JEREMIAH 45-52

Today is Thursday.  I had a great time last night Walking Through The Bible with Titus and Philemon.  I enjoyed these books very much.  We had a great crowd, new people present, and a great spirit of God's people.  Yesterday I had a very full day, today is a bit more relaxed and I hope to get some things accomplished.  Here is what I got from Jeremiah today:

 

1) DON'T SEEK GREATNESS- Jer. 45:5 says:  "And seekest thou great things for thyself:  seek them not;"  Let us never be guilty of seeking greatness.  Let us humble ourselves and exalt our God and Savior, Jesus Christ and let Him plan what ever greatness would be ascribed to us.  And let even that greatness be focused back on Christ, for we are nothing without Him!  Don't seek greatness!

2) STRONG HEARTS TURN WEAK- In Jer. 48:41 it says: "and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."  Tough men turn weak when they stand before the judgment of God.  So many times I've witnessed to men, who acted tough, but they will not be tough in God's presence, and they will not be tough in Hell.  In an instant, they will be crying out like a woman in birth.  Let us be compassionately persistent when witnessing to strong men. 

3) ISRAEL REMAINS- Jeremiah ends with Judgment on different nations like: Philistines, Moab, Ammonites, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Babylon.  These nations are never heard of again as a nation.  Jer. 51:5 says: "For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of host;"  All of these other nations were destroyed and never heard of again, but Israel was judged and God brought them back together again.  WHY?  Because they were chosen by God to bring forth His Son, Jesus Christ.  So, though God judged them, He kept bringing them back together and blessing them.  God does love Israel and will again bring them back to Himself during the tribulation time.

4) BABYLON IS THROUGH- In Jer. 51:13, God says to mighty Babylon: "O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness."  God rises up a nation and lowers it.  Perhaps that is what God is doing to America and the nations of the earth right now financially.  We must look to the Lord and know that all will be well as we trust Him.  In the captivity of Israel, remember that they went into captivity with Babylon, and then Babylon was overtaken by the Medes and Persians.  So they were servitude to two world powers during the seventy years of captivity.  Daniel was a chief counselor in both of their rule. But, God brought them back with favor of Cyrus, King of Persia.  My what a God we have.  He takes down a world power and yet His children are watched over.

5) THINK ON HIM AND HER- The Him is God; and the Her is Jerusalem.  In Jer. 51:50, it says: "… remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind."  Here the captives were going into captivity, and God's prophet is told to say: "remember the LORD afar off"; don't forget God, do turn back to Him, do think on Him.  And then, "and let Jerusalem come into your mind."  This is what Nehemiah did.  He thought about Jerusalem even though at his age, he had never seen it!  Now, I've not seen the LORD, but I think about Him; I've not seen Heaven, but I think about it!  Lord, help me to think of you throughout the day, let me dwell on that which is eternal.  Forgive me when I get earthly minded, and give attention to worldly things that bring you no pleasure.  Help me LORD, to think on my great God!
6) BROKEN AND ABANDONED- In Jer. 52, we see that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and that only the poorest of the people were left in the impoverished land.  Then all of the houses were burned, and all worth taken was taken from the city and the temple.  When God humbles a land, He does a good job of it.  Let us not be found out needing to be humbled by God.  Rather, let us chose ourselves to walk humbly before God knowing that He is in control at all times.  This is the condition of the city when Nehemiah comes to rebuild the temple.  After it has lied in this state for over 100 years, Nehemiah rebuilds the walls in 52 days!  What a God who can take something broken and abandoned and fix it up.  Know that He can do that to people too!

Well, hope you have a great day dear friend!  May God richly bless!  Pastor Mike Mutchler