“Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.” Jeremiah 15:19 -> me: Passage today was Jeremiah 15:10-22. All I can say is wow! I spent a good portion of the day dwelling on and then writing up a whole devotional focused on verses 19-22. Sooooo good! I will post that devotional once I can get it transcribed from my notebook. 🙂 My main takeaway from today was that God reaffirms His call on Jeremiah’s life. Jeremiah laments about his fear of God leaving him but God brings him comfort; not by solving his problems but by reiterating His calling and protection over him. God reminds Jeremiah that He will not leave Jeremiah’s side. When you have a calling on your life by the One True God (we all do if we are genuine believers), we have God’s promise that He is right there with us. He may not solve our problems or get us out of the sticky situation we are in, but He does promise to give us the strength to persevere to the end.
QTVOTD: The weight of discipline…
“You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.” Jeremiah 15:6 -> me: My reading today was Jeremiah 15:1-9…Here we see an Old Testament example of church discipline played out. When the Jews continued in their rejection of the Lord, continued their backsliding, and refused to change their ways; they are released to an existence without the intervening hand of God. He even says “Send them from My presence, Let them go!”. This scares me for those that continue in habitual sin where church discipline is required. The removal of God’s hand from your life allows the evil one an open door to further deceive and destroy. Super scary. Jeremiah does speak of hope for the Jews but only in the context of recognizing sin and guilt. My life application takeaway from today is to keep this ‘removal of God’s hand’ in mind when the church is pushed to exercise church discipline. The weight church leadership bears in the execution of this process is heavy (the entire process is structured to bring the wayward soul back into reconciliation with God and the church body) is heavy and should be done with reverence and prayer seeking first, then executing God’s will according to His word.
QTVOTD: My heart is laid open before God…
“We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us. Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.” Jeremiah 14:20-22 [ESV] -> me: Through my passage today – Judah (through Jeremiah) makes their pleas heard to the Lord. They were asking things like “why are You like a stranger in the land?” and “are You like a traveler who only stays for a night?”. God’s response sears right through their cries; He reminds them that their wickedness and worship of false gods has shown Him that they no longer see Him as their Sovereign Savior. God discerns the heart. Jeremiah did his best to speak on behalf of his people but the Lord will not be moved by empty/shallow petitions. In the QT verses today – Jeremiah uses a weird combination of flattery and challenge in his ask for God not to ruin His own name by punishing His people. My God will not be mocked, I need to be sure of my heart condition whenever I come before my King. When my motives are based on the truths of God’s word, He is faithful to guide!
QTVOTD: Destroy strongholds..take captive…
“For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 -> me: Today I was drawn to this passage as a reminder of Whose I am and the power that God gives me when I submit to and am obedient to Him. Tyndale’s commentary on this passage discussed the military terms that Paul used here and their paraphrasing of verse five is “The arguments Paul destroys are the ‘strongholds’ in which people fortify themselves against the invasion of the knowledge of God (the gospel).” This is so right on when it comes to our current situation in our country. We all have these intellectual strongholds, but when I submit myself to God and His Word, then His gospel and Holy Spirit give me the ability to not only to demolish false arguments but also to bring people’s (and my own) thoughts under the lordship of Christ.
Marianne’s Notes: Be careful of judging…
The more insane the world gets the more true, steady, and solid God is. I can’t help but see God’s utter divine providence in every new cast. However, if I am spending more time reading or watching or listening to the world and it’s commentary of our times then I’ve grossly missed the point…I am a CHRIST follower; not a political follower or a particular minister’s follower…a CHRIST follower. I need to saturate myself in what God’s word says about my sin, my heart, my pride, and ask Him to align my wayward heart to His so that I can stand for the things He stands for. Alone. God has cranked the turn key of my wick and that fire is growing ever brighter towards obedience, allegiance, and faith than ever before. James 4:11-12, “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
Christian, yes, you in the mirror, don’t slander other believers! What is the point of that? For what gain? Typically, a personal one…a self-righteous one. I want to judge another believer for their failure or sin so that mine isn’t so apparent. As long as we are judging others the finger isn’t pointing at us. When we place ourselves in position of judge we are elevating ourselves to God’s place. He created the law; He created the judgments against it and He alone will execute a ruling. We do NOT know the heart nor the place that each brother or sister is in their sanctification. What we CAN hold one another accountable to is coming alongside one another and spurring them (us) on towards Christ. Instead of judgment we should become a coach, a cheerleader, mentor, or teacher to help each other have the deepest, closest, most holy relationship with God that we can have this side of heaven. When we confront other believers our goal should be that of a desire to bring one another closer to Jesus not diminish or devalue each other. This truth is SO applicable right now…let’s come together to grow, to increase our desire for more of Jesus…deeper, fuller, and richer than we have ever experienced before!
Marianne’s Notes: Fighting to stay…
I’m fighting to stay in the presence of God…I’m willfully choosing to push ever farther into what’s uncomfortable, unchartered, and beyond me right now. Why? Because it’s not uncomfortable, uncharted, or beyond God. So my growth is deemed necessary by Him and I want to grow deeper. Last year God began a work in my heart; He started planting the seeds for growth that I’m now beginning to see the scale of. (Although I’m CONFIDENT His scale is far greater than I am imagining!) The seeds He began sowing were for the “marginalized”. Ben and I have been discussing that theme over the past year…how to stand up for, provide for, listen to, speak over…the marginalized. These are all just thoughts, tips of the icebergs, but they are there…little seedlings starting to sprout. BLM, COVID, and our current status. I share this only because it continues to play into all my quiet times…including today: James 4: 8-10, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will life you up.” There is a flow here, a few verses back remind us to: 1. Submit to God. 2. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 3. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 4. Cleanse your hands. 5. Purify your hearts. 6. Lament, mourn, and weep. 7. Humble yourselves. 8. God will lift you up.
Nothing of value can happen in my heart until and unless I submit to God; completely. Where what He calls sin, I call sin…where what He esteems, I esteem…where His justice, is my justice…where His form of service, is my form of service. Then I am to resist, fight, and claw myself away from the devil understanding that he has power but not ultimate power. I cannot allow myself to be enticed, impressed, or delusional about him or his offers because I have ONE goal and that is to trust and obey God. I am to run, instead to God…dive deep into His word, chase after Him as I would gold. I must carve out time, ample time, to sit before Him and His throne: to read, listen, pray, and lament. Why? Because from the OT to the NT, God ALWAYS draws near when we draw near; always. Once I’m there I need to cleanse my hands and purify my heart…confess, ask for forgiveness, call out my sin, by name and repent. The natural next best step is to lament, mourn, and weep…for myself, for our world, for restoration, and for the destruction of sin. As a result God is lift up to His rightful place and I am put low into mine and my heart is humbled. This process is what is required of me as a Christ follower…to continually repeat this process in order to align my heart to His. He will go before me-that, I can trust.
QTVOTD: God, why is evil allowed to thrive??
“Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” Jeremiah 12:1 -> me: I love this courageous, yet cautious approach to asking the Lord something I have contemplated so many times. Why does God allow the wicked and evil people of this world carry on so long without a recourse? I so appreciate the relationship Jeremiah had with the Lord God Almighty that he could question God in this way. I look around me even today and hold some of the same questions in my heart. However, we have not talked about God’s answer yet -> in response to Jeremiah, God says in verse 5: ‘If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?’ Essentially what the Lord is saying is buck up and deal – it will only get worse. God never really answers Jeremiah’s question directly and I think it is because the answer is too complicated. God’s ways and purposes are met through His plan. In this world where His plan is executed, His work and outcomes will be achieved because He uses use many situations, good people, and bad people for His purposes. In the end the evil and wicked will meet their reward…unless they find the life saving blood of Jesus Christ. All I have to do is remember the person of Saul of Tarsus and what evil he had enacted on Christian believers before the Lord Jesus grabbed him out of his sandals on the road to Damascus. What I can trust is -> is that God is in control. His purposes are being enacted through all of the worlds current situations, leaders, and evil elements. TRUSTING God and resting in His Sovereign and Perfect will is all I need to do.
Marianne’s Notes: A note about pride…
James 4:6, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Seemingly right after James discusses our adulterous hearts who long for satisfaction and pleasure from this world he says that God gives more grace. This small statement is mind-blowing!! God gives grace upon grace continually HOWEVER He resists the proud. God’s word is consistent in it’s message regarding how God feels and His displeasure of the “the proud”. The book of Proverbs alone has plenty to say about God’s feelings of a prideful spirit. Why? Because a prideful heart can’t openly confess sin or bow in humility and admit they need a Savior. The humble one receives God’s honor, His grace, and will have God as their protector. THEREFORE, (because of this truth), we should:
- Submit to God (which only a humble hearted person can do.) Lay aside the rule of our own hearts and adopt God’s rule as authority.
- Resist the devil. This is a fight; God’s word is clear that this is a spiritual fight that we are engaged in every day. Eph 6:11 states our job-to put on the WHOLE armor of God…to send a warrior out to battle without full equipment would be criminal yet we do it all the time. It’s our job to put it on, all of it, daily. End of story. If we choose not to do that our behavior says a lot about our understanding of God’s word, the devil, and our weakness. Do not ENTERTAIN any portion of his temptations, ever. Those begin in the mind but Jesus said that we will always be given a way out of temptation AND we have the POWER of the Holy Spirit living inside us!! But we have to employ that option.
- And he WILL flee from you. This is a statement. Do A and B will happen. If we are submitting to God and putting on that armor and resisting in a fight like fashion then the devil WILL flee. Our battle has been won. If I look back at all the times I’ve given into sin and temptation it’s because I’ve failed to do one of the above.
BUT, the key is to focus on the humble heart and all that’s provided me if I just step off the first place riser and take my place at the foot of Jesus.
Marianne’s Notes: Fighting among each other…
James 4:1-4, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you many spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
This is a good, harsh, cutting word!! Who is James talking to? He’s talking to BELIEVERS! He’s talking to me. I will rage war and fight with other believers because of my desire for pleasure. Pleasure. Sin is pleasure…until it destroys you yet we keep on doing it. Pleasure of food, drink, praise. Pleasure in travel, clothes, houses, and acclaim…pleasure in knowledge, power, and productivity. This world is FULL of pleasure and pleasure isn’t the enemy. The enemy is loving those things more than God. It’s desiring those pleasures more than Him. It’s actually rejoicing and loving and being fulfilled by those pleasures in ways God doesn’t seem to satisfy us. This causes war in ourselves and with others. James reminds me that this cycle is endless…it will just go around and around and around. Lusting and not having, murder and coveting yet not obtaining…to me this is hell. Getting everything we “want” or desire and yet feeling nothing. This is a perfect picture of my efforts…I will go through an enormous amount of work, sacrifice, schooling, lying, social acrobatics, whatever I need to in order to receive what I want. There is one thing I won’t do easily…find ultimate pleasure and fulfillment in Jesus. Flipping that switch to where I believe that He holds everything precious, everything of worth, and everything that fulfills requires me to esteem Him, not me. Everyone wants God’s blessing without giving Him their heart…they are part-time Christians who want full-time blessings, protection, and provision…to service ourselves. James clearly shows us that this is wrong “asking”…feel free to ask God but He knows your heart so don’t be surprised when you don’t receive it. We ask for things that make this world our home, a better job, a spouse, children, a career, money, etc…my requests have far more to do with my comfort here on earth, or my position here on earth, or pleasures here on earth. This is called friendship with the world and if I am friends with the world than I am, by default, at enmity with God. That’s right. If I desire to be friends with the world then naturally I will be at odds…no, not just at odds, but I will be an enemy of God. I will be against the plans and purposes of God. I will in truthfulness, hate God AND He is against ME! Just to be clear, the God who always has been, all powerful, the One who literally holds this world together, will be fighting against me…because I forsook Him and all His glory for the plastic things of this world.
How does this happen? Simple, we esteem and place desired value on the things of this world. We are born worshippers and we will worship what esteem.
How do we fix it? See God for who & whom He is. The logic is straightforward, when I spend time recognizing the glory, the majesty, the power, the love of God and elevate and magnify Him then my heart will follow. We worship other things because we spend so much of our time focused on them and place an incredible amount of value there. That behavior should be reserved for God. Contentment is seeing the greatest value is in what you already have.
QTVOTD: Its time to leave the ninety-nine…
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” Luke 15:4 -> me: Marianne and I have been internalizing the effects of centuries of oppression and hurt on those in the black community and what we can do to make change happen. I want to point you Marianne’s post (the one just before this one) for her thoughts on this topic. She has captured her own heart in such a beautiful way. As we were talking today, she was talking about this verse which is quoting Jesus to His disciples. In our minds, those who are oppressed are like the one that Jesus would leave the ninety nine (who are fine and not in trouble) to go save the one. My heart hurts for anyone in this position and there is no way that this white man is ever going to be able to understand what my black brother or sister in Christ has had to endure in their life-times. What I can do is stand up for them, I can question my own unconscious bias, and I can speak up against implied racism when I see it. It is time we seek out, focus on, and help the one. Final thought – God knows the number of hairs on a person’s head, that person infinitely matters to Him. Jesus would stop, separate Himself from the throngs, and single out thrown away people who mattered nothing to the baa’ing sheep around them, but that person who didn’t matter to anyone else, mattered the most to Jesus. Not only that, He knows them, their heart, and their sin, but He loves them more than they themselves will ever understand. As a man of God who is in fellowship with Jesus, am called to love this way. Now, is the time to act and show this love.