Jeremiah 35:13 – “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, told him, “Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.  Tell them, ‘I, the Lord, say: “You must learn a lesson from this about obeying what I say.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, a statement in Jeremiah 35:13 stopped me in my tracks.  Somehow, I did not remember reading it before, but it has been there all along.  “Will you not receive discipline by listening to My Words?”

I thought about what Jesus said in John 15:3, as He was talking about the Vine and branches and God’s pruning for fruitfulness.   He said, “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you.”  The word purges, purifies, prepares, and prunes(disciplines).   In verse 4, He gives the key to victory – “Abide in Me, and I in you…”

Hebrews 10:19-25 is revelatory.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, which brought us into the New Covenant, we are enabled to come into the Throne Room of heaven.   Jesus gives a new way of living with full access to the Father.   It’s not new as a new car, the latest in a series, but new in a never-before way!  The Grace of God through the Cross brought us a life never lived before.   A life that has no limits.  A life of constant contact with God!  That’s the New Covenant.

Neglecting the sacrifice of Jesus and devaluing His gift is dangerous.  Hebrews 10:29 awed me.  It reveals that doing that“insults the grace of God.” That makes me tremble!  Imagine standing before God having insulted His grace!

One day, we will stand before Him.  One day, the books will be opened.  One day, we will realize fully the value of every word, thought, and deed.  One day, so why not grasp it now and live each moment with complete assurance of the completeness of His Grace, abiding in Him and He in us?  What a difference He makes in our lives when our lives are all about Him.

Lord, discipline (prune) me with Your word and make me fruitful.

May we receive the discipline of the LORD and become the overcomers He has destined us to be!

Jeremiah 21:8 – “But tell the people of Jerusalem that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action.  One will result in life; the other will result in death.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the first thought that filled my consciousness was “TWO.”   If there are ‘two’, that indicates that there is a choice and a decision.

In Jeremiah 20:3, the ruling priest rejected Jeremiah’s prophecy and put him in stocks (a form of public humiliation).  Jeremiah (through the anointing) identified a name change that was a game-changer.   From Pashhur = encouraged by plenty to Magor-missabib = fear on every side.  Resting God results in a transition from the encouragement of plenty to the prison of fear of lack.

Jeremiah 21:8 Jeremiah prophesied two – Life or Death.  Faith or Fear!  In Hebrews 2:8, there is an interesting declaration.  First, we are told that ALL THINGS have been subjected to Jesus by the decree of the Father.  Then, the last sentence, “But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him.”   It is, but it isn’t.  Legally, ALL THINGS are in subjection to Jesus, but in present reality, they have not all submitted.  Thus, the conflict of choice.

Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess the Lordship of Jesus.   It is a fact, but not a present reality!   In the heart of God, it is done.   In the heart of man, not yet.   In everything, there is CHOICE!   In every choice, there are consequences.  Benefits and blessings or problems.  Life is always a choice.  Every decision moves us closer to or farther away from the position and condition God desires.  Every choice draws us nearer to God’s Peace and Rest or away from it.

Choose Life!  Choose Obedience!  God has set before us fullness or barrenness, victory or defeat, and life or death.  Our way or His!  Choose wisely in every choice.  Two key sources of help – the Word of God and the Spirit of God.  Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the Living Word, which is never passive or ambivalent, penetrates to the core of our being, judging our thoughts and motives.  The why is sometimes more important than the what, but it’s always a choice!

Choose wisely.    Have a fantastic day basking in the sunlight of God’s presence!

Jeremiah 12:1-3 – “Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you.  However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.  Why are wicked people successful?  Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?  ² You plant them like trees and they put down their roots.  They grow prosperous and are very fruitful.  They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you.  ³ But you, Lord, know all about me.  You watch me and test my devotion to you.  Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!  Appoint a time when they will be killed!”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, an age-old question surfaced.   “Why do the wicked prosper and go unscathed?” How many times have we asked or wondered, “Lord, how long will you let them get away with their evil?  How long will you let your people suffer in contrast?” Maybe you have never entertained those thoughts I have.

Jeremiah 12:1-3, Jeremiah cries out those questions.  He even said, “But You, O Yahweh, You know me; You see me; and test my heart’s attitude toward You.”    You let them get away with murder and examine me in my attitude as well as my actions.

Jeremiah’s focus was on people, not God.  His question was about fairness, comparing himself to others.   He was assuming a level of righteousness, wisdom, knowledge, and judgment solely reserved for God.  That is a dangerous place.  It is a condition that leads to separation, not restoration or transformation.

In my time of questions, God did with me what He did with Jeremiah: He let me stew in his dissatisfaction and wrong focus, then He responded.

Jeremiah 12:5 – “IF you have run with the footmen (the people you are focused on) and they have tired you out, THEN how can you compete with horses?  IF you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?”

Jeremiah, if those people cause you this much pain and occupy this much of your thoughts, how will you ever stand?  Your focus is wrong, causing you to ask the wrong questions.  Your focus is on them, but it is actually on you as you compare yourself to others.   In doing this, you are questioning My love, grace, mercy, wisdom, Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence.   You are falling into Adam’s trap and voting Me out as God and voting yourself in.  You are losing your Trust, and if you lose your Trust, you won’t make it.

Titus 2:11-14 gives a beautiful revelation about God and life.   God’s Grace is for everyone.  God’s Grace is a teacher and focuses on the individual heart.  God’s Grace always points to eternity.

• If we focus on the wrong thing, we think wrong. 
• If we think wrong, we tend to live wrong.  
• If we focus on Grace to us, we cease comparing ourselves and our situation to others.

The full impact and fruit of “Christ in us” becomes a manifested reality.  That truth keeps us in peace.   In peace, we have rest.   In peace, we tap into God’s power.   I can control nothing outside of me.   If I give 100% of myself to God and die to me, the external has no lasting impact.  In the storm, I can be calm because my focus is right, my surrender complete, and my trust grounded.   

I pray for others; I do not compare myself to others.  In that sense, I am working out my own salvation!  For everyone, there will be a final accounting, but that’s not my responsibility.  I’m responsible for myself!  I have found peace in that.  Lord, don’t let the footmen weary me!  Help me to focus on You!  I trust You!

May the Lord enable us to see the right questions instead of lamenting over things above our pay grade!

Ruth 1:16-18 – But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you!  For wherever you go, I will go.  Wherever you live, I will live.  Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.  ¹⁷ Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried.  May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise!  Only death will be able to separate me from you!”  ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a Word or Thought kept surfacing.   That word was Commitment!   But it was total, not superficial.  It was actual, factual, visible, or demonstrated.

That first surfaced in Ruth 1:16-18.  Ruth’s declaration had a sense of desperation.  She said, “Do not pressure me to forsake you.”   She had made a total lifetime commitment to her husband.  Her commitment was a change of family.   She had left her past and entered her present.   Now, although her husband had died, she was still a member of her new family.    That is us in Christ.   We have left the old and entered the new, and although we could go back, we choose to remain.

In verse 18, Naomi SAW that she was determined.   It was a visible, demonstrated commitment.    That is the commitment we need to make to Jesus.

In her journey from destitution to restitution, she experienced the care and keeping of the kinsman redeemer.  His actions gave him the confidence to stand firm.  In Ruth 2:16, Boaz gave a directive to his workers (a similar ministry of angels to us).  He said, “Leave her handfuls on purpose!”  Those little unexpected blessings are not coincidences; they are Directed Blessings!

In Hebrews 13, we have a key foundational truth upon which to hang our hope and to inspire us to keep pressing on and remaining faithful.  The key to contentment, confidence, and faith is found in Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”    That promise and commitment from Jesus is our anchor and confidence.   It opens the door to verse 6, enabling us to shout – “The LORD IS my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?”

If my commitment is unshakable and for life, and I believe His promises, then I have such a settled peace that keeps me in good times and bad.  I then experience the promise of James 4:7.   I am submitted to God, and out of that place of submission, I resist the devil.   He has no choice but to flee.   My progression to possession is through demonstrated profession from the heart.

Total commitment leads to total victory!

May the power of commitment propel you into the fullness of God!

2 Timothy 2:1:4  – “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ² Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.  ³ For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching.  Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.  ⁴ And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, the last days and conditions of our day filled my thoughts.   

• I see signs of a Jeremiah ministry being released in today’s church.  
• I see the hand of God in nations. 
• I see a time when prophets of God (some will have no idea they are prophesying) will shake nations. 
• I see God using world leaders to perform the Jeremiah ministry (Jeremiah 1:10). 
• I see upheaval and then restoration.

The church has evolved dangerously, replacing God with fluff and stuff.   In Jeremiah 3:15, God was sending His shepherds to shepherd the flock in knowledge and understanding (information and application).  The call for us is to cultivate a heart desirous of God and hungry for Him.

We look at the world and lament, “What can I do? I’m only one person?” Consider Jeremiah 5:1, where God says that one person would save the nation.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 reveals the characteristics of people in the Last Days.  The Jeremiah ministry is addressing those traits.  Our call is faithfulness.    Jeremiah 6:13-14 identifies ministers motivated by greed, position, and power.    He says that they can only heal superficially.  God heals completely!

Paul compared us to soldiers, athletes, and farmers.   In these last days, all three are needed.   The soldier’s focus is warfare.   The athlete’s focus is on training and development.   The farmer’s focus is the harvest.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 speaks of the Last Days church.    Fluff, stuff, huff, and bluff.   Focused on self.    For the harvest to come, the church has to be cleansed.

2 Timothy 2:19 gives a sobering revelation.  “God knows who is His.” Everyone who names the name of the LORD (claims to be a Christian) IS TO depart from wickedness.”

God is pruning the vine of nations, churches, and individuals.   Harvest is coming, and we want to be able to declare with the apostle Paul – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my assignment, I have kept the faith.”

God is on the move, and in moving, will move us.  Let’s be soldiers, athletes, and farmers spiritually.  What is coming will knock your socks off, shake you to your core, and maybe even shock you.  The time is now!

Lord, help us to have a little less fluff and more substance in our relationship and walk with You!