Jeremiah 42-45

You know that saying, "Ignorance is bliss?"  

Well, Jeremiah 42-45 is a great illustration of how crazy that statement is when it comes to knowing God.

There are a few of God's people left in Israel, and they are scared to death.  The devastation around them following the most recent murdering spree by a guy with royal blood named Ishmael literally brings them to God.  

"Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant.  For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.  

Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do."

Jeremiah 42:1-3

God doesn't discriminate.  He loves us all, the least and the greatest.  

And sometimes He uses circumstances to bring us closer to Him so we can know His help in our lives when we see it.  

God's people in today's reading have tried everything they know to try, and now they come to God for advice.  Finally!

And even though it's been way too long since these people have remembered God for anything, God hears their prayer and clearly answers them.

Notice though for our future reference, Jeremiah didn't receive the answer to the prayer for 10 days.  Listening to God takes patience on our part (something I have to work hard find patience in myself).  

That's how it goes sometimes.  God guarantees He will answer, but God's answers for our lives take time, His time.

And so after 10 days, God's answer to their prayer, His direction for their lives, doesn't match their personal expectations.  God's direction goes against their human instincts, but His direction is full of promises for life and God's protection.

God says to His people still left in Israel,

"If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.  Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear.  Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.  I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land."

Jeremiah 42:10-12

God is always in the business of showing us His great mercy and grace.  He wants to restore us when we need it the most.  God is telling His people exactly what to do to experience new life with Him.

God does that for us too.  He offers all of us, from the least to the greatest, new life in Christ  He speaks into our lives and leads us in the ways we should go and in the things we should do.

And the rest is up to us.  We have to do our part to follow God for us to realize the fullness of His love and the awesome promises He puts in our hearts.

So, today I am thinking about that part of following God that's up to me.  Where do I need to be patient for God to answer, and where do I need to follow through on what my ears and my heart are hearing?

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for Your compassion and love.  Thank You for answering all of our prayers and for the restoration we find for our own lives in Jesus.

Lord, forgive me for the ways I let my own expectations keep me from   hearing Your answers for my life.

Tell me, Lord, where I should go and what I should do each day.  Help me to let go of my own expectations and trust You.  

I want You to build me up and ground me in Your compassion and grace.

And as You restore me, Lord, use me to bring Your compassion to others.

I pray for Your direction when it comes to _____________________.

You are our merciful and loving God who fills us with hope.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Peace of Christ,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 38-41

Just when we think things can't get any worse for Jeremiah the prophet, they do (Jeremiah 38-41).  After being beaten and imprisoned, he is thrown in a muddy cistern, which was a hole for storing rain water.  (In case you're like me trying to picture what that is exactly, I did a little internet research).

So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

Jeremiah 38:6

After I saw a picture of a cistern it really got my attention.  It must have been an unbelievable experience for Jeremiah to be lowered in this deep and suffocating hole with no way out.  I feel sure Jeremiah would rather be somewhere else if he had his way.  

But, Jeremiah is following God's call for his life.  God promises to be with him and protect him, and look at the messy, "tight spot" Jeremiah finds himself in.  

That happens to us too.  God takes us places we'd never want to go if we had our way.  And yet, even when we're in the most difficult situations, God fills us with His same promises.  He is with us and taking care of us wherever we go.

I am always amazed to see and witness how God works things out when situations seem impossible.

There are no coincidences with God.  And the more I get to know God, the more obvious that becomes to me.

A royal official, Ebed-Melek, is determined to save Jeremiah's life.  He bravely pleads his case and gets permission from the king to rescue him.  And before you know it, Jeremiah is on higher ground.

The whole time Jeremiah is trying his best to get God's people to surrender to the Babylonians so that God can save them before all of Israel lies in ruins, and they just won't.  

Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you.  Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.  But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me...

Jeremiah 38:20-21

So many people in Israel keep running, and things don't go well for them to say the least.  Jeremiah, though, as we see later in the story, is set free to go wherever he pleases.  When everything around him is falling apart, Jeremiah is full of hope and a future.

Surrender.

It's counterintuitive, and in many ways, the most difficult choice to make.  So often we have this fight or flight instinct in us, when what we really need to do is surrender to God.

We can learn from our reading today.  We can't let our own fears and need for control get in the way of God's saving grace.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for all the ways You are with me wherever I go.  Thank You for watching over me, for holding me, and for filling me with hope.

Forgive me for running in fear and fighting with doubts.  Forgive me for all the ways I struggle to control my circumstances in ways that don't line up with what Jesus would do.

Lord, I pray You will help me surrender to You in all that I do.  

I feel You trying to work on _______________ in my life.  Show me how to get out of the way of my own way and soak in Your saving grace.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is error, the truth;

Where there is doubt, the faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life ("The Peace Prayer" by St. Francis of Assisi).

In the name of Jesus I pray,

Amen

Peace of Christ,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 34-37

So, let me just say right off the bat that Jeremiah 34-37 is jumping around in time, going back and forth between events and circumstances.  Things are NOT happening in chronological order in this book of the Bible.

The disorderliness of it all makes things a bit confusing.

And as I thought about that, it started to make sense to me.  That's a reflection of our own lives.  When we go back and forth in our faith, when we drift and lose God as the context for the way we live our lives, things seem to become really confusing.  And we lose a sense of our place and purpose in the world.

We hear more about how difficult Jeremiah's call to share God's word really is.
He's beaten and imprisoned.  He faithfully goes to all the trouble to put God's word in writing with Baruch so it can be shared again and again.  Yet, the scroll full of life-saving words is destroyed and Jeremiah has to do write it all down a second time.  And despite all Jeremiah's efforts and sufferings, people just won't listen to him.  

Jeremiah's just doing what God tells Him to do.  It had to be a frustrating situation.

King Zedekiah of Judah and all of his crew are a good representation of what was happening over and over again.

Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land

  paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken 

  through Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah 37:2

It might seem like a random verse to pull out today, but it speaks volumes to me.

We have an attention deficit when it comes to God because our lives get so crazy, so busy, so complicated and confusing, so unpredictable and unexpected, so hard, so fast.  It's just the way it goes.  I know because I struggle to pay attention all the time.

But here's the thing we have to believe with all our hearts-

God is always with us finding ways to speak into our lives.  And just as God sends Jeremiah, He sends people to us to help us know Him and His grace.  It's in God's very nature to save us and give us new life.  Jesus is LIVING proof of that.

Like Zedekiah and the people of Judah so long ago, we too often miss God's outstretched hand trying to bring us closer to Him and save us from ourselves.

The story of Peter walking on water and getting distracted by the wind illustrates this point perfectly.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:22-33

God always has an outstretched hand to save us when we lose focus and sink or become lost with doubt.  We just have to grab hold of our faith and the truth about God's enormous love for us.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for Your Living Word that speaks to our hearts and our lives in the ways we need it the most.  Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be with us and show us just how much You love us each and every day.

Forgive me, Lord, for all the ways I fail to pay attention to Your voice in my life.  Forgive my doubting mind that gets so easily distracted by appearances and circumstances.

I pray that You will make me sensitive to You and aware of Your presence moment to moment.  Help me recognize and give thanks for the people and voices acting as Your hands and feet in the world.  And as I go into the world, fill my heart with the courage to reach out my hand to the people who need it the most.

You are my Rock and my Redeemer.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

In Christ's love,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Everyday Reading Project: Week of August 17-23

I would love for you to jump in and join me in reading!  For more on this Everyday Reading Project click here.

Jeremiah 31-33

Jeremiah keeps getting "in trouble" for sharing God's word about days to come (Jeremiah 31-33).  King Zedekiah of Judah really doesn't want to hear anymore from Jeremiah, so he puts him in prison.  Does King Zedekiah really think that prison bars are going to make God's word any less true or powerful?  

God continues using Jeremiah and speaking through him.  And as the story unfolds, God shares a new promise (a covenant) for His people that includes Jesus and restoration.  Just breathe in all that God says He will do...

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

Jeremiah 31:13

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.

Jeremiah 31:25

I will make an everlasting covenant with them:

  I will never stop doing good to them, 

  and I will inspire them to fear me,

  so that they will never turn away from me.

I will rejoice in doing them good

  and will assuredly plant them in this land 

  with all my heart and soul.

Jeremiah 32:40-41

Nevertheless, I will bring, health and healing to it;

I will heal my people

  and let them enjoy abundant peace and security.

Jeremiah 33:6

I will cleanse them from all the sin

  they have committed against me 

  and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.

Jeremiah 33:8

The words are sweet to our souls because these same promises are meant for us today.

And I couldn't help but notice that as God has made Jeremiah aware of these promises, God also calls Jeremiah to act in trust and do a crazy thing for Him.

In fact, what God calls Jeremiah to do doesn't make sense at the time.  He tells Jeremiah to buy some land, a field, before the land is destroyed and God's people are exiled to Babylon for 70 years.  

And Jeremiah does it, just because God says so.

I can't help but wonder as I soak in all of God's promises for my life, what crazy thing God might be calling me to do for Him...

For me, I think this blog is one of those things...

What about you?  What crazy thing is God calling you to do?

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for saving Your people.  Thank you for refreshing me when I am weary, replacing my sorrow with comfort and joy, and for healing me when I am broken.

Forgive my sins, Lord.  Forgive those I bring to You today, and open my heart to those of which I am not aware.

As I soak in your promises and all that they mean, Lord, I pray You will help me know what You call me to do each and every day.  Is there anything out of the ordinary, like Jeremiah and the property, that You need me to do for You?

Guide my steps and make me whole in Christ.

And as I seek to follow You, Lord, help me bring Your love and grace to others.  Help me make meaningful and transforming connections with Your people.

I pray for ___________________ today.  You know exactly what __________ need(s).  And if there's anything You need me to do for _______________________, pull on my heartstrings and guide my hands and feet.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

In Christ's love,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 26-30

Jeremiah 26-30 is a hodgepodge of times and happenings, but we can piece together a bigger picture.

Lots of voices are competing for the attention of God's people.  Jeremiah works hard at sharing God's word like he's supposed to, but people hear what they want to hear.  

We are reminded that through Jeremiah's messages, God offered His people a chance to come back to Him and find a better way of living, a better life.

God does that for us each and every day too.  Through Jesus, God gives us the never ending chance to be with Him and find new life.

God offers us advice today for those times in our lives when we find ourselves struggling and stuck or held captive by our less than ideal circumstances (similar to God's people who are exiled to Babylon for 70 years).  

Here's what God says when His people are praying and looking for a way out:

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and daughters.  Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek peace and prosperity...Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

Jeremiah 29:5-7

In other words, even though things aren't the way we want them to be, don't stop living because we're waiting for things to change.  God will bless us as we faithfully make the best of our circumstances.

And in God's time (it was 70 years for the people in Babylon), He will fulfill His good promises for our lives.  God says,

"I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:10-13

These words are some of my favorite from God.  When I can't stand what is happening to me or someone else, when my patience is running thin and my understanding short, when things are taking so much longer than I want them to take, these words remind me to look to God and trust Him always.  They fill us with hope.

God's voice is always the one I need to hear.  His way of doing things is always the way I want to follow for my life.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for Your good plans for my life.  

Forgive me for all the ways I needlessly work to change things that are part of Your purposes for me.  Forgive me for the ways I am waiting on change instead of living the life that is in front of me to the fullest with You.

You know my situation _____________________.  I am calling on You, here Lord.  And I know there are others out there, like me, who are praying for change when You are working and blessing us in our waiting. 

Fill us with Your plans of hope.  

God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  

You are our Lord and Savior.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Grace and peace of Christ,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 23-25

God continues speaking through Jeremiah about the seriousness of living lives despite God instead of with God.  And in Jeremiah 23-25, more of the details unfold to God's future faith "rebuilding" plans for His people.

God's people from Judah are taken captive and exiled to Babylon for 70 years.  Even through human suffering, God gives us assurance that He is working out redemption and healing faith and lives that have become broken and lost over time.

God does that so often in our lives today as well.  God does whatever it takes to help us.

We realize the enormity of that truth as we come to know Jesus.

Like Isaiah, Jeremiah speaks of Jesus, our Savior and Mighty Counselor who sustains us with hope and a graceful future, before He was ever known to the world.

"The days are coming," declares the LORD,

"when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

  a King who will reign wisely

  and do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved

  and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which he will be called:

  The LORD Our Righteous Savior."

Jeremiah 23:5-6

After today's reading, I can't help but wonder how God might be using people in our lives to speak to us today.  

And on the other hand, how might God use You and me (and all that He made us to be) to help others know the reality of Jesus and His life-changing, life-giving love?

What role do we play in God's faith building plans for His people?

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

I thank You for all the ways You show up in my life and speak to me.  Thank You for the people in my life who are a part of Your faith building plans for me.

Forgive me for all the ways I can be hard of hearing and seeing You and Your will for both my life and the lives of others.

I pray You will work in me, always strengthening me, so that I will forever have a heart to know You and follow You, Lord.

And I pray for ___________________ today.  I pray you will give _______________ a heart to always know You and follow You also.

You are near to all who call on You, Lord, our Savior.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you (Numbers 6:25),

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 19-22

Jeremiah 19-22 is more really bad news for God's people.

When it rains, it pours.  For Judah and Jerusalem, that means sword, plague, and famine are about to wipe people out along with the Babylonians who are going to capture the remaining survivors and force them to live in exile.

And as I read today, I know that's putting it nicely.

God offers His people mercy and redemption again and again, a way out of this downward spiral.  Even though people hear God's words through Jeremiah, they don't let them bring new life to their days.

It's a shame.  God's powerful promises are right in front of them.  All people have to do is know God to really "get it."  It would make such a difference.

God explains what is at the heart of knowing Him and following Him as He speaks about King Josiah, one of Israel's great kings.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy,

  and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:16

It hit me that even though all of this is extremely intimidating to read, God is not what is scary and hard to handle.

Spending life without God, not knowing Him, is scary and near impossible.  That's the reality.

That's also where we can find hope in today's reading for our own lives.

Why?

Thanks to Jesus, it's never too late.  We can never fall so far from God that He can't help us.  He's right here with open arms longing to satisfy our every need and more with His love and grace.

And as we turn to God to satisfy our every need, God empowers us to bless others in need.

I want to wrap up today's reading with a song by a Christian band called Unspoken.  The name of it is "Who You Are".  Enjoy.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for sending Jesus into the world and into my life to be a living example of Your love for us.

Forgive me for all the ways I allow my own ways to keep me from following Jesus' example.  Help me surrender all that I am to You, Lord.  Help me to fully know You and Your will for me, moment to moment, day to day.

And as I go out into the world, empower me by Your Holy Spirit to share the love of Christ with others.  

Guide me because I am so easily overwhelmed by the enormity of the needs around me.  Break my purpose down step by step, Lord.  You know me.  

I pray to You today about ______________________.  He/she/it is in Your hands.

You are our Rock and our Redeemer forever.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit*, today and always,

**from Romans 15:13

This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Jeremiah 15-18

I, yet again, am struggling to get through our reading today.  It's difficult to hear God so angry, so harsh, and so destructive in Jeremiah 15-18.

It's brutal; and quite honestly, I don't like reading it. 

God tells His people, through Jeremiah,

"You have rejected me," declares the Lord.  

"You keep on backsliding.

  so I will reach out and destroy you;

  I am tired of holding back."

Jeremiah 15:6

Poor Jeremiah.  Can you imagine being the one sharing that message with a mob of lost people?

No matter WHAT the details were involved with this rejection for individuals, for families, for the community, and for the larger nation, let's just put it simply (although I know it can be oh so complicated and confusing).  

WHATEVER they were doing at the time and over time, these people definitely didn't make God the center of it all, and that's where He needs to be in order for us to realize the awesome wonders He works in our lives.

Deep down, we know we aren't so unlike God's people back then because we all backslide in our faithfulness.  We aren't perfect.

BUT, there's one really big saving grace of a difference between us and them.

We know Jesus, and they didn't.  

Jesus walked among us, died, and lives for eternity, for us.  And now, God has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and help us each and every day.  All of this is because God so loves us. 

As believers in Christ, we have an advantage in the world.

That's not to say we don't mess up.  That's not to say believers are any better than non-believers.  We aren't for sure.  We're just normal, ordinary people made extraordinary in Christ.

When we mess up, we have hand that will get us going in the right direction.  

Believing in Jesus means we are forgiven for backsliding.  And even better, God works in our hearts to make us more and more like Christ every time we repent.

We are like clay in the potter's hands.  God holds us and shapes us (Jeremiah 18).

So, as hard as it is to read Jeremiah, even though it's brutal, and I don't like the "hard stuff", these words are the truth.  

Because you know what?  Life without God is brutal.  

It's worth our every effort to accept Jesus into our hearts and lives.  What does that really mean in your life?

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,

  whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

  that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

  its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

  and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for sending Jesus to be my Savior.  He makes such a difference in my life, Lord.

Forgive me for the ways I backslide.  Hold me in Your arms and shape me.  Take my ordinary life, Lord, and make it extraordinary in Christ.

Guide me with your Holy Spirit to be better at sharing the love of Christ in the world.

I especially have ___________________ on my heart.  Show me what to do for You.  

My confidence and trust are in You, Lord.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

In Christ's love,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.