Lord, Do Something!

“O LORD, do something...for our backsliding is great...why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?   Why are you...like a warrior powerless to save?” Jeremiah 14:7-9.

When my daughter was involved in the dark things of the world, on occasion she would promise me that she was going to give up the life.  We would have wonderful talks and I felt hope rising, only to have it dashed upon the rocks realizing she had drifted back.  We would get calls from the police telling us that she was in jail and we needed to come and get her.  Once she became an adult, we were powerless to save her and she was incarcerated in Raleigh for 7 months.  She took the power to save out of our hands by her continuation of a dark lifestyle. 

The people of God were no different as they continued to backslide in their loyalty and love for Him.  They made decisions and life choices that shut Him out and opened up their worship of other gods.  When things got difficult they had the audacity to blame Him for not being there for them.  They called Him a stranger in their land... unrecognizable.  They compared Him to a wandering traveler who would not stay at their home for more than a night...illusive.  Ultimately, their words would sting as they accused Him of being incapable of removing the hardship from their lives... powerless.  Are we really any different?

We choose things on Sundays to do other than resting in the Lord.  Like a host, we only open our hearts to Jesus one day a week instead of inviting Him to move in.  We backslide in our time with Him and forget His power to save, comfort and heal our hearts. Then we turn on Him in blame and demand answers that are not ours to know.  They are the things of God and He shares them with those who spend time, resources, service and intimacy with Him.  We all have this availability and privilege if only we would approach Him during the calm as desperately as we approach Him in our troubles.  We must repent from our sin of backsliding.  ‘Repentance is not just admitting our sin; it is turning from it.  God wants more than words. Real faith reveals itself through actions.  When our mouths say one thing but our actions reveal something else, we are only lying to ourselves.’ Melissa Spoelstra, Jeremiah – Daring to Hope in an Unstable World, p. 160.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand.…” John 10:47.

Worn Out!

“You have said, ‘I am overwhelmed with trouble! Haven’t I had enough pain already? And now the Lord has added more! I am worn out with groaning and can find no rest’” Jeremiah 45:3.

In my 20’s, I worked for a man who dictated all of his correspondence while I transcribed in shorthand. Sometimes I would get caught up in what he was communicating to his intended recipient and would lose my focus. On some occasions I could not believe the tone and the words that my boss was using. I would be embarrassed for him, irritated at him and hated writing it down knowing someone was going to be on the other side of this message. Our passage today was from a person who also took dictation while his friend shared the message God wanted to communicate to His children. Day after day, year after year the message always seemed to have the same theme. My children have turned from me and are chasing after idols, I have given them chance after chance, and now destruction is coming. I cannot even imagine the heaviness of both hearing this message of destruction and staying focused on getting it down to be read at a later date. No wonder he was overwhelmed with trouble and felt like God was picking on him. He was worn out, sleep deprived and sick in his soul. How did the Lord answer? ‘Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it!’ Jeremiah 45:5.

When we focus on our troubles and circumstances God knows that we will carry burdens we were never meant to carry. I believe that seeking great things for ourselves can also mean having a set of expectations that do not come about. We think if we are Christians, we will not experience trouble which is not biblical. We feel we are entitled to our feelings when we experience disharmony in our relationships. We live our lives expecting others to do for us what we do for them...people have free will so this expectation falls flat in many cases.

Instead of seeking for ourselves we should walk out Matthew 6:33 which states, ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’ What are all these things? Physical food for nourishment and drink for refreshment...grace when we sin...comfort when we are upset...healing when we lose a loved one to heaven... forgiveness when we don’t deserve it...the promise and certainty of heavenly reunions and beautiful forever's. We are all guilty of these feelings because as long as we are on earth we walk in the flesh more readily than the spirit. I notice for myself it takes intentional hard work to walk in the Spirit and many times surrendering my own comfort and agenda. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm one of those people who look around at others who seem to have it easy and aren't really that rigorous in serving others and sharing the gospel. I look at my sacrifices and how much I try to impact the Kingdom for God and can't understand why I have a husband who was called to another state to work, a job that takes me out of every comfort I have along with some secret heartbreaks. Its all flesh and its all human nature so I must intentionally deny myself and comfort and 'take captive every thought' that is contrary to the spirit. I CANNOT wait until I cross over the threshold of heaven and claim:

Face to face with God
My reunions with my family
My peace and unchanging joy
My enduring happiness

But until then, we can be both confident and thankful that when we do slip into those flesh feelings we have a God to run to and promise of a comforter who lives inside our hearts to settle our emotions. Praise God!When we focus on the things of God and the transforming work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit it will help us soar above challenging temporary troubles. Thank God we are not citizens of this world but citizens of a city to come.

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ' Philippians 3:20.

His Delights

“Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken” Jeremiah 13:15.  “This is what the LORD says... ‘but let him who boasts boast about this:  that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD.’” Jeremiah 9:23-24.

There is nothing more destructive than pride, and the flesh hungers and thirsts for its presence.  Pride is talked about from Genesis to Revelation.  I read a definition of pride this morning in my Bible study which really resonated with me.  Melissa Spoelstra defines pride as an elusive thing that takes many forms.  Simply stated pride is an obsession with self.  ‘Apart from God’s work in our lives, every one of us will make decisions to serve our own interests – to paint ourselves in the best light and work out situations to our benefit,’ Jeremiah, Daring to Hope in an Unstable World, p. 148.

The manner in which my pride took form was taking credit for things in the past.  My pride was fueled by insecurity and my pursuit of self-worth.  For me, when I would talk about the things I had accomplished it was my need to be accepted and validated that was crying out through my boasting.  This too was pride for it demonstrated my disbelief in the value that Christ claims I possess.  Only through pushing deeper in my relationship with Him was I able to see the prideful areas.  As I get to know Him better and understand what He stands for I can release trying to gain the approval of others.  We are told what things that He delights in...exercising kindness to all...working on behalf of the least of those to bring about justice, and pursue a life of righteousness.

Pride screams I don’t have time...pride echoes someone else will help and pride masquerades in many different masks.  We must root ourselves in Christ so He can show us the transforming heart work that each of us must do.  Apart from Him we can do nothing.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

A Basket of Figs

“The LORD showed...two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.  One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten” Jeremiah 24:1b-2.

As Christians we have already reconciled the message of the cross.  We have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior who went before us, reconciled our sins through His death and rose to join God in eternity.  In our hearts we have settled our salvation and accepted the life dedicated to God.  In Jeremiah’s day God’s people also showed their reverence to God by approaching the front of the temple, leaving offerings of their harvest.  This particular illustration was a harvest of figs, some which were the ripe ones and some which were already rotten.  The offerings in this vision that God gave to Jeremiah represented those believers who had a halfhearted devotion to God verses those who wholeheartedly gave the first of everything to God. 

‘The figs talked about in this passage were located at the front of the Temple.  This is where people brought their offerings to the Lord.  They were supposed to give God the best of what they had harvested.  When people lost their faith in God’s power, they kept the best for themselves and put their rotten leftovers in the offering baskets.  Similarly, our offerings to God reveal what we really believe about Him.  We need to pursue God wholeheartedly’ Melissa Spoelstra, Jeremiah – Daring to Hope in an Unstable World, p. 127. 

In considering this message this morning I began wondering about my own relationship with Christ.  Does my life represent the basket of good figs or the basket of rotten figs?  Do I offer Him the first of everything when I approach Him?  Offering the firstfruits means giving Him the first moments or hours of our day.  The basket of good figs will contain the first 1/10 of every penny we bring in.  By offering the firstfruits we might be the one in a situation to show grace first.  There are many things that make up a basket of good figs if we follow God fully devoted to Him instead of devoted to ourselves...our comforts...our agenda.  I will continue to be aware of rotten figs in my life so they will not spoil the good ones.

Who Can Understand It?

“The heart is deceitful among all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” Jeremiah 17:9-10

I am constantly amazed that no matter how deeply we walk with Jesus our heart can mislead us and misguide us.  It seems every day I'm reconsidering something I said to someone I love.   Each morning I include in my prayers to settle my emotions from the previous day and night.  The question is asked in Jeremiah, ‘Who can understand it?’ The answer is that God is the only one who can truly understand our heart. He understands when it has been broken...He understands when our dreams have been dashed...He understands when we are walking in such fear we almost seem paralyzed.  He understands what motivates our words and actions, both good and bad. Through His understanding He comforts, convicts, loves and sustains our hearts with His amazing grace.

But He also understands the bitterness of our hearts. He understands when our hearts carry anger and entitlement. He understands when our hearts are closed towards a person or a situation. He invites us to bring those heart feelings to Him for repentance and freedom from them. God does not expect our feelings to be perfect but He does invite us to bring our questions and emotions to Him in humility and honestly. ‘We are never completely blameless in any conflict. We can’t fix others, but we can evaluate our own hearts and repent...Asking questions and taking time to understand our feelings begins the process of allowing God to do His transforming work in our hearts. If we don’t acknowledge the hurt or the hate, we can’t move on to the healing.’ Jeremiah, Daring to Hope in an Unstable World, p. 104-105.

Melissa Spoelstra gives us specific ways to allow God the process of softening our hearts and settling our emotions. She challenges us to ask God to help us understand our feelings. She encourages us to seek wise counsel to help us draw out our heart issues. She instructs us to then repent and confess our feelings to God. If we will surrender our sinful hearts to Him He offers us a new heart...a softened heart like the heart of Christ.

His Turn To Talk

“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming.’” Psalm 27:8.

Bruce has taken a temporary assignment for work in Augusta, Georgia where he resides Sunday – Thursday. When we are reunited each week it seems we have tons to talk about just to catch each other up on our lives. Last Friday night, we went to our favorite restaurant and I began to pour out my week in the conversation. I laugh looking back because we must have looked like THAT couple...you know the one...she talks and he sits there dazed over. I finally looked at him and advised him that it was now his turn to talk.

All joking aside, how much of our prayer life is similar to that restaurant image? We go several days without really talking to God, and when we finally decide to sit still we go on and on about our life. We talk...we ask...we beg...we plead but do we even give Him a chance to answer? Do we determine when it is His turn to talk or do we grab the spiritual check and determine it’s time to leave? God pursues time with us not just to hear us talk, but to reveal to us things we don’t even know we need. He wants to share His heart with us not just His ears. God is the greatest listener there is, but He is even a better communicator if we will just give Him the chance to talk.

What if we listened first and then spoke? What if our words to Him were in response to His words to us? Any great dialogue is made up of talking and listening. We must carve out time with our precious Father who has the keys to life and peace for our hearts. His words are the beginning and the end of everything we need to know to navigate through our tough circumstances.

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’ Jeremiah 33:3. When He calls to us may we have the same heart of Jeremiah and answer, ‘Lord, I am coming!’