PLAN OF PEACE

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

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.

Personal Challenge

Finding God, truly meeting Him and getting to know Him intimately, is more on us than it is on Him. He is constantly making Himself available and known to us. We are just so busy with our worldly lives that we fail to recognize Him. If we pray to Him, He hears us. If we seek Him, we will find Him. We must do these things with our whole heart .When we find Him and dwell within His presence, He will give us a plan of peace, to give us good things and not calamities. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

ABOVE ALL THINGS

1 Peter 4:7-9

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

Personal Challenge

One thing that so many people today who proclaim to be Christians gets wrong is His teachings and expectations about love. Peter, who walked with Jesus and was one of the strongest leaders of the early Church, commands us to be fervent in our love for one another. He was surely harkening back to the sermon on the mount by Jesus, the beatitudes, the parable of the last judgment, and Jesus’ final words from the cross. Jesus was all about loving our neighbor. We cannot be selective in that love and act as if we are following Jesus. From that love flows a hospitality towards others that has no room for grumbling. Got is love and He expects us to love everyone. Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

BUILD, PLANT, LIVE

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

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.

Encouraging Words

As followers of Christ, we live our lives as if we are ambassadors for God here in this temporal world. Our true residency is in God’s kingdom. This, by the way, makes it easier to go through the chaos in the world without getting upset about it. In this passage, Jeremiah was encouraging his fellow Israelites, who were captives in a foreign land, and therefore ambassadors themselves, how to live. They were to live fully by building houses, planting gardens, marrying, and having families. They were to live as much for their God as they could so that they could create a place of peace in their temporary home. What a wonderful encouragement. Thanks be to God!

SUFFER FOR DOING GOOD

1 Peter 3:13-17

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Personal Challenge

We must always remember that our world is upside down compared to the way that God wants His followers to act. He wants us to be humble in order to be great in His Kingdom. He wants us to give from our abundance so that we might receive from His. He will bless us if we suffer for righteousness’ sake. He does not want us to be afraid or troubled about what the world might throw at us for He is our shield and our protector. He wants us to sanctify Him in hearts and to be ready to give a defense for His hope that is within us, with meakness and humility. We can have a good conscience knowing that when the world tries to defame us for living this way, that they will be the ones that are shamed. Lord have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Saint of the Week

St. Sophrony of Essex

EVERYWHERE

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

There is no place where I can go, no situation that I can get caught up in, no threat towards me, that my God is not in the midst of. He is everywhere at all times. He is my close helper and friend that I can always count on. Even when I am the one who goes astray, He is there to guide me back. Glory be to God!

INHERIT A BLESSING

1 Peter 3:8-12

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

For

Command With a Promise

Once again, Peter reminds us of how we should live our life and the promise of a blessing if we do so. So, what are we supposed to do to inherit this blessing? Be of one mind with other believers. Have compassion for one another. Love as brothers and sisters being tenderhearted and courteous, not returning evil for evil, reviling for reviling, but returning a blessing. This is what we are called to do. He provides this quote from Psalm 33: 13-17 to drive his point home with more guidance and a clear delineation between the righteous and the evil. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

BLESSED

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

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.

Encouraging Words

As followers of Christ we put our trust in the Lord and not in people or institutions. The Lord is our hope. By doing this we are blessed in our spiritual lives, no matter what is going on in our physical lives. Having grown up in the country and around orchards, this imagery of a flourishing tree alongsible the waters so eloquently articulates the blessings we receive. Glory be to God!

GIVING HONOR

1 Peter 3:7

Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Command With a Promise

This is one of the verses that is so often abused and misinterpreted in the church. Those who follow the dominionist mindset believe that women should be subserviant to men, that they must submit to man’s every whim, and humbly accept their position in life and society, stay barefoot and pregnant, don’t speak up, and don’t vote. Not only is this wrong, it is unbiblical. God created us all equal! By the way, if you dig into the driving force that is behind the movement of Christian Nationalism today, you will find that this is one of their core teachings. Peter on the other hand, is telling the recipients of his letter that husbands and wives are joint heirs in the grace of God’s kingdom. We are partners and it is the husbands responsibility to love and understand his wife, to give her the honor that God gives her. By doing this, our prayers will not be hindered. This does not just apply to husbands and wives, but to all male/female relationships. Glory be to God!

GLADNESS AND JOY

Jeremiah 15:16

Make an end to them (those who reject God’s words), and Your word shall be the gladness and joy of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord, the Almighty. Italics mine.

Personal Challenge

We live in a world that wants to have nothing to do with God. It is part of our responsibility as followers of Christ to be light and salt to these people and every other person that we come into contact with. Light to show God’s love for them and His desire to pour His mercy and grace out on them. Salt to provide a savory taste of God’s love that brings gladness and joy into our hearts. If the lives that we are living while we are proclaiming Jesus as are Lord is hurting those around us and showing our actions to be contrary to the teachings of Christ, then we are rejecting God’s word. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!