The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Jeremiah 17-20
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Background Information: Jeremiah 17-20
Jeremiah is a collection of poems, prophecies, and some historical narrative compiled by a scribe named Baruch. If you read it like pure narrative, it will be confusing. Look instead to see recurring themes captured in the various sections of the book. The overall theme of the book is found back in chapter one. “I have now filled your mouth with my words. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.” Jeremiah, of course, didn’t have this power over nations, but he was God’s appointed spokesman. God was going to bring judgment, but he was also going to restore and rebuild according to his covenant promises. Embedded in that verse is the overarching principle of God’s sovereignty. Underneath that larger reality is the fact that he chooses and uses individual people for his own larger purposes. Jeremiah sees the world around him through this twin lens. As he watches a potter working at his wheel, it reminds him that God is sovereign, and the nations are but clay in his hands. God is free to do what he chooses with the nations he reigns over. Jeremiah later goes back to the potter, buys a jar, and uses it for another enacted parable. Meanwhile, as his mind is continually on God’s larger purposes through the ages, he lives his own very difficult life and calling, one day at a time. He is beaten at the order of the temple overseer, and he is put in stocks. It was a beating similar to the one Jesus would receive. These beatings were severe and potentially life-threatening. How does he respond to his suffering? It is certainly not with some triumphant faith and a bring it on attitude. Read chapter twenty carefully, and you will see how Jeremiah had this magnificent calling from God, and yet it often felt like pure burden and misery to him. He hates being the prophet of doom, and he feels like God has tricked him. On the one hand, he can’t help but speak, but on the other hand, he hates the message he has been given to deliver. He’s even been given a nickname by the people: terror on every side. Can you imagine? “Oh, here comes old terror on every side; he never has anything good to say.” We have also been given a message to deliver. It should burn in our hearts as we are compelled to share it. We are jars of clay with a treasure inside. We suffer, but we are not abandoned. We are beaten down, but never destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7). Often, it can feel like God is not good or sovereign as we live in the struggles of our day-to-day lives. But we have the Holy Spirit in us, to focus our hearts on the truth of God’s word, rather than on our own fleeting and fickle feelings. Feel what you feel, believe what is real.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Cameron as he lives and works in Japan. Pray for his believing friend Soshi to grow as a leader and share his faith boldly with other Japanese.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.