Staying optimistic about God is crucial to living for God. Jesus couldn’t face Good Friday without being optimistic that it would be followed by Easter Sunday (notice in the gospels how He talks about His resurrection whenever He talks about His death). And we can’t live the abundant life Jesus came to give us (John 10:10) without optimism about God.

Staying optimistic about God isn’t easy. It’s tougher than controlling your weight when you work at Krispy Kreme. But it’s worth it. Optimistic Christians are gourmet diners who feast daily on the Lord’s goodness.

So, how do you stay optimistic about God? By persistently focusing on His grace. How do you do that? By persistently focusing on grace-emphasizing Bible verses.

In the next five posts we’ll look at green-thumbed verses that’ll keep your optimism about God fresh and fragrant.

[ctt template=”2″ link=”iacOZ” via=”yes” ]How do you stay optimistic about God? By persistently focusing on His grace. How? By persistently focusing on grace-emphasizing Bible verses.[/ctt]

An Everlasting Covenant

We begin with Jeremiah 32:40-41: I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and soul.

These words give us five optimism-fueling facts.

Optimism-fueling fact one: In these words God commits to you. These words are as much yours as a check written to you or a present with your name on it. The apostle Peter assures you that through Jeremiah’s “precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:4) God is speaking to you as directly and individually as He did when He called to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Optimism-fueling fact two: In these words God commits to doing something for you. That’s what a “covenant” is. It’s the equivalent of God signing an ironclad, no loophole contract. It’s a formal, official, no-walking-it-back promise, written with the indelible ink of God’s faithfulness on the stationary of His omnipotence. In sum, a covenant is God telling us, “May I cease being God if I don’t do for you what I give you my word I’ll do.”

Optimism-fueling fact three: In these words God commits to being good to you. Reread the verses and you’ll see He says this twice. Repetition is God’s way of enlarging the font for emphasis. He wants you to know He’s as serious about being good to you as He is about casting Satan into the lake of fire. You can’t get more serious than that!

Optimism-fueling fact four: In these words God commits to being good to you all the time. He says He “will not turn away” from doing you good. That means He won’t stop. Ever. Not even for a split second. Moment by moment, He’s up to your good. You can say to every second of every day of every week of every month of every year of your life what Joseph said to his brothers: “God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). The New Testament’s one sentence autobiography of Jesus is “He went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). And through Jesus, God is going about doing you good—all the time!

Optimism-fueling fact five: In these words God gladly commits to being good to you all the time. He “rejoices” in doing you good. Meaning it brings Him pleasure. What pleasure? The pleasure of demonstrating His incomparable grace by being good to one who deserves nothing but the worst. Doing good to you satisfies Him, makes the angels sing, and elicits praise from others. Doesn’t it make you praise Him too?

[ctt template=”2″ link=”XfW0K” via=”yes” ]God gladly commits to being good to you all the time. He “rejoices” in doing you good.[/ctt]

Focus, Believe, Memorize, Quote

Now, I ask you: don’t these words assuring you of God’s glad commitment to being good to you all the time fuel your optimism about Him and make it burn like Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace?

Since they do, focus on these words in Jeremiah 32:40-41.

Believe these words.

Memorize these words.

Quote these words out loud as you go through your day.

Lift them as a shield to quench Satan’s fiery darts by quoting these words to him when he tries to wound you with pessimism

Allow them to be a paramedic tending your injuries by quoting these words after a collision with discouragement.

Then, over and over, quote these words to yourself as the Great Physician’s second opinion whenever circumstances seem anything but good.

Do that you’ll stay optimistic about God no matter what’s going on in your life.

Are you living wisely by serving Jesus? Download our free Bible Study on being useful: No Little People


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