Jeremiah

Jeremiah Chapter 45

• Jeremiah 45:1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these word in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
• 2 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch:
• 3 Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.
• 4 Thus shalt thou say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.
• 5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

It is so heartbreaking to see the sufferings of these men of God who tried in vain to get Judah and then the remnant remaining in Judah to listen to the dire warnings from the Lord. God doesn't send judgment without first sending His faithful prophets or preachers to warn His people. He sent Jeremiah many times. First to get people to repent so that God would not bring judgment, secondly to warn Judah to surrender to the Chaldeans and not flee or fight back. Third to the remnant that did remain and become under subjection to Babylon not to flee to Egypt for help.

In no case did they listen to Jeremiah but continually did what was "right in their own eyes."

• Proverbs 16:25 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.

It is really hard to get people to listen to what is right. Our ways are not the right ways. There have been so many religions, denominations, teachings and opinions that it is hard for people to know which way is right. This I believe is why God sent the Holy Spirit as a helper. When we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us present God's word, He is there to convict of sin, lead us in understanding and teach us the way of right. Only by the Holy Spirit can the word of God become alive with meaning to those who are listening.

A person who rejects, refuses and does not want to hear about repenting of sin, will not understand the word of God and will not listen to the message from God.

I believe those who rejected the word God gave to Jeremiah, knew deep down that he was telling the truth but they didn't want to believe him.

God doesn't leave us without witness. Deep down He gives us a conscience. If we really desire to know God and desire to know His word, I believe we will receive the truth. It's when we refuse that we can't receive.

That is also why you see different degrees of Christian living. We are actually as close to God as we want to be. There are some that accept everything God gives without question, if God said it, they believe it. There are some that doubt everything and have to be dealt with harshly before they believe.

There are some that accept the message of salvation but stop short of receiving any gift of the Spirit which goes into the supernatural realm. Some even deny the gifts of the spirit are for today. Some will obey God no matter what. Some walk with God daily and rarely think of anything else. Some only acknowledge God on Sunday.

I gave these examples just to point out that we receive what we want to receive from God. If we want to live holy, He will give us the power to do so. If we don't He won't. It is not God who holds back His promises, it is us who stop short of all He has for us.

Judah and Israel could have had everything but unbelief hindered them. Unbelief in the word of God, the power of God or in God himself stands in the way of our salvation today.

Open up your heart to the word of God:

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
• 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 
• 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

We don't have to abide in unbelief and lose our souls for eternity. We can have a deep personal relationship with God. We can live in holiness and love. We can be delivered from all our sins. We can be free. DC

Jeremiah 46