SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/2/2014
7:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Restoration: A New Land and Kingdom PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
32:16-25
Message of the
verses: As we continue our study
from the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah we will continue to look at what
Warren Wiersbe has called “An ‘Illogical Thing.’” He is referring to the purchase of the
property that Jeremiah bought from his uncle during the waning days of the war
that Nebuchadnezzar was fighting against Judah, a war that Jeremiah knew that
Judah would lose, and yet God had told him to buy this property because He knew
that He would send Israel back to their land.
The Reaction (Jeremiah 32:16-25): “16 "After I had given the deed of
purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying, 17 ’Ah
Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power
and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who shows
lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom
of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His
name; 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways
of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to
the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name
for Yourself, as at this day. 21 ’You
brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with
wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great
terror; 22 and gave them this land,
which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and
honey. 23 ’They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your
voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded
them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. 24 ’Behold, the siege ramps have reached the
city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight
against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You
have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25 ’You have said to me, O Lord GOD, "Buy
for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses"-although the city
is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’"”
Don Moen has written a song from these verses, at least
some of these verses and he has entitled it “Ah Lord God.”
“Ah Lord God Thou has made the heavens And the earth by
Thy great power Ah Lord God Thou has made the heavens And the earth by Thine
outstretched arm Nothing is too difficult for Thee Nothing is too difficult for
Thee Great and mighty God Great in counsel and mighty in deed Nothing Nothing Absolutely
nothing Nothing is too difficult for Thee.”
I am
sure that Jeremiah had a great deal of fear in completing this transaction to
buy the property from his uncle, but he truly believed that he was following
what the Lord wanted him to do and so he begins a prayer to the Lord, a prayer
we will see as a triumphful prayer of what the Lord had done, things that
Jeremiah knew that the Lord had accomplished in the lives of the children of
Israel. This is a good example for all
believers when faced with a decision that we believe is from the Lord, a
decision that we need to make and yet like the story of Gideon we sometimes
need to use his fleece to make our faith strong. We can and should look back at the things
that God has done so faithfully in our lives in other times of crisis and then
praise the Lord for His mighty deeds that He has already done and perhaps even
sing this little song that Jeremiah sang to the Lord “nothing is too difficult
for You.” Dr. Wiersbe adds “The best way
to handle doubt is to talk to God, be honest about your feelings, and then wait
for Him to give you His message from His Word.”
As we
look through this prayer we can see at the end of it that Jeremiah still has
some doubts about what he just did by buying the property, and in our next SD
we will see the confirmation that his decision was right. We leave this section on a note of unsettledness
of the prophet but we will return in our next SD with Jeremiah knowing that he
has made the right decision. I don’t
think that it was about the money that he spent on this property that caused
the unsettledness that was in his heart, but I think that Jeremiah wanted to
make sure that he was doing the will of God in buying this property.
I had a
thought that is just that, a thought and it has to do with the finding of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls were
found in earthen vessels perhaps the same kind that Jeremiah had put the deed
into. My though is that God will reveal
this deed sometime in the future when Israel is given her land, her whole land
where she will live during the kingdom age.
Jeremiah will be there in his new body and so perhaps he will receive
the property that he bought in the kingdom age.
Now remember this is just a thought of mind.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Sometimes our faith does not seem logical,
like buying a piece of property when we know that we can never live on it
because a war will give it to your enemies as in the case of Jeremiah, but I
must remember the words of Solomon who wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the
LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all
thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Remembering to have the Lord direct my path
can sometimes cause me not to do something that might seem right to me, but may
not be right to me. In the case of
Jeremiah he finds out it was the right thing to do to buy the property.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the week: Philippians 2:5-11.
5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in
Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the
form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross. 9
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the
name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will
bow, of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, 11 and that every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “7000” (1 Kings 19:18).
Today’s Bible question:
“What is quick and powerful?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/2/2014 8:45 AM
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