Tuesday Thought -- January 10, 2012

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

Monday Thought -- January 9, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple.  The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, ‘The LORD’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.  For this is what the LORD says:  “I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends.”’” (Jeremiah 20:1-4)

It’s always interesting to see the Lord give new names to people to reflect something about them or their future.  Abram became Abraham.  Sarai became Sarah.  Jacob became Israel.  Cephas became Peter.  Those are just a few examples.  And Jeremiah provides another one:  the priest Pashhur became Magor-Missabib.

Pashhur sounds unusual enough, but Magor-Missabib is really strange.  It means “terror on every side.”  That doesn’t prophesy a very good future for Pashhur!  The new name God selected says a great deal about Pashhur’s character.

Have you ever wondered what name God would give you to describe your character?  It’s an interesting exercise.  As you review your life, what character traits seem most dominant to you?  If God gave you a name to reflect those traits would you be proud of it or ashamed of it?

What changes do you need to make in order to be called by the kind of name you would be pleased with?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- January 6, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:  ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’  So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.  But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  Then the word of the LORD came to me:  ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’” (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

Israel was to be clay in the hands of the Potter.  God wanted them to allow Him to mold them into what He wanted them to be and use them for what He wanted to use them for.  Of course, Israel wasn’t always willing.  In fact, it seems as though Israel wasn’t often willing!  They had their own ideas about what they wanted to do.  They weren’t into allowing anyone else to shape them, not even the Lord.  They went their own way --and suffered the consequences of doing so.

It remains God’s desire to use those who are His in the way He chooses and to make them what He desires them to be.  There are some He molds to be preachers and some He molds to be singers and some He molds to be administrators and some He molds to be servers.  Some He wants to use to show how to handle success with faith.  Some He wants to use to show how to handle failure with faith.  Some He wants to use in health.  Some He wants to use in sickness.  Some He wants to use through a long life.  Some He wants to use in a few short years of life.  Each is important to God because each accomplishes a piece that fits into His plan.

Sometimes I don’t like the way that God wants to use me.  Sometimes I don’t like the molding process that He wants to take me through to make me what He wants me to be.  But -- He is the Potter and I am the clay!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- January 5, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what the LORD says:  ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.  He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.  He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.  He 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 17:5-8)

The question is:  where will we put our trust?

We can trust in our own intelligence, our own abilities, our own efforts.  God will allow us to trust in those things.  But that is a very short-sighted choice.  It may get us what we think we want out of life:  wealth, success, pleasure, fame, security.  But it will ultimately leave us empty and dry.

Or we can choose to trust in the Lord.  In that choice alone is ultimate satisfaction.  It is that choice which leads to a security that cannot be altered by what happens in this world.  It is that choice which does not experience terror when things turn sour in this life.

So, where will we put our trust?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- January 4, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

Jeremiah said, “When your words came I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.  I never sat in the company of revelers, I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation.” (Jeremiah 15:16-17)

Jeremiah got pleasure from the Lord and His Word.  God’s Word wasn’t available to Jeremiah in the same way it is available to us.  It is so easy for us to pick the Word up off our desk or bookshelf and read and meditate upon it.  The Jews had the scrolls that contained the books of the Old Testament that had been written to that point in history, but they were kept in the Temple and used by the priests.  The people had little access to them except through what the priests read for them.

But Jeremiah had another source for God’s Word:  God spoke directly to him.  When God spoke, Jeremiah listened.  He took what God spoke and ate it, he made it a part of himself.  He meditated on it and followed it.  And in doing that he found great joy.

That was a choice Jeremiah made.  Others took their joy in the things of the world, but Jeremiah took his joy in the things of the Lord.  It was a choice to sit apart from the world rather than join and be a partaker of the pleasures that were available.

Although the Word of God is more easily available to us than it was to Jeremiah and others in his time, do we take advantage of it and take it in and make it a part of ourselves?  OR do we leave it sitting on the table or gathering dust on the bookshelf and rarely lift it up to read?

And when we read, is it duty and drudgery or is it joy and delight?  What does our response to God’s Word say about our hearts?

Where do you take your pleasure?  What choice have you made?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 3, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“I said, ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, “You will not see the sword or suffer famine.  Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.”’  Then the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name.  I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them.  They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds.’” (Jeremiah 14:13-14)

We all like to hear good news.  We want to hear messages about peace and prosperity.  When economic times are tough, we listen for the economists who will tell us the bad times are ending and good times are just around the corner.  We like hearing that terrorism is under control, that safety has returned.  We like hearing about good things and predictions of more good things to come for us and those around us.  So did Israel in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah told them that judgment was around the corner.  He told them that God was angry and His patience had run out.  And the people didn’t want to listen to him.  They mocked him and abused him and turned away from him.

Other prophets told the people of Israel what they wanted to hear.  They reminded them that they were God’s special people.  They told them that God would rescue them from any danger and protect them from any attacks – like He had done in the past.  And the people listened to them.  They were rewarded with popularity and praise and prosperity for themselves.

The problem was that Jeremiah was speaking truth and those who prophesying good times ahead were lying!

Which would you prefer to hear --- good news that is a lie or hard news that is true?

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- January 2, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“You are always righteous, O LORD, when I bring a case before you.  Yet I would speak with you about your justice:  Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why do all the faithless live at ease?  You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” (Jeremiah 12:1-2)

Jeremiah’s question was an honest one.  Why do the wicked prosper?  Where is the justice in that?  Like Jeremiah, you and I have seen the righteous go through great pain and suffering.  And, like Jeremiah, we have seen the wicked be successful beyond their wildest dreams.  How can the lives of those who do not follow God be so comfortable?

If I can paraphrase the answer God gave to Jeremiah’s question, it would be this:  “Trust Me, I know what I’m doing.”

The pain the righteous endure is making them stronger, enabling them to endure what lies ahead in life.

The comfort that the wicked enjoy is but temporary.  Justice awaits, it will come in its due time.

Trusting God is what it boils down to.

His, by Grace,

Steve