“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 (NIV)
Let’s start with the word “prosper”. To prosper means to do well, thrive or flourish. Yes, this can refer to the state of your finances and assets, but it can also refer to your spiritual life. What is your prayer life like? Are you gaining a deeper understanding of God’s word? How are you impacting your family or community as a believer in Christ?
As believers in Christ, we can only do well, thrive or flourish in our souls and spirits if we are rooted in Christ – in other words if we put our hope and faith in Him, obey Him and live according to His ways. (Psalm 92:12-13, Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Now let’s look at the word “future”. The term future refers to the moments of time that lie ahead of us – the approaching minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years of our lives. For the born-again believer, there is only one future and that is a life in Jesus Christ because He is the One that takes us through each second, moment and season of our lives (Isaiah 46:4).
Because of Christ, we have hope and a future. We can look forward to the days that lie ahead even when there are challenges and difficulties because we know that He will come through for us. He is our hope (Isaiah 41:10).
God determined His plan for each of us even before He created us (Psalm 139 vs 16). The plans that God has for us are good. To know His plans for our lives, we must spend time in prayer and develop an intimate relationship with God. Daniel received many revelations from the Lord because he spent a lot of time in prayer (Daniel 6:10, Daniel 9:3-4, Daniel 9:20).
One of Satan’s strategies is to prevent us from discovering the plan that God has for us. Why? Because we become a threat to his kingdom when we discover our kingdom purpose and execute it. So Satan will try to prevent us from discovering the plan and purpose that God has for us. One of these ways is by destroying our identities or convincing us to adopt false ones. (John 10:10).
Abuse and trauma are one way. Satan can also use others to criticise, insult, bad mouth, or verbally abuse us (Psalm 64:2-3) on a continual basis. When we agree with, believe and live according to the negative words spoken over us, we live in a broken or false identity. This often prevents us from discovering and living out the plan and purpose that God has for us. I will use the example of Bob.
Although God planned for Bob to become a successful businessman and provide finances for kingdom ministries, Bob adopted the identity of an unemployed alcoholic instead, because he agreed with and believed his parents and teachers when they called him stupid, useless, and worthless time after time. When Bob believed the lie, he began to live in accordance with it.
When people say destructive things that break us down, we can either choose to accept and believe the words spoken or cancel them in the name of Jesus by saying, “In the name of Jesus I cancel every negative word, statement, criticism or judgement made against me by the enemy. Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against me in judgment I shall condemn. This is my heritage as a servant of the LORD, And my righteousness is from Him,” Says the LORD.” (Please note that there is a difference between correction in brotherly love and destructive criticism and verbal abuse)
In addition we also need to forgive the people who speak against us and to ask God to heal us of the hurt (Psalm 147:3) caused by their words.
When we know who we are in Christ… when we know what our Heavenly Father says and thinks of us, and agree with and believe it, we will be less inclined to believe the lies of the enemy. So what does our Heavenly Father say about us? God says that:
- You are loved (John 3:16). God loved you so much that He gave up His one and only son for you.
- You are a new creation (Corinthians 5:17). When you accepted Christ, you became a new person. You were born-again. It doesn’t matter who you were or what you did in the past.
- You are redeemed (Galatians 3:13). You have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. You now belong to His kingdom.
- You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). God loves the way you look because He made you. You don’t need to enhance your features with plastic surgery or dye your hair purple. Don’t let the lies of the enemy convince you otherwise.
- You are called with a holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9). You are not just here to exist and get by. God called you to do something for His kingdom.
- You can do all things through Christ Jesus, who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13). Don’t give into the lie of “I can’t”.
- You are a child of God (Romans 8:16). To be a child of God means that you have a father. You are not rejected or abandoned, but loved and cherished by the creator of heaven and earth.
- You are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1). If you have repented of them, you do not need to carry the guilt of past sins because God has forgiven you.
These are only a couple of bible verses to get you started. There are many more. When we know who we are in Christ, we will find it easier to discover and step into the plan and purpose that God has for us.