Rebuild
Bible Devotional
Jeremiah 29:10-14
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Let’s do a short study on the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet” because he lived in conflict over his predictions of judgment by the invading Babylonians.
Why was this judgment coming upon God’s chosen people? Here is the spiritual condition of the Israelites.
Spiritual Condition of Judah
The prophet Jeremiah was so saddened by what the Israelites were doing because they kept breaking their covenant with God.
Jeremiah 7:8-10
“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal [Child Sacrifice], and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?
Jeremiah uses the word “abominations,” and in Hebrew it is “tôʿēḇâ,” pronounced to-ay-baw, meaning something very disgusting.
Meaning, what you are doing is very disgusting to the Lord, and God is not pleased. The Prophet Jeremiah is very upset with Israel for turning away from God. So Jeremiah is warning people to turn away from their wicked ways.
Let me ask you a question. When someone gives you a warning, is it because they hate you? No! It is because they desire for you to change. Once, when my son was young, I told him not to put anything into the outlet or he would get a shock. Well, he didn’t listen and got a lesson of a lifetime. Now, I love my son, so I gave him the warning first.
So, God is a God of grace, so he sent people like Jeremiah to warn for decades that people should turn away from their sins. So, when God gives you warnings, it is because He loves you and desires for you to change and return to Him.
That’s what repentance means. The word “repentance” means “change of mind” or “change of direction.” You were headed toward darkness, but God desires that everyone turn to Him and come into His loving arms.
But the Israelites kept rejecting the prophets and all their warnings. They would not listen to them. So Jeremiah tells them, if you're not going to change, here are the consequences:
Jeremiah 21:6-7
And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
Once again, God did not have to give warnings; He could have destroyed the city for their disobedience. But because our God is a God of grace, He sends, through all the prophets, warning after warning with people like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and the list goes on.
But because they rejected God’s warning, Jeremiah’s prophecy became true. The Babylonians came, took many of the Israelites, and brought them to Babylon, where they were to be for 70 years in a foreign land, away from their homeland.
Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet” not because he was right, but because his predictions came true, and Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of his own homeland.
Jeremiah is saddened because he loves his people, and he wants the best for them, and that’s God’s heart. Yet because of their disobedience and rejection of God’s warning, they were exiled to Babylon.
I want to go back and get to know Jeremiah better. I want you to know his calling and the purpose for which God called him into this ministry.
Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NLT)
Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.”
This is Jeremiah’s calling in life. God is saying, “Jeremiah, this is your divine mission. I have chosen you to Judah and beyond to all the nations of the world about my coming judgment, but also about my grace.
God’s like, “Jeremiah, this will be very hard for you, but you need to do this as a messenger for God. You will have a very tough life, because you will have to speak the truth.” Speaking the truth is one of the hardest things to do, and Jeremiah was called to it.
So, when God was talking to Jeremiah about “you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow,” it was because Jeremiah prophesied during a tumultuous period marked by the rise and fall of empires like Assyria, and later by the fall of Babylon itself and Egypt as well. There will be geopolitical shifts in which governments are thrown, destroyed, and overthrown.
So what the Lord was showing to Jeremiah was that there is going to be some significant shifting going on around you, but you also have to uproot, tear down, destroy, and overthrow the corruption and the sin that is inside of Israel and in the hearts of men. And if you don’t deal with this, you will eventually see the outside structure be completely destroyed. Jeremiah even predicted that Jerusalem itself would fall into the hands of Babylon.
Jeremiah 39:1
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it.
So here are the people who have been taken into captivity by their enemies. Remember, they have lost their homeland. They are heartbroken. They are depressed and discouraged. They are angry and bitter. “God, where were you when I needed you?” They are heartbroken because they do not believe that God has a plan and purpose behind all these things. They are lost and hopeless.
So here are the thoughts of many people:
When you are in a very difficult situation in your life, how often do you say, “Yes, God has an amazing purpose and plan for me!” Let’s be real and honest. When you lose everything, you are upset and discouraged. And, remember, they are no longer living in their promised land. The land that they worked hard for. They now live in a faraway land, far from their homeland and their temple.
To the Jews, the temple was their identity, and it defines who they are. All their sacrifices and offerings are for the temple. You lose the temple, then you lose their identity. Now that they are far away from their temple, they have no identity of their own.
But God, knowing all this and, because He is sovereign, the past, present, and future, tells us that you will “build up” and “plant.”
Jeremiah 1:10 (NLT)
Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.”
But the question is, how would God build up and plant when you have a lot of people forcibly moved from Jerusalem to Babylon? How is God going to rebuild the people of Israel? That is the billion-dollar question?
Here is Jeremiah in Jerusalem. He sends a letter to all the surviving people who were exiled in Babylon. And remember that everything Jeremiah said came true, so those who are in exile are looking to Jeremiah for advice and direction. Because it is in such a time as this that they need answers to the question: What do we do next? What is our next step? How are we going to live? What is our future vision? So, he writes a beautiful letter of encouragement.
Before we read the next verse, I want you to keep this in mind. So, whether it's good or bad, you are in a season of life you might not want to be in. So, how do you make the best out of the situation you are in?
How do you turn the worst days of your life into the best season?
Jeremiah 29:4-6 (NLT)
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
Jeremiah is telling his people, you are in the season of life and the place you don’t want to be in. He is telling the people, “While you are here, make this season the best of your life. Don’t turn this season of your life, the worst of your life, but turn your worst season into the best life.” Listen, “You are where you are, so make the best of where you are, and start rebuilding your life again!”
So, he is telling the exiled people, “Go and look for a job. Work and make a living. And if you're single, look for a wife, plan to stay there a long time, and have children. Go and multiply! And be a good dad and mom, husband and wife.Make yourself productive in the season of life you are in! Help in the synagogue! Participate and help in the church! Do whatever you can to be productive!”
You will be in Babylon for 70 years! So, in the season you are in, whether it be good or bad, go and make the best season of your life.
Jeremiah is telling the people, “You are in a tough situation. Your life is not working out the way you planned or hoped for. So instead of being discouraged and depressed, go and rebuild! Make your season the best of your life, while you are where you are living.”
Then Jeremiah does something interesting. He takes you to the next level. This really shook me up inside. Let’s read what he says next.
Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
“Lord! My enemy, the Babylonians, are the ones who captured me, my family, and my friends. They are the ones who tortured us and killed so many of my people. And now you are asking us to ‘work for the peace and prosperity of the Babylonians? You are asking us to pray for the welfare of our enemies, and that will determine our own welfare?”
I’m trying to wrap this in my mind: “When you pray for the welfare of your enemy, then that will determine your own personal welfare!”
How do we begin the process of rebuilding? How do you start the process of reconciliation? How do you reconcile with someone who has hurt you? Or, you might have hurt the other person. How do you begin to rebuild?
Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (ESV).
I was being reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48
Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
I have to be honest with you guys, and this was very hard for me. By the way, this was long before I became a pastor, and I was running a business. So long story short, there was this man who stole a lot of money from me, about $100,000. I was able to find out where he lived in New York City.
Keep in mind, when your mind is not sound, when there is a lot of hatred and bitterness, you might do crazy things. So, either I find him and kill him, or just let everything go, and let God determine the plan for our family. As a genuine believer in God, how will you decide? How do you begin the process of rebuilding when you lose everything? And then on top of that, you have a lot of anger and bitterness in your heart?
Because of this man, I lost my business, we lost our house, we have no more money, and we have no career. Remember, my identity was tied to my business, and this man stole all that from me. And remember, I had three small kids at that time. I had anger and bitterness.
So when God says to “pray for the well-being of your enemy and peace and prosperity for the Babylonians,” it is tough to do. But God says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
So, how do you begin the process of rebuilding?
Pray for the blessing of your enemy? I am where I am because God taught me this principle of “blessing those who hurt you.” That’s what Jeremiah 29:7 teaches us.
Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
And work for the peace and prosperity [blessing] of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
If I had not learned from the Word of God, I would have done something I would regret for the rest of my life.
Now, as I ponder through the Jeremiah passages, everything was starting to make sense. In the season of your life that you are in, make the best out of the worst situation, and pray for your enemy and blessings for them, so you will be blessed. Now with that in the background, Jeremiah 29:11 will make sense.
Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
The word “plan” in Hebrew is maḥăšāḇâ, pronounced makh-ash-aw-baw', which means thought, device, plan, and purpose.
The word “thought” is used 28 times, while the word “plan” or “purpose” is only used 6 times. It means this: God is thinking about you so often that He is thinking about you from the beginning, the middle, and the end. God is thinking about you from the beginning, the middle, and the end. Then Jeremiah 1:5 started to make sense.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Now the Israelites are in Babylon because of their disobedience to God, but in His grace, says, I am thinking about you for a specific plan for your future. I knew you before you were born, and I have been thinking about you, and I have devised a plan for your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Now, I have to be honest with you, when we lost everything, and I came to this verse, I would pray, “God, provide us with money!” But that is not what it actually means. So what does this “welfare” mean?”
The word “welfare” in Hebrew is šālôm, pronounced shaw-lome’, which means peace, completeness, wholeness, soundness, and welfare.
The word peace is used 175 times, while “welfare” is used 5 times. So what the Lord is saying to the Israelites is that with the season you are in, make the best of it, and pray for the peace and well-being of your enemy, and I will bring about peace and wholeness to your life.
When you do these things, you will have “shaw-lome’”, the peace that you have always wanted to have. You could have wealth and health, but if you don’t have peace in your heart, you will not have any soundness in your mind, and there will be no “completeness.”
Many years ago, when I was young, my friend and I worked on a thousand-piece puzzle together. We had one major problem: we were almost done, but missing about five pieces of the puzzle. We looked all over, and we couldn’t find it. This thousand-piece puzzle was incomplete, and it drove me crazy. You're almost there, but you're not there, leaving you with unfulfilling emotions.
So when God says that I have a welfare for you, he is telling us:
All of your 1,000 puzzle pieces will be there. And Jeremiah 29:12-14 continues.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NLT)
In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
Just within these three verses, God has made six promises. Anytime you see the word “will” next to God, that means this is a promise from God.
The Promises of God
In Closing, what is our vision for 2026? Rebuild
Jeremiah 29:4-6 (NLT)
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
Let’s begin the process of rebuilding by blessing one another, for God’s promises will be fulfilled!
Question to You: How can you rebuild your church, your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, your family, and your friends in this season of life?
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Let’s do a short study on the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet” because he lived in conflict over his predictions of judgment by the invading Babylonians.
Why was this judgment coming upon God’s chosen people? Here is the spiritual condition of the Israelites.
Spiritual Condition of Judah
- Idol Worship
- Sacrificing children to the god Molech
- Running rampant with injustice and sin
The prophet Jeremiah was so saddened by what the Israelites were doing because they kept breaking their covenant with God.
Jeremiah 7:8-10
“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal [Child Sacrifice], and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?
Jeremiah uses the word “abominations,” and in Hebrew it is “tôʿēḇâ,” pronounced to-ay-baw, meaning something very disgusting.
Meaning, what you are doing is very disgusting to the Lord, and God is not pleased. The Prophet Jeremiah is very upset with Israel for turning away from God. So Jeremiah is warning people to turn away from their wicked ways.
Let me ask you a question. When someone gives you a warning, is it because they hate you? No! It is because they desire for you to change. Once, when my son was young, I told him not to put anything into the outlet or he would get a shock. Well, he didn’t listen and got a lesson of a lifetime. Now, I love my son, so I gave him the warning first.
So, God is a God of grace, so he sent people like Jeremiah to warn for decades that people should turn away from their sins. So, when God gives you warnings, it is because He loves you and desires for you to change and return to Him.
That’s what repentance means. The word “repentance” means “change of mind” or “change of direction.” You were headed toward darkness, but God desires that everyone turn to Him and come into His loving arms.
But the Israelites kept rejecting the prophets and all their warnings. They would not listen to them. So Jeremiah tells them, if you're not going to change, here are the consequences:
Jeremiah 21:6-7
And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
Once again, God did not have to give warnings; He could have destroyed the city for their disobedience. But because our God is a God of grace, He sends, through all the prophets, warning after warning with people like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and the list goes on.
But because they rejected God’s warning, Jeremiah’s prophecy became true. The Babylonians came, took many of the Israelites, and brought them to Babylon, where they were to be for 70 years in a foreign land, away from their homeland.
Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet” not because he was right, but because his predictions came true, and Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of his own homeland.
Jeremiah is saddened because he loves his people, and he wants the best for them, and that’s God’s heart. Yet because of their disobedience and rejection of God’s warning, they were exiled to Babylon.
I want to go back and get to know Jeremiah better. I want you to know his calling and the purpose for which God called him into this ministry.
Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NLT)
Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.”
This is Jeremiah’s calling in life. God is saying, “Jeremiah, this is your divine mission. I have chosen you to Judah and beyond to all the nations of the world about my coming judgment, but also about my grace.
God’s like, “Jeremiah, this will be very hard for you, but you need to do this as a messenger for God. You will have a very tough life, because you will have to speak the truth.” Speaking the truth is one of the hardest things to do, and Jeremiah was called to it.
So, when God was talking to Jeremiah about “you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow,” it was because Jeremiah prophesied during a tumultuous period marked by the rise and fall of empires like Assyria, and later by the fall of Babylon itself and Egypt as well. There will be geopolitical shifts in which governments are thrown, destroyed, and overthrown.
So what the Lord was showing to Jeremiah was that there is going to be some significant shifting going on around you, but you also have to uproot, tear down, destroy, and overthrow the corruption and the sin that is inside of Israel and in the hearts of men. And if you don’t deal with this, you will eventually see the outside structure be completely destroyed. Jeremiah even predicted that Jerusalem itself would fall into the hands of Babylon.
Jeremiah 39:1
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it.
So here are the people who have been taken into captivity by their enemies. Remember, they have lost their homeland. They are heartbroken. They are depressed and discouraged. They are angry and bitter. “God, where were you when I needed you?” They are heartbroken because they do not believe that God has a plan and purpose behind all these things. They are lost and hopeless.
So here are the thoughts of many people:
- What do you do moving forward?
- What will our future look like?
- How will we live?
When you are in a very difficult situation in your life, how often do you say, “Yes, God has an amazing purpose and plan for me!” Let’s be real and honest. When you lose everything, you are upset and discouraged. And, remember, they are no longer living in their promised land. The land that they worked hard for. They now live in a faraway land, far from their homeland and their temple.
To the Jews, the temple was their identity, and it defines who they are. All their sacrifices and offerings are for the temple. You lose the temple, then you lose their identity. Now that they are far away from their temple, they have no identity of their own.
But God, knowing all this and, because He is sovereign, the past, present, and future, tells us that you will “build up” and “plant.”
Jeremiah 1:10 (NLT)
Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.”
But the question is, how would God build up and plant when you have a lot of people forcibly moved from Jerusalem to Babylon? How is God going to rebuild the people of Israel? That is the billion-dollar question?
Here is Jeremiah in Jerusalem. He sends a letter to all the surviving people who were exiled in Babylon. And remember that everything Jeremiah said came true, so those who are in exile are looking to Jeremiah for advice and direction. Because it is in such a time as this that they need answers to the question: What do we do next? What is our next step? How are we going to live? What is our future vision? So, he writes a beautiful letter of encouragement.
Before we read the next verse, I want you to keep this in mind. So, whether it's good or bad, you are in a season of life you might not want to be in. So, how do you make the best out of the situation you are in?
How do you turn the worst days of your life into the best season?
Jeremiah 29:4-6 (NLT)
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
Jeremiah is telling his people, you are in the season of life and the place you don’t want to be in. He is telling the people, “While you are here, make this season the best of your life. Don’t turn this season of your life, the worst of your life, but turn your worst season into the best life.” Listen, “You are where you are, so make the best of where you are, and start rebuilding your life again!”
So, he is telling the exiled people, “Go and look for a job. Work and make a living. And if you're single, look for a wife, plan to stay there a long time, and have children. Go and multiply! And be a good dad and mom, husband and wife.Make yourself productive in the season of life you are in! Help in the synagogue! Participate and help in the church! Do whatever you can to be productive!”
You will be in Babylon for 70 years! So, in the season you are in, whether it be good or bad, go and make the best season of your life.
Jeremiah is telling the people, “You are in a tough situation. Your life is not working out the way you planned or hoped for. So instead of being discouraged and depressed, go and rebuild! Make your season the best of your life, while you are where you are living.”
Then Jeremiah does something interesting. He takes you to the next level. This really shook me up inside. Let’s read what he says next.
Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
“Lord! My enemy, the Babylonians, are the ones who captured me, my family, and my friends. They are the ones who tortured us and killed so many of my people. And now you are asking us to ‘work for the peace and prosperity of the Babylonians? You are asking us to pray for the welfare of our enemies, and that will determine our own welfare?”
I’m trying to wrap this in my mind: “When you pray for the welfare of your enemy, then that will determine your own personal welfare!”
How do we begin the process of rebuilding? How do you start the process of reconciliation? How do you reconcile with someone who has hurt you? Or, you might have hurt the other person. How do you begin to rebuild?
Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (ESV).
I was being reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48
Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
I have to be honest with you guys, and this was very hard for me. By the way, this was long before I became a pastor, and I was running a business. So long story short, there was this man who stole a lot of money from me, about $100,000. I was able to find out where he lived in New York City.
Keep in mind, when your mind is not sound, when there is a lot of hatred and bitterness, you might do crazy things. So, either I find him and kill him, or just let everything go, and let God determine the plan for our family. As a genuine believer in God, how will you decide? How do you begin the process of rebuilding when you lose everything? And then on top of that, you have a lot of anger and bitterness in your heart?
Because of this man, I lost my business, we lost our house, we have no more money, and we have no career. Remember, my identity was tied to my business, and this man stole all that from me. And remember, I had three small kids at that time. I had anger and bitterness.
So when God says to “pray for the well-being of your enemy and peace and prosperity for the Babylonians,” it is tough to do. But God says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
So, how do you begin the process of rebuilding?
Pray for the blessing of your enemy? I am where I am because God taught me this principle of “blessing those who hurt you.” That’s what Jeremiah 29:7 teaches us.
Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
And work for the peace and prosperity [blessing] of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
If I had not learned from the Word of God, I would have done something I would regret for the rest of my life.
Now, as I ponder through the Jeremiah passages, everything was starting to make sense. In the season of your life that you are in, make the best out of the worst situation, and pray for your enemy and blessings for them, so you will be blessed. Now with that in the background, Jeremiah 29:11 will make sense.
Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
The word “plan” in Hebrew is maḥăšāḇâ, pronounced makh-ash-aw-baw', which means thought, device, plan, and purpose.
The word “thought” is used 28 times, while the word “plan” or “purpose” is only used 6 times. It means this: God is thinking about you so often that He is thinking about you from the beginning, the middle, and the end. God is thinking about you from the beginning, the middle, and the end. Then Jeremiah 1:5 started to make sense.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Now the Israelites are in Babylon because of their disobedience to God, but in His grace, says, I am thinking about you for a specific plan for your future. I knew you before you were born, and I have been thinking about you, and I have devised a plan for your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Now, I have to be honest with you, when we lost everything, and I came to this verse, I would pray, “God, provide us with money!” But that is not what it actually means. So what does this “welfare” mean?”
The word “welfare” in Hebrew is šālôm, pronounced shaw-lome’, which means peace, completeness, wholeness, soundness, and welfare.
The word peace is used 175 times, while “welfare” is used 5 times. So what the Lord is saying to the Israelites is that with the season you are in, make the best of it, and pray for the peace and well-being of your enemy, and I will bring about peace and wholeness to your life.
When you do these things, you will have “shaw-lome’”, the peace that you have always wanted to have. You could have wealth and health, but if you don’t have peace in your heart, you will not have any soundness in your mind, and there will be no “completeness.”
Many years ago, when I was young, my friend and I worked on a thousand-piece puzzle together. We had one major problem: we were almost done, but missing about five pieces of the puzzle. We looked all over, and we couldn’t find it. This thousand-piece puzzle was incomplete, and it drove me crazy. You're almost there, but you're not there, leaving you with unfulfilling emotions.
So when God says that I have a welfare for you, he is telling us:
- He is telling us to “build your home,” and “go make babies.”
- “I want you to pray for peace and the prosperity and blessing of your enemy.”
- “And I have a plan of peace, wholeness, and feelings of completeness.”
All of your 1,000 puzzle pieces will be there. And Jeremiah 29:12-14 continues.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NLT)
In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
Just within these three verses, God has made six promises. Anytime you see the word “will” next to God, that means this is a promise from God.
The Promises of God
- I will listen when you pray.
- I will be found by you when you search for me wholeheartedly.
- I will end your captivity.
- I will restore your fortunes.
- I will gather you.
- I will bring you home again.
In Closing, what is our vision for 2026? Rebuild
Jeremiah 29:4-6 (NLT)
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
Let’s begin the process of rebuilding by blessing one another, for God’s promises will be fulfilled!
Question to You: How can you rebuild your church, your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, your family, and your friends in this season of life?
Posted in Weekly Devotional