Month: August 2018

 

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, declares the Lord. They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:16-17a).

Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, had every reason to weep. God’s people were disobedient to Him, they worshiped idols, sacrificed their children, were dishonest, and were being led astray by their leaders. Jeremiah must have breathed a sigh of relief when God gave him those words in chapter 31. In the previous chapter God had revealed details about the restoration of Israel. Yes, things were bad in Jeremiah’s day and the situation broke his heart but he was faithful. He didn’t give up. He knew there was hope. God’s people had a future.

Jeremiah understood that his work would be rewarded. He knew God’s compassion and forgiveness through the promise of restoration. Then Jeremiah got a glimpse of the future when God revealed He would make a new covenant.

It seems our day and time is a bit like Jeremiah’s. (last week’s blog) There are situations that make me weep. My prayer list is long. But, just like Jeremiah, we have hope and a future. We are living under the new covenant God revealed to Jeremiah. There is no other covenant to save us other than the death and resurrection of Jesus. He died and rose again to give us hope and a future. Our work for the Kingdom will be rewarded, prayers will be answered, and strength given for the tasks. God is working in our day just as He was in Jeremiah’s.

Even in our weeping we can rejoice. Jesus is preparing a place for His people where all weeping and suffering will end. His mercies are new every morning and we have a future to look forward to.  Share the good news with those who need to hear!

Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:9 encourage us as we wait for Jesus’ return. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

 

“Do not trust in deceptive words . . .” (Jeremiah 7:4a).

“Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips’” (Jeremiah 7:28).

Reading the book of Jeremiah is a somber and humbling experience. Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord, but the people would not listen.  Besides that, there were false prophets saying the opposite of what God told Jeremiah to prophesy. At the end of chapter 5, Jeremiah writes: “the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.” Does that sound familiar?

People today are being deceived by Satan’s lies.

• God said He made male and female. Satan says you can be whatever you feel like being.
• God said he formed us in the womb. Satan says you can get rid of it if you don’t want it.
• God says sexual activity outside of the marriage of a man and woman is immoral and sinful. Satan says do whatever you feel like doing.

God created the family as the basis of society-father, mother, and children. Our nation has strayed from that pattern and created the chaos evident in our society. If we return to God’s plan for the family (Genesis 1 and 2), I think many of the problems facing our nation would be corrected. The Church must stand strong against Satan’s lies. If the Church doesn’t, who will? I am thankful for the “Jeremiahs” who are not afraid to speak out against the deceptive words of today.

Truth will triumph. The gates of hell will not defeat the Church (Matthew 16:18).  Those are trustworthy promises. We have no such promise for earthly kingdoms or nations-only the Kingdom of God will endure forever!

Be encouraged by these words: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 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)

As I drove down a mountain road last week I noticed this tree.  I had to back up and take another look.  The tree was just hanging in midair, it seemed.  I looked up to see it was caught on other tree limbs, but it didn’t look very stable.  I’ve thought a lot about that tree and how I sometimes feel like the bottom has fallen out of my life, too. I’m sure that’s happened to you, as well.

The day you hear the words “cancer,” “there’s been an accident, “six months to live,” or “you’re fired” can make the bottom drop out of your world and leave you hanging. Like that tree, you wonder how long you can hang on. Job, in his torment, cried out, “He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree (Job 19:10).  He also expressed his hope for redemption in Job 19:25. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”

Yes, sometimes, the bottom drops out of our little world and it’s difficult to hang on to hope!  Without God, we would truly be hopeless. “Thanks to be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). I discovered that when I can’t hold on any longer, I have to let God hold on to me.  He does because He is able. We have to trust Him to hold on as long as it takes. His support is strong and sure.

There is hope that one day we will be like the tree mentioned in Psalm 1. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

Let God hold on to you when you can’t hold on any longer!

“’The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,’ Hezekiah replied. For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my lifetime’” (Isaiah 39:8).

Every time I read this verse I think, “how selfish!” Then I look at myself and wonder, am I selfish, too?  I have to admit I am.  Isaiah had told Hezekiah his descendants would be taken away to Babylon as captives!  How could Hezekiah think that was good?

When I think about my children and grandchildren I don’t want bad things to happen to them now or in the future. I want them to live in freedom and in the truth of God’s Word.  So, what is a grandparent to do? I don’t think most grandparents settle for “peace and security in my lifetime” without wanting the same for their grandchildren. We can’t control the future, but we can trust the One who does. So I try to be a link to help them stay connected to God.

Here are things I do to plant seeds of blessings in the lives of my grandchildren:

1. Pray for them-often-and by name. Pray for their decisions, safety, and faithfulness.
2. Write notes and letters-use pen and paper! Text messages and email are good, too. But what person refuses a handwritten note in the mailbox?
3. Recognize their achievements with cards, notes, and my presence when possible.
4. Make phone calls-Skype or video chat. I need to do this more often.
5. Trust God to work in their lives. This is the hard part sometimes.

Those of you who are grandparents probably have more ideas. I don’t live in the same state as my grandchildren so I would welcome any ideas you have to stay connected to faraway grandchildren.

I don’t know if Hezekiah prepared his children and grandchildren for what was to come. But I pray I will be a faithful example in showing my grandchildren that no matter what we face, we can face it with God.

God said through Isaiah, “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:9c-10).