blessed by exile

Furthermore, tell the people,

"This is what the LORD says:

'See,

I am setting before you the way of life

and the way of death.

Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague.

But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live;

he will escape with his life.'"

Jeremiah 21:8,9

*

The the word of the LORD came to me:

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah,

whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.

My eyes will watch over them for their good,

and I will bring them back to this land.

I will build them up and not tear them down;

I will plant them and not uproot them.

I will give them a heart to know me,

that I am the LORD.

They will be my people,

and I will be their God,

for they will return to me

with all their heart.'"

Jeremiah 24:4-7

*

"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.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,"

declares the LORD,

"and will bring you back from captivity."

Jeremiah 29:11-14

*

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand,

that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him

because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith,

because you know that your brothers throughout the world

and undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace,

who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

after you have suffered a little while,

will himself restore you and make you strong,

firm and steadfast.

To him be the power for ever and ever.

Amen

1 Peter 5:5-11

Jeremiah's fire

"But if I say,

'I will not mention him

or speak any more in his name,'

his word is in my heart like a fire,

a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in;

indeed, I cannot."

Jeremiah 20:9

*

Jeremiah tell me about the fire

That burns up in your bones

I want to know

I want to know more now

The burning of ambition and desire

It never could come close

To that fire

To that fire

I was looking to myself

And I forgot the power of God

I was standing with a sparkler in my hand

While I stood so proud and profound

You came and burned this whole place down

Now that's a fire

I was caught up in this vice

And its power to entice

I was dwelling on my hopelessness and doubt

With the slightest invitation

You came with total detonation

Now that's a fire

I was warming my hands by this little light of mine

but now I know it's time

to come in from the cold

Fight fire with fire

fan the flame

come stir up these coals in my soul, in my soul

till it burns out of control

*

(Jeremiah by Sara Groves,

from her The Other Side Of Something CD,

INO Records)

honor

"The LORD Almighty, who planted you,

has decreed disaster for you,

because the house of Israel

and the house of Judah

have done evil and provoked me to anger

by burning incense to Baal."

Jeremiah 11:17

*

Burning incense to Baal...

showing honor to something standing in opposition to God...

*

LORD

search my heart

my life

and show me if there is something which I still hold to;

which by my actions or desires show honor to,

in opposition to you

your will...

for yours alone is the honor

and the power

and the glory forever

amen

*

and Lord

I think my biggest problem here

is in my desire for honor for myself.

Please forgive me,

and help me to learn humility,

for Jesus sake

amen

made real

"My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you."

Job 42:5

*

Somehow through Job's ordeal, God went from being something heard of, to being something something seen. The same is true of us. So often God is just something we have heard of, and we do believe in. But when things fall apart, and our faith is all we have left to stand on, then we see that our faith, that our God, is real.

When we speak of faith, too often we are just speaking of a set of beliefs. But that isn't enough. As James says, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:17) Our actions prove whether our faith is not just something we believe in, but also something we trust in. Maybe the opposite argument makes this clearer - if we aren't willing to trust in something, then we obviously don't believe in it.

Peter also speaks of this, "though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6,7)

*

LORD, help my faith to be proved genuine

through my trust in you.....

wherever you may be leading.....

to your praise, glory and honor,

amen

led astray

from 1 Kings 13...

13 So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" "I am," he replied.
15 So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat."
16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD : 'You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.' "
18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD : 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.' "

*

To understand what is happening here one really needs to read the entire chapter. Even then it seems rather a strange story. Yet, there are some things here that still really apply today...

1) God still speaks to us through the Scriptures and gives us clear guidance in how we are to live.

2) Others will come to try to lead us off of the path of obedience;

- offering what we are desiring (in this case, food and drink)

- in the disguise of trustworthyness (here, a prophet with the word of the Lord as delivered by an angel)

3) We are to examine all teachings against God's Word

4) Disobedience has consequences.

provided for

"So Abraham clled that place The LORD will Provide.

And to this day it is said,

'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'"

Genesis 22:14

*

I was reading this whole story of Abraham testing last night, and the whole thing just struck me so very powerfully. The first way was in reading this and seeing just how closely it foreshadows God's one day providing his only Son as the sacrifice for our sins. And just how prophetic it was that the people said "on the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." It just shows how very intricately God has woven all of history together.

The other thing that really struck me was in Abraham's needing to let go in trust. Abraham needed to be willing to let go of this son that God had promised to him and given to him.... "your only son, Isaac, whom you love". And I wonder if there are things that I am clinging to too tightly, when God may be leading me away from them. Am I trusting in these things rather than on God? I need to learn to be willing to let go as well..... trusting that "on the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."