Wednesday, March 27,
2013, 7:07 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “I Will Lift My Eyes” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 33:1-16
(NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2033&version=NIV
While Jeremiah was
still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him
a second time: “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who
formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer
you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ For this is
what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the
royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege
ramps and the sword in the fight with the Babylonians: ‘They will be filled
with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will
hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness.
“‘Nevertheless, I will
bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy
abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity
and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin
they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion
against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before
all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they
will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide
for it.’
“This is what the Lord
says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or
animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are
deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once
more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and
the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,
“Give thanks to the
Lord Almighty,
for the Lord is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the
fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.
“This is what the Lord
Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without people or animals—in all
its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In
the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in
the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of
Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says
the Lord.
“‘The days are
coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the
people of Israel and Judah.
“‘In those days and at
that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from
David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the
land.
In those days Judah
will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by
which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
Everlasting Love
Jeremiah was a prophet of God. That meant that he spoke the
very words of God to the people. The people of God were steeped in sin –
rebellion, idolatry, and spiritual and physical adultery. They had stopped up
their ears and they refused to hear the words of the Lord. Many were listening
to the lying prophets, instead, who were promising them peace and safety. God
had sent them many messages, confronting them with their sins, and calling upon
them to repent, but they refused. So, he had Jeremiah prophesy judgments to
come against them if they did not repent. Yet, he also prophesied much hope and
healing for the penitent.
God told his people (see Jer. 31) how he loved them with an
everlasting love, and he reminded them of how he drew them to himself with
loving kindness. Yet, since they rebelled against him, and they refused to
repent time and time again, he would have to send his judgments upon them in
order to bring them back to himself. He promised if they repented that he would
restore his people, and that he would build them up again. He would turn their
mourning into gladness and give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow (cf. Is.
61:1-3). He told them that there would be hope for their future. He also told
them that, even though presently he often had to speak against them because of
their many sins, his heart yearned for them and he was filled with compassion
for them. This is true love.
Health and Healing
God had to hide his face from his people, and the city in
which they dwelled, because of all their wickedness, yet he vowed to bring
health and healing to them and to their city. God’s purposes in the judgment of
his people are not to be mean and hateful. He is like a loving dad who must
correct a wayward and rebellious child who refuses the father’s instructions.
The dad does not enjoy this. He gets no pleasure out of such discipline. Yet,
in love, he must do so to bring the child back to where he or she ought to be.
This is called “tough love,” but it is still love, and the most difficult kind
of all. It breaks the heart of the father to see his children living in
rebellion, and it breaks his heart that he must come against them in correction
and discipline, yet he does so in the hope that the child or children will turn
from their sinful ways and will learn the peace and joy that comes through
submission.
God’s goal is always to bring us back from captivity to sin
and living for self to trusting in him and submitting to his plans and purposes
for our lives. He is our creator. He knows what is best for us. He knows how
much sin destroys lives, but surrender to God and to his will brings peace, joy
and safety. If this is speaking of those who know Jesus but who have fallen
into the trap of willful sin once again, his goal in divine discipline is to
get us back on the right path so he can rebuild us into what he intended for us
from the beginning. He will forgive and he will cleanse us from all our sins, and
then we will live such lives among the people of this world that our lives will
bring God Almighty much honor, praise and joy before all the nations of the
world, and then many will flock to Jesus Christ and to his salvation.
Our Righteous Savior
Jesus Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, i.e. the
promised Messiah to the people of Israel has come. He came over 2,000 years
ago. He was born as a baby, yet he is the Son of God. When he walked the face
of this earth, he was fully God and fully man. He suffered as we suffer, and he
was tempted in all the ways we are tempted, yet without sin. He was falsely
accused, arrested, beaten, mocked, spat upon, betrayed, denied, forsaken and
rejected of men before they hung him on a cross to die as a common criminal, although
he had done no wrong. Yet, when he died, he took upon himself the sins of the
entire world. When he died, our sins died with him. They were buried with him,
but when he rose from the grave, our sins remained buried, for he conquered
death, hell, Satan and sin.
Through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection we can be set
free from captivity to sin and we can walk in freedom and victory over sin,
self and Satan. We can have wonderful fellowship with our Lord God. We can sit
at his feet and learn from him daily what he has for us, and out of love for
him we can walk in obedience to his commands and we can surrender to his plans
and purposes for our lives because Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins so
we could go free!
Yet, each one of us must individually receive Jesus Christ
as Lord (master) and Savior of our lives, by God’s grace in providing salvation
for us, and through faith (repentance and obedience). Jesus said that if anyone
would come after him, he must deny (disallow) himself (his fleshly will and
appetites), take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow
(obey and submit to) Jesus Christ. He said if we choose to hold on to our old
lives of living for sin and self that we will lose them for eternity, but if we
willingly lay down our lives for the sake of his name and for the sake of the
gospel, that we will gain eternal life with God forever (see Luke 9:23-25; cf.
Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 6; 1 John; Gal. 2:20). This is the working of the Holy
Spirit of God in our hearts in transforming us, in purifying us from sin, and
in regeneration (new birth) in Christ Jesus, as we cooperate fully with that
work.
Jesus paid the penalty of our sin so we can go free from
slavery to sin, and so we can be free from having to spend eternity in hell,
and so we can be free to love, honor, worship, obey, surrender to and serve our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the rest of our days. So, when we turn from our
sins and we turn to God, committing ourselves to be faithful, submissive,
obedient servants and children of Almighty God through faith in Jesus Christ,
God restores us to a right relationship with him, he heals our broken hearts
that were broken because of sin, he comforts us with his love and forgiveness,
and he fills us with his peace and joy, and promises spiritual protection from
the enemy of our souls; that he will be with us all our days, that he will
teach us his ways so we can walk in them, that he will comfort us in our
sorrows, and that he will provide all the strength and hope we need to live
each and every day for him in his strength and power within us. This is
awesome!
Should we sin
Jesus does not promise that we will never be tempted by sin
or that we will never sin again once we come to him in faith. Yet, he does ask
that when we do sin that we come to him humbly with contrite hearts, that we
confess our sins and choose again to turn away from them and toward him in
faithful obedience. When we do, he is always there to restore us, to revive us,
to heal our wounds, to heal our broken hearts, and to set us on the right paths
again, because he is a loving and forgiving God, and because Jesus Christ paid
the penalty for our sin so that we can go free. He will always seek after us to
bring us back.
Yet, should we stray to the point to where we refuse to
repent any longer, even after he sends us message after message calling us to
repent, I believe scripture teaches that he will send us a dose of divine
discipline and correction like a loving dad in order to get us to return, so
that he can restore us and build us up again and make us whole in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
So, if you want to be free from the traps of sin, turn from
sin and get rid of all that hinders your walk with the Lord and that leads you
into sin, and choose today to walk in faithful obedience to your Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ – to bring him honor, praise and joy among the people of
this world so that many others may also know the joy of our salvation.
I Will Lift My Eyes
/ An Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes
To my Lord Most High.
My help comes from
Him,
Who saved me from sin.
He will not let your
foot slip, and
He who watches will
not sleep.
Our Lord watches over
you, and
Your life He will
keep.
I will lift my eyes
To my Lord Most High.
My help comes from
Him,
Who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes
To my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord.
My sins, He’s
forgiv’n.
Because of His great
love for us,
He made us alive with
Christ.
Through the kindness
of our Savior,
He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes
To my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord.
My sins, He’s
forgiv’n.
My home now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord,
Who is on our side.
Our help found in Him.
He gives peace within.
Those who trust will
ne’er be shaken.
God will supply all we
need.
Our Lord has done
great things for us.
He’s our friend,
indeed!
Praise be to the Lord,
Who is on our side.
Our help found in Him.
He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
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