Stephen Kuhn

“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
        With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself (Jeremiah 31:3).

If you’ve ever seen the classic 70’s film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, you will undoubtedly remember the scene where Wonka unveils his top-secret new creation: The Everlasting Gobstopper.

The Gobstopper, for those of you who didn’t grow up pretending to be an Oompa Loompa, is a funky looking jawbreaker that never gets any smaller. In the words of Willy Wonka himself: “You can suck them and suck them and suck them and they’ll never get any smaller. Never!”

A single piece of this magic candy would last you the rest of your life because it would never diminish in size…never be reduced…never shrink in the slightest.

In other words, it would be everlasting.

ev·er·last·ing
     adjective
     1. lasting forever; eternal: everlasting future life.

The Lord uses this exact same word when He describes His love through the prophet Jeremiah, which means nothing will ever make His love for you stop, shrink, or be reduced in any way.

The moment you put your faith in Christ, every barrier that ever stood between you and the everlasting love of God was removed forever:

• Your bad decisions will not reduce it.
• Your stubbornness cannot stop it.
• Your sin will never block it.

Or, to (loosely) paraphrase Willy Wonka, no matter how much you feel like you suck, God’s love for you will never get any smaller.

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 52 Amazing Things That Became True of You the Moment You Trusted Christ. If you enjoyed what you read here, be sure to check out the book for 51 more awesome truths about how God sees you!

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Chances are, you’ve at least considered the thought that God may have had big plans for you once. But not anymore. That ship has sailed.

Maybe it’s because of something you did in the past, or something that was done to you. Perhaps it’s the accumulated effects of all the shame and guilt that come with addiction. Either way, you look at the path your life has taken and believe the lie that God can no longer use you.

You must realize though, nothing from your past will ever be bad enough to disqualify you from the amazing future God has planned for you. Just look at God’s prophecies to the Israelites through Jeremiah.

For the first 28 chapters of the book, God lays out a list of all the ways the Israelites have turned away from Him. There’s adultery and idolatry. They’ve listened to false prophets and allowed paganism to corrupt their worship. The entire nation has hardened their hearts toward God and rejected His ways.

As a consequence for these sins, God has allowed them to be taken into exile by the Babylonians. But even then, He doesn’t give up on them.

In the twenty-ninth chapter, God encourages His people to not lose heart even while they remain in captivity. He calls them to set their eyes back on Him and warns them to not be deceived again. He encourages them that this period of exile will not last forever, and that He hasn’t forgotten them.

Then, in the midst of one of the lowest points in Israel’s history, God makes this stunning promise to them:

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

No matter how far the Israelites strayed from God, they would always be welcomed back into His good plan once they chose to trust Him again. And it’s no different with you and me.

Regardless of where you have been, God still has a plan for you.

A plan with a future.

A plan full of hope.

“Come now, let’s settle this,”
     says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
     I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
     I will make them as white as wool.
          (Isaiah 1:18)

Sin. You probably don’t need me to tell you it’s an issue in your life. After all, we all struggle with it. Every one of us.

No matter how good we try to be, we’ve all been soiled by the stains of our sin.

When Isaiah wrote these words, he was looking forward to the day when the stains on our souls would be taken care of. When we could finally be cleansed from our sin—permanently.

But he also recognized that we could never make ourselves clean on our own. He knew that no amount of scrubbing, hiding, or justifying would remove the scars of sin from our souls.

Isaiah understood that only Jesus had the power to make us clean.

And today, thanks to His finished work on the Cross, He has.

You see, the moment you placed your trust in Christ, your sins were washed as white as snow.

Not by anything you did.

Not by your striving towards goodness.

Not by your ability to overcome your flaws.

It was solely by the power of Christ’s blood.

And nothing will ever change this. No sin—even the sin you have yet to commit—will ever leave a stain on you again.

Because, as Jesus says in today’s verse—it’s been settled.

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Did you know the most common command the Lord gives us in the Bible is “Do not fear”?

Why is that? Perhaps it’s because He knows us well enough to know that our natural tendency is to be afraid:

• Afraid our needs won’t be met…
• Afraid our life won’t turn out how we hoped…
• Afraid the people we love will abandon or reject us…

More often than not, these fears are rooted in a lack of trust. They are the result of not trusting that everything God says applies to those who are in Christ is true—even for you.

You see, when you put your trust fully in the Lord, you will come to see how His promises overcome all of your fears.

After all:

• What does Matthew say about God meeting your needs?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:31-34).

• What does Jeremiah say about God’s plans for your life?

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me (Jeremiah 2:11-13).

• What does today’s verse in Deuteronomy say about God abandoning you?

8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

The more you trust the love of Christ, the less you will sense the need to be afraid.

This is how trusting that God is always right there with you, that He will never fail you, and that He will never leave you—no matter what—sets you free from fear.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear (1 John 4:18).