Dr. Tony Evans speak about Your Future and Your Hope. Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
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God has a plan for you and it’s a great
one and it involves his goodness and
that calamity
that’s what Jeremiah 29:11 says and it
applies to you today I want to show you
how hello this is Tony Evans with the
alternative and I’m so excited to be
coming your way today with God’s Word so
that you can see that he really does
have a plan for you in spite of how
things may look right now I don’t know
of a great or more encouraging scripture
or message that I could give to you than
the one from Jeremiah 29:11 so let’s
jump right into it and find a little
encouragement
for your tomorrow I have talked to any
number of people who are living with a
sense of hopelessness am I ever going to
get to where I’m supposed to be I’m
never going to get it right and how
we’re going to like ever going to work
for me they’ve lost the sense of hope
well my sermon for the day is taken from
one verse that is it’s the Kois one
verse it’s just to encourage you as you
move on in the journey Jeremiah 29 verse
11 somebody didn’t read that verse I hid
Jeremiah 29 verse 11 here’s what it says
well Jeremiah so let me give you a
little time if you’re in a New Testament
you’re in the wrong place
for I know the plans that I have for you
declares the Lord plans for welfare or
well-being or good not for calamity or
bad or evil to give you a future and to
give you a hope now you ought to feel a
little better right now I know the plans
I have for you declares the Lord now I
know somebody saying I’m glad somebody
knows them I know the plans I have for
you declares the Lord and let me tell
you this much they’re not for bad
they’re for good I am going to give you
a future a tomorrow and a hope
you ever seen people who have lost their
hope you lose your hope because you
don’t see a future this verse is found
in a bad chapter this is not a great
verse in a great chapter this is a great
verse in a bad chapter so if you’re
having a bad life this is a good verse
Israel is in captivity in Babylon verse
4 in the chapter says thus saith the
Lord of hosts the God of Israel to all
the exile whom I have sent in exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon this verse is to
people who have been placed in exile in
judgment for rebelling against God
they’re under there under the
disciplining hand of God for their sins
they’re being spanked if you will
they’re there day after day month after
month and year after year and there is
no solution in sight to make it worse
the place where they are being
incarcerated their circumstance is as
pagan as you can get Babylon is not
where the Christians hung out this was
pagan evil idolatrous it was a terrible
place to have to live especially if you
were an Israelite so they’re being
judged for their sins they’re in a pagan
land and on top of all that the Bible
says and the preachers were leading them
astray verse 8 says without said the
Lord of hosts the God of Israel do not
listen to your prophets who are in your
midst and your diviners deceive you and
do not listen to the dreams which
a dream for they prophesy falsely to you
in my name and I have not sent them
declares the Lord
today’s a lot of folks out here giving
folks false hope in the name of God he
says they prophesy in my name come here
give your tires get rich you serving God
you not going to get sick that’s false
prophecy it’s not true never has been
true and it never will be true but you
see when people need hope because all
hope is gone they’re listening about
anything
come on y’all have out cuz when people
don’t have hope and they search out of
the emptiness and other they pain and he
says they were false prophets
in this case we’re taking advantage of
that and misusing it and abusing it of
course God heals of course God blesses
that’s not what I mean I mean to give
people the impression that serving God
means there are no problems that’s a lot
and they haven’t been serving God long
they are
these people in a desperate situation
negative circumstances divine discipline
a pagan land and are being led astray by
the prophets it is in the midst of this
hopelessness that verse 11 finds itself
it is in the midst of this
discouragement verse 11 comes it’s in
the midst of this pain verse 11 shows up
and I know the plans I have for you if
you’re here looking for Hope
particularly in our series we’ve been
relating it to your purpose you’re tired
of aimlessness wandering meandering and
you want to know God which way do you
want me to go cuz I want to go there
it’s not a matter of me not going it’s
just I don’t know where to go I’m
confused as to where to go I can’t
listen to the prophets cuz they’re not
telling me right I can’t listen to the
Babylonians cuz they don’t know God you
ticked off at me that’s the reason I’m
in the mess in the first place what’s
the man supposed to do
where do you find this hope verse 11
says I know the plans I have for you I
know the plans I have for you I know the
plans I have for you now why is that
important because God says I still have
a plan it’s not over how do you know God
still has a plan for you simple you hear
you can assume I’m right if you hear the
plan is still operative you say but you
don’t know about my past
well they had a bad past and God says I
know the plans I have for you yeah gob
you understand they don’t know the plans
you have for me
your greatest lessons in faith will be
learned in the dark see somebody
somebody somebody didn’t get your
greatest faith lessons will be learned
in the dark it is when you don’t know
what in the world God is doing how he’s
doing it why is taking so long to get it
done
when God is taking you off the most is
when you’ve got to trust him the more
because he says I know something you
don’t know I know the plans I have for
you I know it may look dark right now I
know it may be unclear exactly where you
hid it I know it may be unclear exactly
where God is taking you it may be
pitch-black outside hold on because when
God moves you’ll know it but he says I
know the plans I have for you even
though you’re being disciplined even
though you’re in a pagan industry you’re
in a pagan environment even though maybe
the church isn’t doing your rights
I know to plan ahead will return for
more of today’s message right after this
special announcement from dr. Evans
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blessing many more people thank you and
God bless
we now return to today’s message
I know the plans I have for you God has
a plan for you I know you don’t know it
the details are obscure I know that it’s
not fully fleshed out I know that all of
these things are coming at you right now
and you may want to pull out your hair
in the midst of your confusion God says
I have a plane and I know it he does
give you just a little bit information
though here’s what he says its plans for
welfare not for calamity he says it
involves a future it involves your
tomorrow and it’s a plan that has hope
in it
that’s good news God has got your
tomorrow covered even though you haven’t
been there yet
he has already scoped out tomorrow and
he has come back to tell you he has the
plan for tomorrow already scoped out I
know it’s dark don’t walk off I have a
future for you so what do you mean you
want me to sit back and just do nothing
no because he spends verses 5 on telling
them no no I don’t want you to do
anything I want you nothing he gives me
a few things to do he says verse 5 build
houses and live in them
plant gardens and he step eat their
produce become as productive as you
possibly can
don’t sit and do nothing do all that is
at your hand to do if it says plant
gardens and eat their produce maximize
your potential all that there is that
you can do all that there is to do do
that maximize what is before you and
become productive why are you waiting on
God to make your change come why are you
waiting on God to turn things around
maximize the moment carpe diem seize
this moment a lot of us while waiting
for God are doing nothing when there is
plenty to do there’s only one time you
do nothing and that is when there’s
nothing you can do there’s nothing you
can do you do nothing but if God has
given something at your hand to do you
do it with all of your might you say but
I don’t see where this effort is pulling
things off that’s because you haven’t
seen the rest of the story I have a
future I have a hope
he goes on he says take wives and become
the fathers of sons and daughters and
take wives for your sons or your
daughters and let them bear sons and
daughters and multiply their do not
decrease he says be productive and then
he says multiply become as fruitful as
you possibly can
even though you’re in a pagan land and
even though you’ve messed up he says
verse 7 seeks the welfare of others find
out how you can be a blessing seek the
welfare of the city and which I have
sent you in exile pray to the Lord’s
behalf in its welfare is your welfare
that’s it that’s key as you are being a
blessing you are setting yourself up to
be blessed as you are being a blessing
one of the reasons we lose hope is
because the only person we concerned
about is ourselves and if you mess up
and the only person you see is you then
you helping you to destroy you see if
you mess up and the only person you see
is you then you are helping you to do
you in okay somebody didn’t get it if
you messed up and your focus is you you
are helping you to do you in he said
seek the welfare of others become a
blessing why are you waiting on me for
you in spite of their circumstances they
were to be productive and they were to
impact others he says in verse 12 and 13
then you will call on me and come and
pray to me and I will listen to you and
you will seek me and find me when you
search for me with all your heart
now we don’t quite read a verse like
that we read it when you seek the
solution you’ll find the solution when
you search for the solution with all of
your heart that’s not what the verse
says when you seek me you’ll find me if
you search for me God said I have the
plans don’t go looking for the plans
look for me I know where I put them
the Bible says why he was sleep God
performed an operation he went over and
slid open his side now I know you know
the story it says he took a rib the
Hebrew word for rib means side so Adam
is only half the man he used to be so he
land there with half of him gone the
Bible says and God went over and
fashioned a woman the Hebrew word for
fashioned means to build so when a man
says about a woman she sure is built
he’s being very biblical at that point
– fashion means to use intricate details
in order to form in such a way as to
complement that which it is being built
for it means to be built with the ideal
specifications for the other party
Adam is sleep
Eva’s fashion in fact the Bible says
when God created the man it says he
picked up the dust of the earth to soak
through it together he does not use the
Hebrew word for fashion when it comes to
the creation of the man only fashion
when it comes to the Gration of the
woman because he had to create a
detailed complement with unique
specifications so y’all having too much
fun today okay so Adam asleep
eva’s fashioned made uniquely for him
it opens up her eyes that she don’t know
anything about a male or a man the only
thing she knows about is her creator
because that’s the only thing she’s been
exposed to now the reason I know she had
know anything about a man is because the
Bible says God brought her to Adam so
she wakes up she didn’t wake up and say
oh I’m 35 and I’m not married yet
no she puts her hand in God’s hand and
the Bible says and God marches her over
to Adam so he plays matchmaker Adam look
at he he looked at the Zebras and the
cows and the Bulls he looked at even he
looked at all of the creation and said
goodbye you know y’all all the weakest
link because even in the dark while he
was sleep God was doing his thing God
does some of his best work when you are
asleep that is in the dark he does his
best work when you don’t think he’s
doing a thing he’s behind the scenes
working it out I have a plan for you and
it’s a good one maybe you should have
gotten it earlier in your life maybe you
should maybe if you hadn’t done this or
done that or gone here or gone there
then maybe you would have gotten it
early maybe if you had gotten saved
earlier you wouldn’t know me earlier you
and I had the plant maybe maybe so maybe
if you hadn’t married out of my will or
if you hadn’t traveled out of my will or
you hadn’t didn’t rebellion maybe you
would have gotten it early and I know
you wish you could turn back the hands
of time and make it happen all over
again and I know you feel like you’ve
been in this thing too long and I know
you don’t know how much longer it’s
going to take to get out of it but still
with all your questions I have a plan
for you and I know what it is and it’s a
good one and it will give you our future
and it will give you our hope it would
be 70 years before they would see the
plan
seven years the profits were saying two
years and you out of here God was saying
look it’s going to be longer than you
think that’s why I want you to be as
productive as you can right where you
are until you see what I’m going to do
God is inviting you to participate with
him in the drama of the ages you say I
don’t like the dark can’t help you with
that because without faith it is
impossible to please God them that
cometh to God must first believe that he
is and that he is a rewarder of those
who seek Him you don’t know which way to
go seek Him you’re in pain seek him you
confused seek him you’re tired of
waiting seek Him if you come and ask me
I’m gonna send you back to him because
he has not told me his plan for you 2000
years ago Jesus Christ put up the
payment for the plan and he who has
begun a good work in you shall continue
it until the day of redemption what God
starts god finishes what God begins God
ends regarding the sheet god complete
but you say I’m in a mess you don’t know
my mess
you don’t know my god
and if you forget the sermon remember
the verse I have a plan for you not for
calamity or bad but for good and it
involves your future and it’s full of
what I hope you were challenged and
carriage and inspired you ought to be by
today’s message and you can get today’s
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you
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Amen <3