Steven Furtick's Blog, page 52

One of the Worst Verses In the Bible

Let me introduce you to one of the worst verses in the Bible:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

If you’ve been in or around a church for more than two weeks you’re probably tempted to label me a heretic right now. Because that verse is the golden child of the Christian universe. It’s the place we go to in the midst of chaos to reassure ourselves that God has our back. It’s the promise we claim when we’re worried about the future. In fact, it’s probably the most popular promise of God in the entire Bible.

But it’s not the promise found in the verse that makes it so bad. It’s our response to what the promise is predicated upon. Before Jeremiah 29:11 comes Jeremiah 29:10. And there we find the context of God’s promise: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.”

God had plans for Israel. Plans of prosperity. Plans of giving them a hope and a future. But first came 70 years of exile in a foreign land, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

70 years of poverty preceded plans of prosperity.

70 years of pain and danger preceded plans of no harm.

70 years of seemingly hopeless present circumstances preceded plans of a hopeful future.

This is the reality we don’t like to talk about when we quote Jeremiah 29:11. Yes, God does have plans for us. That’s an incredible promise we should cling to. A promise that’s true. A promise that’s more than a pipe dream. But it’s also a promise that doesn’t always find its completion now. Sometimes it’s later. And later is usually always later than we want it to be.

What makes Jeremiah 29:11 one of the worst verses in the Bible has nothing to do with the verse itself. It’s the imposition of our timetable onto it. We expect the utterance of this verse to calm the chaos now. To get God to reveal our future now.

But that’s not the purpose of this verse. It’s supposed to give us something to cling onto in the midst of chaos. In the midst of an uncertain future. In the midst of circumstances that scream the very opposite of what God is telling us He has for us.

It reminds us that regardless of what our present reality and waiting might tempt us to believe, God has not forgotten about us. We are still His people. He is still our God. And while we might have to wait in a place we don’t want to be to see them come to fruition, He still has plans for us.

And it’s when we can embrace this that Jeremiah 29:11 becomes one of the best verses in the Bible.

This entry was originally posted July 5th, 2010

A New Way to See the Way God Sees Us

What does God look like? Some of us picture God like a bouncer at a night club, standing with His arms crossed at the gates of Heaven. Or maybe we see Him as a ruthless CEO, sitting at a big desk in the corner office, waiting to yell “you’re fired” at the next person who slips up. But where did we get these ideas? How does God really look at us? In this clip from our series Found Favor, Pastor Steven reminds us that through Jesus, we can see God as He really is – a loving Father who wants only the best for His children.

How God Works In Our Work

What does it look like when the Biblical truths we learn at church each weekend are put into practice Monday through Friday? How do we not only understand what God teaches us, but begin to practically apply it to our daily lives and in our jobs? In our series God’s Will Is Whatever, we watched the testimonies of several people in the church, showing how they seek God’s will everyday in their workplace. This is one of those stories.

Don’t Blame the Resistance

A few years ago, I preached a two-week series called The Resistance. It was all about the dark side of the Christian life that we have to contend with – the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Quick disclaimer:

Although we’ve got to be aware of Satan’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11), some Christians are obsessed with them to the point where it’s counterproductive. They blame everything on the devil and give him far too much credit and power. Don’t ever become so focused on the enemy that’s against you that you forget about the God who’s for you.

Still, our enemy is smart. And there’s one strategy I’ve seen him use in the lives of countless Christians to hold them back from God’s purposes for them and dislocate their potential:

Not only does he offer resistance, he convinces you that the resistance itself is a sign that you’re not in God’s will.

Your job is tough and demanding. It’s a challenge for your faith. So it must mean you’re not supposed to be there. It must be time to quit.

Marriage has to be easier than this. You must have married the wrong person. So divorce is now acceptable.

You planted a church and it’s not growing like you thought it would. You must have misheard God. Time to go to plan B.

I think we need to alter our framework. Resistance isn’t a sign that you’re out of God’s will. It might actually be a sign that you’ve never been more in it. That the devil is fighting you so hard because you’re so close to what God wants.

Don’t use The Resistance as an excuse to quit. Use it as motivation to push through.

It’s not: “I’m facing a lot of resistance. I guess it isn’t meant to be. I quit.”

But: “I’m facing a lot of resistance. I guess this is really meant to be. I can’t quit”

Now I’m not saying that just because something is hard that it means it’s the will of God. Sometimes it’s absolutely wise to abandon something because it’s just not worth the effort.

Nevertheless, I think we wrongly assume that if God is in something, it has to be easy. That God’s will and plan for you is marked by the path of least resistance. Tell that to Joseph, Moses, David, Nehemiah, Paul, and Jesus.

If you’re encountering resistance right now, don’t back down or sell out. And don’t blame the Resistance for resisting you. Acknowledge it for what it is. Take it as a sign that you’re heading in the right direction because the devil is running at you and not in the same direction as you.

And then push through to what God has for you.

This entry was originally posted March 24th, 2011.

How God Responds to Our Mistakes

Just because we know what’s right, doesn’t guarantee we’ll do the right thing. For whatever reason, we all make bad choices sometimes. But what are the consequences when we do something outside of God’s will? In this clip from our series IN•FIN•8, Pastor Steven uses the story of Jonah to show us that whether or not we do what we’re supposed to, when we’re supposed to do it – there is nowhere we can go to escape God’s grace and His plan for us.

Elevation Creative: A Day With The Chatterbox

Day in, day out, we brace ourselves for the insults, doubts, and criticisms that run through our heads. Sometimes it can feel like there’s no escape. But have you ever considered flipping the script on the enemy, instead of just standing there and taking it? In The Talker, our Creative team imagines what it might look like if we all stood up for ourselves against the daily lies of The Chatterbox.

When You Don’t Feel Worthy

For some of us it’s easier to give than to receive. We give our time, our energy, our compliments. But when the tables are turned, we don’t always view ourselves worthy of these same things. Because we know who we really are. We know our own sinful hearts and impure motivations. But in this clip from our series I Know He Is, But What Am I, Pastor Steven reminds us that the grace of God is a gift for all – and not just to cover our sin, but to change our lives.

How to Know Who We Should Listen To

We hear a lot of stuff, from a lot of different sources. When a relationship fails, a business venture falls through, or we hear something about ourselves that was hard to take — how do we know if it is God’s voice or the enemy’s that we’re listening to? In the final part of our series Crash the Chatterbox, Pastor Steven led a question and answer session, and reminded us that no matter what we face, if we turn our hearts to God for guidance, He will be there with us.

Your Exceptional Exception

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

2 Kings 4:1-4

The story goes on to tell us that the oil continued flowing until she ran out of jars with which to fill it. And she was able to keep her sons out of slavery.

All this woman could focus on was what she didn’t have. Elisha, on the other hand, was interested in her exception. And it was her exception that became the vessel for a miracle.

People often excuse themselves from the miraculous because they don’t have a lot to work with or offer God to work with. Maybe it’s their skills. A lack of resources. Or little experience.

Whatever the reason, what they don’t realize is that that in itself makes them a candidate for the power of God to flow through their lives. God has a history of using what little someone has to do great things only He can do.

God used a shepherd’s staff to part the Red Sea.

He used five loaves and two fish to feed thousands.

He even used an ass (Numbers 22, King James Version) to talk to someone and save their life.

One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to get you to focus on what you don’t have, what you used to have, or what someone else has that you wish you had instead of looking in your house and asking the question, “God, what can you do through what I have?”

Here’s the profound truth you need to begin embracing today: All God needs to work miracles in your life is all you have. A God who created something out of nothing can also create something great out of little.

God can do exceptional things with your exception.

This entry was originally posted September 15th, 2011.

Resource of the Day: I preached a sermon on this story during our Get Back series at the beginning of this year. You can watch it for free on the Elevation Video Podcast, or on our free App.

What to Do When We Don’t Understand God’s Will

How do we know if our lives are on track? What determines if we’re right or wrong? Good or bad? Most of us, as Christians want to do God’s will – but sometimes its hard to know what that is, exactly. In this clip from our series God’s Will Is Whatever, Pastor Steven explains how we can use God’s Word as a filter for our lives, helping us understand more clearly whatever it is God has called to do.