A True False Test

We will begin with a true/false test.

I have used the KJV to make them all sound official

1 Whosover is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment.

2 Help thou thy brother’s boat across, and lo, thine own has reached the shore.

3 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

4And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

5 'If a man says, I love God, and yet hates his brother, he is a liar.

6 'Whoever degrades a brother degrades me, and whatever is done or said returns to me

7 'A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city

8 'Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

9 'He who blesses most is blest

10 'Behold, how good it is for brethren to dwell together in Zion

How well do you know God’s Word and whether you are receiving a message from the Lord? This goes beyond a simple trivia test. It is the question of discernment and ultimately it comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jeremiah’s day, he came up against another prophet, Hananiah, who in the name of the Lord, was completely painting a different picture of the immediate future for the nation. We will learn to discern this morning as we see how Jeremiah handled this true false test!

How To Swallow A Tough Pill From The Lord… ch27
Jeremiah once again was asked by the Lord to be an object lesson. He was asked to place a yoke on his shoulders and it would also go around the neck. It was like the type you might see in an old movie or third world country used on oxen to plow the land. He wore this around his neck for months at a time! It was a yoke not so easy and a burden not so light. The message was to accept the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar and live under the invading nation, Babylon. It sounded like defeat and that is what God wanted the nation to realize. They were defeated in every way and it was time to enter a rebuilding process.
It is really hard to understand how God can use a godless nation to serve his purposes especially in the treatment of believers. We would never wish this upon anyone, but time and time again it often serves to make the church stronger and more resilient. The key is to remember that God is in control.
However, it was very hard to accept and no one really wants to go down with a fight and knowing their hearts full well, God’s challenge was clear. Don’t fight this, accept this message. You absolutely need these growing pains in your life.


1. False - Fight or Flight. This will end in the sword, famine or plague.
The challenge was not to get caught up in a false message of false prophets who preached lies and preached easy street. The message sounds convincing enough…’You will not serve the king of Babylon!’ v9 They were all getting together for a Summit like conference on the state of the nation and the message was clear. It is time to stand up and fight for what you believe in, fight for what is truly yours. However, it was futile and is good as it sounded, it wasn’t from God.
It was really convincing because at the time it was logical. The people could see that King Nebuchadnezzar’s hold on his own nation was breaking up and they were facing attack from the outside. Syria in the north was planning an insurrection and hey, if the other nations were going to do the same, this may be our time.
.
Don’t try to save the temple furniture, the pillars, the moveable stands,v19 ie: the symbols of your faith. Don’t try to cling to these things. All they really were to you were good luck charms. You treated them as idols…It is time to start clinging to me


2. True - Form
Stay put in the land and you will be able to live. Submit to the authority over you, accept it with humility v11

How To Correctly Identify The Voice of the Lord ch 28
So, five months later and Hananiah enters the scene. He has been watching Jeremiah for quite some time with this yoke that he was wearing around town. He is tired of Jerry’s unpatriotic message….sellout and succumb to the invading nation. So, he claims in the name of the Lord Almighty, that the yoke of the king of Babylon will be broke in 2 years….not 70! Well think how easily the people would gravitate towards that message…
So, who is right, who is speaking for God now is the challenge of the day.
Jeremiah’s response was incredible and full of grace. He responds by affirming, ‘Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied. He goes on to say that the one who prophesies peace is truly sent by the Lord.
Jeremiah is amazing to me. I really love how he responds in this situation. It is clear that he wants the best for the nation and he has learned long ago that this isn’t about him. God can speak through others as well
Boy, it feels good to not have this yoke on anymore. I definitely need massage therapy
28v10,11
However, once again God clearly speaks to Jeremiah and reveals to him that the yoke of wood will now be placed with a yoke of iron and Hananiah has spoken falsely. Its not a pretty message and two months later Hananiah dies. It was sudden, shocking and just as Jeremiah predicted.

How To Bloom Where You Are Planted! ch 29
The message that Jeremiah now gives to God’s children in exile is not welcomed in the least and there is always one in the crowd who takes considerable exception. Shemaiah all too quickly speaks in the name of the Lord as well and contrary to Jeremiah. He calls him a madman and really misses the beautiful essence of his message. He just gets totally fixated on the idea that the nation is to just accept their position. Maybe if he was living today, he might be thinking, ‘we are not Switzerland and we will not put up with this overbearing, overweight tyrant Nebber!’
The message is to make the country they are living in better. Be agents of transformation and seek peace. Pray for these people and for this nation, pray that this nation will prosper.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. Jeremiah 29:11-14
I think more often than not the message for us as God’s children is to remain faithful especially in a situation where we just want to give up. God is looking for his children to bloom where they are planted. So, often and all too easy our human nature tells us to say, “God take me out of the situation, I need a new job, new work environment…God you don’t know the people I work with.
We tend to get energized by a new possibility, new opportunity. All too easily we allow ourselves to get stuck and God says, stay faithful my child, lean on me even more than you knew possible.
You want to prosper spiritually - call, come, pray and listen
You want to have hope – call, come, pray and listen
You want to have an inside track on your future – call, come, pray and listen
By the way, this is not a half hearted exercise, He wants you to seek with all of your heart. Get serious, get intent, go all in and pursue Him like a madman, like Jeremiah.

We can learn about God ways and His will from three different places:
1. Through history. There is nothing new, it has all happened in some way, shape or form and history repeats itself. We can see all the same mistakes and errors being made and learn before going down the same road again.
2. Through current events. There is always truth out there and we can learn so much from what is happening now and the incredible fluctuation of the markets about the volatility of the world.
3. Through Scripture – God has spoken and we can learn so much from His voice in area of our life.
What voice will be the most predominant in your life, in your decision making? There is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord in the land… Amos 8:11 Be the one like Joseph who had the vision and who stored up the wheat. He was ready, don’t go through the famine without the Word of the Lord in your heart….Psalm 119:11
The Takeaway:
God will never speak to you in a way that contradicts His Word.

How To Discern Truth from Error.
1. Humble yourself. It was AW Tozer who said, “There is a close relation between humility and the perception of truth. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. Psalm 25:9
2. Trust God. Remember in Ephesians 6:16 God gives us the shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and many of those flaming arrows come in the form of lies and deceit.
3. Check the Word. God never contradicts the testimony of His Word. Most people often go astray when they lift a text out of its context or get so focused on one verse to the exclusion of all others that speak to the same subject in other places in the Bible.
4. Pray! God gives wisdom generously to all who ask as James 1:5 states. Fear of the Lord is also the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Remember to allow God to speak to you, do not try to force it and wait patiently for Him to respond. It is amazing how clearly He speaks to us when we read His Word on a daily basis.
5. Think it through - If it is too good to be true, it usually is. Especially when someone is trying to sell you a completely new revelation of God or some type of inner circle…
6. Cover the whole matter though the Holy Spirit. It is the HS that brings the enlightenment to the Scriptures and turns the foolishness of man into the wisdom of God.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:
1. What has been a tough pill from the Lord that you have had to swallow?
2. What were the assurances that God gave you to enable you to see your way through your own personal exile?
3. What are your ‘checks and balances’ that keep your relationship with God honest?
4. What was a recent lie or false truth that you were able to expose about God in your life?

Answers to the test!

1 Whosover is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment. True
Matthew 5:22

2 Help thou thy brother’s boat across, and lo, thine own has reached the shore. False This is actually from the Hindu religion

3 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. True Proverbs 27:7

4 And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens. True Proverbs 27:27

5 'If a man says, I love God, and yet hates his brother, he is a liar. True '1 John 4:20

6 'Whoever degrades a brother degrades me, and whatever is done or said returns to me - This is from a poem by Walt Witman

7 'A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city – true Proverbs 18:19

8 'Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. – True – Deuteronomy 28:5 This is part of the charge Moses and the Elders gave to the people of Israel as they prepeared to cross over into the Promised Land.

9 'He who blesses most is blest – False - John Whittier

10 'Behold, how good it is for brethren to dwell together in Zion – False – Psalm 133:1 dwell together in unity

Wow, what a week it has been! There has been so much volatility relating to the markets as we read the headlines. The loonie slides, the TSX plunges as the credit bailout reaches Canada. We read in Jeremiah 45 v4, ‘The Lord said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land.” This verse takes on a whole new meaning for me as it reminds us where we need to place our trust in. We come to Thanksgiving and we are reminded that in everything we need to give thanks and yet it is about so much more. In verse 5 we continue to read, ‘Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. Unfortunately in many ways it has been greed that has got us into this position and may we truly find the spirit of thanksgiving that rests in giving of ourselves, our time, our talents and treasures in such a way that builds up the storehouses of heaven!

We come to holiness through thanksgiving. We can’t lose it even when we are treated unjustly, cheated in a financial way, when there has been a significant loss. It can certainly drain from our lives, but we can’t let it die from our lips. Thankfulness is a concrete step in dying to self. Today we will learn about the relationship that was fostered between Jeremiah and Baruch and the tough, but necessary lessons that bring us to a life of thanks IN giving!

In chapter 36, Jeremiah was confined yet again and had warned not to step foot into the temple courtyard again. The king really had no patience or time for prophets. Now, entering stage left, welcome Baruch. At some point around 605 BC when this took place, we come into contact with a teammate for Jeremiah and it was Baruch. Seeing that his ministry to speak out had been hampered by his lack of mobility, he teamed up with Baruch. Now either Baruch was feeling very sympathetic for him or Jeremiah sought him out. Either way it was a great risk for Baruch to begin ministry with him. He came from a good noble family according to Josephus, a Jewish historian during the time of Jesus. He had a good education and had a job working most likely as one of the city’s officials under King Zedekiah (51 v59 refers to him as a staff officer). Baruch was faithful to read Jeremiah’s prophecies and following the sack of Jerusalem he resided with Jeremiah, he was also arrested with him and either died in Egypt or possibly along with Jeremiah carried captive to Babylon from Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. Baruch’s name means blessing or happiness so you have to wonder what in the world does Mr. Happiness have in common with the weeping prophet?

Taking risks is inherent of those who receive blessing! 36v1-10; 45v1

In his book Axiom, Bill Hybels, challenges leaders to make the big ask! He writes we tend not to drift into better behaviors. We usually have to be asked by someone to consider taking it up another level. This may be exactly what happened in the case of Jeremiah’s challenge to Baruch. We usually just don’t step up unless we are called upon. It is called the power of invitation. It was also around this time that King Nebuchadnezzar also took the youngest and brightest of Jerusalem’s youth including Daniel. In chapters 25,36 and 45 the message was pretty similar to what the nation had already heard, but now the timing was clear – the captivity would last 70 years and Baruch would be the messenger.

It was a huge risk for him to align himself with Jeremiah. He could have easily stayed in the position that he was in, comfortable and happy, but something stirred in his heart and he knew what he had to do! Gulp, gasp, I just signed up to be your scribe. I don’t remember this being in the job description From the beginning it was a big risk because Jeremiah is asking Baruch to go back to his peers, people who respected him and he also respected. Baruch also knew that the climate was not very favourable and knew that it was a toss up as to how they would respond. However big the risk, you name it – your life, your family, your finances, the more you put on the table, the greater the opportunity for Him to really work and move…however

Don’t get caught up in your own glory…leave the results with God 36 v11-19, 45v2

Initially things look bright and good. He received a positive response from the political leaders. It looked like this was going to be the turning point and Baruch certainly would receive kudos for his part in all this. After he had connections at the palace gates. v15 sit down, please and read it to us However, it goes from a really promising situation to downright scary as King Zedekiah in his act of defiance begins to have the scroll cut into pieces and burned in the fire. Baruch thankfully he wasn’t present to see it and those who had a healthy fear of God hide Jeremiah and Baruch…guilty by association. The king had commanded his military to arrest them both…. It wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out for him. He imagined it quite differently. Jeremiah knew better, he had been in the stocks, the slimy pit. The visions of greatness for Jeremiah had died long ago. This was new to Baruch and Jeremiah must have thought, boy does this sound familiar…

45v2,3 What is the answer to visions of greatness?

v4 Ultimately it is all in God’s hand. Be faithful to your calling, to your life situation and leave the results with him. Yes, work hard at it, be diligent, follow through, but at the end of the day, it is God who builds up and uproots people, situations, you name it. Just like the current financial markets, wisdom and history teaches us not to panic with impulsive decisions.

But let’s be honest, a great deal of the sub prime difficulties began with average people using home equity to finance a third big screen TV, a second SUV and other toys through the use of highly questionable financial instruments. Sure, many were fraudulently propositioned but many were also blinded by greed. I caught a short video on CNN that actually touched on this. It was proposing that greed was no longer in. They felt that there was evidence that people were beginning to take a long hard look at how their lifestyle pursuits were coming back to haunt them.

Laurie Cook World Relief Canada

When there are no guarantees, there is one for the believer – God’s presence. 45v5b

Jeremiah gives Baruch nothing more. He doesn’t make promises of God that are untrue. He tells him straight up, be thankful that you are alive. There aren’t too many people that are going to make it out of this situation. People get discouraged. Baruch was discouraged. He had been certain that Judah would listen and repent, yet the opposite happened. Now he was discouraged. Jeremiah is in a much different place than he was when he too was depressed and when he cursed the day he was born. Have you ever been discouraged? If you have, don’t be afraid to tell others about it especially when they are going through it as well. Matthew 11v28 Come to me all you who are weary and weighed down…Do you know what that means? It means that there are people that are tired and fatigued and often carry heaviness.

Baruch was there and no doubt you have been there as well. If you haven’t taken the time to reflect on how you have been blessed, there is no better time than this weekend to do it!

The Takeaway

There are two parts The greater our risk, the greater the opportunity for blessing.

I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land.

Ok, this may not look encouraging at first, but look at who is in control and reminding us 3 times. God is at work, He is still on the throne. Things are not always going to be good all the time, but when they are, be thankful and when they aren’t remember and be thankful then too. Recognize that if He is your Lord then He is watching over you, through the good and the bad.

Malachi 3v6-12

If we were to lose it all, all the blessings, we still have Him, we have life with Him for eternity.

And none of the blessings of this life could ever measure up to the greatest blessing of all. God brings back the focus and realigns Baruch to center. Don’t lose sight of the goal. We have so much to look forward and experience with Him so look beyond the blessings now as good as they are to the ultimate blessing

v5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. It is a tough pill to swallow. We all want to be recognized and know that what we did made a difference, people came to know the Lord, lives were transformed, a person’s life was really blessed by our generosity or giving. God doesn’t even give Baruch that assurance. He really has absolutely nothing to show for his efforts. God’s words almost seem cold and harsh and coming through the prophet Jeremiah they may have had more of an edge to them as well.

Jeremiah knew how it felt and wasn’t sugar coating God. He was just keeping it really honest and real. It isn’t too popular in our NA culture, but in many parts of the world where the threat of persecution is almost a daily occurrence, the thing they cling to is God’s presence in life and death. They know that He is with them.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. Go on a hike with your family and talk about your top 5… the things that you can count on one hand that you are thankful for!

2. When are you most vulnerable to sinking into a low spot?

3. Talk about how we come to holiness through thanksgiving.

4. What holds you back from taking greater risks for the Lord? What is legitimate and what is not?

5. What are your absolute non-negotiables in your relationship with the Lord that keep you from pushing the panic butt

One Dark Friday

At this point of Jeremiah’s ministry, chapter 20, things get ugly and if it was bad enough to deal with rejection, rumours and an unreceptive audience, he is now punished. In the fourth year of Johoiakim’s reign as king, life as we know it feels like it has ended for Jeremiah. The fear of an invasion has gripped the hearts of the people and Jeremiah has faithfully laid out the final word of warning before judgment was to fall. The sad reality is that Pashhur, the priest, would rather play the card of ignorance and went quite the length to rid the people of a voice of truth.
Today we ride the roller coaster of emotions and really will experience the highs and lows that he went through all while being called faithfully to minister. There is no way to really map his outcome other than to say that it all comes to a sudden stop! It ends and there is a sense of finality in chapter 20, it truly is a Friday like the one experienced by Jesus on Calvary, darkness has set in, the cry has come out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Learning to live when life has handed you a death sentence v1-6

Jeremiah 26:11 This man deserves the sentence of death…

Who Is Pashur? The name Pashur means a "cleaver" or "splitter," a "divider." and this is exactly the kind of man Pashur was. He was always dividing people up, creating factions. Jeremiah says, "God is no longer going to call you Pashur, but Terror on every side", i.e., undependable, a frightening kind of man whom nobody dare trust. "Your leadership will be ignored, for no one can trust you."
Here he was in stocks and he now suddenly finds himself with his back bleeding and raw and sore, his arms and legs imprisoned which held him in a most uncomfortable position, crouched over and unable to move, facing a long, dark, cold, lonely night. Jeremiah had known for quite some time that he was a hated man and there were always threats on his life, but certainly they would still respect a prophet or would they? The self deception of a nation had really settled in.

Learning to trust God when life doesn’t make sense v7-9

In v7 we have the thoughts of Jeremiah while he is in here, waiting for what would happen to him. Is this the end? Is this how I end up? The waves of emotion keep flooding over him while he is here. Here we get another honest perspective of someone who really is wrestling with God over the circumstances that he is facing. In the midst of the trial he comes to us very raw with his fear and despair, alternating at times with faith and confidence. He moves between despair and faith. In his heart he knows he has done the right thing as he fluctuates between bitterness and faith, between despair and praise. The first thing he feels is that God himself has deceived him in v7a
Jeremiah 1:7-10 He feels a long way from feeling rescued. What happened to the promises God? Here I am wasting away and crying out to God, ‘Where is the deliverance, where is your rescue?’ My back is bleeding, my body aches from the pain? Where are you God?
It is easy to feel this way but God never intended by promising deliverance that he would be kept from all pain. It would be saying that I trusted God for this, I claimed this verse for my child and it didn’t work…’train up a child…’ God is not true to His Word.

We put words in God's mouth when our expectations of God don’t match up with His plan.
v8 Speaking his word has brought him great insult and reproach and at the same time His words brought him great joy and delight. 15:16
v9 Have you ever been in that place where you know you need to speak out? You realize that there is an injustice, you know you can sense hearts growing cold to God, apathy or sin just needs to be called sin. You know that your words are going to get you into trouble, but you could not remain silent anymore? This is exactly what Jeremiah is struggling with right at this very moment.

Learning the tactics of the enemy v10

The enemy of your soul loves to play mind games with you.
v10 You can recognize when the voices in your head starting playing absolutes that the enemy of your soul is wreaking havoc with you.
This is a clear picture of a satanic attack and that is exactly what is taking place. In the midst of all the pain, the disappointment, the enemy loves nothing more than to plant thoughts in your mind.
His pattern we know all too well
1. He distracts us –He constantly will try to remove your focus away from what you know God to be and race in with the doubt.
2. He accuses us. He loves to accuse of our lack of faith, lack of trust, our doubt.
Know this…Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

3. He deceives us. You are the only one who is going through this. You are alone. No one understands you.
1 Peter 5:6-10
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Learning How Not To Lose Your Faith In The God of All Circumstances v11,12

It is your counter attack. You have to fight back with Scripture, with affirmations of truth, with the promises of our Lord….the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give you life and life more abundant.

Have faith like a warrior! Ephesians. Get serious about the battle that you are in. Don’t let the enemy lull your faith to sleep or your circumstances to drown your confidence.
Keep seeing everything from His eternal perspective.
For Jeremiah, he start with God – The Lord is with me, but He also knows how to fight, He is a mighty warrior and He knows that ultimately God will save the day. We may feel like we are losing the fight, but the battle is far from over and He will set the record straight.

Learning to Praise the Lord is a huge antidote to depression v13

Similar to the account of Paul and Silas in Acts 16, Jeremiah’s faith is locked in on God and His greatness – He had to rise above the reality of his circumstances.
It would be great if we could end the message here, close our Bibles and say that was a great message, but we can’t. Jeremiah has another real setback here.

Learning not to neglect to feed your forgotten soul v14-18

Jeremiah is real and shows us how fast and how easy we can slip into despair. It almost seems schizophrenic for him. Some commentators have thought that this is slightly out of place and more reflects his time while in the stocks because we see in v3 that he is released. Its possible, but is also very possible to recognize just how vulnerable we really are.
I think that often after huge encouragement and victory, a baptism, a significant spiritual milestone…you name it. The enemy loves nothing better than to sweep in and kill our joy. You only have to look to Elijah to see his incredible victory over the prophets of Baal and then be so intimidated by Jezebel to run for his life and ask God to die.
We need to keep our eyes on Jesus…the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-3
Jeremiah will still write amazing promises but for now he is not in a physical pit, he is in a mental pit.

2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

The Takeaway
Its Friday but Sunday is coming!

Broken promises, weary hearts But one promise remains: Crucified, he will come again It's Friday, but Sunday is coming It's Friday, but Sunday comes
I give my all to You, give my all to You / Nothing's sacred, the days are cheap / Truth is thin on the ground / Still our prophets are crucified / Nobody believes we're stumbling / It's Friday, but Sunday is coming Sunday Tree 63

We all need to be able to know what can resurrect our soul, our hope, our faith and that is the arms of Jesus. We finally have to take our rest in His confidence, His faithfulness, His joy. It is the same joy that enabled Him to endure the cross that we need to lay hold of so that we do not succumb to the graveyard of faith.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups

1. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 2 Timothy 3:12. How does this type of suffering distort our view of God? What is the purpose of it?

2. Reflect on the following lyrics from a song. Even when my eyes are dry, even when my soul is tired, even when my hands are heavy, I will lift them up to You. It's not about how I feel, oh Lord I am here for You. I exist for you

3. Have you experienced a dark Friday in your life? Has Sunday come to your soul and if it has describe it or are you still waiting for it?

4. What can resurrect your soul from a dark place? What leads you there?

Extreme Makeover: God Edition!

Extreme Makeover: God Edition.
Jeremiah 19,20

Probably one of my favourite memories of art class back in JH was the pottery wheel. It didn’t have to have any clay on it really, but most of the guys were drawn to it. We would just love to make that thing spin. Then, there was the field trip to Blue Mountain and BM pottery and that was another memorable experience to see the kind of creations that would be made from the slab to the incredible smooth finish. The pieces were either decorative or bowls or containers of some sort that carried the purpose of holding flowers, drinks…you name it.

God led Jeremiah to Blue Mountain pottery, well, not exactly, but to the potter’s house once again to give him a real visual lesson on the kind of business that He was in and the kind of relationship that He wants to create. This morning we will discover what business our Father, the Potter, is into!

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

The first thing that really stood out to Jeremiah –

The Potter is in the Makeover Business - He into the 3 Rs rework, remold, reuse, actually 4 He also Re names!

You see the potter didn’t throw the clay out. He keeps molding it, he keep working on it, but He does not throw it out.

He is not a throw away God and maybe you say, well I know, but let it sink in because we live in a throw away society. The value of many products have come down so much that it is often is cheaper to just buy new then even think of getting an item like a microwave fixed. Now back in ’89 when we were married those suckers were around $350- for the low end… Now the low end run for about $60-…so, why would you fix it? That kind of mentality has spilled over into relationships.

Maybe it has spilled over into your relationship with God and you are just finding it every bit as difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Why? You have struggled with a certain sin and you just don’t have the energy or the belief that God wants to see you again about the same mistake or maybe because maybe you feel that God has moved on…without you. The point I need to make is this…- He’s waiting for you

At the same time you really need to realize that He is calling the shots – Romans 9:20,21

Philippians 1:6

The Potter Exposes the Cracks in the Foundation


5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

The crack in the nation

God detected a flaw in the nation, a serious flaw and Jeremiah knew it all too well.
When we truly allow ourselves to be held in the light, it can become all too revealing.

The potter’s wheel has been likened to the constant circle of life, the things that always have to be done and never seem to get done. It speaks to the routine of life and at times it really gets hard to separate one day from the next. Sometimes it can really seem hard to see if there is any real change; however the big changes come only as we remain there, ready to be continually shaped, compressed and sometimes brought low.


The prophet has cracked under pressure…v18-23


It is obvious that Jeremiah knows that he is not being received well, he hears the rumours, the slander and how they are seeking to literally get rid of him and he lashes out. Now realize that by now he has been on this mission for 20 years with no results. In any normal business the HR team would have redeployed him or gave him the ‘package’ Its obvious that he wanted God to lower the boom and we still see him as a prophet in process.

Jeremiah is definitely reaching one of the lowest points of his ministry at this point

Jeremiah 19v1-6 When the Potter’s Housewarming gift is met with rejection.

God called Jeremiah to go on a field trip to the Valley of Hinnom and bring the city elders and priests with him. It was the headquarters of the pottery industry, the city dump and a cemetery of sorts. It was home to a shrine for pagan worship of the god Molech complete with the burning of their very own children. Josiah is dead now and Jehoiakim is on the throne. So with his captive audience, Jeremiah delivers his message and smashes the jar.

In that culture when a person wanted to renounce or end a friendship and bring a curse, he would stand in front of the person’s home and break a clay jar at the front entrance.

God is essentially saying that we have nothing in common anymore. You live in such a way that is completely devoid of me or what I value . The key is the end of verse 19 - 'stubborn and would not listen to His words…'

OR the biggest little word in Scripture is ‘IF’ If my people 2 Chronicles 7:14,15


2 Timothy 2:20,21 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Drowning in sorrow to dividing the sorrow

The Potter is in the business of creating us for noble purposes.

strong friendships, alliances.

Notice that in Jeremiah 19:14 the passage is being written in the third person. God had brought a friend into his life, someone else is on the scene and there is another person to carry the burden, Baruch, his scribe, most likely.

There is always hope. You may seem gone but never are you forgotten. He knows how to pick up the pieces. God is still at work, never forget that!

The most noble purpose of all - 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

To carry the living presence of Jesus wherever we are…

I have been going door to door delivering flyers with Sebastien and Samuel. The one thing you quickly realize is that people give you one of three responses – rejection, token interest, real interest.

Carrying the living presence of Jesus permeates everything I say and do. It is a heightened awareness to pay attention to what is going on in my life.

When death is at work in me – what brings that death about? Death to self is when my highest priority isn’t to be noticed, to determine what is in this for me.


Life is at work in you!

What I do with my life makes a big difference in how I relate to others. So, when I am not so concerned with running after my own ambitions, I take the time to realize the needs of others.

That is what Paul did. He knew that it wasn’t about his own comfort or his own status. God just keep shaping me for your purposes. The prayer wasn’t ‘why me’ The prayer was ‘why not me’. The prayer wasn’t make this go away, it was how can we see what God is doing in the midst of all this.

I have been reading about the life of Henri Nouwen. In the book ‘Spiritual Direction, he spoke about two interior voices that have been there all his life.

One voice said Henri be sure you make it on your own. Be sure you become an independent person. Be sure I can be proud of you; and another voice saying, Henri, whatever you are going to do, even if you don’t do anything very interesting in the eyes of the world, be sure you stay close to the heart of Jesus, be sure you stay close to the heart of God.

He goes on to write how he tried to resolve this by becoming a sort of hyphenated priest – a priest-psychologist

The prayer he prayed…..Lord Jesus, you know me and love me with an everlasting love. Let me know where you want me to go, and I will follow you. But please be clear about it. No ambiguous messages

I’ve come to bring you greetings of Jean Vanier

He knew enough about what he did. So he said, ‘oh, that’s nice Thank you, what can I do for you?...She replied, ‘No, no, no,’ she answered. “I’ve come to bring you greetings of Jean Vanier.”

Again he said, ‘Thank you, that’s nice. Do you want me to talk somewhere or writes something or give a lecture?’ ‘No, no,’ she insisted. “I just want you to know that Jean Vanier sends his greetings.’

It would be Jean who would tell Henri that maybe ‘we can offer you a home, a place where you are really safe, where you can meet God in a whole new way.’ He didn’t ask him to be useful; he didn’t ask him to work for handicapped people; he didn’t say he needed another priest. He simply said, ‘maybe we can offer you a home.’

In 1986 He went to take the call seriously on his life, he left Harvard University and went to France for a year working with mentally handicapped people before coming to Daybreak the same kind of L’Arche community that works with around 150 handicapped people.

The Takeaway.

Being is more important than doing and doing things together is more important than doing things alone!

Becoming clay in the Master’s hand means being ready to be shaped in many different ways. It means that often God may shape you very differently so that there will be many different angles that God may want people to have of you. Ultimately it will always be done so that others may see the treasure, the unmistakeable presence of Jesus

As it was said of the disciples, ‘When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.’ Acts 4:13


Questions For Discussions and Small Groups from Spiritual Direction by Henri Nouwen

1. What moments in your life with God stand out as crucial in your spiritual journey? Describe those moments succinctly and indicate their intellectual, emotional and spiritual significance.

2. When you think of the three major disciplines of the spiritual life (looking within to the heart, looking to God in the Book, and looking to each other in community) where do you see your greatest gifts and your greatest needs.

3. What persons, books, movements, ideas etc., have played a significant role in your spiritual growth.

4. How has a period of discontent in your life or an encounter with a special person challenged your life or changed your life course?

I Don't Want To Be An Object Lesson

I lost the Bible that I normally preach from this week. I accidently left it on the roof of my van when I went to pick it up after an oil change. Now I have a few different Bibles, but this one was very special to me. I loved the way that it felt in my hands. It was the perfect size to fit my notes in. I reach for it every week to study from. I had a picture of myself as a child on my father’ knee in the front of it and it always is an inspiration to me as I preach from week to week. I have a few different Bibles, but I have to admit that my heart sank when I reached for it this week and realized it was gone. It was an awful experience for me and I went on a desperate search up and down Ontario St. a few times retracing my route to find it to no avail.

The people of Judah had lost the Word of God at this time in Jeremiah’s ministry. In fact they had lost more than that…they had lost the very presence of the Lord.

We will unpack the second message in Jeremiah's ministry to Judah, just before their final exile into the land of Babylon at the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar. It was delivered about five years after the first, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah. However, what begins to unfold for us now is how Jeremiah himself is personally affected by his own ministry.

Last week we were challenged by his message to always remember our relationship with the Lord likening it to a marriage, realize to the depths that we have fallen and the call to return into the fold, becoming His beloved children who say, Here I am, send me! I will be the living presence of Jesus in my world.

When we lose the presence of God in our life, we lose our own sense of worth and ultimate meaning. In fact Jeremiah made it clear that by chasing after worthless idols in our life we in turn become worthless. 2v5

When you lose God, you easily lose the value of human life. The nation had lost its sensitivity to God and the reverberations continued to deal death blows to their sense of self and others.

Today’s message is a challenge to stay true, stay focused, stay the course when life is way beyond us to understand God.

Losing Your Way To God – I CAN’T SEE YOU.

It is always tough for us to know how to respond when God acts in a way that is opposite from how we expect him to show up. There have been times where I have celebrated the God who heals, the God who gave a clean bill of health to my father, the father who showed me how to love your wife and your children only to see the cancer return with a vengeance two months later and his death 3 months following that.

I have celebrated the God who defied the doctor’s prognosis for my dear friend Carlos, a dentist who takes his whole dental staff to Uganda to work on the teeth of those families who could never afford it, a man who would return to his homeland in Columbia despite the warnings to minister to people there as well. A man with such a generous heart that when he bought a cabin in the mtns he made it very clear that it was not his, but to share with every ministry, especially the youth, for retreats only to fall into palliative care in July and die in August of this year.

But the hardest thing I had to watch was a little boy by the name of Robbie Newman die at the age of 7 because he contracted HIV and then AIDS as a result of being born with this condition. I sat by his bedside, held the pictures that he drew for me.

You may resonate with me in those similar places where God has left you in the whirlwind of the circumstances

However that is why God is mysterious. We would like God to be more predictable, but oh, He is not. We have picked out the promises that we have claimed and clinged onto. However we rarely take into account the whole of Scripture. We are more comfortable proof texting our preference of God. So, today we come face to face with some difficult verses, verses that are not so quick to understand, but really shake us to our core and require quite a balancing act.

God asked Jeremiah to do two things here that really seem out of character for God.

7v16 "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

How does that strike you? God commanded Jeremiah to stop praying for the people of Judah,…don’t intercede, don’t fast, don’t bring them before me. Most of us think that prayer is always the mandate…PUSH pray until something happen. Why would he command someone to stop praying??

I don’t think any of you have claimed this as your life verse.

As if that were not bad enough, check out what God tells Jeremiah in v27

"When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.

As a pastor who preaches on a week to week basis, this would be all the motivation I would need to say, “God, I don’t think I am meant to be your man in this place”. Imagine going into that kind of assignment and being told that no one is going to respond to your message, they are not going to listen, they are not going to take it to heart and don’t even bother praying about it. Prayer is the fuel for my preaching, it would be so empty and meaningless.

Losing The Voice Of God – I CAN’T HEAR YOU

Well, let’s look at this whole chapter unfolds in v1-7

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
" 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. 3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

The historical context for this message is also seen in 2 Chronicles 34,35 where we get more background into the events that surround this message from Jeremiah.

Young king Josiah was conducting an attempt to turn this nation back to God. At this precise moment he had given orders to clean up the temple. For the temple had been turned into a storage room and had begun to accumulate a lot of junk.

So, in the midst of doing their clean sweep and getting ready for the temple garage sale. It is the high priest, Hilkiah, who very likely was the father of Jeremiah, that found an old scroll of the Law from Deuteronomy. So the King and his advisors were working hard to challenge the nation to return to the Lord. They had a proper Passover celebration, the first one in such a long while and the king went all out! There is a great procession, song being sung about the temple of the Lord

They read about the Passover, and discovered that no one in that nation had celebrated the Passover since the days of Hezekiah, a hundred years earlier. So orders were given for a great celebration of the Passover. Scripture tells us that there never before had been a Passover in Israel like this one. This king went all out! He offered sacrifices according to the Levitical commandments, and had the priests prepare themselves to conduct the ceremony. Everyone is caught up in the moment of celebration and then they see Jeremiah and he is yelling out something like “Hold Fast” Hear the word of the Lord

He basically is telling them, "Whom do you think you're kidding? Do you really think God is like this, that all he is interested in is religious games, rituals that you go through? Do you really think that if you merely get all this religion going, God will be fooled and will spare this land? Don't you know that God knows what is going on?" And he went on to describe it in Verses 8-11:

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9 " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

It would be Jesus who centuries later came to the temple during his public ministry, quoting these very verses in John 2:16 and driving out the money changers, the very people who were taking advantage of the place of the church and turning a not-for-profit ministry into a very profitable one…

The people were thinking that the discovery of the Word of God and being in His temple were good enough. God will be pleased with us and they were so flat out wrong…

They were trusting in the appearance of righteousness, the ritual of being in His presence and Jeremiah is not finished. As God has commanded him, he continues to preach…It was at this point that Jeremiah was told not to pray for this people any longer, for God had decided to visit them with judgment.

14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.'

Losing The Touch of God – I CAN’T FEEL YOU

Now if you think God is the type to take pleasure in seeing these people destroyed, then you are missing what He is really doing here in fact you can see God’s heart through the prophet in chapter 8

Chapter 8 goes on to tell us how he reacted. In verses 18-22 you can see the prophet's personal reaction:

O my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.

19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?"
"Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?"

20 "The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved."

21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.

22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?

He could see their end and it made his heart sick. Jeremiah himself continued to be the object lesson for God commanded him as we see in the beginning of chapter 16 not to get married, to not take part in any wedding or funeral to further impress on the people that God has withdrew his blessing on His people.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever suffered over some loved one, and cried out, "God, where is the Great Physician?" So Jeremiah cries out, "Why don't you heal this people?" He simply doesn't understand what God is doing.

We love a God who speaks

In order to get all this together, we ought to look back in Chapter 7 and see the list of actions God says he takes when a nation or an individual begins to turn away from him. Verse 13:

While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; v13a

The first thing God does when you begin to drift is to warn you what the consequences are going to be. He is faithful to tell you

Galatians 6:8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

There is no way to escape it. Even forgiveness for it does not remove that. If you sow to the sinful nature…guess what the weeds are going to show up in your heart. Sin will leave its scars even though the wound is healed. God warns that there is going to be hurt in your life, hurt in your heart, hurt for the loved ones around you. There is no way to escape it.

Then God speaks again…

I called you, but you did not answer. V13b

He is always calling, always seeking, longing for us to return. He is longing for us to come back, but when that does not work, he has one step left in the program: judgment.

He will not let His own continue to fall away, He will bring us a wake up call.

Hebrews 12 The Lord loves those that He disciplines.

C. S. Lewis put it very beautifully when he said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures; he speaks to us in our work; he shouts at us in our pain."

That is what Jeremiah had to learn. He did not understand that this nation had reached the place where the only thing that would heal it, the only chance it had left, was the judgment of God -- the hurt and the pain of invasion, and the loss of its national place. God's love was insisting that that happen.

We love a God who listens

Radical surgery was necessary, but it was the only way to remove the blockage to their heart.

Chapter 9, Verses 23-24:

This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,

24 but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD.

Don’t get wrapped in a false sense of security. Jeremiah knew that they saw going to the temple as a good luck charm and he warned them about it

It is good to talk about what God has done, but even better to talk about what God is doing! What is your security blanket?

Church attendance, a false sense of your own goodness, serving in a ministry, attending another Bible study….You need to know the Lord firsthand – not through others version of it. Know the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness in your life, in our lives, in the life of our church…

Paul reiterates this is 2 Corinthians 10:17 Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord

The only time that we should be reveling is in the realization that God has spoken through us. He has placed a message on my heart and I was convicted in my spirit enough to share it because I love that person and I want to be obedient to His voice.

There is no point in boasting about what we have or who we are because it is all a gift from God.

Jeremiah continues to reflect in 10:23 I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps. Proverbs 3:5,6

The sooner we realize this, the better off we will be. The lesson is simple- do not think that you are in the driver’s seat – Keep living that out practically – seek Him out, ask for His discipline, ask for His wisdom – keep seeking it out.

We love a God who feels

It was at this point that Jeremiah broke down and wept before God. I do not think you can read these passages expressing the anguish of the prophet's heart without seeing the echo of the sobs of God. For God was still working through this man, and weeping over this people himself, as expressed in the sobs of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 9:1,2

These are the verses that gave Jeremiah the name ‘the weeping prophet’

Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.

2 Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.

There is a difference between being alone and lonliness. He definitely wasn’t alone and neither is God, but lonliness is the ache that you feel when there is no connection, no initimacy, no relationship.

The Takeaway

Understand and know the Lord!

When we can’t speak, He still listens, when we can’t hear, He still speaks and when we feel numb, his heart aches.

Questions For Discussion

Share about a time of pain or grief when God felt distant or uninvolved? Is this situation still unresolved or how has healing come?

What verses do you cling to in a storm of life?

Has God ever given you a wake up call?

What enables you to keep your Christian life real and not ‘going through the motions’?

How will you seek to understand and know the Lord this week?

The Fine Art Of Follow Through

It is always easy to start something…you name it a home improvement project, an athletic competition, a marriage relationship. It is quite another thing to finish and finish well. It is a huge commitment to give your life to Jesus, it is quite another thing to let Him live his life through you. Jeremiah knew this all too well in his challenge to the people of Jerusalem. He called them to “stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, and where the good way is, walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls”.

Today we stand at the crossroads between a life lived for self or for others. Are you ready to stand in the gap? Are you ready to be the life giving, breathing message of God? If you are then be prepared to always remember, always realize and always return.

REMEMBER Jeremiah 2v1-3

Israel’s relationship to God is likened to that of a marriage relationship and the nation had lost the beauty of their connection.

When love grows cold they say that with couples half the battle with couples is getting them back to when they first met, the circumstances that were involved and what drew them together…

I will never forget the time that Sharon surprised me when I was a student at PBC.

It was so amazing, the element of surprise,

Can you relate what is what like when you first discovered a real sense of connection with the Lord. What made it special, the wonder ,the joy.

Your service for the Lord must be fuelled by a passion for a genuine love for Jesus or the flame quickly burns out. It is a story that unfortunately happens all too often…

The honeymoon had ended and the thrill of marriage had left all too quickly…

So, what is the downward spiral? Jeremiah 2v13

My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water

Forsaking God – the spring of living water – as their true source of fulfillment, definition and place in His family and going after other gods –

What kind of cisterns are people digging anyways?

You see the picture -- the incredible foolishness of somebody who has forsaken a living stream of water, with its freshness and its healing, refreshing quality, and has dug a cistern to catch the rain as it runs down the hillside laden with dirt and leaves and bugs and debris, and then stagnates in a broken cistern which leaks and will not hold the water

How much energy is spent going into defining ourselves by what we do or what others say about me or the stuff that I have accumulated? Answer these questions and you quickly find out where and how quickly you are digging.

It was Henri Nouwen who was convinced that the decisive point of Jesus’ public life was his baptism when he heard the divine affirmation, “You are my beloved on whom my favour rests” or “you are the one whom I love, with him I am well pleased”

We need to remember the love of God that drew us and is well pleased with us. It is hard to hear that voice in a world filled with voices of rejection telling you that you are no good, that you don’t have anything to offer unless you can demonstrate the opposite.

The greatest trap is not success, popularity or power but self rejection. Its true, I can give a message and a number of people can tell me how much they appreciated it. But, if one person comes up and tells me that was totally out in left field then what do I remember?

The quiet calming voice that calls me ‘beloved child of God’ comes in countless ways. It has come from parents, friends, ministry peers and that voice has had different tones urging me to stick with it, to remember my calling, to know that He is there.

REALIZE Jeremiah 2 v19, 20

It is important to note that the Lord does not bring charges against his people because of their thirst. He brings charges against them because of how they are satisfying their thirst. Desire is good. If you don't want something more than food, clothing, and shelter, you are not human. God created us with thirst. Don't kill it. Eventually, if you pay attention to it, the thirst in your soul will lead you to the Spring of living water.

v23,24 He gave animals a different kind of sexuality than he gave us, in order that we might learn from them, might have a vivid picture of how we look when we start lusting after everything that comes along, and being available for any kick, any thrill, any drive, other than God himself. So God holds up this vivid picture. This is the kind of figure God holds up and says, "That is what you're like. That is you, lusting after everything that comes by, living for kicks, wanting to be satisfied some way. He is challenging us to the core.

When we choose to satisfy our desires through indulgence, we're looking for a feeling, a buzz. We're looking for something that causes our soul to rise up and shout for joy. We find it, or think we will, in financial investments, another trip to the mall, check out the new Winners… Haagen Daaz, another drink of alcohol, pornography, an affair-or at the very least an active fantasy life. Whatever our drug of choice, it often becomes an addiction, because indulgence never delivers what it promises, and one always ends up begging for more.

When we choose to satisfy our desires through performance, we're looking for acceptance, applause, love. We're looking for someone somewhere to rise up and say, "You're okay." We're terrified of even one negative remark in a sea of positive feedback. We work hard. We crave accomplishment, success, achievement. We take the performance ethic with us everywhere-into the home, where we seek to be the consummate parents; into the workplace, seeking to put our best foot forward all the time. Performance often leads to perfectionism, because no performance ever wins enough applause.

What are you really addicted to? You name it and be honest with God –you get right to the root of it and stop just trying to cover up the symptoms. Maybe it is bitterness…God didn’t show up when you needed him or at least that is how you felt and you have been given over to complaining and negativity.

The nation knew that they had a problem and were quick to confess, but not quick to change and God had to take them through the ringer to come clean.

RETURN Jeremiah 3:11-13, 22, 25; 4:1

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' Jeremiah 6:16

We need to stop the drifting now.

The calling we have is to stand at the crossroads.

We need to stop the drifting now. We need to walk in the good way.

The only way that we have rest for our souls is going back to spring of living water.

The only way we have rest for our souls is to acknowledge our guilt and our shame…how far and how fast we have fallen.

The ancient path is the path that leads to the death of self and becoming alive in Christ.

The ancient path is prayer…prayer that follows through – prayer that is listening with obedience.

The ancient path leads us back down those the painful roads except now it is not about us anymore and our fulfillment, its about finding others on that path and letting them see the love of God through me.

As William Young writes in “The Shack”

Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, many who are not part of any Sunday mornings or religious institutions…Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved. “Does that mean,” asked Mack, “that all roads lead to you?”

“Not at all,” smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop. “Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.”

The Takeaway

We follow through when we let the truth of our being loved become fleshed out in everything we think, say or do. It transforms me into the beloved child of God, into one who says ‘Here I am, send me!’

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. What has become an artificial replacement for the presence of God in your life?

2. When did you feel most alive in your faith in Jesus? What circumstances surrounded that time?

3. Do you find that you are more given to treating the symptoms in your life as opposed to the root cause? What is really the sin that you need to realize and confess?

4. What will it take for you to know that you are a beloved child of God in whom He is well pleased? Is it more about doing or being for you?

5. What road is God leading you on to bring His presence?

Getting A Job You Don't Want!

Hmmn... Have you ever had a conversation with God like this…

Lord, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. I don’t think I’m ready yet….well, you’ve given me certain spiritual gifts and you know I did that spiritual gift inventory with John so why do you keep calling me to do things that really don’t line up with who I am? My personality, gifting and make up…well, I don’t think we have a match made in heaven. Are you sure this job is for me?

It may very well be about your job, but it is more to do with the assignments that God gives us which can often happen ‘on the job’ so to speak. We are going to begin a series this fall on the life of Jeremiah. He is a real prophet who wears his heart on his sleeve. If you don’t know him very well, you might think he is neurotic.

He isn’t a simple man and his book isn’t really all that simple either. The first 25 chapters are a collection of sermons interspersed with some off the record comments between God and him. Then in chapter 26-45 we have a sketchy biography of his life and not necessarily in chronological order and then finally in 46-52 we find his prophecies against other nations.

Have you even been in a Jeremiah-like spot? It is when you are squeezed in the middle like a go-between and find yourself often misunderstood. It is being a rock in a very hard place. You have been given the job of telling others that they have no job or you are the one who has to confront a family member about their sin. It is often a no win situation and you unfortunately somehow come out looking like the bad one. There is no reward for your job and people don’t want to hear what you have to say. Then, to top it all off, God seems distant and removed from you. Enter the life of Jeremiah. As we wrestle through his problems, we will come to learn how to walk through our own. We can learn so much from his life as a prophet with maybe the exception of Daniel. However with Jeremiah, you will know and feel the inside, the gut level honesty with God that we all need to discover.

Getting to know Jeremiah’s workplace v1-3

He was born around 646BC in a suburb like place just 3 miles NE of Jerusalem. He lived in a community of priests and Levites and the most famous person that had lived there was Abiathar who counseled David for many years.

In Jeremiah’s day, there was more priests than jobs in the temple and Phoenician and Assyrian deities were worshipped more in the temples than God. He was the son of a priest, Hilkiah and they would be supported by the givings of the people but given their apathy and divided loyalties, they wouldn’t have seen very much support at all.

There was so much corruption and infidelity in the country during his time and leading to infants being offered on pagan altars.

Fast forward 20 years and Josiah is well into his reign. He was the young boy who began his reign at 8! When he was 16, he began seeking after the God of David after doing some housecleaning…. (2 Chronicles 34:3) How easy it is to lose God’s Word in the clutter of life..There was a ray of hope under His godly reign, but that soon would be snuffed out.

Getting to know the job description! v4-8

God had no business asking Jeremiah to do those nasty assignments…someone who’s psyche was more suited for the job… He appears to not be the best suited for the position. It is clear that Jeremiah is a poet and God is calling him to be a prophet. He could have easily been the guy that wrote folk songs for Judah to sing. Instead, he is called to a ministry of thunder and lightening instead of a gentle spring rain. From his writings, one commentator describes him as the shy, sensitive type, impatient, given to extreme highs and lows, courageous and yet torn by a sense of inadequacy.

However God gives him an incredible sense of calling. God has his life planned out for him long before He tries to figure it out. He has been appointed, been set aside…born for this mission

Getting to know the power tools v9

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.

When God calls you, He equips you with His power and His presence. God is used to our excuses and thankfully He is in the business of doing the unexpected with the unsuspecting! You have heard it said before that God doesn’t called the equipped. He equips the called!

He loves to shine in this type of situation because He receives the glory. It is His Name that is on the line. It is His strength that is made perfect in your weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9,10

He puts His words into our mouth…Hebrews speaks of the Word being alive and powerful.

In Jewish thought a word was more than just a sound expressing meaning. A word actually did things. It was an effective cause like God in creation stating, Let there be light. The heavens and earth were made by the word of the Lord in Genesis 1:3

In Genesis 2:7 God breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living being

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired – God breathed

The Word of the Lord is mentioned 49 times in Jeremiah’s book. When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, it was an active life giving message. It had this incredible grip on him. It possessed him and burned within him as Jeremiah 20:9 relates it was like a fire in his bones. There was no way he could contain it. He also speaks of eating God’s Word in 15:16. It caused him joy and it also caused him to stagger like a drunk man 23:9 and also caused him pain 38:6,9

Getting to know the fine print… v11-19

There were some bright lights in his message and verses that we quote, but for Jeremiah, he had a dark mission. It was negative in that he would proclaim judgment. God does not call us to be happy go lucky. He teaches us to number our days so we can gain a heart of wisdom. He calls us to repentance, to humility, but He also lifts us up and sets our feet on a rock and gives us confidence, grace, strength and never underestimate the power of His presence.

The challenge for Jeremiah was to show his people that God was not asleep. He knew exactly what was going on and what was happening was far from acceptable. If he lived in our day he might have grabbed hold of that commercial….WAKE UP PEOPLE and put his own twist on it.

However God gave him a vision of an almond tree and his attention was particularly drawn to a flowering branch. The word in Hebrew for almond branch is saqed which literally means ‘the waker’ because this tree was to first to bloom in spring like the peach tree or a robin showing up. It was a sign and the amazing thing is that it flowers even before its leaves begin to unfold.

The almond tree was God’s wake up call to nature and Jeremiah was to be the wake up call to the nations. He is not asleep, we are the ones who are sleeping.

In all of this, Jeremiah needs God’s assurance and He definitely gives that assurance along with a real challenge not to deviate!

In 1521, Martin Luther was summoned before the Diet of Worms. Standing before the secular and religious leaders of the church, Luther was asked to retract his writing which had been condemned as heretical. In his famous reply, the great Reformer answered, “I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything.”

Jeremiah too was captive to the Word of God. He could not and would not go back on the message that God gave him.

So, what can we learn from Jeremiah…

It is not wrong to admit your own inadequacy for what you are called to do. In fact, God appreciates that type of attitude more than any other.

It is not wrong to be honest and open about how you feel with God. We really would like more fine print, details, more details. The reality is that God does not simply reveal it all up front. We have to learn to trust him more in every situation.

We need to remember that not every mission is necessarily meant to succeed. It is ok to fail. God doesn’t judge success by our standards and definitions. What often looks like success to us is not necessarily success to him and the same is true of what we might look as failure.

At the end of the day, the job, the mission, the most reassuring thing that He gives us is His presence.

The Takeaway

When God gives the job description, His presence and power are all over it!

How to let the Word get to you.

1. Read the Bible apart from all the helps. Let the HS speak to you.
2. Flood your reading with prayer
3. Read different parts of the Word of God
4. Believe it to be the truth
5. Read it with an open mind, don’t try to put your own spin on it
6. Really let it sink into your heart
7. Take time to memorize it and internalize it.
8. Let it control all parts of your life, your eyes, ears, mouth, hands, feet…
9. Live on His terms, not your own.
   

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. What is your excuse for not following through on God’s calling? What is it that holds you back from sharing your faith or His compassion with others? How can God turn this weakness into strength in your life?

2. How can the Word of God really take hold of you? Can you share an experience where its words gave you the direction, focus or your marching orders so to speak?

3. Can you relate a time where you felt a situation you were involved in was a failure until God showed you at a later time that it was a success.

4. How can you let the word of God captivate you this week?