Jeremiah #2

First let me say that Jeremiah is a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGG book with LOOOONNNNGGG chapters. I have had to amp up my Bible reading or I will never get through it I'm afraid. Also, I read the commentary after every chapter so it is taking me doubly long. However, if I were not to read the commentary I wouldn't understand half of what I'm reading.

That being said, I am truly amazed at those crazy OT people. Chapter 34. So Jeremiah has been warning King Zedekiah and all of the people of Jerusalem OVER AND OVER that they will not succeed in fighting against the Babylonians. God had already determined to hand over the city of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. In vs. 8 - 11, Jeremiah brings to light the evil practice of the enslavement of Israelites by their own people. This was a violation of God's law (Ex. 21:2-11). Perhaps in a desperate attempt to win God's favor, King Zedekiah grants all of the slaves their freedom. Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves in accordance with God's law. So, after the people had made the covenant in the temple before GOD, sure enough, the Babylonian army broke off its attack. They had to break their attack to repel an attack on them by the Egyptians.

So now the people of Jerusalem start hoping for an Egyptian victory, and then they start thinking "hmmmm... if the Egyptians are successful and take down the Babylonians, we are gonna' have some major rebuilding to do here. So we probably need to get our slaves back!" So the people reneged on their promise to God and took their slaves back.

WHAT???? Seriously. They make vows before God in His temple that they will let their slaves go in accordance with HIS Law.......amazingly the attack from the Babylonians stop.........did they not think maybe they should be THANKING God for this reprieve? For another chance? But, NOOOOO, they forget all about God again (seems to be a general theme of the OT) and take their slaves right back to start rebuilding! Truly amazing.

So, as you can imagine, they pay the price for this. Vs. 12-20 shows God rebuking the people for their inconsistency. When they rescinded their promise they profaned God's reputation because the covenant had been made before God in His temple. God's punishment matched their sin. By revoking their covenant, the people had not proclaimed freedom for those Israelites who were wrongfully enslaved. Therefore ironically God would give them freedom to die by the sword, plague, and famine. Uh-Oh. BIG MISTAKE PEOPLE!!!

So I started thinking about how we do this exact same thing really. We tell God we will stop doing certain sinful behaviors "if only He will (insert your request here)". But then once our prayer is answered, most of us continue about our sin like nothing ever happened. At least I think just about everyone is like that. I know I have done that exact thing. Maybe not as fast as the Israelites reneged on their promise, but.......over time. It might be a slow, gradual fade back to the sins, but it happens.

COMPASSION

Last week sometime I heard the phrase "be the hands and feet of Jesus". Could be a song. Could've been from something I read. Not really sure. But that phrase has gone through my head a lot over the last week. You know, it would be a lot easier to lead a "self-filled" life, rather than trying to be Christ's hands and feet. It means putting other's needs before your own. It is the opposite of what our culture tells us today. There are so many needs all around us.......many greater than our own. We need to have compassion. God has taught me compassion in numerous different areas in the past year. Compassion for those with addictions. Compassion for those going through financial hardship. Compassion for single mothers. Compassion for those with loved ones in hospitals. Compassion for those with cancer. Compassion for mothers with really sick children.... So, those are just SOME of the areas I can think of right off the top of my head. Guess you have to go through some hard things to gain compassion. Or at least it has worked for me.

C - caring about/for others
O - offering to help
M- meeting needs
P - prayer for those in need
A - acts of kindness
S- serving
S - sharing the burden
I - not about I
O- owning the problem
N- noticing needs

God's Word

Man, how I love God's Word. I am happy to be able to say this because just a short few years ago this was definitely not the case. I truly thought it was boring. Now I am just fascinated by what I read. God definitely "opens the eyes of your heart" the more you delve into His Word. I only wish that I had a better memory at this point in my life. So many times I find myself fascinated by something in my morning reading and by afternoon I can't remember what it was! Sad, I know.

Right now I'm in Jeremiah. As my dad said the other day, God really commands Jeremiah to do some weird things. Like going to the city gate and yelling out a doomsday message. Or wearing the yoke around his neck. In today's society, we would be calling the authorities and that person would end up in the nuthouse, right? Really, imagine if God told you to go to your local church or courthouse (or Wal-mart for that matter) and stand outside and yell "Repent! Quit your sinning. Turn to God. Don't worship all of your idols (today's world: money, stuff, money, other people, celebrities, money, your job, money, etc....). If you don't God is going to pulverize this whole place. Oh, and go ahead and let yourself be taken by the enemy, because if you do then you will end up being blessed. But if you run and hide, forget about it. You will suffer extreme hardship and DIE!!!

Hmmmm.... I'm pretty impressed that Jeremiah had the guts to do all that God wanted him to do. Would like to think that I would, but probably not anywhere near those extremes unfortunately. Just being honest. It's hard enough for me to hold my hands up while we are singing in church. I'm up to one hand now. Pretty big for me really. Pathetic, I know.

I like this verse from Jeremiah 15:16 "When Your Words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty."

Anyways, I'm now praying that God will give me understanding and memory when it comes to His Word. This is a prayer from Paul in Eph. 1:17-19 - "I pray that you, Father, will give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation , so that i may know you better. I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which you have called me, the riches of your glorious inheritance in your people, and your INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER for us who believe." Amen. Awesome.

So much more I could write on this, but gotta' run....well, spin. I'm teaching a Thursday morning spin class now.