Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 11:18-23; 12:1-6; 17:14-18; 20:7-18 (day three)
“Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.” Who could blame Jeremiah for wanting a little positive feedback? But God knew that if Jeremiah found contentment in the praise of others, he would use them for his own comfort instead of loving them and speaking honestly to them. There is a difference between receiving encouragement from people, and becoming addicted to the words people say. As Jeremiah withdrew from people from time to time to hear hard words from God, he regained his ability to stand and speak to people in hard, severe, yet merciful ways.
Our example
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 11:18-23; 12:1-6; 17:14-18; 20:7-18 (day two)
I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” Jeremiah 11:19
These words are strikingly familiar and as we continue to focus on the cross this season we see Jeremiah’s words reflected in Jesus’ journey. But what was the end game? Jesus knew the path that lay before Him, and more than that, He knew the victory that would ultimately come. Jeremiah’s faith was strong, but he did not share the divinity of Christ. We can benefit from both. We know, who know that victory is assured through Jesus, can look at Jeremiah’s story and gain hope. Hope that says there is a way out. We will most assuredly come to situations that seem desperate, but with our eyes fixed on Jesus, we know that the tree will continue to bear much fruit.
When holy is hard
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 11:18-23; 12:1-6; 17:14-18; 20:7-18 (day one)
“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.” (20:9) Jeremiah is “between a rock and a hard place”. His service to God is unwelcome, unsuccessful (by any human measure) and unsatisfying. A hard assignment emotionally, physically and personally! He weeps often from the sheer stress. And when he tries to reduce the stress, the Spirit of God will not allow it. No escape. This cross has to be carried. Will we have similar moments? Moments when our service to Christ does not “pay” in anything but further disappointment? I think so. ” American Dream” Christianity proposes that faithful people will always be satisfied and happy. Biblical Christianity proposes that faithful people will sometimes be called to tasks that are holy and hard.
Reformation – then and now
RE Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day seven)
“REFORM your ways and your deeds.” (19:11) We look back on the Reformers with respect and gratitude. 1517. Martin Luther nailing 95 Theses to the door of the All Saints church in Wittenberg, Germany. John Calvin writing the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Such courage! But do we recognize our own responsibility? Each of us is called to reform his own ways and deeds. “If I cannot change the world, I will change my part of it”, says the obedient heart. God calls us to do so. We are not lifeless clay. (This is the place where the analogy of Jeremiah 18 breaks down.) We are humans, created in the image of God, with great capacity for moral thought and action. We are not victims! “Can a man be born (new) when he is old?” (John 3:4) Yes! By the Spirit, through faith (as expressed in obedience) life can be reformed. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” (1 Timothy 4:7)
Point of no return
RE Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12, 19:1-15 (day six)
“Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says, I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired.’ ” (19:10-11) It is called “the point of no return”. Aviation term referring to the point in a flight, due to fuel consumption, it becomes impossible to return to the base from which the plane took off. Do people ever reach this place? When the consequences come and it becomes impossible to get back “what we had”? The Bible says yes. Parents who love children warn them of such things. Pastors who love congregations. In Jeremiah 18, Judah is compared to wet clay. Elastic. By Jeremiah 19, the picture is different. Now the clay is hard and unyielding. The time for justice has come. “He found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:17)
Listening, Looking, Learning
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day five)
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” I bet he had seen potters doing their work lots of times. Yet this time, Jeremiah saw and obtained amazing insight and instruction from The Lord. Ever wonder how many times we overlook or pass by opportunities and circumstances that the Lord would use to teach, guide, and encourage us? Maybe a teachable heart begins with humble prayer asking God to help us see and learn throughout the day (about Him and ourselves). “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)
Ray Stedman describes this attitude; “It makes every incident in your experience a continual challenge to see God at work. At your office, at your kitchen sink, your desk, your nursing stand at the hospital, your room in the retirement home, your classroom at school you are being continually exposed to situations which are a challenge to God in you in your circumstances.” (commentary on Philippians 2:13).
Clay
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day four)
Jeremiah says that God is looking for clay. (Verse 18:6) Clay has no thoughts, no strengths, no weaknesses, and no will of its own. God is looking for people who are willing to allow Him to create them however He chooses. Have you ever told God what your strengths are so that He can shape a plan for your life using them? Have you ever told Him that particular areas of your life are weaknesses for you so He won’t try to use you in those ministry areas? God can shape and mold your life however He chooses. He is the potter, we are the clay. The sooner we learn that lesson, the sooner we will be effective in His ministry. It is our willingness to submit to Him…not our skills and talents…that makes us useful vessels. Yield your life to the potter’s hand…His skill will bear fruit!
Alarm
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-17; 19:1-20:6 (Day Three)
“Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?” When streams dry up, life suffers. What is true of the physical realm is true first of the spiritual realm—not because the physical realm is merely an inferior copy of the spiritual realm. It isn’t. But before the material universe came to be, God existed. He created the universe—everything that is—to function in a certain way—and only in that way. When streams dry up, people become alarmed, because they know the hardship that’s coming. Their physical well being is in danger. What is true of the physical is true first of the spiritual. Has righteousness ceased to flow in our lives? Should we be concerned?
What is Pride Worth?
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day two)
I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words. (19:15) Is getting your way worth it? Jeremiah could not have been a popular figure when he delivered these words, but the reality is that the truth was painful. Maybe you know someone like this; unwilling to listen, bend their will, or repent. At times we even champion people with iron wills, but at what cost to their souls. We are not in a position to negotiate with God, we don’t have anything to bargain with. The arrogance that may work in a corporate setting will be smashed like a clay pot. We don’t have to be this way, God is offering to refine and shape up into His character if we will let go of ours.
Does God change His mind?
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day one)
It is a trick question, I suppose. The true answer is that God never acts contrary to His own word and character. His does, however, leave Himself room for “flexibility” depending on how His word is received. He can (and does) warn nations of coming judgment. If that nation repents, He “will relent from the calamity planned” (18:8) He can (and does) announce His blessing on nations. If that nation becomes overconfident, takes His blessings for granted and moves into evil, He “thinks better of the good with which I had promised to bless it” (18:10) From our side, it may appear that He is changing His mind. From His perspective, God is ruling the world with absolute moral consistency. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. The one who sows to his own flesh . . .corruption; the one who sows to the Spirit. . .eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)