Thursday, August 23, 2007

Jeremiah 34-36

GOD's Work - Jeremiah 34-36

Good Morning! Some of you have been taking our devotional for quite some time now, and you might have noticed that we did not send a devotional out everyday this week. I was not sure if I should say anything or not, I do not like to focus on me, but those around us, but we could use your prayers. For those of you that are familiar with Kim and ours story, I am sick. Right now I am needing treatment again, so it really zaps about all the energy that I have, which is not much to begin with. I hope to get back on track soon!

Anyways, about today's reading, have you ever wondered how the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah? I have always envied the close communication that Moses and the prophets of the Old Testament had with GOD.
In verse 34:18 you will read about people that cut a calf in half, then walk between those two halves. This was done to make a covenant between two people.

Jeremiah 37:14-15"That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. 16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.

Thought for the Day
If you were not a follower of Christ and if you were to read the Bible from cover to cover, I could not help to think that the person reading could not help to think "These Christians sure do have a hard time." I mean let's face it 11 out of Christ's 12 disciples were martyred, GOD's own son suffered a terrible death, they were always struggling with sin and doing the right thing in a world that does not want to accept them or what they stand for.

For the most part it is true, anyone that has been a Believer knows that life here on earth is not the easiest. So, when then would you want to become a "Christian?" Let me stop here for a minute. If you are saying to yourself that I am a Christian, and my life is pretty easy, you need to move closer to the front lines. You need to become dangerous for Jesus, satan needs to shake in his boots when he hears your name, knowing that you do damage to his mission.

So, to get back to the question, why would anyone want to take this on....the heart ache, going against the world? Well...........
Once you have met Jesus, He changes your life. I would guess that this is the case with most of the people in the Bible, once you have met Jesus, your life is changed forever. You will feel love, acceptance, and peace at a new level (These are just to name a few!) For me and I am sure others, Jesus came and rescued me, when I did not deserve it. I have personally seen things that should have not happened, I have seen things that I can't explain how they happened, except..... that was Jesus.

The other reason, is our reward is not this earth. It is meeting this person; Jesus face to face and spending a lifetime with Him in Heaven. I personally can not fathom meeting Jesus....... my words can't describe it. But, beyond that we will live forever in heaven; a place that even if you tried to imagine how amazing it is going to be, you can't. It is beyond what you can imagine. WOW.

We need to remind ourselves of this, because yes, we are not at home here, our home is heaven. And yes, things down here sometimes are not easy, they are down right hard. So fight the good fight, keep running the race, knowing that when you are done, Jesus will be waiting in heaven for you! - Have a great weekend!! Jim

Bible Trivia
Around whom does the angel of the Lord encamp?
Hint: Psalm 34:7

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