Jeremiah 29

I find it interesting that God tells the people there to settle down, to make peace, that he is going to bring them back later, after 70 years from Babylon, back into the promised land. Yet in the midst of this, he also tells them that, though he has brought them there to keep them safe, they, too, have not been obedient. They, too, have disobeyed and are looking for false answers and looking to false prophets. Yet these are the very people whom God gave the vision to Jeremiah that were the good figs, the good people. These are the ones that God is saving.

 

Just a reminder that sometimes what God is going to do may not be right now. God is going to make these people ready to return. But for right now, many of them aren't looking to God the way they should.

 

But God's got a plan. And God is going to take these, many of these, who are still looking for salvation in their time and deliverance from Babylon, he's going to take them and change them and prepare them so that they will be the people, or their children or grandchildren will be the people that God can take back to the promised land. Because God has a plan. A plan to prosper and take care of them, even if they may not be looking for it right now.

Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

1 Samuel 23

It's been said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And though it is actually not often true, because sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your enemy too. The truth is that God sometimes uses people that we wouldn't expect to help us. In this story, Saul is pursuing David. And what saves David? The Philistines. The Philistines, who are attacking a different place in the kingdom, cause Saul to leave and thus allowing David to escape. 

And I find this is interesting because God often uses methods we wouldn't expect to take care of his people. God used Roman imprisonment to get Paul into Rome. God used people in ways that we wouldn't expect in the Bible and in history. 

God uses things we don't understand for his good. That is why we must always trust that God will take care of it, even when things look bad. Because he promises he'll work it out. And who knows, he may actually use your enemies to protect you from other enemies, like he did for David here. Yes, the enemy of your enemy might be your enemy, but God could use them to protect or deliver you, so just keep trusting. 

Photo by Monika Simeonova on Unsplash

Romans 7

  

As I consider the first part of Romans chapter 7, I'm reminded that Paul is talking also, not just to Gentiles, but also to Jews. And those Jews felt like, "We are Jews, we have to obey the law." We have to look to the law for our salvation. Paul is saying, No. You have been released from that law and don't have to seek that law for salvation because you have died in Christ. And therefore, you have a new law. This doesn't mean the law has no purpose. Paul talks about that, how it helps us, and points us in the right direction. But it is not the law that we look to for salvation. We are dead to that law, but have a new law which brings life in Jesus Christ. 

Now we have a new law that's put within our hearts, we are, as Paul is saying, "we are now married to another." We are connected to him who is raised from the dead, that is, Jesus. And through him, we can have power over that sinful nature that the law could never give us the power to do. Now we don't have to be bound like those who are under the law. We have a new life.

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

Psalm 142

David says, "I have no refuge. No one cares for my life." There have been times in my life where I have felt like there are no places to refuge. That no one cares. Or nearly no one. But David answers correctly when he says, "I cry to you, O Lord. I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." And I point that out because we often think that God will reward us in the life to come, but God doesn't just reward us in the life to come. He can reward us, and he can protect us, even now. He can give us the grace and provision we need now to hold on to him. This is even when times are bad, even when times are horrible. God is our refuge. Not just in the life hereafter. He wants to be our refuge now. In the land of the living. And for those who are believers, he is. He is that refuge. He is the one we can lean on and trust.

Photo by Wilfried Santer on Unsplash

Psalm 52

 

This psalm reminds us that there are people out there who do evil, who are definitely awful people. Just as Dagog the Edomite was, there are people out there who will do evil. But this psalm reminds us what the Bible teaches in other places. That they will eventually meet their due. God will destroy them. And those who are righteous will survive. The righteous will flourish. They will be rewarded.

It looks like when we read the story in 1 Samuel chapter 22 that Ahimelech and his family have been wiped out. They're gone. They are not flourishing. But those who are faithful, God will reward. And there is coming a day in heaven where we'll reach out and we'll be able to shake the hands of Ahimelech and his family. And we will know in that moment that God blesses those who follow him and that those who do evil will be no more.

This isn't a gloat over the evil because they've been destroyed. This is a rejoicing that God does what is right. He will raise and protect those who are true. And he will deal properly with those who are evil. We can praise God because he watches over us. He preserves us despite what it may look like in the world.

Photo by Doncoombez on Unsplash

1 Samuel 22

1 Samuel 22 reminds me that someone who's holding a grudge, holding on to anger, doesn't want to hear the truth. Ahimelech, the priest, told Saul the truth that David had been faithful. Of course, he acquired of God for David, but also that David was always supportive of Saul. 

When Saul heard the truth, Saul was angry. And it was true, David had never conspired against Saul, and David had never worked against Saul. But that wasn't what Saul wanted to hear. And therefore, he ordered the death of Ahimaleck and all his family. It's a reminder that people who are holding on to anger and bitterness don't want the truth. They want something to justify their anger and their bitterness, and will lash out at anyone who contradicts what they want to hear, even if or especially it what they say is the truth. Facts and truth don't matter. What matters is what they want to be true. Saul has fallen into that. May God keep us from ever repeating that mistake.

Photo by Simon Hurry on Unsplash

Jeremiah 28

 

We see a prophecy come to pass in this chapter: Hananiah dies. Yet, there is no evidence that anyone noticed. They all seemed to believe Hananiah, causing the yoke that was to come upon them to be worse, but they missed a real prophecy. The death of Hananiah should have been a sign, but as is often the case, those who don't want to see a sign rarely do. 

Be willing to see what God is saying, even if you don't like it. Jeremiah himself said he liked the prophecy of Hananiah, but recognized that it wasn't true. If it's wrong, it's wrong, like it or not. 

Photo by Rusty Watson on Unsplash