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After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the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