Comparing favorite 'promise verses'

In an article entitled, "America's favorite verse must be read in context," Russell Moore, a top leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, writes, " '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.'

"These words are the John 3:16 of American cultural Christianity. Watch how often they show up on the Bible verse plaques sold in Bible Belt mall kiosks or posted on Facebook walls, even on tattoos. Whether as home decor or on social media posts, I see this passage claimed fervently by people I know haven’t been in a church service since the first Bush administration.

"Naturally, this love for Jeremiah 29:11 has often led more theologically oriented Christians to lament its out-of-context use. So much so that a young Christian recently asked me, 'Does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to me, or not?' ”

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It's interesting that nobody manufactures framed calligraphy, etc., out of the King James Bible's Jeremiah 29:11: [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.

The next two verses in the KJV read, [12] Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
[13] And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

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A verse etched on a hanging ceramic plaque from my childhood home was Proverbs 3:6: "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

I think a good companion verse to that is Proverbs 16:3: [3] Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Referring to Psalm 37:4-5 ([4] Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. [5] Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.), Preacher Richard Jordan explains:

“How do you trust in the Lord; commit your way to the Lord? First, you’ve got to know the Lord and know His mind. How are you going to trust Him if you don’t know Him? How can you trust Him if you don’t know what to trust Him about?

“Verse 4 says to ‘delight thyself in the Lord.’ That means you need to know some things about the Lord to be delighted about.

"People make all this stuff up; they say they talk to the Lord and He talks to them. They make a God in their own mind and delight in their own God.

“James 4:3 says, ‘They ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.’ That’s what religion does! Religion is just designed to satisfy the lust of your flesh and it will create a god who will do that for you.

“By the way, the way you do what’s in Psalm 37, and this is a tremendous psalm, is in verse 1: ‘Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.’

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“Jesus says, ‘If you abide in me, focus on who I am and value me more than anything else, and let your mind be controlled by my Word, you know what will happen? You’ll have the knowledge to ask the right things that ought to be accomplished.’

“By the way, do you remember the old adage about prayer? A-S-K. ‘Ask, seek, knock.’  If you go back and read Matthew 7:7 (‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’), the people Jesus Christ’s talking to in the context are fruitful believers. That’s on the Sermon on the Mount.

“John 15:8 says, ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.’ When you are bearing fruit, the way you bear fruit is you abide in Him, you draw your resources from Him and you have your thinking regulated by His Word. If you do that, you’re going to bear fruit; the outward expression of that inner life.

“Jesus Christ says in John 15:4, ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’

“In verse 7, He says it a little differently: ‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’

“To abide in something is to stay there. Constantly. You don’t leave. This is home. You’re going to dwell there. You’re going to be there not just occasionally, not sporadically, not fitfully, but this is where your heart’s going to be OCCUPIED.

“ ‘And if my word abides in you.’ There’s those two issues here. ‘Your heart’s going to be occupied with me, keep your eyes on me, look to Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith,’ it says in Hebrews, 'but also have your life regulated by the Scripture.'

“They’re to be focused on who Christ is and what He’s provided for them. They’re to take their stand and just rest in who God’s made them and the provisions God’s going to equip them with in Jesus Christ, and then let their thinking and their actions be regulated by what His word has to say."