Evil Will Have It's End

Jeremiah 47:3-4 -   at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp.  For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.

 

It was a short message to the people who had Israel’s enemy for many years.  This giant people ….who thought their statue and strength could carry them through anything had forgotten the God that let a small boy bring down a huge army. It was time that God intervened and let them know who was in control.

 

A picture is painted of such quick and complete destruction that the fathers would turn to want to help…but be helpless as their children were carried off in a great flood. They would be lowered to great cowards….all strength and courage removed from their hearts.

 

It is a reminder to me that God will only allow evil for so long.  His short-term plan may include a bit of hardship and suffering….but his long-term plan calls for evil to be completely stamped out. Anyone who doesn’t believe in God and follow his ways completely will be left behind to watch and endure the last 7 years that evil will be allowed to reign on the Earth. It became even more real for me as I watched the remake of the movie based on the book series….Left Behind.

 

The life we live should reflect an effort every moment to let people know just what is to come.  They can call us crazy….or radical….or just plain looney…but if one more person is raptured because of some effort on my part to tell them the truth….it is totally worth the name calling and persecution that might result.

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that evil will have an end. Thank you saving me with your great love and allowing me to be a part of helping others to understand the truth. Forgive me for not using enough of  my time and energy to spread the gospel.  Show me more ways to slip in a verse or two about the future…so more people can go with me to share in the home you have prepared in Heaven. Show me how to renew my faith so I can mount on the wings of eagles and soar in your strength when times get tough. Amen.

God Purifies And Redirects Our Wrong Choices

Jeremiah 46:28 -   Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you," declares the LORD. "Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished."

 

Jeremiah had just given the leaders of Egypt a word from God. He was not going to tolerate the idol worship in that land and wanted them to hear the reason he had allowed Nebuchadnezzar to overthrow them. Many of the Jews would also be destroyed in this war…but some would choose wisely to return to their own land as God had directed.

 

All those that had not followed God’s directions would be punished…and many would die. They would bear the natural consequences of making the wrong decision. They would die just as Jeremiah had told them they would if they left Judah in the first place.

 

Those of us that are parents understand the concept of punishment. It is a necessary sometimes for us to teach our children the consequences of an immoral decision…or sometimes just making the decision to do what they were told not to do. We want them to understand that while they are in our care…we are responsible for teaching them right from wrong.  We want them to understand that making the wrong choice will eventually catch up with them.

 

I am so glad that Jesus came and died on the cross…even though he had never done anything wrong…even though he did not need to be punished. He lessened my punishment for sin when he sacrificed his own life for mine....he did not eliminate the need for God to punish and redirect us sometimes.

 

God punishes us to purify and redirect us back to him. He wants us to love him more that the world around us.  He wants us to love him as much as his own son did. He wants us to listen to him and read the word he left us to direct our decisions.  He wants us to love him so much that we pray for his guidance instead of make our own decisions.

 

Father…thank you for the times that you have punished me for making the wrong choices. Thank you for redirecting me back to a healthier relationship with you. Forgive me for the times that I have sinned and caused you to discipline me at all.  Help me to see the punishments as ways to grow my character….as ways to know you in a deeper way.  Amen.

Keep Your Focus On God...And He Will Give you Strength And Peace

Jeremiah 45:3-5 -You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.' "  The LORD said, "Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land.  Should you then seek great things for yourself ? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.' "

 

It is one of Jeremiah’s shortest chapters…it contains a direct message for his faithful scribe Baruch.  He had followed Jerimiah everywhere…writing down on scrolls the important messages God had given Jeremiah for the people. Baruch’s life had been very hard…and he was tired. He reached that point where his frustration wanted an out…he thought he could take no more.

 

God’s answer came through his friend Jeremiah quickly.  He told him to just hold on…not to think about the pain and sorrow of the present…to take his focus off of himself. Jeremiah told him to just continue to serve God by being his scribe and God would take care of him for the rest of his life…wherever he went.

 

I have been a Baruch many times…for when life beats me down I have a tendency to want to run away too. It just seems too much to bear…and I let the pain and hardness of the moment turn my focus to myself. I pray exactly like Baruch did…and cry out to God with tears and frustration that I have had enough.

 

It is a reminder to me to stop letting my pain and frustration cause me to take my focus off of God…and convince myself to run or give up again. What I need to do is read these words to Baruch over and over and let them help me focus back on God again. For once I have my eyes back on God…and stop crying my pain is too great…he sends me a peace that helps me deal with my problem. The pain doesn’t always stop….but his peace helps me keep from worrying about it anymore.

 

If we focus on ourselves…and what we might be missing during our storms….the result is frustration and confusion. But if we keep our focus on God… we find the strength and peace to continue in our pain and finish the task he placed us there to do in the first place. I am so glad that our perfect model Jesus…in his most painful moment…showed me that it is okay to call out to God in our pain…but when we hand the reins over to our father in heaven…and concede that his will is the better plan…the tears of pain and frustration that for Jesus were even magnified to bloody sweat… become the strength to carry the cross to the spot where we die to ourselves…and fulfill the plan that God placed us here to do. When we understand fully that we are servants…and stop seeking great things for ourselves…we begin to internalize the strength and wisdom and discernment we need to complete God’s will in our life.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that it’s not about me…but about what you need me to do while I have been granted life on your Earth. Forgive me for focusing too many times on myself…and letting my pan and confusion stop me from finishing the job you needed me to do. Forgive me for modeling to so many people how to run from my pain instead of how to let you give me peace and strength to work through it.  Help me to internalize a need to stay completely focused on you…so I can do a better job seeking your peace when things get hard the next time. Amen.

God Always Offers Us A Way Of Escape

Jeremiah 44:25-26 -  This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.' "Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows!  But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives."

As soon as the people had gotten settled in their new home in Egypt….they began to use the idols around them to replace their need for the Lord God of all gods. They even convinced themselves that the troubles they had in the past were because they had not been worshiping the gods of the Egyptians. They refused to listen to Jeremiah…and fell deeper into the wrath of God by repeating their past mistakes.

It was the worst form of destruction….self-destruction. They were so hardened by their own actions that Jeremiah’s words just bounced off their hearts. They did not even consider moving back to Judah as he told them God wanted…just kept reciting the broken record of how Jeremiah’s words were false hope to them. They refused to believe that the words of Jeremiah that had already come true could have anything to do with their future.

Oh how it must hurt God’s heart…when he gives us clear direction and we ignore him. God offers us hope after hope …and we just keep hardening our hearts more and more to his voice and will for our lives. He never stopped letting Jerimiah tell his people that if they would just give up the other gods in their lives…and return to the place he asked them to live…that he would save….protect….even bless them.  If they would change their attitude….admit they needed God in their lives…turn form the sin that was destroying them…he would make even the smallest number of them fruitful and multiply them once again.

It is a reminder to me of just how far God went to make a way for me to join him someday. He kept offering hope till it came down to sacrificing his own son for my sins. Once I accepted the love his son Jesus offered me…he began to transform my hardened …selfish….heart. And when I fall...and believe me…it is often…he will take me back.  All I have to do is admit I was wrong…ask him to forgive me…and seek him more deeply with my actions.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you never pull your hope completely away from me.  Thank you that when I make mistakes that draw me away from your plan that you chase after me with your love till I admit that I need you again. Forgive me for making you work so hard to keep me as your child.  Help me to change my heart so completely that my attitude and actions change too. Help me see your way of escape for all the mistakes I make. Amen.

Seeking God's Approval Is Not the Same As Asking Him For Direction

Jeremiah 43:9-10 -"While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes.  Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them.

 

Johanan had broken his promise to God and Jeremiah.  He called Jeremiah a liar…and accused him of being a traitor…then forced all the people to go to Egypt.  He took everyone …men ….women ….children …and even Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch. They did not stop till they got to a town named Tahpanhes.

 

Jeremiah heard from God when they got there.  He told him to take some large stones…and bury them in the clay pavement at the entrance to the temple of the Egyptian gods. Then he told him to tell Johanan that Nebuchadnezzar was on his way to overthrow the very spot they chose to settle. 

 

We may think we know what we want. We may even have prayed for direction from God. But if we ignore the obvious words from Christian counsel and directions he gives us from the Bible…and go our own way…it will not go well in the end. Our prayer should not be one asking for God’s approval…it should be one that asks him what direction we should go. Why even ask God…if our minds are already made up?

 

I have been a Johanan before. I have twisted God’s plan for me so many times I can’t count them anymore. This story is a reminder to me to always consider carefully the people he sends me to give me advice. It is a reminder to me to always study his word for the direction he wants me to go. It is a reminder to me to always be flexible and listen to what he wants me to do.  My choices …what I think I should do…are not always what God wanted.  His plan is not always obvious.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to always keep an open mind. I need to seek your direction…and then wait for you to explain it to me with your Bible…and the godly people like Jeremiah you send to help me discern what you want me to do. Forgive me for the times that I have asked you what to do…and not even tried to listen…or even worse the times I have twisted your plans into what I thought they should be.  Help me to listen better…and understand more deeply what I read from your word…so that I can do exactly what you want me to from this moment on. Amen.

Pray For Guidance...Then Follow It....No Matter What

Jeremiah 42:1-3 -  Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached  Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.  Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do."

 

The people finally wised up and went to ask Jeremiah to pray for them. They even promised him they would do what God said…no matter what. He prayed for 10 days to ask God to give him directions to help these people who were running scared. God gave him a clear answer…stay in this land…stop running….let God protect them from the Babylonian king and farm the land there.

 

God knew that they would think that was the wrong advice…so he added what would happen if they continued on to Egypt. They would increase God’s fury and anger…and bring curses of great magnitude upon themselves. He even let Jeremiah’s last words to them be a statement that he already knew they would not keep their promise to do whatever God told them.

 

What a great reminder to never ask God’s guidance if we have no intentions of following what he tells us. God sees straight down to our toes…and knows our promise is empty as the words leave our lips. Sometimes we pray for his direction….but struggle way more than 10 days to get an answer. Perhaps we are not rigorous enough in our request….perhaps he has already answered and the sameness of our situation confuses our brain to think he hasn’t told us what to do.

 

We sometime expect God to move in ways that we think require huge changes…when God’s plan is sometimes just to stay where he has already planted us.  Perhaps he is training us for a later job….or just aligning other pieces of his plan for us…or just seeing if we have the faith and trust to wait for him.  It’s a reminder to me that God’s 10 days…might be 10 months…or even 10 years on his timeline.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I should always seek your guidance and direction.  Forgive me for complaining sometimes that my wait time is longer than I think I can bear. Forgive me for not seeing my wait time as an answer in itself.  Help me to see the reason behind the waiting…and rest completely in your timing.  Help me to see the way you are strengthening me for whatever lies ahead.  Amen.

The Answer To Chaos.....Pray For Direction

Jeremiah 41:17-18 -  And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt  to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

 

A man name Ishmael had taken advantage of the people who had been left in Mizpah with Gedaliah. He had Gedaliah…all his officials….and 70 other random men that came to the temple to worship the day after.  He was leading them away when another man named Johanan scared Ishmael into leaving them and running for his life. They end up in a town close to Bethlehem…planning to run away to Egypt and hide to escape any more trouble from the Babylonian king.

 

The chaos that is presented here is exactly what happens when we let evil make our choices for us. One bad thing leads to another bad thing…there is no real organization…no real purpose in our plans. WE allow evil to have its way…to just take advantage of our weakened state…to just make it weaker.

 

The people still have no clue that they need to repent and ask God for help….that he is just a prayer away. They just run with whatever the newest person pops into their brains as a possible solution. The eighty men that come to the Temple to seek God have the right idea…but it seems the 10 that were spared have lost so much hope they forget to call out to God and ask what to do.

 

It is a reminder to me that it’s dangerous to follow anyone else’s plan unless you have consulted God first. If my life seems disorganized and chaotic …then it is time to drop to my knees and have a heart to heart with God and see why he has allowed it.  Only God has the answers …the solution out of the chaos. I will just keep running…grasping at whatever I can…till I ask him what I need to be doing instead.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that chaos in my life might be a clue that I have not let you be in control of my every thought and action.  Forgive me for the times that I have gone too long in my own selfishness….and forgot to ask you where my next step should be.  Help me to see any chaos that surrounds me for what it really is…and stop to ask you for directions out of the mess. Amen.