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.
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