re thinking; they can cover it up. Stephen Hurricane, Minister Herd, he sits in meetings, and it’s all over his face, trying to teach him how to cover up that he doesn 't like being in the meeting. But thank God he doesn’t allow people to know what you’re thinking because not everyone in here thinks holy. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, «That 's you.» God’s working on redeeming our thought life, but I wanted to talk about, for this time that we have together, a glimpse into God’s thought life. What God thinks-now, what you and I think-might not mean much, but when God thinks about something, it’s rather significant and important. In fact, that’s what the Bible is; the Bible is a compilation of God’s thought life. It’s a revealing of His will and His thoughts, and in this particular passage, I want to discuss this passage today because the prophet Jeremiah has been given the assignment of prophesying to the people of Israel, to the children of God. He has the responsibility of talking to Judah, preaching and declaring to them, and some of them have become frustrated. Some of the Jewish people have become frustrated because they have watched their relatives and friends get delivered from bondage while they remained enslaved. Quite frankly, they’re mad about it; they’re angry that they have watched other people obtain victory, while they have remained in Babylon. They have seen their friends and families go back home and return to their homeland, and they’re frustrated. In fact, they are beginning to think that God has abandoned them, that He’s not thinking about them anymore, that He’s not concerned. I raise this scenario so you can understand the context of this passage because the reality is some of you-maybe not you, but someone sitting nearby within arm’s reach-are not having life go the way you want it to go. You 've been praying about some things, and those prayers are not being answered. You have sought God, and quite frankly, you 're getting tired of waiting on Him to respond and work it out. You’re tired of waiting for a promotion on your job, frustrated that you don 't have a job, frustrated that the single person isn 't married yet. When is their knight in shining armor coming? I keep trying to tell single ladies-"All the single ladies, all the single ladies"-stop trying to find your knight in shining armor because if he 's not the person you want him to be, he’ll turn out to be a nightmare in dull armor, is what he’ll end up being. If you all say «Amen» together, single ladies, no one knows I’m talking to you. People are frustrated, mad, angry, upset. In fact, if you would be honest, you’ve thought this-you may not have worded it or said it-but some of you think that God is after you, trying to hurt you. The truth is, some of you believe that some of the drama you’re experiencing in your life is because God is punishing you, that He’s getting you back for what you’ve done. I want to set the record straight for just a moment because if God were going to punish you and get you back for what you’ve done, you would have been dead a long time ago. Come on, everybody ought to put their hands together for that one. He isn 't trying to get us back-that’s not in His nature. It’s not in the nature of God to try to pay you back; that’s not what He’s like. That is not His heart; it’s not His life. You see, you’re upset really because God hasn 't forgotten about you; He still knows about you. He remembers you; He knows about your circumstances. You 're upset because there are things in life you can’t control. For most people, it’s a control issue; you can’t change certain things. If you could change them, you would, and you wouldn’t be upset. But there are some things you run into in life that you can’t control, and the reality is we like to control things. Look at your neighbor and say, «You’re a control freak.» That 's what you are; you are a control freak. You want to control everything, but you don’t like not being in control. They didn’t like not being in control, and so they’re frustrated.