The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah:
“When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’”
Whenever I read of Babylon I think of "culture" and "civilization". The things in life where man runs around pretending to be god. Where we focus on self, wealth, and status. Where we step on the poor and crush the fatherless.
It will not go on forever. Like all civilizations before us, all civilizations today will be laid waste. As we run to build towers to shoot arrows at God. The foundations upon which we build are being torn down. The worship of self guarantees it.
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
...
He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”
...
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;let him put his mouth in the dust — there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
Sometimes the best advise ... and worst advise is to Endure. Best because our Hope is in God. And worst because we just want the pain to end. Like the time you sit in bed after surgery and the pain starts to become unbearable. Yet, you still must bear it. Though you scream into your pillow and beg God for the pain to pass. It is still there.
All that is left is the knowledge that in time it will pass. And it will pass.
The difficult times are here and it is between us and God. Not between us and the one that caused the pain. They take joy in our pain, so why focus on them? It must be between us and God alone.
Keep your eyes forward, don't turn to the left (self-hatred) and don't turn to the right (hatred of others). Keep your eyes on God and pray for the strength to Endure.
You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Joyful ... Plundering of MY PROPERTY!? O.K. God what is up with that? :)
An issue we all have with endurance is that it takes actual pain and struggle to build it up. It isn't something you have, it is something you work on.
In the beginning we choose to endure the pain. There is no joy. There is anger, rage, and a desire for God to strike those that hurt us down.
Then over time it is about enduring. We continue to be placed in harms way. In ways that are deeper and much more painful. Yet we continue to hope for the light that God has promised us.
In the end we have endured and grown. We begin to actually feel the Love Christ had for us. For a people who hated Him, tore the flesh from His body, and beat him beyond recognition. A love for a people each of whose sins caused Him unimaginable pain. Pain beyond which the worst you have ever felt is nothing.
You are loved. Upon God was the justice of our sins. God takes joy in your life and your growth. ...
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
It is easy to talk, it is not easy to actually walk in the way you know to be true. I always give advice to my students about working early in the semester and long before the exams come around. But, I personally struggle with that in my own life.
I know what is right ... yet I still hold back on acting out on it. I need to confirm what I say ... and DO IT.
Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name.
Do you believe the LORD is strong? That He can do anything?
Or do you hold on to your daily life? Your finances? Your everyday decisions?
When things are going smoothly it is so easy to walk your own path. One where you ignore God and where He wants you to go. Remember: Your God is strong. Trust in Him.
I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
You know the difference between what "the rules" say and what is right and wrong. Kind of like when you are speeding down the highway. You know it is wrong, but you still try to get away with it. Until your heart drops out of your stomach when you pass the cop you didn't see. Then you slow down for a bit ... and then go back to speeding.
God has placed His Law within you. You know the Truth.
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
LORD ...
You are my Father. And like a child I have tried to walk without your hand in mine. I've run away at times, and then when I was frightened I ran back.
I'm so like the young child.
Help me to grow closer to you. To not go astray. But, to walk in the Light with confidence in You. For you ARE God.
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
I've been thinking about "the fatherless and the widow". Not in terms of a father that has died. But, one that has died in presence. One that has abandoned his family and responsibilities.
A great sin of our nation is in the heart of the men. Men who have abandoned God's calling to be Men after the Heart of God. And how can we pray for forgiveness for a sin we continue to live? Maybe it is time to pray for the rod instead.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Yet if we admit our sins, stop, and turn back. God will forgive us. It is His promise! And His word is true.
So now I wait upon the word of God. To what will our nation run to? Will it be upon our knees in humility? Or will it be by the rod that God reminds us to turn back from our sins?
I don't know which it will be.
But I do know either we humble ourselves or we will be humbled.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
I tend to read the above in a negative way. You know ... you've been bad and are about to get a switch on your backside type of negative.
But "according to the fruit of his deeds" is also positive. And God blesses us in more ways than just getting a physical reword. Can you really put a price on the joy YOU feel when you help out your kids? When you read them a story, play catch, or help them catch a toad? Or when you give to a family that has nothing.
So ... what types of fruits are your growing in your life?
Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, declares the Lord; you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?’ I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the Lord; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.
Now back to the switch on your backside type of fruits.
I had a brand new jacket my parents had bought me. It was cold outside when my brother and I went out to play hide-n-seek. So wearing my new jacket I decided to hide under the car.
Dad told me I would get a swat for each of the grease stains on my jacket. It hurt a bit. But I also remembered to take care of all the things that are entrusted to me. Not just a jacket.
So often we flit from task to task ignoring the important people and things around us. We get lazy when we hit the 'zone' of our lives. Just remember that with a small spark all that you have found comfort in can be gone.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God.
"Acknowledge your guilt"
Oh how hard it is to admit when you are wrong. We point our fingers at others. We declare that there are others worse then us. We crush the hopes of the people around us just trying to shove ourselves above them. And in the process shove their faces into the ground. All to get out of saying the words "I Was Wrong ... I Am Guilty".
For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
After we admit to our sins. To our guilt. Then comes the next part. STOP DOING IT! Yeah I yelled that.
And I'll yell it again: STOP! Then turn. Turn and do good. Don't use the Grace of God as some sort of cover; imagining that you can continue to do evil. Or deceiving yourself into believing that what is evil is good.
Our walk with God happens every day that He has blessed us with. You getup and then plan on how to fight temptations and evil. And plan on how to do the good works of God. Listen to His voice and act on it.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.
Everyone can admit that the above list is of good things. And it may be surprising that we have to fight to do them. Fight our own bodies and desires. And fight our culture and its desires. Our flesh is so against God that it will fight your will on being righteous, godly, faithful, loving, steadfast, and gentle.
And it only takes a moment of watching our own culture to see how it seeks glory in filth, evil, adultery, hate, laziness, and anger. And it will work hard to step on you if you stand in its way.
But, be steadfast ... and stand true. Stand for God.
