The Simple Life

"At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts." Jeremiah 8:1-3 (ESV)   When death is preferred to life, there is a problem. Those who wish to end their lives have missed the very point of life. When you understand God's plan, you struggle with the desire to be with God and the desire to live out the intended purposes of this life, but preferring one over the other...

"So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.’" Jeremiah 7:27-28 (ESV)   Sometimes teachers are given challenging assignments. Often, we blame ourselves when our students do not learn. In reality, teachers seem to fail more than they succeed because students often go through the motions of learning while missing the lesson's point.   Jeremiah is being told of the stark reality that awaits him. You will teach, but your teaching will have no effect. You will teach and answer questions your students are not asking and talk about the future to those who have their heads exclusively in the moment.   As hard as it may be, teachers need to teach regardless of the response, for their faithfulness is to God, not to ...

"But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward." Jeremiah 7:23-24 (ESV)   A few verses earlier, Jeremiah was told not to pray for a people who would not listen to God. In this passage, once again, God reveals His expectations. We are to be people who know and listen to God if we want to live life as it was meant to be.   Not knowing God is a crisis. Knowing God and not listening to Him is a tragedy.   We cannot blame anyone else for our not knowing God. If we want to know Him, we need to spend time in His Word. Satan, the god of this world, has blinded our minds by immersing us in Godless thought and activities, and cultivating the "victim" mentality.   https://www.podbean.com/relat...

"As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own shame?" Jeremiah  7:16-19  (ESV)   Beating my head on a rock and praying that I do not get a headache is a waste of time. Praying for something to be blessed that is obviously not of God is foolishness at best. God told Jeremiah not to waste his time praying for a people who are, in essence, beating their heads on a rock.   I would not be comfortable telling someone not to pray for someone, yet perhaps I need to reexamine the role of personal responsibility in answered prayer. htt...

"As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own shame?" Jeremiah  7:16-19  (ESV)   When was the last time you were told not to pray for someone? You would think whoever would say that would be heretical. Often, we talk of prayer as something we do to unleash the power of God, but in this instance, it seems that the absence of God will make the statement.   There are passages that "preach" easier than this one, yet all of the Scriptures are profitable for teaching, and none should be avoided.   https://www.podbean.com/relat...

"Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'—only to go on doing all these abominations?" Jeremiah 7:8-10 (ESV)   Words can be used to either reinforce truth or manipulate the masses with cleverly masked lies. The lies can be so well said that those who speak them believe them. If you are a liar, you are either lying on purpose or you have been deceived and believe the lie is the truth. Those who lie feel personally attacked when you confront them with a lie, and rightfully so.   Honest people are willing to examine what they believe, and then evaluate it against the truth. Dishonest people have no way to evaluate what they believe. They alone are the authority for this belief, making any challenge against what they have said a cha...