by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 21-23
The people of Judah separate themselves from God – and He responds accordingly. Many warnings have gone forth, begging God’s people to repent and turn back to Him, but they won’t listen. So the inevitable occurs.
Babylon appears at the gate, and the king cries out for help, but it’s too late. The kings have turned to the gods of those nations around them. So have the priests. So have the prophets.
In fact, the prophets are sharing false dreams and visions which encourage the Jews to continue in their sinful ways. They are worshiping Baal and all of the false gods, which are really Satan’s counterfeits sent to destroy God’s kingdom.
This time, God refuses to help. He will not save these people from the future they have willingly run toward. All of the false visions and all of the prophets who said, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace, have led the people astray. They spoke words which tickled the ears of the priests and the kings, but they were not the words of the Lord. So the final hour has come – the hour to reap what they have sown. They planted a separation from the one true God; they are now about to reap the fruit: destruction.
Even in the midst of these words spoken against the leaders of the nation, however, a seed of hope is planted. That’s the way it is with our God. He won’t leave any of us without hope. He shines a light on the path which will eventually bring us to a hopeful future.
A prophecy concerning Jesus is planted. Some day God will raise up a “righteous Branch from David,” and He will be called “the Lord our righteousness.”(23:5-6) And people who have been scattered throughout the earth will return to God and to His Son.
Hope. God always plants a seed of hope for those of us who will listen. And that seed is what we need to plant in our hearts, allowing it to grow.
Today we can see many of the same issues in full bloom in our world. People, in following popular ideas, have deserted the one true God. They have allowed other gods from other cultures to contaminate pure doctrine, so that even many ministers deny what our God stands for.
In the middle of that turmoil, however, there are those who are hearing the cry of the heart to turn back to Him. Some are hearing that voice for the first time, and they are amazed that God is real and that He is still at work in the earth.
For those who will listen, there is tremendous hope. Our God is still taking care of those who follow Him. He is still healing broken hearts, binding up wounds of the past, and setting the captives free.
From the midst of the turmoil, a remnant of people will arise who will show His glory. I want to be one of those!
II Timothy 4
These words of Paul are just before his death. He is already “being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of his departure is at hand.” (V.6). Paul is soon to be martyred for his walk with the Lord, but he isn’t worried. He has “fought the good fight; finished the course, and kept the faith.” (V.7) A heavenly reward is awaiting him.
In these last words, Paul reminds Timothy to stay true to God’s Word, which is sound doctrine. He warns that the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will want to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate teachers for themselves who teach just what they want to hear.
I heard Joyce Meyer say once that she and Dave could tell when her teaching was something the people needed to hear. They would get very quiet. When her word was what they wanted to hear, they would shout and applaud. When the word was what they needed to hear, there would be silence in the room. Some would be listening intently, and benefitting. Others would be rejecting that word. They wanted their ears tickled.
If we are to grow in our walk, there will be times when we hear things which prick us, bringing correction. Those words aren’t pleasant, but they will cause us to rise up to our potential in Him.
Let’s listen to the whole counsel of God so that we will grow and become all that he desires us to be.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 18-20
Prophets are very visual in their presentations, and no one shows that any more than Jeremiah. The Lord paints pictures which demonstrate His message. Sometimes they are word pictures and sometimes they are actual demonstrations.
Jeremiah is now geting into demonstrations.
He is directed to go to the potter’s house and watch the potter at work. The vessel is “spoiled in the hand of the potter” (18:4), so he destroys it and remakes it. The Lord says that this is the way He sees His relationship with Israel. They have their position in the earth because of God’s blessing. Yet they have turned away from their Creator. What an abomination.
So to take the message to the next level, Jeremiah buys an earthernware jar and gathers some elders and priests. Taking them to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, he breaks the pot, shattering it to pieces. This is a demonstration of God’s dealings with Judah. If they don’t turn back to Him, He will no longer bless them. They will be destroyed.
With such an unpopular message, it’s no surprise that Jeremiah is hated by many. In fact, Pashhur the priest has the p[rophet beaten and puts him in stocks.
Though Jeremiah knows that the message he is delivering wil bring him harm – and isolation from his friends – he can’t help it. The Word of the Lord is like “fire shut up in his bones” (20:9). He can’t stop speaking what the Lord has for him to say.
It’s a hard, dark time in the nation of Israel. The Lord is holding nothing back to keep His peopole from suffering the fate which is coming their way. But they won’t listen. The more Jeremiah pleads, the more he is hated.
Even when the message is not one which we want to hear, we have to be willing to listen to the word from God. And if we love Him, we will obey.
II Timothy 3
The thoughts in Jeremiah take us right into this chapter. Paul speaks of the end times, and surely we are there. If you see the list of traits of the ungodly, you can’t help but recognize the times. “Lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant,..lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” (V.2-4).
So what can we do about it? For one thing, we must get our marching orders from the Bible and Holy Spirit, rather than from the world. That’s always been true, but even more so when the culture around is so counter to His ways. Our standard is Jesus; not the world.
Then when we run counter to the world, we suffer rejection from some. Those who don’t want to run with God malign those who do. Paul warns of this when he says that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (V.12) That’s just part of it.
When we fall in love with Jesus, pleasing Him is more important than anything else. With that perspective, standing strong and tall – as lights in a dark world – is our goal. We want to represent Him and not ourselves – or anyone else.
So what if everyone doesn’t like our stance? We are pleasing our Lord and that’s all that’s important.
Our faithful God will reward us with His presence and his refreshing here – and eternal rewards in the hereafter.
It’s all worth it.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 15-17
God has a purpose to achieve, and He chose Israel, the children of Abraham to help Him bring it to pass. He is going to bring a Savior (His own Son) into the world through this nation. For their part, they have to remain worthy of the charge. They have to be faithful to Him, as He is to them – like in a marriage.
In the meantime, we have the enemy on the scene, Satan, trying to thwart the plan. (He actually doesn’t know God’s plan, but He knows that these are His people, so the devil tries to infiltrate their culture).
The way the devil works is that he tempts God’s people to be like the culture around them. In doing so, they follow him, and not God. They get into pride and trust in themselves, rather than God.
Their unfaithfulness takes the Israelites out of the covenant, and God’s people will become a mockery to all the world.
Jeremiah has the hardest job possible. He has to tell these people the truth, even when they don’t want to hear it. They are angered against him, and want him to be quiet. But God has given him a job to do, and he must do it!
He complains to God. “Everyone curses me.”(15:10)
God says to him, “If you extract the precious from the vile, you will become My spokesperson.” (15:19) Jeremiah is to stop complaining and trust in the Lord. “They may turn to you, but you are not to turn to them.” … “I will deliver you from their hand.” (15:20)
Jeremiah gets refreshed and restored, and is ready to go again.
Sometimes, as we are doing God’s will, things get tough. Of course, His grace is with us, but we are human, and sometimes we get tired and weary. Yet He is with us, and will always refresh us, if we allow Him to.
The rewards of walking with God are great, if we continue with Him. He is faithful to restore us to a place of peace and confidence.
I want to be faithful to Him, don’t you?
II Timothy 2
“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (V. 3)
After spending time in Jeremiah, our hardship doesn’t seem like such a big deal, does it? Yet we can get tired of the antagonistic attitude of those who don’t want to walk with God. And the sinful lifestyles of those who walk away from Him.
We will be misunderstood and even maligned by those who don’t know Him.
The key here is to remain in fellowship with our Father and to remain true to what He tells us to do.
The energy which our Father brings to us is beyond anything we can imagine. He comforts us, renews us, and puts us back in the game. God’s grace is sufficient for anything that comes our way. We just have to stay in that grace – through spending time with Him and His word.
As we “handle accurately the Word of truth” (V.15), we will grow in our ability to understand and overcome the opposition we face.
The rewards are great – both here on earth, and in the hereafter.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 14
We are backing up a little today to get into something important as we study God’s dealings with mankind.
This chapter alludes to the origins of Satan. At one time, he was Lucifer, the angel closest to God in heaven. He was called “Star of the heaven” and “Son of the dawn.”
Later (in Ezekiel), we will read that he was beautiful and gifted. In fact, it was his great beauty and talent that led him to fall. Pride entered in, and it was all over for him.
In verses 13-14, Lucifer says in his heart that he is going to ascend to the heights and be like the Most High. He thinks that he can overthrow God.,but he is going to be thrown down to the Sheol, the recesses of the pit.
So the beautiful Lucifer becomes the lowest of the low. Eventually he will be cast into hell forever.
One day men will look on him and say, “Is this the one who made the whole earth tremble? Who shook kingdoms?” (V.16)
He’s crafty. He wants to trick us into rebelling against God along with him, and he does it by tempting us with pride. When under the influence of the devil, God’s creation can put themselves up to be God. They can exalt themselves, thinking that all of the keys to life reside within themselves.
From the fall of Adam to Jesus, man had no power over the devil. He can’t be seen, so men didn’t know who their enemy was. They thought that their ideas were their own – whether it included hate, murder, sexual perversion, or pursuit of drugs and alcohol. They didn’t realize that their enemy was trying to woo them down the wrong path.
In the meantime, Satan was out to destroy mankind.
But God had a plan. He would initiate a covenant with a man who would be true to him – the best that he could. (Abraham). Through that man He would bring forth a Son to die for the sinful nature of the world, and then men could be empowered back to their original state.
They would have wisdom and discernment. They would understand the ways of God, and they would commit to His will in the earth.
So you can see where we are now. Some day we will look on Satan and be shocked that this is the one who troubled the whole earth. He will not look beautiful and gifted as he once was; instead he will look shriveled and inept. In the meantime, we need to know who our enemy is – trying to get us into pride.
But we will resist him, and he will have to flee. In fact, the gates of hell will not prevail against us plundering his territory and helping others to escape.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 12-14
Jeremiah complains to the Lord. He’s been speaking God’s words to the nation, and has received nothing but flack. In fact, as he is telling the people that they need to turn back to the Lord, they ignore him and continue to prosper.
The Lord’s answer is one we should take to heart, if we really want to represent Him in the earth. He says, “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses?” (12:5)
It takes courage to run with the Lord. Very often we will be misunderstood or even vilified because of our stand for Him. Even if we aren’t saying anything, sometimes our actions tend to annoy those who want to ignore God.
The Lord is telling Jeremiah, “You haven’t seen anything yet. This is minor when compared to what you will encounter in the future.”
For us to be ignored or maligned by those who don’t want Jesus in their lives is a price we pay for walking with Him. But life is not a popularity contest. In fact, when we try to make it one, we always get off track. So let’s forget that.
Let’s look to Jesus. He is the One with the real answers – and eventually we will be rewarded for our faithfulness. He is the “author and finisher of our faith,” and He never makes a mistake.
Even though our God loves every human on the earth, not everyone will follow Him – and reap the eventual reward promised to those who are His.
So let’s run this race with a desire to win it. Keeping our eyes on the One who matters most.
II Timothy 1
“Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (V. 14)
At the end of Paul’s life, he is giving this advice to young Timothy, who is his protegé. The gift of the Holy Spirit was introduced to Timothy by a godly mother and grandmother, and then activated by Paul’s laying on of hands. This tremendous grace is there for him, but Timothy is the one who has to guard and keep it.
If we belong to Jesus, we too have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit – residing within us. He is our comforter, our teacher, and our guide for a life well lived.
So let’s not take the gift lightly. Let’s cherish what our Father has given us and realize that He has trusted us with this gift.
As we study, pray, fast, and do what He bids, we will fulfill our purpose in this life. His love for us is so significant. His purpose is also.
We can say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” (V.12)
Each day starting afresh – devoting our lives to Him. He won’t let us down.
