The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74,79
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 8: Exile: God Disciplines His People
Background Information: Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74,79
Safety is a buzzword that describes a common pursuit of a certain feeling. Most would say they want more than a feeling, but that is often what they actually desire. In fact, the most common phrase used is not “I am unsafe,” it is “I do not feel safe.” Feelings are important, but facts are essential. Jeremiah’s words made the people feel unsafe. The officials said that he was weakening the moral of the soldiers and the citizens with his words of coming judgment. He was actually trying to make them feel unsafe precisely because they were unsafe. His love for God and people would not allow him to merely service their feelings; he had to speak to the facts of their predicament. He had already been imprisoned, and now he was dropped into a well to die. Sinking in mud, starving, sucking in dank, barely breathable air, Jeremiah was safe in the will of God. The King had him pulled out and called him in for a final meeting. The king didn’t feel safe obeying God, but Jeremiah assured him that it was the only way to actually be safe. Once again, he did not listen. The Babylonians laid siege to the city. Siege warfare was filled with terror, hunger, fear, and ultimately widespread death. The now-captured King was made to watch his sons executed before he was blinded, making this horror the final physical sight of his life. You can feel unsafe and be safe. You can feel safe and be unsafe. Many people feel safe when things are going their way. When the sun is shining, their health is good, and they are enjoying some of God’s common grace in their lives, they feel no danger. However, if they have not trusted Christ, living by faith in themselves, they are not safe. They are in eternal danger. To follow Christ can feel like a dangerous thing. We may be called to lay down our lives for him. We may be rejected by friends and family. To follow Christ is to willingly lose your life. To follow Christ is to gain your life. To follow Christ is the only way to be actually, eternally, safe.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
Matthew 16:24-26
Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:1-3
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for the new 6th grader entering youth group at River. Ask God to bring them to salvation if they are not born again and to strengthen them in the faith. Pray for all the kids at River as they promote into their new classes this week.
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.