The word of the LORD will remain forever. And what he says will come to pass whether you like it or not.

I think we quickly noted that in JEREMIAH 36 - as well as a lot of other places in the Old Testament, that God had a lot of "Punishments/Judgments" against Israel and warned them multiple times to turn away lest the disasters happen.

Yet, its not the disasters that persuaded them unfortunately, in fact the response seemed rather ignorant of the warnings. 

To be honest, in today's culture, people are pretty bad at "future sighting" and "risk management" - and this has been a historical trend. It's easy to focus on the "now" especially if you can see a "We can fix it later" path. and this "We can fix it later" path has led to things like Credit and Debt which plagues many Americans and even Governments today.

So what does God do instead? He instead of threatening destruction which evidently had few merits throughout the Bible instead uses his love instead. It's about the love of Jesus and acceptance of you from God. And we can only receive that from the cross.

I think there could be a thing (speaking purely from a logical standpoint) that there'd be Christians who focus a lot more on God's acceptance and love for who they are -- rather than Jesus' Sacrifice. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing since that points to the Cross irregardless. But it's probably important to remember that the love of God is the most stunning force in the world. 

===

You know there's a common trend with the LORD - in that he always gives multiple warnings. For the LORD is merciful and gracious. He will not just leave you with one warning and then cut you off. But he is patient and gives you many an opportunity.

That being said -- if you continue to miss out, the time will come when it'll be too late. But sadly, all you can say is, Yes, I remember being asked multiple times but didn't do it.

===

Sometimes, your "suffering" is an opportunity for someone else to be saved (Jeremiah in a Cistern and Ebed-Melech). Ebed Melech saved Jeremiah and thus was spared from the Babylonians.

===

The LORD often hits us in our weakest spots -- because that's where we need his grace the most

Take King Zedekiah, he was advised by God 

"If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not burned down; you and your family will live..."

Yet he did not do so, and the city was burned down and him and his family was killed. What part of faith in the LORD was he asked to stretch? It was his humility and as a KING, it may be perceived as he's weak or even refusing to bend the knee -- even at the cost of his family.

Paul prayed over his weaknesses and ask the LORD take them away, but the LORD said "No" for my "power is made perfect in weakness." There are many many many examples including Moses, where their weaknesses was where God asked them to go - because that's where he empowers them the most.

And it requires faith to do so. You cannot intentionally do something in your weakness and not have the faith. Rather you need faith that God will help you as you jump off into the deep end. 

===

How much Joy will we have in the end times?

How much pain will be there for those who ignore God?

How much Discomfort will we receive to have that Joy?

How much Pleasure is worth the pain of ignoring the LORD?

Shall we still yet test the LORD?

Shall we not surrender the temporal Pleasures for Discomfort as a sign of worship to Him?

Do we show our faith in the LORD through our actions, through holding out on our temptations?

Long and wide is the road of destruction

but short and narrow is the path of eternal life and few find it!

Note that even if your setting, your place is doomed to destruction

Should you trust the LORD, he will save you just as saved Ebed-Melech the Cushite!

===

"...for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you." --> Jeremiah 42:10

Why is this verse significant?

It's significant because it shows that when disaster strikes, God is grieved and God presents a blessing, a way out. Because that's what a grieved parent does!

But if its a setback due to a weakness, God's power is made perfect.

It's interesting because God already knows your decision that's why sometimes he over-emphasizes and re-iterates almost as a pleading.

But why does God have to plead? Because he can see it in your eyes that you are planning to make the wrong decision and he wants to dissuade you!




















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 Today, it was about Personal Reflection.  The notion of " Personal Pleasure" . It is difficult for a person to rid themselves of the desire for Personal Pleasure and potentially tougher to differentiate between where the line is drawn. Even harder to honestly follow through with denying himself and following Jesus.  So today - we take it to the Garden of Gethsemane - the main recorded time when Jesus prayed for a potential way out of the crucifixation and pain that was to come. Interesting point of note is before the Garden of Gethsemane came the " Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial"  story where Jesus noted the Bible phrase "I will strike the shepherd    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." It's noted that Jesus was overwhelmed and sorrowful to the point where Jesus prayed "My Father if it is possible,  may this cup be taken from me .     Yet not as I will, but as you will." But interestingly, we should also consider it from the an...
Read more
  " Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" In our world, we live in, it's build on distrust  and anonimity  and it goes hand-in-hand. When you see a beggar on the street - what happens? You think "Oh he could be faking it, to earn money." When asked for things... you tend to be like "ooo Can I trust him to bring it back?" As a result, we live in a world of mistrust. Yet the word encourages us - to entertain strangers which doing so needs to be more trusting. As the Bible says "Do not Judge"... "Do not throw your pearls to the pigs" and likewise if we judge them too quickly, we may not entertain them because we start to think of reasons why we can mistrust them, reasons why we shouldn't entertain them.  Rather as difficult as it sounds, but by the LORD's grace, we need to think the opposite "What are reasons to trust them?", How can we best enter...
Read more
 " ...wait for the gift, my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about..." Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to Christians. Or rather God, the Father promised to baptize Christians in the Holy Spirit. Why?  Because without the Holy Spirit, we don't have our down deposit, we don't have a councillor, Jesus redeemed us so that we may be with the Holy Spirit. " In the last days, God says,    I will pour out my Spirit on ALL people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy,    your young men will see visions,  your old men will dream dreams..." God promises that he will pour out his Spirit on ALL people including us. And we will have great power to see visions, to prophesy. Why? For wisdom? For insight? To see and share with others... "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED ."  Have we ever considered how God felt? If God is the trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And yet God, sent Jesus to die on the cross -- G...
Read more