Lift Your Heads from the Sand and Gain Wisdom
Greetings in the Lord!
Today's word comes from Jeremiah 28-29. Both of those chapters have Jeremiah confronting the false prophetic voices of his day, the ones who were preaching "peace and prosperity" instead of facing the true moral decline of the leaders and people at that time--and who would not acknowledge the eminent danger of the approaching Babylonians as a result of their sins. These were men who were not consulting the Lord in any way, shape, or form, but rather, tenaciously holding onto the status quo--because they were favored in this system; pure selfishness for their motives. So they preached lies with all their might to persuade and deceive the people and tried to come against Jeremiah to silence him....to no avail. Babylon came and the word of the Lord was fulfilled.
You know, the challenging and oft interesting thing about being a prophetic voice of any era is the resistance that will sometimes rise up against the word of the Lord. Oh, there are plenty of modern prophetic voices that spoon-feed sweet candy words that people are addicted to like sugar and give out "pat-on-the-bum" encouraging "horoscopes" that can be read on the run and not thought too much about. But what I'm talking about is the meaty, life-changing prophetic words whose "spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ." It will be contested by many simply by the fact that not all the world accepts and believes in Jesus Christ. To hear it will strike a nerve in the heart, whether you can fully appreciate the word or not, it leaves an impression on the listener and forces them to give some reaction. That is why Jesus said, "Be careful how you listen," because your reaction to His words reveal and expose what is in your heart.
So Jeremiah continued in his daunting task of telling the Israelites that unless they repented, Jerusalem would be overrun and they would go into exile. More than that, they were to pray for the prosperity of the cities they would be exiled to, for if they prospered, so would the exiled Israelites. Then, after seventy years, God would return them to their land and they would prosper again. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Now that is a good promise indeed. For even though the prophets of old were mostly prophets of doom, they always concluded their words with the saving grace and future plan of redemption of the Lord. God Almighty is a good God, kind and compassionate. Even when He allows the whirlwind of judgments to overtake a people for their sins, He is merely letting the weeds of wickedness and unbelief to be pulled up and the plowing of the hard, rocky soil of their hearts for the planting of His true Seed, Jesus Christ.
It doesn't mean that all will believe, however. In fact, Jeremiah tells the people the word of the Lord regarding one of his adversaries, Shemaiah: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie, this is what the Lord says: 'I will surely punish Shemaiah and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for My people,' declares the Lord, 'because he has preached rebellion against Me.'" Jeremiah 29:31-32.
So, this day we exalt the word of the Lord, knowing that, even though we will go through troubled times which refine and re-define us in Him, we can trust in the good promises of God's redemption for us. He will never leave nor forsake us, even in the midst of the whirlwind. For though the clearing away causes our hearts to tremble at times, God has good plans in store for us. Move beyond the head-in-the-sand mentality that takes captive the simple and shuns a "difficult" word from the Lord. We can trust in the wisdom of our Creator, who is busy maturing us into faithful servants He purposed us to be. I've said before that troubled times are again on the horizon. This week I also was led to read Revelation 6; it talks about the releasing of four horses upon the earth to usher in the spirits of conquest, violence, famine, and death. It is interesting to note that this passage also makes mention that the "moon turned blood red" and we are in the time of the four blood moons now, so we can understand that we are in a time similar to Revelation 6. It is wise to draw near to God and spend time with Him. Let Him fill you with His "peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We need not be afraid when the waters rise--Jesus is our help and our Savior. He will see us through these troubled times. Amen.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Today's word comes from Jeremiah 28-29. Both of those chapters have Jeremiah confronting the false prophetic voices of his day, the ones who were preaching "peace and prosperity" instead of facing the true moral decline of the leaders and people at that time--and who would not acknowledge the eminent danger of the approaching Babylonians as a result of their sins. These were men who were not consulting the Lord in any way, shape, or form, but rather, tenaciously holding onto the status quo--because they were favored in this system; pure selfishness for their motives. So they preached lies with all their might to persuade and deceive the people and tried to come against Jeremiah to silence him....to no avail. Babylon came and the word of the Lord was fulfilled.
You know, the challenging and oft interesting thing about being a prophetic voice of any era is the resistance that will sometimes rise up against the word of the Lord. Oh, there are plenty of modern prophetic voices that spoon-feed sweet candy words that people are addicted to like sugar and give out "pat-on-the-bum" encouraging "horoscopes" that can be read on the run and not thought too much about. But what I'm talking about is the meaty, life-changing prophetic words whose "spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ." It will be contested by many simply by the fact that not all the world accepts and believes in Jesus Christ. To hear it will strike a nerve in the heart, whether you can fully appreciate the word or not, it leaves an impression on the listener and forces them to give some reaction. That is why Jesus said, "Be careful how you listen," because your reaction to His words reveal and expose what is in your heart.
So Jeremiah continued in his daunting task of telling the Israelites that unless they repented, Jerusalem would be overrun and they would go into exile. More than that, they were to pray for the prosperity of the cities they would be exiled to, for if they prospered, so would the exiled Israelites. Then, after seventy years, God would return them to their land and they would prosper again. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Now that is a good promise indeed. For even though the prophets of old were mostly prophets of doom, they always concluded their words with the saving grace and future plan of redemption of the Lord. God Almighty is a good God, kind and compassionate. Even when He allows the whirlwind of judgments to overtake a people for their sins, He is merely letting the weeds of wickedness and unbelief to be pulled up and the plowing of the hard, rocky soil of their hearts for the planting of His true Seed, Jesus Christ.
It doesn't mean that all will believe, however. In fact, Jeremiah tells the people the word of the Lord regarding one of his adversaries, Shemaiah: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie, this is what the Lord says: 'I will surely punish Shemaiah and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for My people,' declares the Lord, 'because he has preached rebellion against Me.'" Jeremiah 29:31-32.
So, this day we exalt the word of the Lord, knowing that, even though we will go through troubled times which refine and re-define us in Him, we can trust in the good promises of God's redemption for us. He will never leave nor forsake us, even in the midst of the whirlwind. For though the clearing away causes our hearts to tremble at times, God has good plans in store for us. Move beyond the head-in-the-sand mentality that takes captive the simple and shuns a "difficult" word from the Lord. We can trust in the wisdom of our Creator, who is busy maturing us into faithful servants He purposed us to be. I've said before that troubled times are again on the horizon. This week I also was led to read Revelation 6; it talks about the releasing of four horses upon the earth to usher in the spirits of conquest, violence, famine, and death. It is interesting to note that this passage also makes mention that the "moon turned blood red" and we are in the time of the four blood moons now, so we can understand that we are in a time similar to Revelation 6. It is wise to draw near to God and spend time with Him. Let Him fill you with His "peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We need not be afraid when the waters rise--Jesus is our help and our Savior. He will see us through these troubled times. Amen.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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