Category: Uncategorized

Jeremiah 39:27 (32:27)

I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Shall anything be hidden from Me?

Personal Challenge

Oh, foolish mankind. How often do we commit sins behind closed doors or in the dark thinking that no one can see us? How often do we think sinful thoughts believing that only we know what is going on in our minds? God is everywhere all the time. He knows our actions, even if hidden from all others. He knows our thoughts no matter how much we try to hide them. And yet, He loves us. He stands ready to forgive us when we turn back to Him. He does not use our sinfulness against us, but yearns for us to confess it to Him, repent from our sinful ways, and live within His love and light. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Jeremiah 38:25 (31:25)

For I have satiated every thirsty soul and filled every hungry soul.

Personal Challenge

Do we really want to be satiated by our God? Do we want Him to fill us so much with His love and mercy that it overflows and touches everyone around us? The only way that this can happen is for us to thirst and hunger for Him. That is when He satiates that thirst and hunger. If our thirst and hunger is for the world, then the world will fill us up with itself and we will never be satiated. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Jeremiah 38:3 (31:3)

The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I drew you in compassion.”

Personal challenge

We humans think we know so much about love and how to love another. We may know how to love another, our spouse, our children, our parents, but at the same time we express love for our car, our job, or any other myriad of things in our lives. This is not the kind of love that God has for us. His love is everlasting. He loved us before we were even conceived. He loves us even when we reject Him and pursue sin. He loves us to the point of giving His life for us. Our ability to love, or to understand love, pales in comparison to His love. There is no surprise then, that the only two commands that Jesus gave us were to love God and love our neighbor. If we desire to be like Christ, then we must submit to His love and love those around us the way He does. Glory be to God!

Jeremiah 37:13-14 (30:16-17)

Therefore, all who devour you shall be consumed, for all your enemies shall devour themselves. Your sins multiplied because of the abundance of your wrongdoings, thus they did these things to you. But those who tore you to pieces shall be as prey, and I will give all who plundered you as plunder. For I will bring about your healing from a painful wound. I will heal you,’ says the Lord. ‘For you were called Dispersed, for they said, “She is your prey, because no one seeks her.’ ”

Personal Challenge

If we treat others around us as the world treats us, then we will reap the fruit of the world. A fruit that is bitter. We are called to live in this world as peacemakers who show others the love of God. By doing this God will bring healing to the wounds that we have incurred on our journey through life. Glory be to God!

Jeremiah 36:11-13 (29:11-13)

For I shall consider a plan of peace for you, to give you good things and not calamities. Therefore, pray to Me, and I will hear you. Seek Me, and you will find Me, because you seek Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 36:5-7 (29:5-7)

Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands; and be multiplied and not diminished. Seek the peace of the land into which I carried you captive. Pray to the Lord for them, for in its peace you shall have peace.

Personal challenge

Paul called us ambassadors for Christ. Jeremiah reminds the Jews that they are dispersed from their promised land. In both cases, we are not living where our true home is. And in both cases, we are told to live fully as citizens where God has planted us, but with our minds and hearts fixed on Him and His kingdom, therefore being His representatives, His ambassadors wherever we are. This does not mean that we are dissenters or disrupters, but peacemakers. We live in such a way so as to be at peace with those around us a lights that point to Christ. Glory be to God!

Jeremiah 23:23-24

“I am a God who is near,” says the Lord, “and not a God afar off. Can a man hide in secret, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

Encouraging Words

I have often heard this message expounded on in the negative, that God is watching everything that we are doing so that He can punish us for our sins. I prefer to see the message here that God is always there for me when I need Him, which is all the time. He is there to support and encourage me, to love me, and to help me in times of trouble and temptation to make the right choices. The real question to ask is, “Am I near to Him?” Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Jeremiah 17:3-4 (17:7-8)

But blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord, for the Lord shall be his hope. He shall be like a flourishing tree alongside the waters which spreads its roots toward the moisture. He will not fear when the burning heat comes, for He shall be like the root in a grove in the year of drought. He shall not fear, for he shall be like a tree that does not cease yielding its fruit.

Command with a Promise

We are charged to put our trust and hope in our Lord. This does not mean that we put our trust in some person, some political leader, a political party or other organi­zation, or the stuff that we have acquired. We are to put our hope and trust in our Lord only. What is the promise that goes with this charge? We will flourish like a tree planted by the banks of water. We will not fear… anything. We will grow in Christ and produce fruit. Glory be to God!