Warped Priorities

{Jeremiah 35}

“You shall drink no wine…”

Just a mortal command. Yet the whole extended family for generations would not violate it. 

Discussion over. No variance.

Then there was the divine command. And it seemed the entire nation reveled in its violation.

Why the dichotomy? Why, I ask myself, could the mortal command be so exonerated and the divine command so disregarded and trampled on the ground?

Is it because their sense of priorities had been warped? 

Because their senses had been dulled to that which was most important?

Ouch. 

Those questions hit a little too close to home. I’ve been pondering them already and making changes. I can’t afford to have my priorities warped and my senses dulled to that which is eternally important. No, for to do so would to be to pronounce my own sentence. And it would not be a sentence in my favor…

Our adversary likes to take subtle measures with our culture. And unconsciously our priorities shift to what might still appear harmless, yet isn’t where we should have our primary focus. It’s a sobering thought. 

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” {1 Corinthians 10:12}

Retracted Liberty

{Jeremiah 34}

From all appearances, they seemed to be following the counsel of the Lord. However, it was not long before they had reversed all their virtuous actions.

They set free. But then made captives.

Thankfully, my Master is not anything akin to the fickle Israelites. 

My God only gives freedom; He never takes it away. 

Only by our own actions can we retract the liberties He has granted us.

We Call It Sacrifice?

{Jeremiah 33}

“…and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord…”

I rest back into my chair and mull over this phrase.

We call a lot of things sacrifice. Giving a miserly amount for missions. Setting down a good book to go help our parents with a project. Speaking to someone who’s feeling lonely when we would rather be conversing with friends. Spending a day helping at the homeless shelter. Adhering to healthy lifestyle principles just because we know it’s good for us. Putting aside our selfish nature for the benefit of others.

We call this sacrifice. And I rebel.

Because if Christ truly has our hearts, the above is not sacrifice; it’s joy. Pure joy.

When the wellspring of Christ’s joy is in our hearts, to give is to gain; to obey is our pleasure; to share is our song. 

It’s an all-consuming pursuit of happiness of the eternal variety.

And praise? For the Israelites it was embodied in a physical offering, yet there is also the verbal aspect.

We often pride ourselves, thinking we declare our praise and adoration quite often.

We praise God when we call on Him and He shows us great and mighty things. We praise God for healing. We praise God for the big things in our lives. And to us, it seems no sacrifice. The blessings are so obvious.


But what about the things we take for granted? Or perhaps the things that don’t appear to be blessings?

Little things.

Like a minute of sun piercing through the clouds. Like a plethora of Bibles sitting on our shelf. Like instructive criticism from a caring mother. Like golden tamarack trees dotting the hillsides. Like a toothbrush. Like giving to sustain and educate a girl across the world. Like the gift of learning. Even like trials and temptations, suffering and pain, heartache and tears.

Yes, all these are worthy of our gratitude and praise. Through the eyes of the Infinite we can view even the thorniest valley as a gift from the Giver. And we mustn’t forget to pour out our hearts in thanks to the Giver Himself…

With all that He has done for us, praise is no sacrifice; to give is pure joy.

Filled with Gratitude

Another year has passed into unalterable history. My heart is filled beyond over-flowing with gratitude. My God has been so gracious to me this year.

I think back on lessons He has taught me and opportunities I have had… They are all blessings. 

I see His fingerprints everywhere along my path. 

My thankfulness encompasses two consecutive days. Special days. Days to especially express gratitude from the depths of my heart. Not that I don't thank Him every day of the year. I do.

But I've had special time to ponder my thanks over the past couple days. I cannot but praise Him. 

For so many things…

My spiritual experience has gone deeper this year than ever before. I have been pushed and encouraged  by friends and my fire has been kindled brighter by the coals from His fire. You know who you are… Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

I have learned so many lessons: That adversity is my greatest blessing, every life matters, brokenness brings transformation, war takes every last drop of blood I have. Yet He has enraptured my heart.

I have also been blessed with so many opportunities this year that I never could have dreamed of on my own. God always out-gives. Always…

I'm counting my blessings, yet they are innumerable.

Thank you, Father… I know You will prove Yourself faithful yet again this coming year.

Undeserved Grace

{Jeremiah 32}

Disobedient. Idolatrous. Defiant. Back-slidden. An abomination.

They didn’t deserve grace.

God had promised “to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” And now His hand of judgment was raised.

Yet after listing all their sins and the punishments which were to be meted out, the tenor of His words change.

“I will bring them back again. I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be my people. I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way to know me forever. I will make an everlasting covenant with them. I will not turn away from them. I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. I will rejoice over them. I will plant them in this land with my whole heart and my whole soul.”*

I will. I will. I will.

Why is God so willing to do all these things for an ungrateful, contemptible nation?

I find only one answer.

Love.

Love always wins. Consequences may come, but Love will always prevail.

True, the nation of Israel didn’t deserve grace, but neither did we…

Remember No More

{Jeremiah 31}

“And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”*

A quote from Hebrews with direct correlation to Jeremiah 31. Paul mentions this verse twice within two chapters.

no. more.

Let that sink in for a moment.

In the Greek it’s a double negative, in the sense that it’s strengthening the force of denial. 

Not at all. By any means. Ever. From this moment on.

He cannot even bring it to mind. It’s gone forever…

And yes, there’s a myriad of other details in this chapter that justifiably could be mentioned, but I think these three words say it all. Because when God forgives and makes you clean, the truth of absolute pardon can change your life forever.

He remembers no more. Your sinful past is obliterated. 

And He means it.

*{Hebrews 8:12}

Healed Wounds

{Jeremiah 30}

God had inflicted a serious wound. Not out of anger, but out of love. 

Yet because of their ugly injury, all so-called friends of the nation had fled. 

Not one offered medicines of healing. Not one pled for their cause. Israel was an outcast.

Yet that was exactly what Israel needed.

For in the pain and loneliness of feeling utterly forsaken and mortally wounded, they finally sensed their need. 

The concept shared with me by friends seems to jump out at me from the page.

Only when we are broken can we be blessed and transformed.

The Administer of punishment now promised to bind up the very wounds He had inflicted. To heal their bruises. To restore health and that, more abundant than before.

The yokes of bondage were broken. 

The nation that had held them captive so long set them free.

Blessings of fruitfulness and multiplied families were given.

Laughter was again heard within the homes of Jerusalem.

Yes, their wounds were healed by the Giver’s hand. Unfortunately the lessons God sought to teach them didn’t remain fresh in their memory, yet only because they forgot Him again in their prosperity.

--

My vision is expanded. I see new possibilities, thanks to friends who were willing to share. Our experience doesn’t have to follow their example of repeated failure. My brokenness can be my restoration, my transformation. My wound, the cause of healing. My sorrow, my joy.

Through brokenness I can find blessing and in the blessing, forever restoration.

Found!

{Jeremiah 29}

After seemingly endless declarations of His people’s heartless rejection, it’s a breath of fresh air.

A herald of restoration. A token of forgiveness.

My face breaks into a smile. 

“Ye shall… find Me.”

There is always a tenor of jubilation when something, or someone is found.

But to find Him? There is no greater joy…

We may discover Him through a variety of means, yet only by earnest seeking can He truly be found.

So seek, and you will find…

He promises.

Yokes of Love

{Jeremiah 26-28}

Sometimes God has to take radical measures. 

Sometimes our hearts are too stubborn to be sensitized and softened by gentler means. 

Sometimes it takes a yoke of iron…

He pleads. He intreats. He promises.

Yet sometimes words just fly past our shoulders. 

I think the concept of being yoked has become distorted. We tend to see the negative connotations when that is only part of the definition.

In reality though, a yoke is merely an instrument used to harmonize the work of two into one. To find surpassing strength of two combined rather than one alone. To give greater power, greater synergy and accomplish greater results.

It may be that we break the wooden yoke, yet God just gently replaces it with an iron one. Not in a tyrannical display, but in love alone. The yoke has a purpose in our training.

And isn’t that truly what I desire? To be so yoked with Christ that my every act is in harmony with Him? To find His surpassing strength and the results that accompany it?

Seventy Years

{Jeremiah 25}

Seventy. Perfection’s number plus a zero.

Yes, even this banishment evidenced greater love on the part of their Savior. 

Nothing He does is without purpose.

Yet because of the great knowledge He had given them, which they had spurned, their punishment must be in proportion.

What He longed for most was for this experience to act as a purging fire to purify them from all that has previously separated His adopted children from their Father’s side. For them to emerge from captivity rejoicing not only in physical freedom, but spiritual freedom in Him. 

He desired perfection for His people more than anything else…

And the same is true for us today.

There is nothing that God desires more than for us, as His representatives, to become perfect through His strength.

And it doesn’t have to take seventy years…

Naughty Figs

{Jeremiah 24}

I remember first reading this passage as a young girl and finding the wording highly amusing. Naughty figs? I guess I had just always correlated the word “naughty” with the word “children.” I laugh now at my naivete. I was subsequently enlightened to the fact that the old English definition was “bad” and so my vocabulary expanded. Nevertheless, that phrase from Jeremiah was indelibly fixed in my memory.

Yet looking at this passage again with a broader understanding and closer examination, I find in two baskets of figs something of deeper significance.

A basket of rancid figs. A basket of ripe figs.

Symbolic representations of the people of Israel. Those taken into captivity and those left behind.

And I begin to ponder the fact that the good figs are representative of those in captivity. 

It seems strange. For wouldn’t the captives be represented by the bad figs?

Yet perhaps freedom is not appreciated without captivity. 

Perhaps captivity was but a means to awaken them from their spiritual slumber. 

Perhaps blessings could not be appreciated without the experience of captivity and the jubilation of release.

Despite the temporary benefits of captivity however, God’s people were not destined to remain slaves. Freedom was theirs, if they would but claim it.

My unfocused gaze is directed out my window as I contemplate my own life. Am I still in captivity?

I have to admit the realization is altogether possible. Yet the experience of being a captive has taught me many lessons. 

It has allowed me to relate to other captives. 

It has taught me the value of freedom. 

It has taught me lessons of warfare. 

It has shown me Love in a way otherwise impossible.

And so I am in gratitude for captivity. Yet I am in greater gratitude for freedom, although it might not be fully mine yet.

For after the horrors of captivity, freedom is truly sweet…