Good Morning Friends,
“O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. I hear many whispering, ‘Terror on every side! Report him! Let’s report him!’ All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.’ But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 20:7-11)
The message God gave Jeremiah to preach was not a pleasant one. It was not one that the people to whom he was preaching wanted to hear. When Jeremiah preached it, the people turned against him.
Being faithful to God’s message is not always easy. In fact, it rarely is. God’s message is judgment upon sin. God’s message is to turn away from the wickedness that overtakes the human heart so easily. People don’t often want to hear that!
So, why share God’s message with others? Jeremiah had no choice. It is what God had called him to do. The message of God burned in Jeremiah’s heart like a fire. He could not keep it in.
God calls us to the sharing of His message, too. We have no choice. It is what God has called us to do. When we fully grasp it, it burns like a fire in our heart, too. It must be shared with those around us.
And when we do, God will be with us. He will not abandon us. Like a mighty warrior, He will be with us. In the end, He will win, and those with Him will win, too!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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