Be Blessed...Plant Yourself Next To God

Jeremiah 17:7-8  -  "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit."

 

Jeremiah’s message from God had two sides.  One side explained the curse that would happen to those that did not follow God’s law and love him with all their heart.  The other described how the person that stayed in God’s will would grow strong like a tree planted next to a river.

 

A tree that is planted on a river bank has a constant source of water. Its roots grow deep….the water it soaks up nourishing it to grow strong and healthy. Times of drought don’t bother it….even if the water in the river dries up…for its deep roots have tapped into the water table below the surface of what man can see.

 

It is a strong analogy of how I should plant myself as close to God’s source as I can. I should surround myself with the things that will help me grow those deep roots straight to God’s living water.  I need strong believers around me to pray with me and guide me when I get confused or let the world convince me I am alone.  I need to study the Bible and apply its truth to my life on a daily basis…so I know just which verse will send satan packing when he tries to trick me.  I need to visit with the father as many times a day as I feel pressured…so I can tap into his power and strength to keep going and not give up.

 

I needed the reminder….that God is just a thought away…especially when the pity parties threaten to become a daily thing.  He has been loading my head and heart with knowledge from his word every day…but my weakness is forgetting to stop and ask him to help me overcome the lonely thoughts that start my pity parties.  I have to learn to take those moments to God…like David did when he wrote all those great Psalms….like Daniel did when he got thrown in that lion’s den…like Paul did all those nights in prison. I guess in some ways…it’s like the roots he been growing in my life are there…I just forget that I can use them to tap into that living water.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I my weaknesses will remain weaknesses until I learn to take every moment of doubt and worry to your precious feet. Forgive me for forgetting so many times that you have been teaching me just how to tap into your power and strength….but I just don’t use it….for whatever reason. Help me to be more confident….to see the roots that you have been growing…to understand and trust that you are there no matter what feeling of loneliness I have…or what attacks my self-confidence.  Help me to use the roots you have grown in my life to find what I need to conquer the tricks of satan in my life.  Amen.

Let God Be Your Security Blanket

Jeremiah 16:19-21 -  LORD, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and say, "Our ancestors were foolish, for they worshiped worthless idols.  Can people make their own god? The gods they make are not real gods at all!"  "So now I will show them my power and might," says the LORD. "At last they will know that I am the LORD."

 

Jeremiah must have decided to stop his pity party and trust God again…for he received many messages for the people after his bout with disappointment. He once again spoke the words of God to the people…and let God use him the way he had been called.

 

After one of the hard messages he had to deliver …he stopped to speak this truth to God.  He realized that he had no power in himself….and that God was all he needed to keep going in a world that seemed to search everywhere but the right place for their needs. He stopped to let God know that he finally realized just who was in charge…and that sometimes we just have to trust till God is ready to reveal the next thing he needs us to know.

 

He finally realized the words Paul spoke later in 2 Corinthians 12:10…that when we are our weakest…God can be his strongest.  He felt the full comfort that David wrote about in Psalm 46:1.  He understood the protective nature of God that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:3.  It says….. “ But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

 

I admit….that even though I know tis truth deep down…it doesn’t always manifest itself in my life every day. Oh how I need a huge dose of strength…and refuge…and fortress in my heart to keep me realizing that I don’t have to do anything alone anymore. God can be my security blanket…if I just give up control of everything to him…and let him do what he does best.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder today that I just need to call on you to be showered with all that I need to be my happiest.  Forgive me for the times that I let life hide my heart from the realization that you are there…and let it drag me into a world where I think I am alone. Help me to feel the protection that you offer by praying more often that you cover me from satan’s attacks. Show me how to wake each morning and wrap your security blanket completely around me…and walk in your strength throughout the day. Amen.

Stop Those Pity Parties

Jeremiah 15:18-19 - Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook. It is like a spring that has gone dry."  The LORD replied, "If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak words that are worthy, you will be my spokesman. You are to influence them; do not let them influence you!

 

Even the great prophet Jeremiah got tired and frustrated with waiting on God. The job he had been sent to do brought suffering and persecution to his body…mind…and soul. He felt abandoned by God and lost trust and faith in him for the moment.  He thanked God…said he was proud to bear his name in one breath…..then shouted a string of accusations that God had left him to die alone.

 

Jeremiah was in a mental place very familiar to me.  It is called a pity party. I have them when I forget to trust in God too. They come the most when my memories trick me into feeling sad for what I lost…instead of thanking God for a memory at all. They come when I am let myself spiral into thinking that a time of mistakes and learning….isn’t accomplishing anything good in my life.  They come when I let my busy schedule cut my Bible study time and prayers to less than they should be.

 

God did for Jeremiah what he does with all of us when we give ourselves a pity party. He just took a step closer to his troubled child and told him to stop his foolishness. He told Jeremiah to let go of his worry and grab back onto the trust that he once had. He told him he still needed him to be his voice to the people. He told him to stop being influence by the others around him….and start influencing them for God.

 

It all boils down to letting God rearrange our priorities. We have to live Matthew 6:33…” But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” He won’t let us stay on a pity party very long…and they will come farther apart if we can keep him first in our lives.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that the pity parties I managed to throw for myself are my own lack of trust in you.  Forgive me for the times that I let that pity party happen at all…even spiral into a week-long affair. Help me to trust in you no matter what….so you can guide me safely through whatever storm I might be going through. Amen.

Confession Alone Is Not Enough

Jeremiah 14:7-8-  The people say, "LORD, our wickedness has caught up with us. We have sinned against you. So please, help us for the sake of your own reputation.  O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble! Why are you like a stranger to us? Why are you like someone passing through the land, stopping only for the night?

 

The city was in the middle of a horrible drought. The people had no more food….even the animals were becoming confused.  The grass that began the great food chain in motion was disappearing…..and with it life hung in the balance. Jeremiah had been telling them that God was going to punish them…but they hadn’t listened till now…when Life was threatened.

 

The people knew they had sinned…they confessed that….but they wouldn’t change their ways.  They wanted God to come down and save them…just because he was God. They wanted God to save them….for the sake of God’s name alone. They wanted to confess to God their sin….but keep sinning…and never change their ways.

 

God was so tired of the routine they had developed to justify their selfish desires and actions.  They showed up with the right offerings and sacrifices at the temple….when it was time. They prayed all the right prayers. Then they left that holy place and did exactly what they had done before…anything they wanted too…whether it was part of the covenant they had made with God or not.

 

God doesn’t want our offerings….our prayers….even our worship…if it doesn’t focus so completely on him that it changes our heart. Spending time with him should change our hearts for what God wants.  We won’t want to  talk like we used to talk….give like we used to give….pray like we used to pray…or live like we used to live.  His love should transform us into different people.

 

Confession alone does not do it….we have to repent and change our ways if we really want to have a relationship with God that is more than a Sunday or Wednesday night service….more than a Sunday school or Bible study….more than a prayer or two at night.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to confess my sins…AND….repent of them to feel your full presence in my life.  Forgive me for the times that I did what I wanted…just because I wanted too.  Help me to really listen to you and discern your will in all the things I do. Let my worship….my prayers…my Bible study…..bring about real changes that make me more like you.  Amen.

Is Pride Rotting Your Heart?

Jeremiah 13: 9-11 - "The LORD says: This illustrates how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.  These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship idols. Therefore, they will become like this linen belt -- good for nothing!  As a belt clings to a person's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me," says the LORD. "They were to be my people, my pride, my glory -- an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me."

 

Jeremiah had been given a powerful visual by obeying God one more time.  The new loin cloth he wore close to him for a time…was buried in a hole in the river.  God told him to go get it out after a time had passed…and it had rotted into a useless garment. It became Jeremiah’s visual to speak to the people about the pride they had let rot their hearts.

 

God longed for the time that his people were drawn close to him….when he had complete control of their lives the way he did Jeremiah’s. But they had left God…buried their love for him somewhere else….started worshiping idols. They exchanged their need for God with selfish pride.

 

My Life Application Bible gave 5 real dangers to letting pride rot our hearts.  Once pride is in control…we begin to look down on others. Then we begin to let those selfish motives rule our choices with the resources God gives us. If that’s not bad enough…we begin to force our solutions as ways to solve everyone’s problems. Another danger is that we think that God’s blessings on our lives come because we have earned them. The worst danger is that we eventually take control of our lives from God…and stop seeking him for anything.

 

The one good thing about letting your heart become rotted with pride is that the great physician can still fix it.  He can take that blood he shed on the cross and wash us clean of all these ways that pride has damaged us….IF…..we repent of our sin and confess it before him.  Our heart comes out of the mess we made it looking like new. Jesus let John 14:6 record his own words…it says….  ^“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

 

Seems like God is repeating a lot of things he has told me in the past lately. I sure needed this one again. I needed this reminder that pride is always lurking close by….ready to sneak into your heart.  It is hardly noticeable till it has already rotted quite a bit of your heart.  I struggle with it daily…even minute by minute….and am so glad that God won’t let it abide in my heart for very long before he brings my attention to it.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I must always watch out for pride to try and sneak back into my heart.  Forgive me for not noticing it quick enough …or seeing through the many disguises it wears to trick me into thinking that it is something good.  Help me to wash my own feet each morning with a heaping dose of humility.  Help me to listen to you tell me exactly what to do…so satan cannot confuse me with anything that is not from you.  Amen.

Just Trust....And Keep Going

Jeremiah 12:4-5 -  How long must this land weep? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. Yet the people say, "The LORD won't do anything!"  Then the LORD replied to me, "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?

 

Jeremiah took a bit of his time with God to ask the age old question why? He was frustrated with the concept of justice…not understanding why God didn’t just do away with all the evil in the world…why he wouldn’t do anything to help the few righteous people that cried out to him. He wanted to know why his preaching had not been effective…and even made the people hate him.

 

God answered Jeremiah’s question with a question. He asked Jeremiah how he was going to make it when things got worse.  God wanted to know where Jeremiah was putting his faith….and trust. He just told Jeremiah that things had to get worse….before they could get better….that even his family was going to turn against him.

 

I am sure that is not the answer that Jeremiah expected from God. Jeremiah wanted to be comforted… to know a piece of the puzzle that lay ahead…to have God confirm him with some earthly form of success.  But what Jeremiah got was a request from God to trust him….to be patient….to just keep being obedient.

 

God wanted Jeremiah to trust him even though he had given him no answers. God wanted Jeremiah to claim Isaiah 40:31…..to run and not get weary…to walk and not faint….to use God’s power and wings like eagles to gain strength to finish the very hard task that God had given him to do.

 

God might as well have been talking to me this morning.  I am such a quitter. I ask why…and not to always help me understand. Deep down my questions of why are because I want to see just how hard the road is going to be ahead.  Maybe on some level I want to prepare myself…but I have to be honest…it’s really because I get impatient…and lack faith. I sure haven’t claimed the power Isaiah was talking about…I let my humanness…my selfishness…take over and stop walking at all.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need more faith and trust.  Forgive me for the times that I have felt too tired to go on…and stopped to rest for a while. Thank you for not letting me rest too long…for sending someone….or a passage from your Bible to get me back on my feet. Help me to mount up with those wings that Isaiah was talking about….so I can learn to use your power when my strength is gone. Amen.

Be Obedient...Say....Let It Be So...

Jeremiah 11:1-2 and 5 –  The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,  "Remind the people of Judah and Jerusalem about the terms of their covenant with me.

 I said this so I could keep my promise to your ancestors to give you a land flowing with milk and honey -- the land you live in today.'" Then I replied, "So be it, LORD!"

 

Jeremiah was prophet during the reign of Hilkiah…the high priest who uncovered the commandments Moses had written down on Mount Sanai…the same commandments that the priests had his so they could justify worshiping the way they wanted too. You can read 2 Kings 22 for the whole story.

 

Post people had become so accustomed to the way they were doing things …they had no intentions to change.  Their hearts had grown up not knowing God at all…so they discounted Hilkiah and Jeremiah. They kept on worshiping those idols….and ignored the laws that God had given them when they made the covenant with God.

 

Just because Jeremiah was God’s chosen prophet …doesn’t mean his life was easy.  His obedience to God brought delivered hatred of his message…not repentance and satisfaction in a job well done. What stands out the most for me is the way Jeremiah just said…let it be so…even though he knew he was going to meet with opposition.  He said yes…and was obedient….even to the threats of death around him.

 

Once again I am reminded how very disobedient I am. I sure don’t say yes every time God tells me to do something.  My guilt increases with the fact that I am pretty sure I don’t even hear him tell me what to do half the time.  I don’t jump out of bed in the mornings to visit with him…my sleepy voice just asks him to give me enough strength to listen and write down the thoughts he gives me for the day. That selfish shell I built around me for years is still not completely cracked away.

 

What I need…what I suspect most every believer needs ….is a big dose of passion and love that only God can infuse in our hearts. The kind that causes us to smile as soon as our eyes open and whisper thanks to God for another day.  The kind that spurs us to lift up no matter how tired or painful it is to move our body. The kind that will power us through the day with a passion to do as much as we can for God…not a little as we can justify being enough. The kind that made Jeremiah say….let it be so…even though he knew already that he was going to fail.  The kind that gave Jesus the courage to say…let it be so…your will be done… not mine.

 

Father…thank you for this reminder that this is the day that you made for me to do something great for you…not a day to complain and whine about how hard life can be.  Forgive me for the times I have said no…or even distracted myself so I could not hear you at all.  Help me to renew the covenant I made with you when I was 14….and say yes….let it be so…no matter what it is that you ask me to do. Amen.