***Listen To Audio Version: He Knows The Plans Audio 604
Today’s Devotional Scripture: 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
- Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
The Message For Today (July 30, 2026):
***Listen To Audio Version: He Knows The Plans Audio 604
We’ve all heard the verse, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
God designed everyone’s life for an expected end. He has a specific plan for all of us. AND… He wants to give us hope and a future.
I wandered for so long, not believing that and not thinking I was worthy of a special purpose. I didn’t think I was valuable enough for Him to give me my own purpose. I had no idea why I was on this planet. I wanted and needed to be isolated. To stay in a place of hiding.
For most of my life, I was in a state of shame.
Practically every area of my life was shameful, or so I felt. Physically, because I was overweight. Career-wise, I had an entrepreneurial mind. Back in the day, entrepreneurship was not as accepted a concept as it is today. Doing something out of the norm was frowned upon.
I was looked at and thought of as a wayfaring person. Some even said it to my face. People of “substance” in those days were working 9-to-5 jobs. Those who held such positions were considered “steady.”
Spiritually, I felt lost. Despite my searching, I always felt like I was coming up short, as if I had no way to reach the place where the bad things I had done could be forgiven and eradicated. The havoc I had caused in my life was just too much even for God to handle. He couldn’t possibly forgive me for the things I’d done. I had gone too far in so many ways.
Relationally, things were crazy. Family, friends, all crazy and unbalanced as well as minimally functional, or unhealthy. In one way or another, there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Ever have one of those days or weeks? Maybe years or decades? Welcome to my world. There were momentary periods of greatness followed by periods of tremendous tragedy and pain.
Where did this pain come from? My own stupid choices and a lack of knowledge of the Word of God that would provide the freedom that would allow goodness to penetrate deep down into my soul. What I needed to live a peaceful and full life eluded me. I was searching, but it felt like my progress was slow. There was a disconnect between my heart and mind.
The Word was getting into my head, but wasn’t sinking into my heart long enough to make the change needed. Like the parable of the sower, my seed kept falling by the wayside and kept getting choked by the things of life. Every time something in life happened that was contrary to the Word, I would start doubting God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.
I may as well have been reaching for air because that is what I felt like I was grabbing: a whole lot of nothing. The Word wasn’t sinking in long enough to take the proper effect needed to foster permanent life changes.
Transformation was taking so long because I kept taking one step forward and two steps back, ultimately staying stuck in the same place.
Have you done that in your life? Taking things on, thinking victory is just around the corner but never seeming to reach the corner of the street you’re walking on?
If I could go back, what would I do differently? Maybe I’d spend more time in the Word. Perhaps I would not listen to the voices that silenced my own. What is the answer for you? What do you wish you had done differently? Would it make a difference to your overall outcome?
In my case, I moved away and distanced myself from anyone and anything that was part of my life. I just left, went on my own, figured things out, and ultimately made my own decisions without everyone else’s voices in my head. It was bold but necessary.
I kept relationships with things and people that were not the best for me. Some of those people you can’t get away from, but some you can. You can distance yourself from toxic people, even when they’re your family, by making a choice to keep them at arm’s length.
The distance and the Word started changing my life.
The Word says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). It was through daily immersion in His Word and many mistakes that transformation started to happen in my heart. As I learned more of what the Lord wanted for my life within His Word, healing came, transformation came, prosperity came.
Each day, as I took care of the physical me, I also took care of the spiritual me. Each Word I put in me began the transformation of my heart. That transformation permeated other areas. It’s not the big things we do, but the little things, often behind closed doors, that foster true and lasting transformation. One decision at a time, we change.
As I was finding my way each day, my relationship with God changed. I was taught that God was on some throne somewhere, unreachable by us. When I saw Matthew 27:51, I realized that when the veil in the temple was torn the moment Jesus died, I personally had access to the Holy of Holies. I no longer needed a mediator to go to God. I could go boldly myself, and that separation that had been in my heart all those years was gone.
There are moments in life when we give our hearts to Him in different ways. Not long after the scripture in Matthew lit up my heart, I prayed to draw closer. I realized I had been holding on to things that were not of God. It’s true what they say about the onion: one layer at a time we change.
I was praying on my bed, and I reached out with my heart. I closed my eyes and spilled all I could to Him. Then I saw Him. He was this big, bright light coming toward me. He enveloped me with His arms, and I could feel His presence. You couldn’t slip a piece of paper between us; we were so close. He whispered in my ear, “Now there is nothing between you and Me.”
This encounter crushed all of the old traditions. It was the doorway to a deeper relationship. I could read the Word without someone reading it for me. I could go before the throne in boldness and seek His help. I could put everything before Him.
For me, an intimate relationship with God was my transformation. I didn’t just see Him as the God of the Bible, distant and unapproachable. I saw Him in my heart. I saw Him in my life, and He became real to me. So real that I talked with Him more than I talked with others.
Little by little, I gained confidence as I shed layers of the old me according to His Word. I took the scriptures of our identity in Him and made them personal. That allowed me to start seeing myself differently. As the shedding began, confidence grew. The more I shed, the more confident I became. That transformation overflowed into my physical life and every other area, gently removing debris and making all things new.
It doesn’t happen overnight.
Our walk is daily, and some days may be more triumphant than others. When we walk with Him, He meets us where we are and takes us where we need to be. As we delve into His Word, our identity unfolds. We see the truth, and that truth becomes the plumb line in our lives. We begin to measure what’s around us.
Our hearts begin to change, and there is a new “check” there. The Holy Spirit becomes our Wonderful Counselor, and through Him, if we listen with an intent ear, we know which direction to follow.
Some of those who had walked with me before did not understand the new choices and changes I was making in my life. I didn’t want to do the same things that yielded no fruit and further distanced me from God. If there was no peace within me, I was not going to do it. If I didn’t feel God in a situation, I distanced myself from it, and sometimes it was lonely.
My friend circle changed, and as I spent time with those who were spending time with God, my conversations changed, my mind changed, and eventually, with these deposits, my life changed. One day I woke up and the fruit of all of those little decisions made up the life I was living. I no longer saw myself in the same way. My mind had been renewed to the point where I didn’t recognize the old me. What I had gone through seemed like someone else had been through it.
Make the choices necessary to foster change.
The first change is more Word. That is how our hearts change. Choose the places you’re going to be in and keep your distance from the things that cause you to stumble. You may not be able to put too much distance from some who are close to you.
Some things you have to do, so to speak... but the choice you make for the time you’re going to be with them and how you’re going to be while you’re there is up to you. Be light that draws them to God and breaks barriers. We are walking epistles.
My sin and shame no longer define me. I see myself through Christ and His Word. I walk in peace instead of confusion because Jesus bought that for me, and I remind myself of the price He paid. I have confidence and boldness because of Him. The despair that once guided my days was replaced by the hope I found in God’s Word. We can set healthy boundaries and love others without losing ourselves when we are around them.
My relationships changed. I no longer sat quietly while people hurt me. I expressed my feelings or walked away. I no longer felt as if I had to continue so as not to hurt their feelings or not be a good witness. There were situations where walking away without discussion was the best thing to do because some are unwilling to listen, and you cannot change a person’s heart. You can only change how you respond. Some were open to discussion, some were not, and with others, graciously walking away without discussion was best.
There is a cost to everything in life.
There is a cost in expending energy, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. So, what price are you willing to pay to exercise? What price are you willing to pay to spend time with that difficult sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, or friend? Time with them will draw from your balance of peace. Your peace balance has to stay in the black, or you will go into the red and suffer the consequences.
There are healthy ways to build boundaries and protect yourself from the energy drainers. Manage your life and schedule properly so that you don’t deplete yourself to the point of overdraft.
Mostly everything I do in life, especially when I’m in the right frame of mind, is measured in those ways... How much is this event going to cost me - physically and financially? What will be the pluses and minuses of attending this family gathering? Do the pluses outweigh the minuses? How will I choose to add to them, and will they be adding to me?
Are you going to be a blessing to them before they’re a hindrance to you, and will you be planting good seeds that will help them see the light? Measure out what you will do and how you will come out in the end. At the risk of sounding selfish, you and your protection are what matter most. Protect yourself from harm and harmful things, and rely on the Lord to show you where you’re supposed to be today and your purpose for being there.
We all have a purpose, an expected end. It doesn’t have to be some huge, drawn-out plan that impacts millions. Jesus just asked us to reach one and go from there. Your BIG and others’ BIG are not the same. God’s weights and measures are unlike ours.
Save yourself from the comparison game. Stay in your own lane, towards your destination, not someone else’s. Distractions cause delays, and sometimes accidents. Focus on one moment at a time. With the Holy Spirit counseling you and your obedience to that counsel, there is no way you will lose. Your BIG will be just as big to God because it is your BIG.
Closing Devotional Prayer
My prayer for you:
Father, make my heart good ground for Your Word and for what You have for me. Let time soaking in Your Word and Your presence be the priority of my life, for everything else flows from it.
When I am tempted to go after what You have not planned for me, help me to come back to the Word and the focus You originally gave me. Help me to look forward instead of over my shoulder, for You have forgiven my past and have provided for my future.
Lead me on my expected path and stay close to me as I stay close to You until the end. And Lord, I pray that every woman of God listening and reading this devotional is mightily blessed. I pray that every chain is broken. I pray that the release of Your love covers her the way it has covered me.
I pray that the grace of God will cover her physically, financially, and emotionally, and that you will show her her expected end. Show her God, her purpose. Bless her in the name of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
You can reach out Ann Marie Thrives for a private consultation to get support if you are on this journey now:
I needed this so bad! Thank you so much
Just beautiful & right on time ❤️🫶🏽