Jeremiah

I'm in Jeremiah, and here are a few thoughts: 1) IT IS A HEART PROBLEM- Jeremiah 11:8  "Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart:..." We tend to walk after the "imagination of" our "evil heart".  Throughout Scripture, it is our heart that is pointed at as the culprit.   Proverbs 4:23  "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."   Solomon tells us to keep our heart very carefully for it determines what we become in life.  And we must keep it very carefully for Jeremiah adds:  Jeremiah 17:9  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"  We have a HEART problem.  So the key then is to let our hearts by transformed by the Holy Spirit.  Keeping the heart means controlling our thoughts.  We must not "give in" to the evil that resides within us.  WE are saved, but we also have a depraved nature that loves to stick up his ugly head from time to time.  Here is the answer:  Philippians 2:5  "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"  Easier said than done, but let us keep working and working to do just that!  Our hearts can be filled with evil, or we can submit to the Holy Spirit and have a clean heart!  The choice is our.... every day.... every moment of the day! 2) CURSE OR BLESSING.... WE CHOOSE!  In chapter 17, we see that God gives Judah a choice.  A Curse or a Blessing.  In Jeremiah 17:5  "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."   We see that the Curse comes when we trust in man and the works of the flesh, but the Blessing comes when we look to the Lord and trust only in Him!  Jeremiah 17:7  "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is."  Now the next verse tells us about this blessing.  What we can expect if we decide to put our faith and trust in the LORD.  Here it is: Jeremiah 17:8  "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."   Sounds pretty good.... I think I'll choose the blessings.... how about you?  Well, time is gone.  Hope you keep your heart on God and good, and keep your faith and trust in the LORD.  We all need that exhortation often!  May God bless you.   Pastor Mike Mutchler