Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you’ll know he’s at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.” –Jesus  (Matthew 24:32-25, MSG)

No one can destroy the Word of God.  No one in Jeremiah’s day could do it and no one now.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”     Isaiah 40:8

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” John 1:14

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  2 Peter 3:16-17

“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:10-11

God asked Jeremiah to write everything He said on a scroll so His people could read, hear it read, listen and turn back to Him with love for Him.  The Word was ignored, hated, burned, and scorned but God’s Word of Truth prevailed. 

We are reading it today. 

To God be the glory, great His is faithfulness! 

Great is His love for us! 

Jeremiah 36, The Message

Reading God’s Message

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from God:

² “Get a scroll and write down everything I’ve told you regarding Israel and Judah and all the other nations from the time I first started speaking to you in Josiah’s reign right up to the present day.

³ “Maybe the community of Judah will finally get it, finally understand the catastrophe that I’m planning for them, turn back from their bad lives, and let me forgive their perversity and sin.”

⁴ So Jeremiah called in Baruch son of Neriah. Jeremiah dictated and Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything that God had said to him.

^5-6 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I’m blacklisted. I can’t go into God’s Temple, so you’ll have to go in my place. Go into the Temple and read everything you’ve written at my dictation. Wait for a day of fasting when everyone is there to hear you. And make sure that all the people who come from the Judean villages hear you.

⁷ “Maybe, just maybe, they’ll start praying and God will hear their prayers. Maybe they’ll turn back from their bad lives. This is no light matter. God has certainly let them know how angry he is!”

⁸ Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do. In the Temple of God he read the Message of God from the scroll.

⁹ It came about in December of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah that all the people of Jerusalem, along with all the people from the Judean villages, were there in Jerusalem to observe a fast to God.

¹⁰ Baruch took the scroll to the Temple and read out publicly the words of Jeremiah. He read from the meeting room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary of state, which was in the upper court right next to the New Gate of God’s Temple. Everyone could hear him.

^11-12 The moment Micaiah the son of Gemariah heard what was being read from the scroll—God’s Message!—he went straight to the palace and to the chambers of the secretary of state where all the government officials were holding a meeting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other government officials.

¹³ Micaiah reported everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll as the officials listened.

¹⁴ Immediately they dispatched Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Semaiah, son of Cushi, to Baruch, ordering him, “Take the scroll that you have read to the people and bring it here.” So Baruch went and retrieved the scroll.

¹⁵ The officials told him, “Sit down. Read it to us, please.” Baruch read it.

¹⁶ When they had heard it all, they were upset. They talked it over. “We’ve got to tell the king all this.”

¹⁷ They asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”

¹⁸ Baruch said, “That’s right. Every word right from his own mouth. And I wrote it down, word for word, with pen and ink.”

¹⁹ The government officials told Baruch, “You need to get out of here. Go into hiding, you and Jeremiah. Don’t let anyone know where you are!”

^20-21 The officials went to the court of the palace to report to the king, having put the scroll for safekeeping in the office of Elishama the secretary of state. The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He brought it from the office of Elishama the secretary. Jehudi then read it to the king and the officials who were in the king’s service.

^22-23 It was December. The king was sitting in his winter quarters in front of a charcoal fire. After Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut them off the scroll with his pocketknife and throw them in the fire. He continued in this way until the entire scroll had been burned up in the fire.

^24-26 Neither the king nor any of his officials showed the slightest twinge of conscience as they listened to the messages read. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah tried to convince the king not to burn the scroll, but he brushed them off. He just plowed ahead and ordered Prince Jerahameel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Jeremiah the prophet and his secretary Baruch. But God had hidden them away.

* * *

^27-28 After the king had burned the scroll that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Get another blank scroll and do it all over again. Write out everything that was in that first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.

²⁹ “And send this personal message to Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘God says, You had the gall to burn this scroll and then the nerve to say, “What kind of nonsense is this written here—that the king of Babylon will come and destroy this land and kill everything in it?”

^30-31 “‘Well, do you want to know what God says about Jehoiakim king of Judah? This: No descendant of his will ever rule from David’s throne. His corpse will be thrown in the street and left unburied, exposed to the hot sun and the freezing night. I will punish him and his children and the officials in his government for their blatant sin. I’ll let loose on them and everyone in Jerusalem the doomsday disaster of which I warned them but they spit at.’”

³² So Jeremiah went and got another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, his secretary. At Jeremiah’s dictation he again wrote down everything that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. There were also generous additions, but of the same kind of thing.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God’s Word is inspired by God.  Inspiration is not some kind of heavenly dictation, as though God completely bypassed the writer, for the authors of the various books of the Bible have their own distinctive styles and vocabularies. Without making him a robot, God guided Jeremiah in his choice of words; Jeremiah spoke these words to his secretary, Baruch, and Baruch wrote them down in the scroll.

God used human instruments to proclaim His Word to the people. “How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” says Paul in his letter, Romans 10:14. Since Jeremiah wasn’t allowed to go to the temple, he sent Baruch in his place which was also inspired by God.  God makes a way for His Word to be heard!

There will be haters of the Word.  The king used God’s Word as fuel for his fire! In spite of the protests of three of his officials, the king continued cutting and burning the scroll until it was completely destroyed.  Over the centuries, God’s enemies have tried to destroy the Word of God but have always failed. They forget what Jesus said about the Word: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever” (1 Peter 1:24–25).

“What this passage highlights is that God preserves His Word. Any king who thinks he can silence God with a knife and a fire has a very high opinion of himself and a very low opinion of God. The Lord simply told Jeremiah to write another scroll, to which he added more material, including a special judgment on King Jehoiakim. The same God who gives the Word has the power to protect and preserve the Word. The king had tried to destroy the Word, but the Word destroyed him!”  –Warren Wiersbe, Commentator

Do we really believe what God says in His Word really real?  Our thinking and resulting behaviors will answer the question.

Believe God for His Word is Truth, whether we choose to believe Him or not.  Truth stands the test of time.  Truth walked the earth to show us Truth.  Truth wins every time.

Lord,

I pray for scoffers, haters, and would be destroyers along with unbelievers of Your Word that they might be saved by your grace before it is too late.  Your Word is you and You are the Word that gives light and life forever.  No one can take You away from us.  Thank you for loving us the way you do.  Continue to teach me Your Ways and I will walk in them.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life” is a phrase I don’t really understand as a noble statement or principle for living.  Every day is a new day with great opportunity to be a difference and make a difference for God’s Kingdom.  But we must seek God first.  Where God guides, He provides.  We pray, God works in and through us.  So, what God decides, we follow.  If we quickly obey God and follow through on what God says, then we will surely be different from the world.  As believers, we look up to great examples of those who follow through in faith because their example of simple and joyful obedience encourages us that we are on the right track to pleasing God.

God sends Jeremiah to the Recabite community and tells him to invite them to the Temple to tell their story of faith.  Their testimony is simple and beautiful.  God holds them up as the examples of obedience along with their discipline of follow through to Israel.  God sent examples to get the attention of His people.  But all God got from His people were deaf ears, indifferent hearts, worldly minds and empty souls. 

What has God done to get my attention?  We must pause to pray and reflect.

Jeremiah 35, The Message

Meeting in God’s Temple

The Message that Jeremiah received from God ten years earlier, during the time of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Israel:

² “Go visit the Recabite community. Invite them to meet with you in one of the rooms in God’s Temple. And serve them wine.”

^3-4 So I went and got Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, along with all his brothers and sons—the whole community of the Recabites as it turned out—and brought them to God’s Temple and to the meeting room of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. It was next to the meeting room of the Temple officials and just over the apartment of Maaseiah son of Shallum, who was in charge of Temple affairs.

⁵ Then I set out chalices and pitchers of wine for the Recabites and said, “A toast! Drink up!”

^6-7 But they wouldn’t do it. “We don’t drink wine,” they said. “Our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab commanded us, ‘You are not to drink wine, you or your children, ever. Neither shall you build houses or settle down, planting fields and gardens and vineyards. Don’t own property. Live in tents as nomads so that you will live well and prosper in a wandering life.’

^8-10 “And we’ve done it, done everything Jonadab son of Recab commanded. We and our wives, our sons and daughters, drink no wine at all. We don’t build houses. We don’t have vineyards or fields or gardens. We live in tents as nomads. We’ve listened to our ancestor Jonadab and we’ve done everything he commanded us.

¹¹ “But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded our land, we said, ‘Let’s go to Jerusalem and get out of the path of the Chaldean and Aramean armies, find ourselves a safe place.’ That’s why we’re living in Jerusalem right now.”

Why Won’t You Learn Your Lesson?

^12-15 Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, wants you to go tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem that I say, ‘Why won’t you learn your lesson and do what I tell you?’ God’s Decree. ‘The commands of Jonadab son of Recab to his sons have been carried out to the letter. He told them not to drink wine, and they haven’t touched a drop to this very day. They honored and obeyed their ancestor’s command. But look at you! I have gone to a lot of trouble to get your attention, and you’ve ignored me. I sent prophet after prophet to you, all of them my servants, to tell you from early morning to late at night to change your life, make a clean break with your evil past and do what is right, to not take up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a god that comes down the pike, but settle down and be faithful in this country I gave your ancestors.

^15-16 “‘And what do I get from you? Deaf ears. The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab carried out to the letter what their ancestor commanded them, but this people ignores me.’

¹⁷ “So here’s what is going to happen. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will bring calamity down on the heads of the people of Judah and Jerusalem—the very calamity I warned you was coming—because you turned a deaf ear when I spoke, turned your backs when I called.’”

^18-19 Then, turning to the Recabite community, Jeremiah said, “And this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says to you: ‘Because you have done what Jonadab your ancestor told you, obeyed his commands and followed through on his instructions, receive this Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab at my service! Always!’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Who are we known as?  Who do we follow?  Our behaviors will answer these questions.

We learn from Jeremiah to trust God and obey what He says.  Jesus, the Perfect Example, promised His power will work through us when we do.  God’s Holy Spirit lives in us to help us discern and decide what is right.  We have no good reason not to obey the One who knows what is best for us.  There is joy and peace when we trust and obey.

Look for examples in others and be the example of faith for others.  “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near”, Paul reminds all believers.  Jesus, the greatest example of all, IS coming back, you know. 

Are we known as examples of obedience to Him?

Lord,

On this first day of a new year, it is human to make promises to do better.  But Lord, I want to be better and I can only do that by your power working in me with your teaching permeating every part of me.  Your Word, your Holy Spirit, Your saving grace, Your merciful kindness all because of your unconditional love work together to make me all you created me to be.  I’m yours, warts and all.  Do what you must to remove all that is not you from me so I will be a difference in this world in obedience to you.  I trust in you, dear Jesus, the greatest example of all!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”  (1 Samuel 15:22)

These are the words from God through Samuel to King Saul, another king called of God to lead his people.  But King Saul turned from God to his own devices as he became more powerful.  God’s original mission became King Saul’s misinterpreted mess of manipulation.  (Read the whole story in 1 Samuel!)

King Saul led his people his way, away from God, and became so arrogant that it became a mental and spiritual illness!  Killing to hold his power in place became his single goal.  God deals with rebellion in the same way rebellious people behave, pulling them from leadership that maims and destroys others.  In the next verse of 1 Samuel 15:23, Samuel, speaking for God, announces God’s displeasure and indictment to King Saul;

^“ For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
    and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    he has rejected you as king.” 

Jeremiah, God’s prophet, tells King Zedekiah in a similar way what will happen because of his disobedience, refusing to follow God, arrogance in his leadership, not to mention (but we will) his unkept promises to God’s people concerning the bondage of slavery!  Yes, we learn that to obey God is way better than unkept promises and haughty, meaningless sacrifices.

Jeremiah 34, The Message

Freedom to the Slaves

34 God’s Message to Jeremiah at the time King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon mounted an all-out attack on Jerusalem and all the towns around it with his armies and allies and everyone he could muster:

^2-3 “I, God, the God of Israel, direct you to go and tell Zedekiah king of Judah: ‘This is God’s Message. Listen to me. I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he is going to burn it to the ground. And don’t think you’ll get away. You’ll be captured and be his prisoner. You will have a personal confrontation with the king of Babylon and be taken off with him, captive, to Babylon.

^4-5 “‘But listen, O Zedekiah king of Judah, to the rest of the Message of God. You won’t be killed. You’ll die a peaceful death. They will honor you with funeral rites as they honored your ancestors, the kings who preceded you. They will properly mourn your death, weeping, “Master, master!” This is a solemn promise. God’s Decree.’”

^6-7 The prophet Jeremiah gave this Message to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, gave it to him word for word. It was at the very time that the king of Babylon was mounting his all-out attack on Jerusalem and whatever cities in Judah that were still standing—only Lachish and Azekah, as it turned out (they were the only fortified cities left in Judah).

* * *

^8-10 God delivered a Message to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to decree freedom to the slaves who were Hebrews, both men and women. The covenant stipulated that no one in Judah would own a fellow Jew as a slave. All the leaders and people who had signed the covenant set free the slaves, men and women alike.

¹¹ But a little while later, they reneged on the covenant, broke their promise and forced their former slaves to become slaves again.

^12-14 Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God, the God of Israel, says, ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I delivered them out of their slavery in Egypt. At the time I made it clear: “At the end of seven years, each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has had to sell himself to you. After he has served six years, set him free.” But your ancestors totally ignored me.

^15-16 “‘And now, you—what have you done? First you turned back to the right way and did the right thing, decreeing freedom for your brothers and sisters—and you made it official in a solemn covenant in my Temple. And then you turned right around and broke your word, making a mockery of both me and the covenant, and made them all slaves again, these men and women you’d just set free. You forced them back into slavery.

^17-20 “‘So here is what I, God, have to say: You have not obeyed me and set your brothers and sisters free. Here is what I’m going to do: I’m going to set you free—God’s Decree—free to get killed in war or by disease or by starvation. I’ll make you a spectacle of horror. People all over the world will take one look at you and shudder. Everyone who violated my covenant, who didn’t do what was solemnly promised in the covenant ceremony when they split the young bull into two halves and walked between them, all those people that day who walked between the two halves of the bull—leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, palace officials, priests, and all the rest of the people—I’m handing the lot of them over to their enemies who are out to kill them. Their dead bodies will be carrion food for vultures and stray dogs.

^21-22 “‘As for Zedekiah king of Judah and his palace staff, I’ll also hand them over to their enemies, who are out to kill them. The army of the king of Babylon has pulled back for a time, but not for long, for I’m going to issue orders that will bring them back to this city. They’ll attack and take it and burn it to the ground. The surrounding cities of Judah will fare no better. I’ll turn them into ghost towns, unlivable and unlived in.’” God’s Decree.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We must pause to pray and reflect on what God wants most from us—obedience.  Obedience is worship.  Obedience from a heart that wants to please God most of all is gratitude.  Obedience that expects nothing in return is pure, unconditional love—like God loves us.  Obedience that asks God what He wants first, before thinking or doing anything else, is living that abundant life that Jesus showed us how to live while He walked the earth!

Jesus didn’t say or do anything without first checking with His Father.  “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.”  (John 12:49) Jesus further explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.’’(John 5:19)  Jesus got alone by Himself to pray to the Father before doing anything of significance. 

Who are we to think we can live life without laying our lives before the Father first, with readiness to obey his next steps of direction?  Who are we to think we can do life on our own?

God gave weak King Zedekiah another opportunity to repent and save the city and the temple from ruin, but he refused to listen. Jeremiah warned him that the royal family and the court officials would not escape judgment and that he would be taken captive to Babylon, where he would die in peace. One act of faith and courage with obedience would have saved the city from ruin and the people from slaughter, but Zedekiah was afraid and did not obey God. 

Promises Unkept.  At one point during the siege, Zedekiah and the people made a covenant with the Lord in the temple to free all the Jewish slaves. A calf was slain and then cut in half, and the priests, officers, and people walked between the halves as a sign that they would obey the terms of the covenant. In so doing, they were agreeing to free their Jewish slaves or be willing to suffer what the calf had suffered.  But they did not.  God would deal with them accordingly.  They would become slaves to their captors!

Don’t bargain with God.  Instead of believing God’s Word and submitting to Babylon, the Jews tried to bargain with the Lord and bribe him into helping their cause. God’s people often make promises to the Lord when they’re in tough times, only to renege their promises when things get better. Many in pastoral ministry hear suffering saints on hospital beds promise to be the best Christian in the church if only God will give healing, and when He grants the request, most will forget.

Lord,

The lesson today is clear.  To obey you is better than a sacrifice to you.  Lord, help us all to see the folly of bargaining with you, self-promoting sacrifices, and holding hostages in the faith by our mishandling of life missions.  I want what you want from me and through me today.  What is your agenda for me today?

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”  Psalm 27:8

Life moves along steadily, with no bumps in the road, until it doesn’t.  The economy takes a sudden downturn and our steady work is threatened which brings stress to an already overextended budget.  Routine test results signal other tests and worry seems in about what will happen next.  Family relationships suddenly are not what you thought which brings on challenges that are hard to bear. Political leaders in all sectors of society do not get along and the peace we once knew has turned to chaotic uncertainties.  We live on the edge with no margin to spare and think we can do life without God.

We cannot.  We cannot figure out life on our own.  We must call the One and Only who holds the Truth and who is Life.  God made a Way for us to call and come to Him through Jesus, His Son.  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6 

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” –Jesus  John 16:33

God makes it clear to Jeremiah in his day that He is in control.  Jesus makes it clear for us that God is still in control.  Call to God no matter what is going on and He will answer.  He does for me, I know He will do it for you, too.

Jeremiah 33, The Message

Things You Could Never Figure Out on Your Own

33 While Jeremiah was still locked up in jail, a second Message from God was given to him:

^2-3 “This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’

^4-5 “This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what’s going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that’s happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.

^6-9 “But now take another look. I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I’m going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I’ll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I’ll build everything back as good as new. I’ll scrub them clean from the dirt they’ve done against me. I’ll forgive everything they’ve done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They’ll get reports on all the good I’m doing for her. They’ll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.

^10-11 “Yes, God’s Message: ‘You’re going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, “A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here.” But the time is coming when you’re going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, “Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He’s so good! His love never quits,” as they bring thank offerings into God’s Temple. I’ll restore everything that was lost in this land. I’ll make everything as good as new.’ I, God, say so.

^12-13 “God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: ‘This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks. You’ll see flocks everywhere—in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Benjamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.’ God says so.

A Fresh and True Shoot from the David-Tree

^14-18 “‘Watch for this: The time is coming’—God’s Decree—‘when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah. When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right. That’s when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety. The motto for the city will be, “God Has Set Things Right for Us.” God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honor.’”

* * *

^19-22 God’s Message to Jeremiah: “God says, ‘If my covenant with day and my covenant with night ever fell apart so that day and night became haphazard and you never knew which was coming and when, then and only then would my covenant with my servant David fall apart and his descendants no longer rule. The same goes for the Levitical priests who serve me. Just as you can’t number the stars in the sky nor measure the sand on the seashore, neither will you be able to account for the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve me.’”

* * *

^23-24 God’s Message to Jeremiah: “Have you heard the saying that’s making the rounds: ‘The two families God chose, Israel and Judah, he disowned’? And have you noticed that my people are treated with contempt, with rumors afoot that there’s nothing to them anymore?

^25-26 “Well, here’s God’s response: ‘If my covenant with day and night wasn’t in working order, if sky and earth weren’t functioning the way I set them going, then, but only then, you might think I had disowned the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David, and that I wouldn’t set up any of David’s descendants over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as it is, I will give them back everything they’ve lost. The last word is, I will have mercy on them.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Teach me, Lord.  Because Jeremiah asked the Lord to teach him, God showed him “great and mighty things, which you do not know” (v. 3) that related to the future of His people. The prophet knew that the city was destined for judgment, but the Lord gave him further words of assurance and encouragement—promises that relate to the end times.

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.” Psalm 143:10

To God be the Glory.  The defiled nation of Israel would be healed and cleansed and the disgraceful city would bring joy and renown to the Lord as a testimony of our marvelous, merciful God.  “I will give back all that was lost.”

Jesus.  From the remnant, the root of David, the King of kings and Lord of lords with come to reconcile all to God.  Jeremiah is given a glimpse of Jesus, the greatest blessing of all who would be their promised King reigning in righteousness. Jeremiah revealed that His name is “God Has Set Things Right for Us”, but here God revealed that Jerusalem will bear the same name! That certainly didn’t happen when the exiles returned to rebuild their temple and their city. Therefore, this promise is for the latter days. Then when people call Jerusalem “the Holy City,” the name will be appropriate.

Lord,

You were sent to set things right between God and man—and you did!  Thank you, God. Thank you, dear Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit for helping me daily with things I cannot figure out on my own.  You call me every morning to come and talk with you about everything—and I do.  My heart belongs to you who saved me from sin and self.  You are all I need.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Randy and I have done our fair share of remodeling the homes we have purchased in our lifetime!  We actually like demolishing what was to clean, tear away the old and unusable, to redesign and rebuild for greater purposes.  But I don’t like the mess in the middle of it all!  Remodeling is not as fun as the makeover shows depict on media streams!  A huge mess is made before the beauty of the remodel plan comes to completion.  Inexperienced people don’t consider the mess and can’t handle the mess made in the remodeling and cleansing process.  My grandpa, a carpenter, always said, “You have to make a mess to make something beautiful.” 

Mess before beauty.  I think of this as I read our next episode in our continuing series of Jerusalem and Judah’s cleansing and restoration.  God’s people have turned their backs on God completely and turned their hearts toward making a complete and utter mess of their lives and the lives of their children.  They worship whatever they make.  They worship Baal along with any god that comes along.  God’s people hit rock bottom when they sacrificed their own children by burning them at the altar of the god, Molech.

To say God’s people needed a cleansing and remodel of their hearts, minds and souls is an understatement.  God is heartbroken for his children, angry at the lives they lead against Him and now will intervene by tearing down and cleansing by fire what was in order to rebuild and restore what should be.  “I will restore everything that was lost. God’s Decree.”

Jeremiah 32, The Message

Killing and Disease Are on Our Doorstep

^1-5 The Message Jeremiah received from God in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was holding Jerusalem under siege. Jeremiah was shut up in jail in the royal palace. Zedekiah, king of Judah, had locked him up, complaining, “How dare you preach, saying, ‘God says, I’m warning you: I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will take it over. Zedekiah king of Judah will be handed over to the Chaldeans right along with the city. He will be handed over to the king of Babylon and forced to face the music. He’ll be hauled off to Babylon where he’ll stay until I deal with him. God’s Decree. Fight against the Babylonians all you want—it won’t get you anywhere.’”

^6-7 Jeremiah said, “God’s Message came to me like this: Prepare yourself! Hanamel, your uncle Shallum’s son, is on his way to see you. He is going to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth. You have the legal right to buy it.’

⁸ “And sure enough, just as God had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me while I was in jail and said, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the legal right to keep it in the family. Buy it. Take it over.’

“That did it. I knew it was God’s Message.

^9-12 “So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I paid him seventeen silver shekels. I followed all the proper procedures: In the presence of witnesses I wrote out the bill of sale, sealed it, and weighed out the money on the scales. Then I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy that contained the contract and its conditions and also the open copy—and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. All this took place in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed, as the Jews who were at the jail that day looked on.

^13-15 “Then, in front of all of them, I told Baruch, ‘These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Take these documents—both the sealed and the open deeds—and put them for safekeeping in a pottery jar. For God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Life is going to return to normal. Homes and fields and vineyards are again going to be bought in this country.”’

^16-19 “And then, having handed over the legal documents to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to God, ‘Dear God, my Master, you created earth and sky by your great power—by merely stretching out your arm! There is nothing you can’t do. You’re loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands—but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents’ sins. Great and powerful God, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, determined in purpose and relentless in following through, you see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do.

^20-23 “‘You performed signs and wonders in the country of Egypt and continue to do so right into the present, right here in Israel and everywhere else, too. You’ve made a reputation for yourself that doesn’t diminish. You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders—a powerful deliverance!—by merely stretching out your arm. You gave them this land and solemnly promised to their ancestors a bountiful and fertile land. But when they entered the land and took it over, they didn’t listen to you. They didn’t do what you commanded. They wouldn’t listen to a thing you told them. And so you brought this disaster on them.

^24-25 “‘Oh, look at the siege ramps already set in place to take the city. Killing and starvation and disease are on our doorstep. The Babylonians are attacking! The Word you spoke is coming to pass—it’s daily news! And yet you, God, the Master, even though it is certain that the city will be turned over to the Babylonians, also told me, Buy the field. Pay for it in cash. And make sure there are witnesses.’”

* * *

^26-30 Then God’s Message came again to Jeremiah: “Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can’t do? So listen to God’s Message: No doubt about it, I’m handing this city over to the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He’ll take it. The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me. It isn’t as if this were the first time they had provoked me. The people of Israel and Judah have been doing this for a long time—doing what I hate, making me angry by the way they live.” God’s Decree.

^31-35 “This city has made me angry from the day they built it, and now I’ve had my fill. I’m destroying it. I can’t stand to look any longer at the wicked lives of the people of Israel and Judah, deliberately making me angry, the whole lot of them—kings and leaders and priests and preachers, in the country and in the city. They’ve turned their backs on me—won’t even look me in the face!—even though I took great pains to teach them how to live. They refused to listen, refused to be taught. Why, they even set up obscene god and goddess statues in the Temple built in my honor—an outrageous desecration! And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech—I can hardly conceive of such evil!—turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.

* * *

³⁶ “But there is also this Message from me, the God of Israel, to this city of which you have said, ‘In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon’:

^37-40 “‘Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I’ll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace. They will be my people, I will be their God. I’ll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them. What’s more, I’ll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I’ll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they’ll not even think of turning away from me.

⁴¹ “‘Oh how I’ll rejoice in them! Oh how I’ll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I’ll plant them in this country and keep them here!’

^42-44 “Yes, this is God’s Message: ‘I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate—gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses—and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.’ God’s Decree.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We believers and the not yet believers, are still in the habit of making a mess of our lives as we live for self and follow the voices, opinions and temptations of the world led by the Prince of Darkness.  Dear friends, we could always use a “remodel” in our daily lives that turn our messes into messages of hope, forgiveness, love, and grace that repair and restore us.  This is only accomplished by Jesus who lives in us.  This is the secret to remodeling!  “And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.” Colossians 1:27 

In fact, Paul tells us we are God’s masterpiece of His creation when we allow Him to do His work in and through us, molding and shaping us like a Potter with clay, to be beautifully made with a purpose.  This is the beauty made from a mess of clay!  “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10) God knows who we are and who we will become! 

An extreme makeover is possible by embracing our transforming God!

We are constantly under construction on earth!  He is not finished with us yet—not until we see Him face to face in glory.  “So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”  (Romans 12:1-2, MSG)

Pray without ceasing!  True prayer begins with worship and focuses on the greatness of God. No matter what our problems are, God is greater; and the more we see His greatness, the less threatening our problems will become.  Constant communication with God is communion in His Presence.

Say yes to Jesus who will turn our ugly mess into something brand new and beautiful for His glory and our good. Always.

The Lord affirmed to Jeremiah that the situation wasn’t lost, for He would gather His people and bring them back to their land. The application of this Scripture for believers today is obvious: The world laughs at us for our faith and our investments in the future, but one day God will keep His promises and vindicate us before people and angels. Instead of living for the sinful pleasures of this present world, we seek the joys of the world to come. We refuse to sacrifice the eternal for the temporal. The unbelieving world may ridicule us, but ultimately God will vindicate His people.

Lord,

Thank you for remodeling my life daily.  Thank you for teaching me and not giving up on me. Thank you for turning my messes into your message of hope for others to see you glory at work!  I’m yours and I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me;
see, on the portals he’s waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

Background of our passage from Jeremiah:

As the Jews moved into captivity in Babylon, God told them to remember the roads and set up markers along the route, for the people would use those same roads when they returned to their land.

Jeremiah pictured Judah as a silly girl, flitting from lover to lover, and now summoned to come home.  No more idol worship, flitting from sin to sin!  The sins of God’s people will be punished but “when that happens”, come home.  Come back to God on the same road you traveled away from God. 

According to the Law, a daughter who prostituted herself should have been killed, but God would do a new thing: He would welcome her home and forgive her!

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
mercies for you and for me?

Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

Jeremiah 31, The Message

“And when that happens”—God’s Decree—
    “it will be plain as the sun at high noon:
I’ll be the God of every man, woman, and child in Israel
    and they shall be my very own people.”

* * *

^2-6 This is the way God put it:

“They found grace out in the desert,
    these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
    met God out looking for them!”
God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
    Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again,
    dear virgin Israel.
You’ll resume your singing,
    grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.
You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyards
    on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—
    oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!
The time’s coming when watchmen will call out
    from the hilltops of Ephraim:
‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,
    go to meet our God!’”

* * *

⁷ Oh yes, God says so:

“Shout for joy at the top of your lungs for Jacob!
    Announce the good news to the number-one nation!
Raise cheers! Sing praises. Say,
    ‘God has saved his people,
    saved the core of Israel.’

⁸ “Watch what comes next:

“I’ll bring my people back
    from the north country
And gather them up from the ends of the earth,
    gather those who’ve gone blind
And those who are lame and limping,
    gather pregnant women,
Even the mothers whose birth pangs have started,
    bring them all back, a huge crowd!

⁹ “Watch them come! They’ll come weeping for joy
    as I take their hands and lead them,
Lead them to fresh flowing brooks,
    lead them along smooth, uncluttered paths.
Yes, it’s because I’m Israel’s Father
    and Ephraim’s my firstborn son!

^10-14 “Hear this, nations! God’s Message!
    Broadcast this all over the world!
Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israel
    will gather them together again.
From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,
    like a shepherd with his flock.’
I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;
    I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.
The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,
    their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—
Grain and wine and oil,
    flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.
Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,
    never again left to dry up.
Young women will dance and be happy,
    young men and old men will join in.
I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,
    lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.
I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a day
    and that my people have more than enough.’” God’s Decree.

* * *

^15-17 Again, God’s Message:

“Listen to this! Laments coming out of Ramah,
    wild and bitter weeping.
It’s Rachel weeping for her children,
    Rachel refusing all solace.
Her children are gone,
    gone—long gone into exile.”
But God says, “Stop your incessant weeping,
    hold back your tears.
Collect wages from your grief work.” God’s Decree.
    “They’ll be coming back home!
There’s hope for your children.” God’s Decree.

^18-19 “I’ve heard the contrition of Ephraim.
    Yes, I’ve heard it clearly, saying,
‘You trained me well.
    You broke me, a wild yearling horse, to the saddle.
Now put me, trained and obedient, to use.
    You are my God.
After those years of running loose, I repented.
    After you trained me to obedience,
I was ashamed of my past, my wild, unruly past.
    Humiliated, I beat on my chest.
Will I ever live this down?’

²⁰ “Oh! Ephraim is my dear, dear son,
    my child in whom I take pleasure!
Every time I mention his name,
    my heart bursts with longing for him!
Everything in me cries out for him.
    Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” God’s Decree.

^21-22 “Set up signposts to mark your trip home.
    Get a good map.
Study the road conditions.
    The road out is the road back.
Come back, dear virgin Israel,
    come back to your hometowns.
How long will you flit here and there, indecisive?
    How long before you make up your fickle mind?
God will create a new thing in this land:
    A transformed woman will embrace the transforming God!”

* * *

^23-24 A Message from Israel’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “When I’ve turned everything around and brought my people back, the old expressions will be heard on the streets: ‘God bless you!’ . . . ‘O True Home!’ . . . ‘O Holy Mountain!’ All Judah’s people, whether in town or country, will get along just fine with each other.

²⁵     I’ll refresh tired bodies;
    I’ll restore tired souls.

²⁶ Just then I woke up and looked around—what a pleasant and satisfying sleep!

* * *

^27-28 “Be ready. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.

²⁹ “When that time comes you won’t hear the old proverb anymore,

        Parents ate the green apples,
        their children got the stomachache.

³⁰ “No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you’re the one who gets sick.

* * *

^31-32 “That’s right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won’t be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master.” God’s Decree.

^33-34 “This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.

If This Ordered Cosmos Ever Fell to Pieces

³⁵ God’s Message, from the God who lights up the day with sun and
    brightens the night with moon and stars,
Who whips the ocean into a billowy froth,
    whose name is God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

³⁶ “If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces,
    fell into chaos before me”—God’s Decree—
“Then and only then might Israel fall apart
    and disappear as a nation before me.”

* * *

³⁷ God’s Message:

“If the skies could be measured with a yardstick
    and the earth explored to its core,
Then and only then would I turn my back on Israel,
    disgusted with all they’ve done.” God’s Decree.

* * *

^38-40 “The time is coming”—it’s God’s Decree—“when God’s city will be rebuilt, rebuilt all the way from the Citadel of Hanamel to the Corner Gate. The master plan will extend west to Gareb Hill and then around to Goath. The whole valley to the south where incinerated corpses are dumped—a death valley if there ever was one!—and all the terraced fields out to the Brook Kidron on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be consecrated to me as a holy place.

“This city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Warren Wiersbe writes, “Any plan for the betterment of human society that ignores the sin problem is destined to fail. Merely changing the environment isn’t enough, for the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. God must change the hearts of people so that they want to love Him and do His will. That’s why He announced a new covenant to replace the old covenant under which the Israelites had lived since the days of Moses, a covenant that could direct their conduct but not change their character.”

Israel’s history is punctuated with several covenant renewals that brought temporary blessing but didn’t change the hearts of the people.  The new covenant isn’t just another renewal of the old covenant that God gave at Sinai; it’s new in every way. The new covenant is inward so that God’s law is written on hearts and not on stone tablets. The emphasis is personal rather than national, with each person putting faith in the Lord and receiving a “new heart” and with it a new disposition toward godliness.

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
passing from you and from me;
shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
coming for you and for me.

Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

Jesus is the new covenant announced!  The basis for the new covenant is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross (See the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  What began here in Israel’s return from captivity back to God led to the forgiveness of sins for all people!  ANYONE who puts faith in Jesus Christ shares in this new covenant!  This is the experience of being born again into the family of God (John 3:1–21).  All sins forgiven, once and for all.

O for the wonderful love he has promised,
promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me.

Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

The same road you took away from God is the same road back. 

Turn around, come home.

Believe and be transformed by embracing a transforming God!

“I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.

Lord,

I believe.  I’ve come home.  I repent.  Transform me. 

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

Have you had a time when you thought, this is it, I will not survive this, this will be the end of me?

Maybe that time is right now.  As I read about God’s people who left Him to worship idols and live ungodly lives, it is amazing that God didn’t just wipe them off the planet.  But then I recall God’s promise to Noah as he departed the ark after the Big Flood, “I won’t flood the earth again.”  But God did intervene and discipline His people, not to get rid of all His people, but to punish them for turning away from Him.  He allowed the enemy to enslave them.  God is angry because of His great love for His people.  They left Him and His best for them.  God made a “clean sweep” of the evil that had ravaged His people and their promised land. 

Dear friends, when we read the whole Bible carefully, we can readily see that His Word is about our Creator who simply wants us to love Him back.  Read that again and hold that thought.

We complicate our lives with our turning from Him to the world.  We turn from that simplicity of loving God back to complicating our lives by going our own way, thinking we can do better, living unguided by an all-knowing God.  We even think we can avoid the enemy by ourselves while leaving God’s powerful protection.  “I want it all, I want it now” becomes our battle cry.  But then we quickly become easy prey for God’s enemy who encourages us to leave God completely for that is the enemy’s goal.  What we once thought was perverted becomes pleasing to the eyes in spiraling acceptance, leading us down a hole that is hard to crawl out of and recover.  Worship of God is replaced with worship of self-made idols and superstitions. We fall for anything and are distracted by everything not of God. 

Love is lost.  Hope is gone. When life falls completely apart, cries of panic rise to the heavens for help.  And God hears.  God turns things around but only when His people humble themselves and turn back to Him.

“And that’s it: You’ll be my very own people; I’ll be your very own God.” 

Truth in a nutshell.

Jeremiah 30, The Message

Don’t Despair, Israel

^1-2 This is the Message Jeremiah received from God: “God’s Message, the God of Israel: ‘Write everything I tell you in a book.

³ “‘Look. The time is coming when I will turn everything around for my people, both Israel and Judah. I, God, say so. I’ll bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they’ll take up ownership again.’”

⁴ This is the way God put it to Israel and Judah:

^5-7 “God’s Message:

“‘Cries of panic are being heard.
    The peace has been shattered.
Ask around! Look around!
    Can men bear babies?
So why do I see all these he-men
    holding their bellies like women in labor,
Faces contorted,
    pale as death?
The blackest of days,
    no day like it ever!
A time of deep trouble for Jacob—
    but he’ll come out of it alive.

^8-9 “‘And then I’ll enter the darkness.
    I’ll break the yoke from their necks,
Cut them loose from the harness.
    No more slave labor to foreigners!
They’ll serve their God
    and the David-King I’ll establish for them.

^10-11 “‘So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant.
    Don’t despair, Israel.
Look up! I’ll save you out of faraway places,
    I’ll bring your children back from exile.
Jacob will come back and find life good,
    safe and secure.
I’ll be with you. I’ll save you.
    I’ll finish off all the godless nations
Among which I’ve scattered you,
    but I won’t finish you off.
I’ll punish you, but fairly.
    I won’t send you off with just a slap on the wrist.’

^12-15 “This is God’s Message:

“‘You’re a burned-out case,
    as good as dead.
Everyone has given up on you.
    You’re hopeless.
All your fair-weather friends have skipped town
    without giving you a second thought.
But I delivered the knockout blow,
    a punishment you will never forget,
Because of the enormity of your guilt,
    the endless list of your sins.
So why all this self-pity, licking your wounds?
    You deserve all this, and more.
Because of the enormity of your guilt,
    the endless list of your sins,
I’ve done all this to you.

^16-17 “‘Everyone who hurt you will be hurt;
    your enemies will end up as slaves.
Your plunderers will be plundered;
    your looters will become loot.
As for you, I’ll come with healing,
    curing the incurable,
Because they all gave up on you
    and dismissed you as hopeless—
    that good-for-nothing Zion.’

^18-21 “Again, God’s Message:

“‘I’ll turn things around for Jacob.
    I’ll compassionately come in and rebuild homes.
The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations;
    the mansions will be splendid again.
Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows;
    laughter will spill through the doors.
Things will get better and better.
    Depression days are over.
They’ll thrive, they’ll flourish.
    The days of contempt will be over.
They’ll look forward to having children again,
    to being a community in which I take pride.
I’ll punish anyone who hurts them,
    and their prince will come from their own ranks.
One of their own people shall be their leader.
    Their ruler will come from their own ranks.
I’ll grant him free and easy access to me.
    Would anyone dare to do that on his own,
    to enter my presence uninvited?’ God’s Decree.

²² “‘And that’s it: You’ll be my very own people,
    I’ll be your very own God.’”

^23-24 Look out! God’s hurricane is let loose,
    his hurricane blast,
Spinning the heads of the wicked like dust devils!
    God’s raging anger won’t let up
Until he’s made a clean sweep
    completing the job he began.
When the job’s done
    you’ll see it’s been well done.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

To summarize Jeremiah’s prophecy: The people of Judah and Jerusalem would experience terrible trials at the hands of the Babylonians. They would end up wearing the Gentile yoke, bearing the wounds caused by their sins and having endured the storm of God’s wrath. But God would eventually deliver them, breaking the yoke, healing the wounds, and bringing peace after the storm. The “line of David” is preserved so that the Savior of the world is born into the world to become our redeemer.

Our response to live a simple but committed life of loving God back:

• Worship God alone. 
• Love God back with all our hearts, minds and souls.
• Love others like He loves us—without conditions with mercy and grace.  “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)
• Believe that God loves each one of us and sent His Son to save us.  Then live a redeemed life!
• Be still and know God by daily letting go of our grasp on the world.

Lord,

Thank you for loving me, turning life around for me. I am not who I once was before you came into my life.  Continue to transform my life to be all you created me to be.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When we are at wits end, hope dissipates quickly in various degrees and ways depending on the person, what or whom they believe, and how desperate the situation becomes.  How should we handle depressing situations without losing hope? That is the question to answer when God’s plan “not to harm but to prosper” seems out of reach.

No matter what is happening to us, around us and against us, Jeremiah reminds God’s people to accept it from the hand of God and let God have His way. He knows what He is doing as we as what others who don’t believe are thinking and doing.  Hanging our feelings on our sleeves while sitting around weeping does no good, although that may be a temporary normal reaction to tragedy. One of the first steps in turning tragedy into triumph is to accept the situation courageously and put ourselves into the hands of a loving God, who makes no mistakes.  “I know the plans I have for you…”

The exiles had lost everything but their lives and what few possessions they could carry with them to Babylon. They had lost their freedom and were now captives. They had been taken from their homes and had lost their means of making a living. They were separated from relatives and friends, some of whom may have perished in the long march from Jerusalem to Babylon. No matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed hopeless. 

How would this affect you and your family?

Jeremiah 29, The Message

Plans to Give You the Future You Hope For

^1-2 This is the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to what was left of the elders among the exiles, to the priests and prophets and all the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon from Jerusalem, including King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the government leaders, and all the skilled laborers and craftsmen.

³ The letter was carried by Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah had sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The letter said:

⁴ This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵ “Build houses and make yourselves at home.

“Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country.

⁶ “Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away.

⁷ “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare.

“Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you.”

^8-9 Yes. Believe it or not, this is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: “Don’t let all those so-called preachers and know-it-alls who are all over the place there take you in with their lies. Don’t pay any attention to the fantasies they keep coming up with to please you. They’re a bunch of liars preaching lies—and claiming I sent them! I never sent them, believe me.” God’s Decree!

^10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

¹² “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

^13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

^15-19 “But for right now, because you’ve taken up with these new-fangled prophets who set themselves up as ‘Babylonian specialists,’ spreading the word ‘God sent them just for us!’ God is setting the record straight: As for the king still sitting on David’s throne and all the people left in Jerusalem who didn’t go into exile with you, they’re facing bad times. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says, ‘Watch this! Catastrophe is on the way: war, hunger, disease! They’re a barrel of rotten apples. I’ll rid the country of them through war and hunger and disease. The whole world is going to hold its nose at the smell, shut its eyes at the horrible sight. They’ll end up in slum ghettos because they wouldn’t listen to a thing I said when I sent my servant-prophets preaching tirelessly and urgently. No, they wouldn’t listen to a word I said.’” God’s Decree.

^20-23 “And you—you exiles whom I sent out of Jerusalem to Babylon—listen to God’s Message to you. As far as Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah are concerned, the ‘Babylonian specialists’ who are preaching lies in my name, I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will kill them while you watch. The exiles from Judah will take what they see at the execution and use it as a curse: ‘God fry you to a crisp like the king of Babylon fried Zedekiah and Ahab in the fire!’ Those two men, sex predators and prophet-impostors, got what they deserved. They pulled every woman they got their hands on into bed—their neighbors’ wives, no less—and preached lies claiming it was my Message. I never sent those men. I’ve never had anything to do with them.” God’s Decree.

“They won’t get away with a thing. I’ve witnessed it all.”

^24-26 And this is the Message for Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says: You took it on yourself to send letters to all the people in Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and the company of priests. In your letter you told Zephaniah that God set you up as priest replacing priest Jehoiadah. He’s put you in charge of God’s Temple and made you responsible for locking up any crazy fellow off the street who takes it into his head to be a prophet.

^27-28 “So why haven’t you done anything about muzzling Jeremiah of Anathoth, who’s going around posing as a prophet? He’s gone so far as to write to us in Babylon, ‘It’s going to be a long exile, so build houses and make yourselves at home. Plant gardens and prepare Babylonian recipes.’”

²⁹ The priest Zephaniah read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah.

* * *

^30-32 Then God told Jeremiah, “Send this Message to the exiles. Tell them what God says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah is preaching lies to you. I didn’t send him. He is seducing you into believing lies. So this is God’s verdict: I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. He’s going to end up with nothing and no one. No one from his family will be around to see any of the good that I am going to do for my people because he has preached rebellion against me.” God’s Decree.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The false prophets had convinced the people that the stay in Babylon would be brief; so, they did not need to settle down and try to resume a normal life. But Jeremiah told them just the opposite. Since they would be there for seventy years, they would have plenty of time to build houses and set up homes. It was important that the exiles have families so that people would be available to return to Judea when the captivity ended.

Dear friends, think about it!  This small Jewish remnant was holding in their hands the future of God’s great plan of salvation, so they must obey Him, be fruitful, and multiply.  We must consistently pray for discernment in seemingly hopeless situations against the false hope from lying, self-motivated prophets.  Trust God.  Seek Him first and always.  Listen to Him.  HE knows the plans HE has for us…

To indulge in false hope is to miss what God has planned for us.

True hope is based on the revealed Word of God, not on the dream messages of self-appointed prophets. God had given His people a gracious promise to deliver them, and He would keep His promise. God makes His plans for His people, and they are good plans that ultimately bring hope and peace. His people have no reason, therefore, to be afraid or discouraged.

In every situation, God’s people have the responsibility to seek the Lord, pray, and ask Him to fulfill His promises, for the Word and prayer go together (See Acts 6:4). The purpose of discipline from God is that we might seek the Lord, confess our sins, and draw near to Him and learn from our mistakes (See Hebrews 12:5–13).

According to Jeremiah 29:14, these promises reach beyond the Jews captive in Babylon and include all of Israel throughout the world. Jeremiah was looking ahead…to the coming Messiah to the end of the age when Israel will be regathered to meet their Messiah and enter their kingdom (Isaiah 10:20—12:6).

God’s plan for us?  Jesus.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Jesus came to bring hope, peace along with salvation.  Jesus is Truth.  Jesus is our Hope.  Jesus is God’s Plan for us.

God’s plan for us is not as complicated as we try to make it as we muddy the waters with our own spin and opinions, desires and wishes.  Relax.  Lay down our will and listen to His Plan.  Pray the prayer of the fully committed who ask God what HE wants for their lives and then follow HIS plan.

Oh friends, look again at what God promises to His people after their captivity and exile is over:

“I’ll show up and care for you…”

“I’ll bring you back home…”

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

“When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.”

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.”

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” 

When I lose hope, I have to ask myself, how serious am I?  Do I really believe what God says is really real? The answer is the measure of our Hope and assurance that God is real and does what He promises. 

We sing songs of hope but do we walk in Hope?  Do our lives display Hope in our demeanor?  Jesus came to set the captives free from the punishment for their own sins.  WE are the captives!  Jesus delivers us from the bondage of sin that we tied ourselves up in of our own making.  He forgives, sends us on our way to “go and sin no more” for that is not the life for us any longer.  He gives us the Help of His Holy Spirit with our Hope so we will follow His plan to grow in His ways of love, grace, and mercy for others.  The New Covenant with God is saying yes to Jesus.

Jesus’ promises to us are the same as God’s promises stated above—

“I’ll show up, bring you home where you belong with me. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.”  Read the gospels and you will see the same message.

So…how serious are we?  What life does to us depends largely on what life finds in us. If we seek the Lord and want His best, then circumstances will build us and prepare us for what He has planned. If we rebel or if we look for quick and easy shortcuts, then our circumstances will destroy us and rob us of the future God wants us to enjoy. The same sun that melts the ice also hardens the clay. God’s thoughts and plans concerning us come from His heart and lead to His peace. Why look for substitutes?

Lord,

You are the Potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and shape me to be all you created me to be.  I believe.  I repent of all my sins.  I trust in your Plan to save me, care for me now while giving me a future with you forever.  You are my Hope.  Make my desires match your desires for me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

My little brother had a nickname given to him by my dad.  “Yeah-but” was the name because no matter what was said, my brother was driven to dispute it, twist it, or exaggerate as he presented his case against the statement.  I remember my toddler brother advanced from the “why stage” of always asking questions about everything to his “yeah, but…” stage of communication that lasted throughout his teen years. 

As a young adult he tried to dignify his statements by beginning each rebuttal with, “Well, actually…”  We all loved him through those stages and remembered that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” with this human habit.  Yes, we all see it.  Yes, we all do it from time to time.

Jeremiah as prophet is confronted by a “yeah-but” prophet who comes along to dispute the words God has given to Jeremiah.  Hananiah confronts him right in the Temple for all to hear.  Well, that’s awkward to say the least!  So, if two prophets give opposite messages and say the words are from God, who do we believe?  We believe the prophet whose words happened exactly as God said.  No yeah-but’s about it!

“We’ll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we’ll know that God sent him.”

Jeremiah 28, The Message

From a Wooden to an Iron Yoke

^1-2 Later that same year (it was in the fifth month of King Zedekiah’s fourth year) Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, confronted Jeremiah in the Temple of God in front of the priests and all the people who were there. Hananiah said:

^2-4 “This Message is straight from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘I will most certainly break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Before two years are out I’ll have all the furnishings of God’s Temple back here, all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon plundered and hauled off to Babylon. I’ll also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the exiles who were taken off to Babylon.’ God’s Decree. ‘Yes, I will break the king of Babylon’s yoke. You’ll no longer be in harness to him.’”

^5-9 Prophet Jeremiah stood up to prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were in God’s Temple that day. Prophet Jeremiah said, “Wonderful! Would that it were true—that God would validate your preaching by bringing the Temple furnishings and all the exiles back from Babylon. But listen to me, listen closely. Listen to what I tell both you and all the people here today: The old prophets, the ones before our time, preached judgment against many countries and kingdoms, warning of war and disaster and plague. So any prophet who preaches that everything is just fine and there’s nothing to worry about stands out like a sore thumb. We’ll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we’ll know that God sent him.”

^10-11 At that, Hananiah grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah’s shoulders and smashed it. And then he addressed the people: “This is God’s Message: In just this way I will smash the yoke of the king of Babylon and get him off the neck of all the nations—and within two years.”

Jeremiah walked out.

^12-14 Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This is God’s Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you’ve got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s own God: I’ve put an iron yoke on all these nations. They’re harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll do just what he tells them. Why, I’m even putting him in charge of the wild animals.’”

^15-16 So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, “Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You’ve talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I’ll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you’ll be dead because you instigated sedition against God.’”

¹⁷ Prophet Hananiah died that very year, in the seventh month.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

A true prophet can spot a phony prophet.  God gives His spokesperson the gift of discernment when it comes to speaking for Him. Jeremiah’s response to Hananiah’s message was “Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied.” How are we to interpret this reply? Certainly not as agreement with what the false prophet had said, because Jeremiah knew better. Perhaps we might paraphrase Jeremiah’s words, “You wish!  I wish that the Lord would do what you have said! This would make me very happy!” But Jeremiah knew that Hananiah’s prophecy of peace wouldn’t be fulfilled. 

Wait and see.  Although prophets are holy, set apart, for God’s work, they are also human.  We do not see what God sees as He looks at our hearts.  There will always be those who dispute what we are confident God said to us in all areas of our lives that are dedicated to His service.  So, sometimes we must “wait and see” if certain “prophets” are telling the truth or not.  There will be signs in their behaviors, but most of all, if what they say does not happen, then the answer is clear—the prophet if not of God.  False prophets create messages to gain approval, manipulate emotions, seek popularity, and insist on material gain. Run from them!

Abide in God/Jesus/Holy Spirit as He promises to abide in us.  The message to Hananiah was both national and personal. As far as the nation was concerned, because they had followed his deceptive counsel, an iron yoke would replace the wooden yoke. The nations would not escape; Nebuchadnezzar would enslave them. This always happens—when we reject the light yoke of God’s will, we end up wearing a heavier yoke of our own making.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” –Jesus  (John 15:4)

Lord,

Going our own way, disputing what you say, trying to gloss over the truth or avoiding your Truth altogether never goes well for us.  May we see Truth, live Truth, and tell Truth by Your Holy Spirit working in and through us so others will know Truth—YOU!  I trust you, Jesus.  Guide me.  Speak to my heart for I am listening.  I love you with all that is in me.  I give all I am to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  (John 14:6)

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey…

God loves us.  He loves us and wants to give us the blessings of his growing character in each one of His created.  God’s ways are always for our benefit.  So, why do we turn our backs on him?  Why, even for a minute, day. or week, do we think our way is better?  Our way is based on limited knowledge.  God’s way is based on infinite knowledge.

Jeremiah 27, The Message

Harness Yourselves Up to the Yoke

^1-4 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Make a harness and a yoke and then harness yourself up. Send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send it through their ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them this charge to take back to their masters: ‘This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. Tell your masters:

^5-8 “‘I’m the one who made the earth, man and woman, and all the animals in the world. I did it on my own without asking anyone’s help and I hand it out to whomever I will. Here and now I give all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have made even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will be under him, then his son, and then his grandson. Then his country’s time will be up and the tables will be turned: Babylon will be the underdog servant. But until then, any nation or kingdom that won’t submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon must take the yoke of the king of Babylon and harness up. I’ll punish that nation with war and starvation and disease until I’ve got them where I want them.

^9-11 “‘So don’t for a minute listen to all your prophets and spiritualists and fortunetellers, who claim to know the future and who tell you not to give in to the king of Babylon. They’re handing you a line of lies, barefaced lies, that will end up putting you in exile far from home. I myself will drive you out of your lands, and that’ll be the end of you. But the nation that accepts the yoke of the king of Babylon and does what he says, I’ll let that nation stay right where it is, minding its own business.’”

^12-15 Then I gave this same message to Zedekiah king of Judah: “Harness yourself up to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people. Live a long life! Why choose to get killed or starve to death or get sick and die, which is what God has threatened to any nation that won’t throw its lot in with Babylon? Don’t listen to the prophets who are telling you not to submit to the king of Babylon. They’re telling you lies, preaching lies. God’s Word on this is, ‘I didn’t send those prophets, but they keep preaching lies, claiming I sent them. If you listen to them, I’ll end up driving you out of here and that will be the end of you, both you and the lying prophets.’”

^16-22 And finally I spoke to the priests and the people at large: “This is God’s Message: Don’t listen to the preaching of the prophets who keep telling you, ‘Trust us: The furnishings, plundered from God’s Temple, are going to be returned from Babylon any day now.’ That’s a lie. Don’t listen to them. Submit to the king of Babylon and live a long life. Why do something that will destroy this city and leave it a heap of rubble? If they are real prophets and have a Message from God, let them come to God-of-the-Angel-Armies in prayer so that the furnishings that are still left in God’s Temple, the king’s palace, and Jerusalem aren’t also lost to Babylon. That’s because God-of-the-Angel-Armies has already spoken about the Temple furnishings that remain—the pillars, the great bronze basin, the stands, and all the other bowls and chalices that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim off to Babylonian exile along with all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. He said that the furnishings left behind in the Temple of God and in the royal palace and in Jerusalem will be taken off to Babylon and stay there until, in God’s words, ‘I take the matter up again and bring them back where they belong.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

A yoke speaks of submission, and that is the message Jeremiah was trying to get across for God to God’s people.  I have learned that submission to God is actually the best way to relieve stress by relinquishing the pressures of independence, thinking life is all up to us to solve!  Oh, dear friends, we are not that powerful!  We are not responsible for all that this world throws at us!  And we need help to get out of the messes we make of our lives!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” –Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

Our immediate response is to trust and obey, for there IS no other way…to be free from the yoke we place on ourselves to achieve on our own by our own devices.  Instead take on the yoke that Jesus gives that is a much better fit, then go His way.  You will see, like I have, that His yoke (way) is indeed lighter because of His power working in and through us.  Life isn’t easy, so why make it harder by going our own way with limited power, wisdom and direction?

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies
But His smile quickly drives it away
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear
Can abide while we trust and obey

Oh, Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey

What these politicians Jeremiah was talking to needed was not clever strategy but submission to Babylon. Submission goes a long way to learning, growing, and maturing in God’s ways.  A true leader is a learner.  One who learns to submit to God is one to be trusted.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go
Never fear, only trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey

(Songwriter: Barry Collecutt)

God is love.  Love drives out fear.  Submit to God.  Believe in Jesus, repent and be saved now and for eternity.  Abide in Him as He abides in us.  Apart from God life we can do nothing of significance.  With God all things are possible.  God always keeps these promises. 

Trust and obey.

Lord, God of all,

I submit to you.  I trust you, dear Jesus.  Speak to my heart for I am listening.  I am yours.

In Jesus Name, Amen