Obey the Lord and It Will Go Well With You!

Good morning to all on this beautiful fall day. Waine and I are in Atlanta and we have enjoyed a nice restful weekend here at home. It was good to be home among my things; so many memories are around us and we do enjoy remembering all the places we have been and all of the significant events of the last 18 years in this house. Its been a cool weekend and so its nice to open the doors and air out the house. I trust you are having a wonderful relaxing weekend yourself and all is well with you and your family.

 

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 38 verse 1 - 28, "Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it. Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.” So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him,“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.” Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.” But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them. King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me:  All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: They misled you and overcame you—those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you. All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down.” Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die.  If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there. All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.  And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. " Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

This is one of those chapters in Jeremiah that I don't quite get. I really don't understand why people are still thinking that killing the messenger is going to make the message different.  I think this chapter speaks to one of the consistent themes in Jeremiah; the issue of CONTROL and the need of the king and officials of Judah to try and hold on to it. They wanted control over their own lives and did not want to submit to the Will of God and therefore were getting ready to be conquered by the Babylonians. The people of Judah didn't like what Jeremiah was saying so they decided to silence him and put him in a well and cover the well up. They didn't have the courage to kill him but left him in a position to die so when questioned they could say "we didn't kill him". These folk were cowards and deceitful to the core.

 

But a Black Man (The Cushite) saw what they did and because he had influence with the king of Judah was able to persuade the king to rescue and spare Jeremiah. Did this Cushite have a feeling that Jeremiah was right in his preachings? The Cushite was not of the chosen tribe of Judah but he had influence and knew right from wrong.  There is a lesson in that. Standing up to right a wrong is always a Good Thing! Doing what God commands is not only a good thing but a behavior that will save your life figuratively and literally! For 37 chapters, God through Jeremiah has pleaded with the people of Judah to turn from their sins and turn to Him. They have continued to want to live their lives the way they want and not to turn their lives over to God. Have you met people like this?? They will go to their grave believing they are right even though the facts would belie their belief. These Jews were getting ready to be overtaken and instead of turning to God and obeying God they instead want to kill the messenger.  If this shoe fits you or anyone you know, please own it, repent and then accept Christ as Lord. You will be better off for it! If trying it your way has just gotten you sorrow, heartache and pain, won't you try Jesus? There is no better Friend you can have than Jesus. He is always looking out for your interest and will never forsake you. He has your back, your front, your top, your bottom and your sides. Like the cistern that held Jeremiah, Christ has you covered!

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie

The Good News!

Good morning to all on this glorious fall Sunday morning!! Waine and I are in Thomaston, enjoying a rare Sunday when we aren't on the road somewhere. A Happy Birthday shout out to our oldest son, Freddie. Happy birthday son! Mom and Dad pray that your birthday is filled with lots of hugs and kisses from your wife and children; lots of well wishes from your friends. Dad and I are blessed to have you in our life!

 

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah, chapter 37, verses 1- 21, "Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the Words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down. This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”

After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!” “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.” King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of his Word.

 

Jeremiah certainly had a dilemma--should he be obedient to God and deliver the "bad news" or should he keep quite and "go along to get along"? It doesn't appear that Jeremiah hesitated at all--he was obedient to the commandment of God to DELIVER THE NEWS! It cost him a beating; it cost him friends and family; he was ostracized; he was not regarded well among his tribesmen. He, none-the-less, was obedient to the One Person who mattered and delivered the NEWS!  As Christian, we are also commanded to deliver the GOOD NEWS that Christ was dispatched from heaven so that we would have a conduit back to God. Are we spreading the NEWS with our lives as well as our words. Are we sharing the Good News to those who need to hear and then supporting each other in a Community of Believers? Satan would have you believe that you need not be "too preachy"; that in the day-to-day work environment, you need not force your religious views on others. He wants us to believe this BECAUSE SATAN KNOWS THE TRUTH!!!!!!!! Remember he was the greatest angel before the fall. He was with God even before Adam and Eve. Satan knows what a life without God looks like and he wants to be the ruler of all  of those who chose not to confess their sins before their last breath. Don't be deceived. Don't be like the Jews that Jeremiah preached to! If you die without confessing your sins who will be delivered in the hand of "Great Babylonian"-Satan.  This confused and dying world needs to hear the Good News that God loves them; they never need to worry about their future because they know the One who holds their future. I am certainly a witness for that! I have learned to put each and every thing about my future in the hands of God and just leave it there for Him to handle. What a relief!

 

Don't hide this wonderful gift of eternal life. Be a Jeremiah and preach the Good News to a dying and unbelieving world. You will be blessed.

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie

Sinner Man Where Will You Run To?

Good morning to all on this glorious Sunday morning. Waine and I are in Atlanta enjoying the weather and our house. I was able to putz around yesterday which always give me great joy. We had the grandchild last weekend which is why I did not have time to blog. Hail-Storm and the Kaimiester were all this grandmother could handle as their Poppop and Daddy were playing golf. I was so tired --but it was a good tired. I love my grandchildren--all six of them. I hope and pray that all is well with you and your families and that you approach this holiday season with love and hope in your hearts and homes.

 

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah chapter 36 verses 1 - 32, "In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.  Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin. So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the Words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.  Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the Lord’s temple. So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. Perhaps they will bring their petition before the Lord and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great. Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the Lord’s temple he read the words of the Lord from the scroll. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the Lord was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the Lord’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll. When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,  all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us. So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?” “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.” After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him.  It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them. After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:  “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.  Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?” Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’”So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

This king of Judah are like so many of us--we don't like taking instruction from God. We have now read through 36 chapters of Jeremiah and for 36 chapters God has been admonishing the people of Judah and their rulers to repent and turn from their wicked ways. God started off admonishing them verbally through Jeremiah and now He is having His Words dictated and written so that there is no mistaking what His commandments are and His admonitions are. This "fragile" king of Judah apparently did not know God--if he thought that burning the scroll would some how alter the will of God He truly did not know the God of his forefather Abraham. Notice that the king burned the pages of the scroll after each page was read--so he got the message!

 

Likewise, we are commanded by God to spread the Good News of the Gospel that Christ came, died and was resurrected so that we might live. We are the Jeremiahs of this age; we are to go out and admonish this sick world of the hope that comes with Christ. Some of us are hiding, some of us are ignoring the commandment, some of us think it is someone else's job--as Christians we are all commanded to preach the Word to a sick "Judah". Are we obedient--are you obedient?? Does your life so shine that others seeing it will come to know Christ? The world needs Christ and His love today.

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

 

Stephanie