"Jeremiah's personal life was miserable, his ministry a total failure." 66 LL. I wonder if Jeremiah would say that about his life so far? How does God measure our success in ministry? How do we begin to understand what God is doing in the midst of personal misery and personal loss caused by others?
Jeremiah 38:4 These officials told the king, "Please, kill this man. He's got to go! He's ruining the resolve of the soldiers who are still left in the city, as well as the people themselves, by spreading these words. This man isn't looking after the good of this people. He's trying to ruin us!" The king caved in: "You're too much for me, Jeremiah." They threw him into a cistern with no water.
Holiness doesn't ruin the resolve of the soldiers, UNLESS...you are promising what you cannot fulfill. Protection fom Suffering in this world. God doesn't promise to keep us from suffering. HE promises the Energy, Col. 1:29, the Power, Eph. 3:19, to trust Him as a Good God and the hope that HE is working all things for our good, Rom 8:28.
I am so touched by the courage of Ebed-melek who went immediately from the palace to the king and said, "My master, O king—these men are committing a great crime in what they're doing, throwing Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern and leaving him there to starve. The King actually listened to Ebed---that is amazing. Makes me so want to stand up for people being mistreated. Our culture values kindness over ethics.
Called to be advocates for those with no voice, no legs, no hands, no eyes. Who is my advocate? The Holy Spirit! HE will keep my feet from falling off the narrow path. Am I try to take John Bunyan's Bypath Meadow?
Anybody else read to about chapter 44 before they realized it's a misprint in the reading plan from Bible Gateway? Kind of funny because the end of chapter 42 was what I needed to hear today!
ReplyDeleteHow many times do I think I'll do exactly what God wants me to then don't follow through? Falling into disobedience... and why should God keep telling me which direction to turn if I'm not listening? Lord give us ears to hear and softened hearts to obey!
As I look at Jeremiah in these chapters, I just think about how sad he must have been to see the prophecy come true that he had been speaking all this time.
ReplyDeleteI don't sense that he gloated at all.
Being right or proven right just doesn't make things better. The vision he proclaimed was God's Message. And it was fulfilled.
No, Jeremiah was not a rooster, strutting around these ruins. He was cared for by his God. And those who aided him were remembered.
Vengence is mine, saith the Lord.
The weeping prophet is left behind to rebuild and restore. Huge harvests are ready for the picking. Fighting still comes. But God is in control.
Only HE sits on the Throne.
We must get behind him. Just like Jeremiah. It is the only safe place.
Hope is rising when I see the harvest is ready.
Love is rising when I see Jeremiah still at home and all his wants to be taken care of.
Faith is rising when I see God is the middle of this disaster. I see Him in the obedience of the ethiopian who saves Jeremiah from the cistern.
I read the right chapters but I had to sneak up to Chapter 42 to read it after your comment, Annette!
ReplyDeleteTomorrow will be the beginning of a 40-day countdown to the New Testament.
How can we prepare our hearts for the coming of our LORD???
40 days of seeking His Voice in our quiet time?
40 days of prayer for someone who needs Him so badly?
40 days of random acts of kindness in His name?
40 days of house-cleaning in our own temple...our body, mind and soul?
40 days of encouragements as God leads?
40 days of speaking our testimony to someone...written or face-to-face?
40 days of writing in our journals, letting go of things that need to be set aside, or going farther still in this faith-walk with Him?
Just thinking about how we can make this a time of preparation for His coming. I can hardly wait to start in the book of Matthew!
Count me in! I like that idea, Deborah--a Lenten season to precede the New Testament. Using our readings, preparing our hearts. We will be so ready for the New Testament, the Good News, the Grace that flows. But not too quickly...as Dr. Crabb says, we have to know the depravity of ourselves before we can appreciate the grace.
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning towards an hour of turning away from the "noise" of life and sitting silently in His presence.
ReplyDeleteNo requests.
No questions.
No whining.
No talk.
Just spending time with Him, listening to Him if He chooses to speak, worshiping Him without words.
That will be my 40 day Lent.
Love the 40-day fast...comes at a moving time for me as I seek God and ask the question from the 24th chapter of Jeremiah: How do I understand God in this season of my life? I believe HE is speaking to deep places in my heart. So very very grateful to HIM. And with much love and gratitude to each of you.
ReplyDeleteI am leaving a comment on August 24th that I would like all who read this blog to weigh in and contemplate and comment if you feel free to do so. It's in response to good feedback from a reader.
ReplyDelete