Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

After reading this conversation between God and Jeremiah, I understand more why he is called the weeping prophet.  He weeps for what is going on now, what went on in the past and what is going to happen to God’s “chosen frozen”.  God’s chosen have turned their backs on God.  They are frozen in selfishness and refuse to listen to him.  God will allow his people to go through terrible times because of their stubborn “I’ll do it my way” attitudes. 

Jeremiah is now telling God he is tired of the mocking and ridicule he is taking for telling God’s truth.  He is tired of not being taken seriously.  “Just look at the abuse I’m taking!”  “AND I never joined their parties, laughed or had any fun,” whines Jeremiah. He tells God he is “seething” from their sin—like God—so it’s your fault, God, I feel this way.  Jeremiah then goes over the edge and tells God He is only a mirage—seen only in his imagination.  Yikes, dude!   Cheap whine is dripping from the lips of Jeremiah—God’s called prophet to speak only God’s words.

Are we whiners as followers of Jesus?  Why, yes, we are!  What brings on this whine?  Do we whine about how people treat us for speaking truth?  Do we try to judge each other’s behaviors while we are sinning as judges?  Do we think we are better humans for knowing God and boast about that it?  But then, when we discover we are not, whine covers our words to God in prayer?  Do we shout at God, “not fair” when we are become weary of “doing good” on our own power by our own methods?

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, says Paul, to those who are boasting of their faith.  We do not make things right.  Only God is righteous who sent His righteous Son to make us right with Him by dying for our sins.  See Romans 3 for the big picture of glory!

God does not like cheap whine.

Jeremiah 15, The Message

^1-2 Then God said to me: “Jeremiah, even if Moses and Samuel stood here and made their case, I wouldn’t feel a thing for this people. Get them out of here. Tell them to get lost! And if they ask you, ‘So where do we go?’ tell them God says,

“‘If you’re assigned to die, go and die;
    if assigned to war, go and get killed;
If assigned to starve, go starve;
    if assigned to exile, off to exile you go!’

^3-4 “I’ve arranged for four kinds of punishment: death in battle, the corpses dropped off by killer dogs, the rest picked clean by vultures, the bones gnawed by hyenas. They’ll be a sight to see, a sight to shock the whole world—and all because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah and all he did in Jerusalem.

⁵ “Who do you think will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?
    Who do you think will waste tears on you?
Who will bother to take the time to ask,
    ‘So, how are things going?’

^6-9 “You left me, remember?” God’s Decree.
    “You turned your back and walked out.
So I will grab you and hit you hard.
    I’m tired of letting you off the hook.
I threw you to the four winds
    and let the winds scatter you like leaves.
I made sure you’ll lose everything,
    since nothing makes you change.
I created more widows among you
    than grains of sand on the ocean beaches.
At noon mothers will get the news
    of their sons killed in action.
Sudden anguish for the mothers—
    all those terrible deaths.
A mother of seven falls to the ground,
    gasping for breath,
Robbed of her children in their prime.
    Her sun sets at high noon!
Then I’ll round up any of you that are left alive
    and see that you’re killed by your enemies.”
        God’s Decree.

Giving Everything Away for Nothing

^10-11 Unlucky mother—that you had me as a son,
    given the unhappy job of indicting the whole country!
I’ve never hurt or harmed a soul,
    and yet everyone is out to get me.
But, God knows, I’ve done everything I could to help them,
    prayed for them and against their enemies.
I’ve always been on their side, trying to stave off disaster.
    God knows how I’ve tried!

* * *

^12-14 “O Israel, O Judah, what are your chances
    against the iron juggernaut from the north?
In punishment for your sins, I’m giving away
    everything you’ve got, giving it away for nothing.
I’ll make you slaves to your enemies
    in a strange and far-off land.
My anger is blazing and fierce,
    burning in hot judgment against you.”

* * *

^15-18 You know where I am, God! Remember what I’m doing here!
    Take my side against my detractors.
Don’t stand back while they ruin me.
    Just look at the abuse I’m taking!
When your words showed up, I ate them—
    swallowed them whole. What a feast!
What delight I took in being yours,
    O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!

I never joined the party crowd
    in their laughter and their fun.
Led by you, I went off by myself.
    You’d filled me with indignation. Their sin had me seething.
But why, why this chronic pain,
    this ever worsening wound and no healing in sight?
You’re nothing, God, but a mirage,
    a lovely oasis in the distance—and then nothing!

* * *

^19-21 This is how God answered me:

“Take back those words, and I’ll take you back.
    Then you’ll stand tall before me.
Use words truly and well. Don’t stoop to cheap whining.
    Then, but only then, you’ll speak for me.

Let your words change them.
    Don’t change your words to suit them.
I’ll turn you into a steel wall,
    a thick steel wall, impregnable.
They’ll attack you but won’t put a dent in you
    because I’m at your side, defending and delivering.”
        God’s Decree.
“I’ll deliver you from the grip of the wicked.
    I’ll get you out of the clutch of the ruthless.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

After Jeremiah served his cheap whine to God, God responded:

“Take back those words, and I’ll take you back.
    Then you’ll stand tall before me.
Use words truly and well. Don’t stoop to cheap whining.
    Then, but only then, you’ll speak for me.”

“Let your words change them.
    Don’t change your words to suit them.”

Our response?

Know God.  Know Truth.  Know real love.

Know Jesus redeemed us and made us right with God.  We cannot and did not do that for ourselves.  We have nothing to boast or whine about on earth.  Only God who loved us sent Jesus to save us.  Done.  Finished.

Believe and be saved forever.  Speak Truth in love—with no whine.

Lord,

We are guilty of whining when circumstances become challenging and loved ones turn away from your truth.  Forgive us.  We love still because of your love in us that is unconditional.  We love you with all that is in us.  We are learning to simply obey You and leave the rest to You.  Help us to “stand tall” before you and not stoop to cheap whining.  May we always speak Your Truth when you say, in the right Spirit, full of your love flowing through us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

My ancestors who came to Oklahoma to begin a new life did well until the drought of monumental proportions came and stayed.  No rain with hot winds caused problems beyond our modern thinking.  The precious top soil blew away leaving layers of sand.  This sand would pierce your skin and sting your eyes in blowing storms.  These sand storms caused sand and dust to silt through all the windows and doors.  My relatives told stories of putting wet cloths over their faces to go outside to do their chores.  They had to put bedsheets and other linens around windows and doors just to keep out the blowing, dry sand as best they could. 

The drought led to no growing season which led to losing their farms because of the debt incurred from unproduced crops to pay the bills.  Drought is caused by absolutely no rain, no sign of rain coming, with no hope of the situation getting better.  Many of our ancestors, who survived the illnesses from living through the drought and resulting “Dust Bowl” conditions, moved on to California and Arizona where they began again.  Some came back, but some did not.

Drought is beyond difficult.  We must have food, water, air, and shelter to survive. If any one of these basic needs is not met, then humans cannot survive. 

But what impressed me most in the stories my relatives told who lived through the Dust Bowl days was the evidence of their strong faith in God.  Faith in God, our Creator is the most important basic need we have.  The need to need God was put into our DNA by God.  Faith in God led these “settlers and pioneers” to deal with the conditions, pray, then follow God’s plan to survive and thrive through it all.  They gave God glory for helping them through difficult times!

The drought Jeremiah speaks about was brought on by the LACK of faith in God.  The lack of faith drove God’s people to idol worship which led to perverted sinful behaviors.  This grieved God because of his faithful love for them.  Jeremiah grieved with God. God wants to give His best to us.  But when we turn our backs on the One who loves us most, we suffer with the world through all kinds of consequences because of the drought of faith that leads to unresolved sin that eventually leads to death. 

Jeremiah 14, The Message

Time and Again We’ve Betrayed God

14 ^1-6 God’s Message that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought:

“Judah weeps,
    her cities mourn.
The people fall to the ground, moaning,
    while sounds of Jerusalem’s sobs rise up, up.
The rich people sent their servants for water.
    They went to the cisterns, but the cisterns were dry.
They came back with empty buckets,
    wringing their hands, shaking their heads.
All the farm work has stopped.
    Not a drop of rain has fallen.
The farmers don’t know what to do.
    They wring their hands, they shake their heads.
Even the doe abandons her fawn in the field
    because there is no grass—
Eyes glazed over, on her last legs,
    nothing but skin and bones.”

^7-9 We know we’re guilty. We’ve lived bad lives—
    but do something, God. Do it for your sake!
Time and time again we’ve betrayed you.
    No doubt about it—we’ve sinned against you.
Hope of Israel! Our only hope!
    Israel’s last chance in this trouble!
Why are you acting like a tourist,
    taking in the sights, here today and gone tomorrow?
Why do you just stand there and stare,
    like someone who doesn’t know what to do in a crisis?
But God, you are, in fact, here, here with us!
    You know who we are—you named us!
    Don’t leave us without a leg to stand on.

¹⁰ Then God said of these people:

“Since they loved to wander this way and that,
    never giving a thought to where they were going,
I will now have nothing more to do with them—
    except to note their guilt and punish their sins.”

The Killing Fields

^11-12 God said to me, “Don’t pray that everything will turn out all right for this people. When they skip their meals in order to pray, I won’t listen to a thing they say. When they redouble their prayers, bringing all kinds of offerings from their herds and crops, I’ll not accept them. I’m finishing them off with war and famine and disease.”

¹³ I said, “But Master, God! Their preachers have been telling them that everything is going to be all right—no war and no famine—that there’s nothing to worry about.”

¹⁴ Then God said, “These preachers are liars, and they use my name to cover their lies. I never sent them, I never commanded them, and I don’t talk with them. The sermons they’ve been handing out are sheer illusion, tissues of lies, whistlings in the dark.

^15-16 “So this is my verdict on them: All the preachers who preach using my name as their text, preachers I never sent in the first place, preachers who say, ‘War and famine will never come here’—these preachers will die in war and by starvation. And the people to whom they’ve been preaching will end up as corpses, victims of war and starvation, thrown out in the streets of Jerusalem unburied—no funerals for them or their wives or their children! I’ll make sure they get the full brunt of all their evil.

^17-18 “And you, Jeremiah, will say this to them:

“‘My eyes pour out tears.
    Day and night, the tears never quit.
My dear, dear people are battered and bruised,
    hopelessly and cruelly wounded.
I walk out into the fields,
    shocked by the killing fields strewn with corpses.
I walk into the city,
    shocked by the sight of starving bodies.
And I watch the preachers and priests
    going about their business as if nothing’s happened!’”

^19-22 God, have you said your final No to Judah?
    Can you simply not stand Zion any longer?
If not, why have you treated us like this,
    beaten us nearly to death?
We hoped for peace—
    nothing good came from it;
We looked for healing—
    and got kicked in the stomach.

We admit, O God, how badly we’ve lived,
    and our ancestors, how bad they were.
We’ve sinned, they’ve sinned,
    we’ve all sinned against you!
Your reputation is at stake! Don’t quit on us!
    Don’t walk out and abandon your glorious Temple!
Remember your covenant.
    Don’t break faith with us!
Can the no-gods of the godless nations cause rain?
    Can the sky water the earth by itself?
You’re the one, O God, who does this.
    So you’re the one for whom we wait.
You made it all,
    you do it all.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Drought of Faith in God.  Unlike the land of Egypt, whose food supply depended on irrigation from the Nile River, the land of Canaan depended on the rains God sent from heaven. If His people obeyed His law, God would send the rains and give them bumper crops, but if they disobeyed, the heaven would become like iron and the earth like bronze.

No repentance—no rain!  Because of the sins of the people, God was withholding the life-giving rains and thus keeping His covenant promise to Israel. As people usually do when they’re in trouble, the Jews turned to God and prayed, but their prayers were insincere and not linked with repentance. Jeremiah had already confronted these pious hypocrites with their sins.

Remorse with tears is merely sadness that we got caught in our sin.  Regret is being sorry for our sins along with our repentance of those sins with hearts not wanting to go back to sin.  We must repent of our sins, judge and confess them, and sincerely seek the face of God. To weep because of the sufferings that sin causes is to show remorse but not repentance.

False prophets didn’t cause the drought of faith, they merely added to it.  God had two tests of a true prophet or prophetess in Israel: (1) Their predictions must be 100 percent accurate, and (2) their messages must agree with the law of God. Any prophet who permitted the worship of idols, contrary to God’s law, would be a false prophet.  God’s people knew that so to blame false prophets was a no go with God. 

Caution:  While we shouldn’t interpret every calamity as an expression of divine wrath, we must be sensitive to God and be willing to search our hearts and confess our sins.

Do we really believe what God says is really real?  Our words and behaviors in difficult situations will reveal the depth of our faith.

Lord,

You know me.  Cleanse my heart.  Renew my spirit with your Holy Spirit.  Refresh my soul.  Renew my mind.  Restore the joy of your salvation in me.  I really believe in You.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When cargo shorts first hit the scene as popular clothing for men, my first thought for those who wore them constantly was, “you just don’t care anymore, do you?”  Because young men are not going to iron these cotton linen shorts, they looked wrinkled, unkept, with bulging pockets full of useless items.  Cargo shorts and t-shirts were “the thing” now pajama bottoms, a new low, are acceptable as attire to be seen while in public.  Dressing up?  Just put on your best joggers!

It’s is extremely amusing to me for God to use linen shorts as a way to illustrate the apathy and selfishness of His people to Jeremiah.  Read on, I think you’ll get the implications of the rotten shorts that display rotten attitudes and behaviors of God’s chosen that will lead to their demise and death, the consequences of their sin.

Warren Wiersbe, Commentator also helps us understand the concept. “This was one of Jeremiah’s action sermons. The loincloth was a thigh-length undergarment worn next to the skin. God had brought the nation close to himself, but they had defiled themselves with idols and become “profitable for nothing”. When the people saw Jeremiah bury his new garment under a rock in the muddy river, they knew it would ruin the garment, but they didn’t realize they were passing judgment on themselves. God would one day take Judah to Babylon, and there He would humble the Judahites and cure them of their idolatry.”

Jeremiah 13, The Message

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

^1-2 God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.

^3-5 Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.

^6-7 Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.

^8-11 God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

¹² “And then tell them this, ‘God’s Message, personal from the God of Israel: Every wine jug should be full of wine.’

“And they’ll say, ‘Of course. We know that. Every wine jug should be full of wine!’

^13-14 “Then you’ll say, ‘This is what God says: Watch closely. I’m going to fill every person who lives in this country—the kings who rule from David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, the citizens of Jerusalem—with wine that will make them drunk. And then I’ll smash them, smash the wine-filled jugs—old and young alike. Nothing will stop me. Not an ounce of pity or mercy or compassion will slow me down. Every last drunken jug of them will be smashed!’”

The Light You Always Took for Granted

^15-17 Then I said, Listen. Listen carefully: Don’t stay stuck in your ways!
    It’s God’s Message we’re dealing with here.
Let your lives glow bright before God
    before he turns out the lights,
Before you trip and fall
    on the dark mountain paths.
The light you always took for granted will go out
    and the world will turn black.
If you people won’t listen,
    I’ll go off by myself and weep over you,
Weep because of your stubborn arrogance,
    bitter, bitter tears,
Rivers of tears from my eyes,
    because God’s sheep will end up in exile.

* * *

^18-19 Tell the king and the queen-mother,
    “Come down off your high horses.
Your dazzling crowns
    will tumble off your heads.”
The villages in the Negev will be surrounded,
    everyone trapped,
And Judah dragged off to exile,
    the whole country dragged to oblivion.

* * *

^20-22 Look, look, Jerusalem!
    Look at the enemies coming out of the north!
What will become of your flocks of people,
    the beautiful flocks in your care?
How are you going to feel when the people
    you’ve played up to, looked up to all these years
Now look down on you? You didn’t expect this?
    Surprise! The pain of a woman having a baby!
Do I hear you saying,
    “What’s going on here? Why me?”
The answer’s simple: You’re guilty,
    hugely guilty.
Your guilt has your life endangered,
    your guilt has you writhing in pain.

²³ Can an African change skin?
    Can a leopard get rid of its spots?
So what are the odds on you doing good,
    you who are so long-practiced in evil?

^24-27 “I’ll blow these people away—
    like wind-blown leaves.
You have it coming to you.
    I’ve measured it out precisely.”
        God’s Decree.
“It’s because you forgot me
    and embraced the Big Lie,
    that so-called god Baal.
I’m the one who will rip off your clothes,
    expose and shame you before the watching world.
Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods,
    your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries.
Gods on the hills, gods in the fields—
    every time I look you’re off with another god.
O Jerusalem, what a sordid life!
    Is there any hope for you!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Don’t wear cargo shorts?  No, that isn’t what we’re saying.  Cargo shorts are/were intended for a specific use—hiking—to hold needed supplies and be hands free to climb challenging terrain, if necessary.  We are created and chosen by God for very specific purposes.  Later, Jeremiah will tell the people this truth very specifically.  “I know the plans I have for you…” that will teach us greater lessons. When we give up and seek comfort alone from our phone idols and other distracting technology or people, we are not following God’s plan.  When our idols of distraction draw us away from God, we are not following God’s desires for us that are just waiting for us to grasp.  We are an apathetic people these days not unlike the people in Jeremiah’s days.  We like to please others, be liked by all, have it all, and be recognized as a person of worth by the world’s standards. 

But, seeking self leads to “no hope” as God told His people.  Seeking God, leaving everything else behind, is a whole new way of thinking that leads to life and more life!

Jeremiah compared the nation to a hiker on an unfamiliar and dangerous mountain trail without a map and without light, hoping for the dawn. (No supplies in his/her cargo shorts?)  Instead of the light dawning, however, the darkness would only deepen. In centuries past, God had led His people by pillars of cloud and fire. Now He wanted to lead them through the words of His prophet, but the people wouldn’t follow.

If we reject God’s light, nothing remains but darkness. The leaders were too proud to admit they were lost, and they wouldn’t ask for directions.  Isn’t that just like us, at times?  Sin had so cheapened the kingdom of Judah that the people were worthless, fit only to be blown away. They had forgotten their Lord and had believed lies and would not repent of their sins.

We have Hope.  That Hope came as a child born to a virgin and her espoused husband to raise as the Son of Man and the Son of God.  His name is Jesus.  Jesus died for all our sins—our selfishness, our apathy, our idol believing, and turning away from God.  Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death forever, making this Hope of eternal life possible for you and I.  Why?  “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.”  THIS is God’s Plan for us, His desire for us to be set free from all our sins.

Believe and be saved. Leave the captivity of sin—all that God isn’t—and live with “Christ in us” directing our lives in ways that restores hope and joy, renews our spirits, cleanses our hearts, while transforming our minds from worldview thinking to Kingdom of God thinking.  Follow the One who loves you most.

Lord,

Thank you for saving me from myself and my sins. Thank you for restoring the hope, joy, and peace to my soul.  I have no regrets in saying yes to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

No sooner did God take care of the two conspiracies than Jeremiah found himself struggling with a theological crisis. Jeremiah couldn’t understand why a holy God would permit the false prophets and the unfaithful priests to prosper in their ministries while he, a faithful servant of God, was treated like a sacrificial lamb.  So, Jeremiah has this discussion with God…

Admit it, we all want to know, don’t we?

Jeremiah 12, The Message

What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?

12 ^1-4 You are right, O God, and you set things right.
    I can’t argue with that. But I do have some questions:
Why do bad people have it so good?
    Why do con artists make it big?

You planted them and they put down roots.
    They flourished and produced fruit.
They talk as if they’re old friends with you,
    but they couldn’t care less about you.
Meanwhile, you know me inside and out.
    You don’t let me get by with a thing!
Make them pay for the way they live,
    pay with their lives, like sheep marked for slaughter.
How long do we have to put up with this—
    the country depressed, the farms in ruin—
And all because of wickedness, these wicked lives?
    Even animals and birds are dying off
Because they’ll have nothing to do with God
    and think God has nothing to do with them.

* * *

^5-6 “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men,
    what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm,
    what’s going to happen when troubles break loose
        like the Jordan in flood?
Those closest to you, your own brothers and cousins,
    are working against you.
They’re out to get you. They’ll stop at nothing.
    Don’t trust them, especially when they’re smiling.

* * *

^7-11 “I will abandon the House of Israel,
    walk away from my beloved people.
I will turn over those I most love
    to those who are her enemies.
She’s been, this one I held dear,
    like a snarling lion in the jungle,

Growling and baring her teeth at me—
    and I can’t take it anymore.
Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock?
    But isn’t she under attack by vultures?
Then invite all the hungry animals at large,
    invite them in for a free meal!
Foreign, scavenging shepherds
    will loot and trample my fields,
Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields
    into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles.
They leave them littered with junk—
    a ruined land, a land in lament.
The whole countryside is a wasteland,
    and no one will really care.

* * *

^12-13 “The barbarians will invade,
    swarm over hills and plains.
The judgment sword of God will take its toll
    from one end of the land to the other.
    Nothing living will be safe.
They will plant wheat and reap weeds.
    Nothing they do will work out.
They will look at their meager crops and wring their hands.
    All this the result of God’s fierce anger!”

* * *

^14-17 God’s Message: “Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I’m going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them. Once I’ve pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms. Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them. But if they won’t listen, then I’ll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!” God’s Decree.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jeremiah was concerned for the welfare of his people. He saw the land distressed because of the sins of the leaders, with many innocent people suffering. God had sent drought to the nation, which was one of the covenant disciplines (See Deuteronomy 28:15–24), and the vegetation was withering and the animal life dying. But the evil leaders who were to blame for the drought were not only surviving but also were prospering from the losses of others.

In devasting times, the fall of stocks and bonds, the rich get richer it seems while the poor poorer.  The rich driven by self-made power and evil manipulation take advantage of a down turn market to reap great benefits.  Does that make all wise investors evil?  It depends on where their hearts are and to whom they give glory for their gain along with how they help others.  Did they seek God first?  This is the larger question of heart to consider.

“You will always have the poor among you,”says Jesus, “but you will not always have Me.”  (Matthew 26:11) So, does that mean the poor will always be poor?  No, again, Jesus is wanting us to look inside our hearts for what is His best response should be from us who say we believe.  “Seek God first,” Jesus tells his disciples often, “ask for God’s help and wisdom.”  We can get all caught up in what the world needs with grand social actions and forget God. 

We think we should and could solve all problems if we worked hard enough.  Some of us have a need to be needed that is so strong we forget God is the answer, not us.  “Seek God first,” Jesus says often, “and his righteousness…”.  In other words, seek first what God wants and what He says is right for each case in point!  Another translation of Matthew 6:33 states: “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Let God sort it all out.  He knows what He is doing.  God will tell us exactly what to do when as the best help of all.  To God then, be the glory!

Back to Jeremiah… God’s reply to Jeremiah, wasn’t what he expected. God’s focus was not on the wicked; it was on His servant Jeremiah. As most of us do when we’re suffering, Jeremiah was asking, “How can I get out of this?” But he should have been asking, “What can I get out of this?”  “What can I learn from this?” God’s servants don’t live by explanations; they live by promises. Understanding explanations may satisfy our curiosity and make us smarter people, but laying hold of God’s promises will build our character and make us better servants.

Growth only happens with challenge, and challenge always brings change. As we get older, many of us resist change, forgetting that without the challenge of change, we’re in danger of deteriorating physically, mentally, and spiritually. God wanted Jeremiah to grow, and He also wants us to grow.

Lord,

Sometimes I, too am overwhelmed with what is going on around me in the world.  I would rather be overwhelmed by your love, mercy and grace—and I am.  You are amazing as you teach us how to grow in your love and in your ways.  You help us and give us “signposts” all along the way.  So, I seek You first for that is the right way to go.  You taught me that many times.  I believe.  I trust in you, dear Jesus.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

I’m now singing an old hymn of praise…Let Him Have His Way with Thee

Would you live for Jesus, and be always pure and good?
Would you walk with Him within the narrow road?
Would you have Him bear your burden, carry all your load?
Let Him have His way with thee.

Refrain:
His pow’r can make you what you ought to be;
His blood can cleanse your heart and make you free;
His love can fill your soul, and you will see
’Twas best for Him to have His way with thee.

“OH GOD!  Help us!” 

“All hope is gone.  So, we turn to you.” 

“Get us out of this mess we are in.” 

“We are overwhelmed by the enemy, pull us out of danger!” 

The man falling off the cliff prayed the fastest crisis prayer on record, “Saaaave me!”  Suddenly his clothing was caught on a branch, stopping his fall.  While dangling in the air, he told God, “Never mind, I’ve got this.”  This is crisis-only praying.  And God does not like crisis-only praying.

Jeremiah 11, The Message

The Terms of This Covenant

11 The Message that came to Jeremiah from God:

^2-4 “Preach to the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them this: ‘This is God’s Message, the Message of Israel’s God to you. Anyone who does not keep the terms of this covenant is cursed. The terms are clear. I made them plain to your ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt, out of the iron furnace of suffering.

^4-5 “‘Obey what I tell you. Do exactly what I command you. Your obedience will close the deal. You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours. This will provide the conditions in which I will be able to do what I promised your ancestors: to give them a fertile and lush land. And, as you know, that’s what I did.’”

“Yes, God,” I replied. “That’s true.”

^6-8 God continued: “Preach all this in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and carry them out! I warned your ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt and I’ve kept up the warnings. I haven’t quit warning them for a moment. I warned them from morning to night: “Obey me or else!” But they didn’t obey. They paid no attention to me. They did whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it, until finally I stepped in and ordered the punishments set out in the covenant, which, despite all my warnings, they had ignored.’”

^9-10 Then God said, “There’s a conspiracy among the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. They’ve plotted to reenact the sins of their ancestors—the ones who disobeyed me and decided to go after other gods and worship them. Israel and Judah are in this together, mindlessly breaking the covenant I made with their ancestors.

^11-13 “Well, your God has something to say about this: Watch out! I’m about to visit doom on you, and no one will get out of it. You’re going to cry for help but I won’t listen. Then all the people in Judah and Jerusalem will start praying to the gods you’ve been sacrificing to all these years, but it won’t do a bit of good. You’ve got as many gods as you have villages, Judah! And you’ve got enough altars for sacrifices to that impotent sex god Baal to put one on every street corner in Jerusalem!

¹⁴ “And as for you, Jeremiah, I don’t want you praying for this people. Nothing! Not a word of petition. Indeed, I’m not going to listen to a single syllable of their crisis-prayers.”

Promises and Pious Programs

^15-16 “What business do the ones I love have figuring out
    how to get off the hook? And right in the house of worship!
Do you think making promises and devising pious programs
    will save you from doom?
Do you think you can get out of this
    by becoming more religious?
A mighty oak tree, majestic and glorious—
    that’s how I once described you.
But it will only take a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning
    to leave you a shattered wreck.

¹⁷ “I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who planted you—yes, I have pronounced doom on you. Why? Because of the disastrous life you’ve lived, Israel and Judah alike, goading me to anger with your continuous worship and offerings to that sorry god Baal.”

* * *

^18-19 God told me what was going on. That’s how I knew.
    You, God, opened my eyes to their evil scheming.
I had no idea what was going on—naive as a lamb
    being led to slaughter!
I didn’t know they had it in for me,
    didn’t know of their behind-the-scenes plots:
“Let’s get rid of the preacher.
    That will stop the sermons!
Let’s get rid of him for good.
    He won’t be remembered for long.”

²⁰ Then I said, “God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    you’re a fair judge.
You examine and cross-examine
    human actions and motives.
I want to see these people shown up and put down!
    I’m an open book before you. Clear my name.”

^21-23 That sent a signal to God, who spoke up: “Here’s what I’ll do to the men of Anathoth who are trying to murder you, the men who say, ‘Don’t preach to us in God’s name or we’ll kill you.’ Yes, it’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaking. Indeed! I’ll call them to account: Their young people will die in battle, their children will die of starvation, and there will be no one left at all, none. I’m visiting the men of Anathoth with doom. Doomsday!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Crisis only praying is not what God desires from his people.  Daily communication with God followed by obedience will “close the deal” of a growing, intimate relationship with God.  This is what I’m learning from Jeremiah who speaks for God to God’s people who are crisis-only-praying to merely get out of the trouble they put themselves in by worshiping and sacrificing to other gods.  I don’t know about you, but I’m learning that worshipping other gods, giving time to along with sacrificing to all the gods of this world takes more work than worshiping the One and Only God who speaks, hears, listens, loves, provides, protects, and heals—the God who is always at work on our behalf. 

God gives us all we need.  God deserves a lot more from us than crisis-only praying.  He loves hearing from us daily and loves to walk with us, helping us through all the details of our lives each day.  What can we give the Lord?  Complete obedience.  Full attention.  Generous giving.  Loving sacrifice of all our hearts, minds and souls to His guidance.  “Pray without ceasing” means just that—constant communication avoids crisis-only praying.  (See Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Paul describes this “daily” walk to new believers in Jesus clearly and understandably: 

“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 

There is no longer a need for crisis praying when we know God is already at work in our lives daily.  He is there solving our “crisis” before we arrive in the chaos.  Those who really believe in God, believe in all He is capable of doing and being.  We know that God is always at work and will do what is best to accomplish His will.  Even when bad things happen to us or around us, God will turn all the bad to good in miraculous ways.  His glory will be seen when what is meant for evil is used for good. That’s God.

Trust in other gods?  Mm, I don’t think so.  I will trust in God who is forever faithful, unconditional loving, with generous grace and mighty mercy.  I will leave all the other gods in this world that try to take my time or distract me and lean into the God of all.

Crisis-only praying could be a sign of crisis of faith.

Oh Lord,

Thank you for this dally time together to learn from you, hear your voice, be encouraged by you with guidance from your Holy Spirit with lessons of obedience to you.  Thank you for always being with us. Thank you for solving our problems before we are in crisis.  May we avoid crisis of faith and grow in our knowledge of you—daily.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Because of being a short-term mission planner for college students, I’ve traveled to places such as Haiti, Brazil, Moldova, Bolivia as well as our own country that includes the Navajo nation in the southwest many times.  What is prevalent in these different cultures and highly visible to outsiders is the inclusion and mashing together the old traditions with the new belief of knowing God through believing in Jesus as Savior.  Many new believers cannot let go of the idols, symbols and beliefs, at least not at first.  Believing in Jesus is appreciated but Jesus/God/Holy Spirit are not exclusive to belief and practice and become a collaboration of what was formerly believed.

After observing these meshing idols with worship of God for myself, I cannot judge them harshly this collaboration for we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” in this area of our growing and maturing in following God alone—as the only God for us.  We all have our “idols” that we have trouble letting go.  What is an idol in our world?  The answer lies withing each one of us.  Our idols are anything and everything that stands between our view of God and hinders or growing intimate relationship with God. 

Our “stick idols” that cannot give back to us, cannot hear or see us, cannot love us back, cannot walk on their own unless we carry them around are all around us.  We can begin with our phones that have become an extension of our bodies—like an idol that we cannot seem to do without.  Think about it.  Can you go anywhere without it?  We make ourselves feel better about this idol by installing the Bible app in with the collaboration with other apps.  However, how much time is spent on the Bible app?  What app is really taking our attention from God?  Yikes, you do know that your phone can tell exactly how much time is spent on each app, right? 

Jeremiah looked around and ridiculed the idols all around him. Instead of separating themselves from the evil practices of the nations as Moses had instructed (See Deuteronomy 7:1–11), Israel gradually imitated those practices and began to worship pagan gods. But these gods were worthless, manufactured by craftsmen.  And idols still are today—worthless, when it comes to knowing God.

Jeremiah 10, The Message

The Stick Gods

^1-5 Listen to the Message that God is sending your way, House of Israel. Listen most carefully:

“Don’t take the godless nations as your models.
    Don’t be impressed by their glamour and glitz,
    no matter how much they’re impressed.
The religion of these peoples
    is nothing but smoke.
An idol is nothing but a tree chopped down,
    then shaped by a woodsman’s ax.
They trim it with tinsel and balls,
    use hammer and nails to keep it upright.
It’s like a scarecrow in a cabbage patch—can’t talk!
    Deadwood that has to be carried—can’t walk!
Don’t be impressed by such stuff.
    It’s useless for either good or evil.”

^6-9 All this is nothing compared to you, O God.
    You’re wondrously great, famously great.
Who can fail to be impressed by you, King of the nations?
    It’s your very nature to be worshiped!
Look far and wide among the elite of the nations.
    The best they can come up with is nothing compared to you.
Stupidly, they line them up—a lineup of sticks,
    good for nothing but making smoke.
Gilded with silver foil from Tarshish,
    covered with gold from Uphaz,
Hung with violet and purple fabrics—
    no matter how fancy the sticks, they’re still sticks.

¹⁰ But God is the real thing—
    the living God, the eternal King.
When he’s angry, Earth shakes.
    Yes, and the godless nations quake.

^11-15 “Tell them this, ‘The stick gods
    who made nothing, neither sky nor earth,
Will come to nothing
    on the earth and under the sky.’”
But it is God whose power made the earth,
    whose wisdom gave shape to the world,
    who crafted the cosmos.
He thunders, and rain pours down.
    He sends the clouds soaring.
He embellishes the storm with lightnings,
    launches wind from his warehouse.
Stick-god worshipers looking mighty foolish,
    god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods!
Their gods are frauds—dead sticks,
    deadwood gods, tasteless jokes.
    When the fires of judgment come, they’ll be ashes.

¹⁶ But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing.
    He put the whole universe together
And pays special attention to Israel.
    His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!

* * *

^17-18 Grab your bags,
    all you who are under attack.
God has given notice:
    “Attention! I’m evicting
Everyone who lives here,
    And right now—yes, right now!
I’m going to press them to the limit,
    squeeze the life right out of them.”

* * *

^19-20 But it’s a black day for me!
    Hopelessly wounded,
I said, “Why, oh why
    did I think I could bear it?”
My house is ruined—
    the roof caved in.
Our children are gone—
    we’ll never see them again.
No one left to help in rebuilding,
    no one to make a new start!

²¹ It’s because our leaders are stupid.
    They never asked God for counsel,
And so nothing worked right.
    The people are scattered all over.

²² But listen! Something’s coming!
    A big commotion from the northern borders!
Judah’s towns about to be smashed,
    left to all the stray dogs and cats!

^23-25 I know, God, that mere mortals
    can’t run their own lives,
That men and women
    don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.
So correct us, God, as you see best.
    Don’t lose your temper. That would be the end of us.
Vent your anger on the godless nations,
    who refuse to acknowledge you,
And on the people
    who won’t pray to you—
The very ones who’ve made a meal out of Jacob,
    yes, made a meal
And devoured him whole,
    people and pastures alike.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Our contemporary idols might not be as ugly, as were the pagan idols in Jeremiah’s day, but they capture just as much affection and do just as much damage. Whatever we worship and serve other than the true and living God is an idol, whether it’s an expensive house or car, the latest electronic device, a boat, a library, a girlfriend or boyfriend, our children, a career, or a bank account. 

Jeremiah makes it clear:  The remedy for idolatry is for us to get caught up in the majesty and grandeur of God, the true God, the living God, the everlasting King. An idol is a substitute, and no one would ever want a substitute after having experienced the love and power of the Lord God Almighty.

A nation went into captivity because its leaders forsook the true and living God.  What captivates us today?

I need to take a “phone fast” for at least 24 hours to evaluate the importance this device has on my life with God, the Father.  Is it being used for good or distraction? Who or what is really Lord of my life?  Jesus or my phone?  Who’s with me? 

Lord,

I’m sorry for underestimating the power of idols in our lives right now.  I repent of the attachment I have for them.  I love you with all my heart, mind and soul.  It is time I prove that love for you alone. That time is now.  I don’t invite you to my world, to be incorporated into it!  No, You have invited into Your Kingdom and Your Kingdom thinking, leaving the world behind me.  And it is here I want to be—learning and growing in your love.  

In Jesus Name, Amen

Jeremiah wept over the sad spiritual condition of the people, and this is one reason he is known as the weeping prophet. Today, finding tears either in the pulpit or the pews is unusual, with the emphasis in church seeming to be enjoyment. After all, we want people to leave in good spirits, right?  Mm.  As ministers of the gospel, we have all felt like Jeremiah at times; there is no denying it.  When the troubles of the people we minister to, the sins of the lost we pour out our hearts to with the message of salvation, along with seeing the consequences of living the opposite of God’s ways overwhelm us—and we weep. 

We are human and have our own challenges with keeping our own hearts in check with God.  Sometimes we want to run and hideout for a while, too!  Jeremiah would rather have fled from the people to a place of peace but he knew that his calling was to stay and minister God’s Word. His soul was grieved at the sins of the people—their immorality, idolatry, deception, and slander. Truth was a precious commodity; a person couldn’t even trust his or her friends and relatives.  This is the sadness of sin.  And we weep.

Jeremiah 9, The Message

^1-2 I wish my head were a well of water
    and my eyes fountains of tears
So I could weep day and night
    for casualties among my dear, dear people.
At times I wish I had a wilderness hut,
    a backwoods cabin,
Where I could get away from my people
    and never see them again.
They’re a faithless, feckless bunch,
    a congregation of degenerates.

* * *

^3-6 “Their tongues shoot out lies
    like a bow shoots arrows—
A mighty army of liars,
    the sworn enemies of truth.
They advance from one evil to the next,
    ignorant of me.”
        God’s Decree.
“Be wary of even longtime neighbors.
    Don’t even trust your grandmother!
Brother schemes against brother,
    like old cheating Jacob.
Friend against friend
    spreads malicious gossip.
Neighbors gyp neighbors,
    never telling the truth.
They’ve trained their tongues to tell lies,
    and now they can’t tell the truth.
They pile wrong upon wrong, stack lie upon lie,
    and refuse to know me.”
        God’s Decree.

^7-9 Therefore, God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:

“Watch this! I’ll melt them down
    and see what they’re made of.
What else can I do
    with a people this wicked?
Their tongues are poison arrows!
    Deadly lies stream from their mouths.
Neighbor greets neighbor with a smile,
    ‘Good morning! How’re things?’
    while scheming to do away with him.
Do you think I’m going to stand around and do nothing?”
    God’s Decree.
“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures
    against a people like this?

^10-11 “I’m lamenting the loss of the mountain pastures.
    I’m chanting dirges for the old grazing grounds.
They’ve become deserted wastelands too dangerous for travelers.
    No sounds of sheep bleating or cattle mooing.
Birds and wild animals, all gone.
    Nothing stirring, no sounds of life.
I’m going to make Jerusalem a pile of rubble,
    fit for nothing but stray cats and dogs.
I’m going to reduce Judah’s towns to piles of ruins
    where no one lives!”

* * *

¹² I asked, “Is there anyone around bright enough to tell us what’s going on here? Anyone who has the inside story from God and can let us in on it?

“Why is the country wasted?

“Why no travelers in this desert?”

^13-15 God’s answer: “Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn’t listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to. Instead they lived any way they wanted and took up with the Baal gods, who they thought would give them what they wanted—following the example of their parents.” And this is the consequence. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so:

“I’ll feed them with pig slop.

“I’ll give them poison to drink.

¹⁶ “Then I’ll scatter them far and wide among godless peoples that neither they nor their parents have ever heard of, and I’ll send Death in pursuit until there’s nothing left of them.”

A Life That Is All Outside but No Inside

^17-19 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Look over the trouble we’re in and call for help.
    Send for some singers who can help us mourn our loss.
Tell them to hurry—
    to help us express our loss and lament,
Help us get our tears flowing,
    make tearful music of our crying.
Listen to it!
    Listen to that torrent of tears out of Zion:
‘We’re a ruined people,
    we’re a shamed people!
We’ve been driven from our homes
    and must leave our land!’”

* * *

^20-21 Mourning women! Oh, listen to God’s Message!
    Open your ears. Take in what he says.
Teach your daughters songs for the dead
    and your friends the songs of heartbreak.
Death has climbed in through the window,
    broken into our bedrooms.
Children on the playgrounds drop dead,
    and young men and women collapse at their games.

²² Speak up! “God’s Message:

“‘Dead bodies everywhere, scattered at random
    like sheep and goat dung in the fields,
Like wheat cut down by reapers
    and left to rot where it falls.’”

^23-24 God’s Message:

“Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom.
    Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits.
Don’t let the rich brag of their riches.
    If you brag, brag of this and this only:
That you understand and know me.
    I’m God, and I act in loyal love.
I do what’s right and set things right and fair,
    and delight in those who do the same things.
These are my trademarks.”
    God’s Decree.

* * *

^25-26 “Stay alert! It won’t be long now”—God’s Decree!—“when I will personally deal with everyone whose life is all outside but no inside: Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab. All these nations are big on performance religion—including Israel, who is no better.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Should we pretend that all is well when the world is not well?  Being God’s covenant people offers no escape from judgment. If anything, their favored relationship with the Lord invited an even greater judgment; for everyone to whom much is given, from that person much will be required says Jesus.  (See Luke 12:48).

Warren Wiersbe relates; “Being God’s covenant people offers no assurance of spiritual understanding. No amount of education, power, or wealth—three attributes the world today depends on and boasts about—can guarantee God’s blessing. God doesn’t delight in a nation’s learning, political influence, armies, or gross national product. He delights in a people who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness because they know and fear the Lord. God promises covenant blessings to those who obey Him, not to those who only submit to religious ceremonies.”

“I’m God, and I act in loyal love.  I do what’s right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things.  These are my trademarks.” –God

Lord,

I repent of trying to please others that leads nowhere and is not helpful or truthful for anyone concerned.  Help me to please you alone, to follow your ways that you taught us, dear Jesus.  Help us to seek justice (what is right in your word), love mercy and walk humbly with you.  Thank you for delighting in us as we walk with you.  You are life, love, mercy and generous grace.  Thank you for always being with us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Who grieves the most, with hearts breaking, when our children are in trouble with seemingly no way out?  As parents, we are given the task to raise, love and nourish the children God has given to us in His ways.  We are to show them how to live by our example.  We are charged with providing wisdom and discipline of life skills so they can someday thrive and continue to grow and mature by God’s leading.  We pray for this wisdom and guidance from God who is eager to give it when we ask.  But when our kids say no to all that is God, we grieve.  When they are in trouble, our hearts break.  We want to step in and fix it but we cannot.  There are some things we cannot make better.  Only God can.

Most of God’s people, including priests and other influencers, have turned their backs on God.  They are living delusional lives of selfishness, greed, unholy desires with perverted behaviors.  Jeremiah shares the heart of God for His people who He loves.

When the time comes for punishment for who they are their behaviors are recalled, truth is out and the realization of their sins revealed.  And God? God is heartbroken.

But God is not like we parents who feel helpless for our children in troubles beyond us.  God has a Plan. That Plan is Jesus, His Son.  When the time comes for Jesus, God and Word in the flesh, to be born of a virgin, to grow up in the neighborhood of humanity He came to save, God is there to fulfil His Plan through Jesus, His Son.  This Plan for you and I was created and driven by God’s great love for the world.

Jeremiah 8, The Message

^1-2 “And when the time comes”—God’s Decree!—“I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people. They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in doglike devotion. The bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.

³ “Everyone left—all from this evil generation unlucky enough to still be alive in whatever godforsaken place I will have driven them to—will wish they were dead.” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

To Know Everything but God’s Word

^4-7 “Tell them this, God’s Message:

“‘Do people fall down and not get up?
    Or take the wrong road and then just keep going?
So why does this people go backward,
    and just keep on going—backward!
They stubbornly hold on to their illusions,
    refuse to change direction.
I listened carefully
    but heard not so much as a whisper.
No one expressed one word of regret.
    Not a single “I’m sorry” did I hear.
They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly
    banging their heads against a brick wall.
Cranes know when it’s time
    to move south for winter.
And robins, warblers, and bluebirds
    know when it’s time to come back again.
But my people? My people know nothing,
    not the first thing of God and his rule.

^8-9 “‘How can you say, “We know the score.
    We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”?
Look where it’s gotten you—stuck in illusion.
    Your religion experts have taken you for a ride!
Your know-it-alls will be unmasked,
    caught and shown up for what they are.
Look at them! They know everything but God’s Word.
    Do you call that “knowing”?

^10-12 “‘So here’s what will happen to the know-it-alls:
    I’ll make them wifeless and homeless.
Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,
    little people and big people alike.
Prophets and priests and everyone in between
    twist words and doctor truth.
My dear Daughter—my people—broken, shattered,
    and yet they put on Band-Aids,
Saying, “It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.”
    But things are not “just fine”!
Do you suppose they are embarrassed
    over this outrage?
Not really. They have no shame.
    They don’t even know how to blush.
There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom
    and there’s no getting up.
As far as I’m concerned,
    they’re finished.’” God has spoken.

* * *

¹³ “‘I went out to see if I could salvage anything’”
    —God’s Decree—
    “‘but found nothing:
Not a grape, not a fig,
    just a few withered leaves.
I’m taking back
    everything I gave them.’”

^14-16 So why are we sitting here, doing nothing?
    Let’s get organized.
Let’s go to the big city
    and at least die fighting.
We’ve gotten God’s ultimatum:
    We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t—
    damned because of our sin against him.
We hoped things would turn out for the best,
    but it didn’t happen that way.
We were waiting around for healing—
    and terror showed up!
From Dan at the northern borders
    we hear the hooves of horses,
Horses galloping, horses neighing.
    The ground shudders and quakes.
They’re going to swallow up the whole country.
    Towns and people alike—fodder for war.

¹⁷ “‘What’s more, I’m dispatching
    poisonous snakes among you,
Snakes that can’t be charmed,
    snakes that will bite you and kill you.’”
        God’s Decree!

Advancing from One Evil to the Next

^18-22 I drown in grief.
    I’m heartsick.
Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people
    reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion?
    Has the King gone away?
Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods,
    their silly, imported no-gods before me?
The crops are in, the summer is over,
    but for us nothing’s changed.
    We’re still waiting to be rescued.
For my dear broken people, I’m heartbroken.
    I weep, seized by grief.
Are there no healing ointments in Gilead?
    Isn’t there a doctor in the house?
So why can’t something be done
    to heal and save my dear, dear people?

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

I’m reminded of “when the time came” for Jesus to show his disciples “the full extent of His love” before going to the cross for our sins—God’s Plan.  Jesus took off His robe as Teacher and laid it aside.  He wrapped a towel around his waist.  He went by the door and pour water into a basin.  He then bent down with basin and towel to wash and dry His disciples’ dirty feet—all of them—including his betrayer’s feet.  Jesus came to serve, not to be serve.  Jesus, Messiah, Son of God, was sent to seek and to save the lost people who had all but forgotten who God was and is and is to come.  (See John 13)

Jesus, Son of God, had the heart of God.  Jesus’ heart was broken and spilled out for mankind.  Jesus, our great example of how to live.

I ask myself this morning,

Did God’s broken heart for his people then derive His Plan to save the world someday?  

Was the formation of His Plan designed to clearly show the full extent of His love for us?

Why then, when the time comes for us to accept His saving grace, do we say no?

Don’t say no.  Believe in this love beyond our kind of love, repent of our messy sins, follow the King of kings with a plan for our lives that is greater than what we can dream or imagine and be saved from death to eternal life!    

Lord,

I repent of my sins and say yes to all you want for me to live a life worth living.  I choose you over the know-it-alls whose sayings lead nowhere.  I say yes to your plan for my life.  I will follow you all the days of my life.  You are my everything.  There is no one like you, God.  I trust in you alone, dear Jesus.  Come Holy Spirit and guide me.  I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

God is perfect.  God’s Son, Jesus is perfect.  God’s Holy Spirit is perfect.  Only if we obey God and turn to Him, offering our very lives as a living sacrifice to Him will He abide in us.  Only then can we grow in God’s character and be all He created us to be.  “I formed you…”, says God, “I have a plan, not to hurt you but to prosper you.”

But the nation of God’s people refused to listen to Him.  They refused to love Him back as He loved them.

Because the people believed the lies of the false prophets, the people thought they could live in sin and still go to the temple and worship a holy God. They were guilty of breaking at least five of the Ten Commandments, but the false prophets assured them that the presence of God’s temple in Jerusalem guaranteed the nation God’s blessing and protection from every enemy.

As long as the people had a Temple building, they thought they were “safe” to do what they pleased in all kinds of perverted ways…even murdering their own children to please the gods of their making.

God will not reside where sin lives and thrives.  Only if we repent of our sins, in Jesus Name, can we see God and hear His voice guiding us.  Only then can we be saved from our sins, redeemed (bought back) for eternity. 

Jeremiah 7, The Message

The Nation That Wouldn’t Obey God

^1-2 The Message from God to Jeremiah: “Stand in the gate of God’s Temple and preach this Message.

^2-3 “Say, ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship God. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, has this to say to you:

^3-7 “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is God’s Temple, God’s Temple, God’s Temple!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.

^8-11 “‘Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you’re swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighborhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market—and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, “We’re safe!” thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’” God’s Decree!

¹² “‘Take a trip down to the place that was once in Shiloh, where I met my people in the early days. Take a look at those ruins, what I did to it because of the evil ways of my people Israel.

^13-15 “‘So now, because of the way you have lived and failed to listen, even though time and again I took you aside and talked seriously with you, and because you refused to change when I called you to repent, I’m going to do to this Temple, set aside for my worship, this place you think is going to keep you safe no matter what, this place I gave as a gift to your ancestors and you, the same as I did to Shiloh. And as for you, I’m going to get rid of you, the same as I got rid of those old relatives of yours around Shiloh, your fellow Israelites in that former kingdom to the north.’

^16-18 “And you, Jeremiah, don’t waste your time praying for this people. Don’t offer to make petitions or intercessions. Don’t bother me with them. I’m not listening. Can’t you see what they’re doing in all the villages of Judah and in the Jerusalem streets? Why, they’ve got the children gathering wood while the fathers build fires and the mothers make bread to be offered to ‘the Queen of Heaven’! And as if that weren’t bad enough, they go around pouring out libations to any other gods they come across, just to hurt me.

¹⁹ “But is it me they’re hurting?” God’s Decree! “Aren’t they just hurting themselves? Exposing themselves shamefully? Making themselves ridiculous?

²⁰ “Here’s what the Master God has to say: ‘My white-hot anger is about to descend on this country and everything in it—people and animals, trees in the field and vegetables in the garden—a raging wildfire that no one can put out.’

^21-23 “The Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: ‘Go ahead! Put your burnt offerings with all your other sacrificial offerings and make a good meal for yourselves. I sure don’t want them! When I delivered your ancestors out of Egypt, I never said anything to them about wanting burnt offerings and sacrifices as such. But I did say this, commanded this: “Obey me. Do what I say and I will be your God and you will be my people. Live the way I tell you. Do what I command so that your lives will go well.”

^24-26 “‘But do you think they listened? Not a word of it. They did just what they wanted to do, indulged any and every evil whim and got worse day by day. From the time your ancestors left the land of Egypt until now, I’ve supplied a steady stream of my servants the prophets, but do you think the people listened? Not once. Stubborn as mules and worse than their ancestors!’

^27-28 “Tell them all this, but don’t expect them to listen. Call out to them, but don’t expect an answer. Tell them, ‘You are the nation that wouldn’t obey God, that refused all discipline. Truth has disappeared. There’s not a trace of it left in your mouths.

²⁹ “‘So shave your heads.
    Go bald to the hills and lament,
For God has rejected and left
    this generation that has made him so angry.’

^30-31 “The people of Judah have lived evil lives while I’ve stood by and watched.” God’s Decree. “In deliberate insult to me, they’ve set up their obscene god-images in the very Temple that was built to honor me. They’ve constructed Topheth altars for burning babies in prominent places all through the valley of Ben-hinnom, altars for burning their sons and daughters alive in the fire—a shocking perversion of all that I am and all I command.

^32-34 “But soon, very soon”—God’s Decree!—“the names Topheth and Ben-hinnom will no longer be used. They’ll call the place what it is: Murder Meadow. Corpses will be stacked up in Topheth because there’s no room left to bury them! Corpses abandoned in the open air, fed on by crows and coyotes, who have the run of the place. And I’ll empty both smiles and laughter from the villages of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. No wedding songs, no holiday sounds. Dead silence.”

WHAT WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND

“A cave full of criminals…”  Jesus referred to this verse after He cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:13). A “den of thieves”, according to Jesus, is the place where thieves go to hide after they’ve committed their crimes. Jeremiah was declaring that the Jews were using the temple ceremonies to cover up their secret sins. Instead of being made holy in the temple, the people were making the temple unholy!

This begs the question from us today:  Do we, as a church, the bride of Christ, think the building is our safe place, our cover, our place to look good in front of others as well as a place to hide who we really are the other six days of the week?  There is a deeper question to consider:  Does today’s church affect society with all that is God, or has society affected the church.  Which is more? This was the heart cry of Jeremiah directed by God.  Only if…only then.

What are some only if’s we need to “clean up” and repent of so God can come near with His only then’s?

That’s what I am pondering this morning.  Do we really believe what God says is really real?  Our behaviors will reflect what we believe.

Lord,

I repent of going about life thinking I can handle the small stuff.  All the stuff of life belongs to you and your care.  I give myself to you again today, offering my very life as a living sacrifice.  Use my life for your glory.  May others see your glory at work in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

First, the Lord spoke to His people and warned them that judgment was coming. The Jews had three main ways to get military information: from the watchmen on the walls, from trumpet signals, and from signal fires lit on high places. Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth was in Benjamin tribal lands, so he started by warning his own neighbors to get out of Jerusalem.  But still God’s people refused to listen to God’s warnings through his prophet Jeremiah.  They are now at the point of no return.  They will be captured and exiled to Babylon. 

How close are we to the point of no return?  After God’s prophets sounded the warnings of impending danger for centuries were ignored; God sent His One and Only Son to earth to seek and to save the lost who were without God.  Jesus, God in flesh, spent time on earth as Son of Man and Son of God to teach people who God was, is and is to come.  God had a plan to redeem people once and for all.  That Plan was Jesus, the final way back to God.  God’s Plan took all the sins of the world and placed them on His Son.  God then turned his back on His Son with all our sins on His shoulders while Jesus stood in our place of punishment to die for our sins.  The repented list of our sins are wiped clean, to be remembered no more, all because of His great love for each one of us.  Our part?  Believe, repent and be saved forever.

The alarms are going in our lives as we see troubles ahead if we do not change our thinking from the world to Jesus.  Warnings have been preached with fiery words of compassionate to stir and refine our souls.  Our point of no return will come with the final trumpet sound of the return of Jesus.  When that occurs it’s too late to ask and debate: Who are we? Where will we be standing?  What will we be saying?  What will we be doing?  When Jesus comes back, and He will, what will His words be to us? “Well done, good and faithful servant” or “depart from me—I never knew you.”

Yes, it is that serious. 

Jeremiah 6, The Message

A City Full of Lies

6 ^1-5 “Run for your lives, children of Benjamin!
    Get out of Jerusalem, and now!
Give a blast on the ram’s horn in Blastville.
    Send up smoke signals from Smoketown.
Doom pours out of the north—
    massive terror!
I have likened my dear daughter Zion
    to a lovely meadow.
Well, now ‘shepherds’ from the north have discovered her
    and brought in their flocks of soldiers.
They’ve pitched camp all around her,
    and plan where they’ll ‘graze.’
And then, ‘Prepare to attack! The fight is on!
    To arms! We’ll strike at noon!
Oh, it’s too late? Day is dying?
    Evening shadows are upon us?
Well, up anyway! We’ll attack by night
    and tear apart her defenses stone by stone.’”

^6-8 God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave the orders:

“Chop down her trees.
    Build a siege ramp against Jerusalem,
A city full of brutality,
    bursting with violence.
Just as a well holds a good supply of water,
    she supplies wickedness nonstop.
The streets echo the cries: ‘Violence! Rape!’
    Victims, bleeding and moaning, lie all over the place.
You’re in deep trouble, Jerusalem.
    You’ve pushed me to the limit.
You’re on the brink of being wiped out,
    being turned into a ghost town.”

⁹ More orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Time’s up! Harvest the grapes for judgment.
    Salvage what’s left of Israel.
Go back over the vines.
    Pick them clean, every last grape.

Is Anybody Listening?

^10-11 “I’ve got something to say. Is anybody listening?
    I’ve a warning to post. Will anyone notice?
It’s hopeless! Their ears are stuffed with wax—
    deaf as a post, blind as a bat.
It’s hopeless! They’ve tuned out God.
    They don’t want to hear from me.
But I’m bursting with the wrath of God.
    I can’t hold it in much longer.

^11-12 “So dump it on the children in the streets.
    Let it loose on the gangs of youth.
For no one’s exempt: Husbands and wives will be taken,
    the old and those ready to die;
Their homes will be given away—
    all they own, even their loved ones—
When I give the signal
    against all who live in this country.”
        God’s Decree.

^13-15 “Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,
    little people and big people alike.
Prophets and priests and everyone in between
    twist words and doctor truth.
My people are broken—shattered!—
    and they put on Band-Aids,
Saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.’
    But things are not ‘just fine’!
Do you suppose they are embarrassed
    over this outrage?
No, they have no shame.
    They don’t even know how to blush.
There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom
    and there’s no getting up.
As far as I’m concerned,
    they’re finished.”
        God has spoken.

Death Is on the Prowl

^16-20 God’s Message yet again:

“Go stand at the crossroads and look around.
    Ask for directions to the old road,
The tried-and-true road. Then take it.
    Discover the right route for your souls.
But they said, ‘Nothing doing.
    We aren’t going that way.’
I even provided watchmen for them
    to warn them, to set off the alarm.
But the people said, ‘It’s a false alarm.
    It doesn’t concern us.’
And so I’m calling in the nations as witnesses:
    ‘Watch, witnesses, what happens to them!’
And, ‘Pay attention, Earth!
    Don’t miss these bulletins.’
I’m visiting catastrophe on this people, the end result
    of the games they’ve been playing with me.

They’ve ignored everything I’ve said,
    had nothing but contempt for my teaching.
What would I want with incense brought in from Sheba,
    rare spices from exotic places?
Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure.
    Your religious rituals mean nothing to me.”

²¹ So listen to this. Here’s God’s verdict on your way of life:

“Watch out! I’m putting roadblocks and barriers
    on the road you’re taking.
They’ll send you sprawling,
    parents and children, neighbors and friends—
    and that will be the end of the lot of you.”

^22-23 And listen to this verdict from God:

“Look out! An invasion from the north,
    a mighty power on the move from a faraway place:
Armed to the teeth,
    vicious and pitiless,
Booming like sea storm and thunder—tramp, tramp, tramp—
    riding hard on war horses,
In battle formation
    against you, dear Daughter Zion!”

^24-25 We’ve heard the news,
    and we’re as limp as wet dishrags.
We’re paralyzed with fear.
    Terror has a death grip on our throats.
Don’t dare go outdoors!
    Don’t leave the house!
Death is on the prowl.
    Danger everywhere!

²⁶ “Dear Daughter Zion: Dress in black.
    Blacken your face with ashes.
Weep most bitterly,
    as for an only child.
The countdown has begun . . . 
    six, five, four, three . . . 
    The Terror is on us!”

* * *

^27-30 God gave me this task:

“I have made you the examiner of my people,
    to examine and weigh their lives.
They’re a thickheaded, hard-nosed bunch,
    rotten to the core, the lot of them.
Refining fires are cranked up to white heat,
    but the ore stays a lump, unchanged.
It’s useless to keep trying any longer.
    Nothing can refine evil out of them.
Men will give up and call them ‘slag,’
    thrown on the slag heap by me, their God.”

Lord,

Our sin condition must break your heart.  You have done all we need to be redeemed by you.  You are Provider in times of trouble.  You are Healer when we are sick and depressed.  You are Protector through trials.  You are God alone and we are not.  Because of your unfailing, compassion love for us, we are saved by the sacrifice of you, dear Jesus.  I believe.  I repent of all sins.  Show me your ways and I will walk in them.  There is no greater love than what you have done for me.  I choose you.  I trust in you, dear Jesus.  You are all I need.

In Jesus Name, Amen