King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, August 08, 2022
Chapters: JEREMIAH 4-6
Study: Groaning In The Spirit
Hello My Friend,
I apologize for this going out late, I had some family matters to attend to.
Sometimes, as I am reading through the chapters, I can feel God’s pain and grief toward not only the Jews, but all people, including so many that receive His Son. I often wonder if some of these storms that formed are God’s tears as He cries over His people, and wonder if some of these diseases that are formed are God’s breath as He blows them into the wind out of anger toward His people. So many Christians see God as their merciful and forgiving God, but do not want to see Him as the just God that He is also. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was dying, He actually waited until he died before He came to them. He watched the people as they mourned for Lazarus and literally wept, but He was not weeping over Lazarus, He was weeping over the people’s hearts.
[John 11:33-37 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?]
I believe the most astonishing thing when Jesus walked the earth was the fact that they literally saw all the miracles and yet were still blind to the fact that He is the LORD. All of the testimonies and how God dealt with Israel are not in His Word just to give us something to read, they are here to show us of what happens when we are obedient or disobedient to God. Obedience, is not our strong suit, in fact, as soon as we hear this word all these bells and whistles go off telling ourselves, “You can’t tell me what to do!” Think about it, if we are as stubborn and willful as we are with Christ living inside of us, can you imagine how it would be if we were not?
[Romans 7:18-20,24-25 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.]
Since Solomon was king Israel has been divided, in fact, they made up their own gods, and for hundreds of years, even though they knew God, only a remnant of them actually walk with Him. God, had already sent judgment upon the Northern Kingdom, but Judah had gotten even worse, and now He was about to send judgment upon them. Keep in mind, that God was not destroying the people of Israel, He was destroying the land that He gave them. Through Jeremiah, God calls for one last plea for them to turn to Him.
[Jeremiah 4:1-4 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. 2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. 3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.]
[Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,] In other words, clean yourself up, remove the things from your heart that keep you from giving God your whole heart. This is exactly what He pleads with all of His people to do still today. We are not perfect, we all have had some sin that we struggled with, something that we had on our heart that needed to be removed in order to give God our whole heart, and some of us still may be struggling. It is imperative that we remove these things, but we cannot remove them on our own, we need Jesus.
[Colossians 2:10-13 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;]
It is a sad fact that a good majority of saved, born again Christians, take their salvation for granted. Meaning they know they are saved, but continue to live is sin because they know they are saved by grace. The fear of God has gotten about as vain as the fear of parents, a job, or even the law, people are unruly, disrespectful of any kind of authority, and again, this is not something new that God is seeing, in fact, Judah became just as unruly, and this was the reason why God was sending judgment, and this time there would be no changing His mind on this. Through Jeremiah, He gives them details about who will be the one that He sends to judge them.
[Jeremiah 4:7-9,13-14 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. 8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. 14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?]
[The lion is come up from his thicket,] God, had already warned them that Nebuchadnezzar, called a lion for his fierceness and strength, was on his way to capture them. Now, their only option at this point is to repent because God is not going to repent this time as He has done time and time again.
[Jeremiah 4:18,22,27-28,30 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.]
[I have purposed it, and will not repent,] When God repents, that means He has turned His thoughts away from the evil that He would have allowed should we repent. When we repent, we are turning our thoughts away from the fact that we cannot save ourselves from the punishment of hell because of our sins, but Jesus can. The second we receive Christ in our heart, God in turn repents of giving us that punishment because we are trusting that Jesus paid the price for us on that cross, [Colossians 2:13-15 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.]
[Though thou clothest thyself with crimson,] As sinful as I am, I know that God has exceeded His mercies on me more than I care to admit, but at least I am repentant when I do realize what I do. And I am not in any way being boastful or saying that I am better than someone else, what I am saying is that our salvation is not a means to live the way we please and not face the consequences for it. Way too many Christians are painted up to look like they are living for Christ, but it is only a visage, they are living some pretty wicked lives actually, and if they only would repent, then they would not be suffering so much. God, literally sent Jeremiah to search out if anyone of these who appeared to look like one of His were actually His.
[Jeremiah 5:1-5 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. 2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.]
[but these have altogether broken the yoke,] Trust me, God already knows who His faithful are, and the only ones He is proving that to us us. Of all the searching for someone who had not turned from God, God found something much worse than ignorant fools that had no knowledge of Him, He found those who knew of God, but were willingly ignorant to His Law and had no desire to learn or follow it. And yet expect all the mercies and protections that came to those who are faithful to Him, []
You know, there are some extremely wealthy people out there who are poorer than the poorest people on earth because they abuse the most precious commodity that God has to give, eternal life. One cannot expect God’s mercies to protect them if they remain ignorant to God’s Word only because they do not want to pick up a Bible and learn what God has to say.
[Jeremiah 5:9-13 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.]
[And the prophets shall become wind,] Do you know how many are in hell right now because they trusted the lies of their religion? Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhists, Scientologists, Agnostics, the list goes on and on. Religion saves no one, ignorance saves no one, and denial definitely saves no one, [Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.]
God does not want to see the earth destroyed, and He certainly does not want a single soul that He created to end up in hell, but that choice is up to each individual. You can tell people how much Jesus loves them all you want, and you can tell them that He died on the cross, but if you do not tell them why He died on the cross, and just what you are believing in then, they will never be saved because they need to know the whole truth. Now, through Jeremiah, God expresses His anger toward those who are not ashamed of their sin.
[Jeremiah 6:10-11,15-16 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.]
[therefore they shall fall among them that fall:] Saved, born again Christians, who refuse to repent of their living in sin may not face the second death and hell, but they will fall among the wicked and God will take them home where they can no longer hurt themselves or anyone else. Saved, born again Christians are the salt of the earth, and just like salt, we are to be seasoning the world with the Gospel, healing the cuts of the wounded, and throwing it out on the ice cold heart to melt it, instead, many have been tainted it by the world, and have lost their savor, and their sacrifices are no longer acceptable to God, [1 Samuel 15:22-23 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.]
[We will not walk therein.] My goodness, what I would not give for the old paths that were only a few years ago. When the kids were like sponges to hear God’s Word and had respect for their parents, teachers, and all authority, who did not pitch fits in public because they did not get everything they wanted. You know, we hear so much about people being brought into privilege because they are a certain color or race, but the ones who believe that need to open their eyes to the fact that we are all the same, there is no respecter of persons with God. Nothing is given to us because of the color of our skin or race, it is all given to us according to our works.
[Romans 2:6-11 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.]
And here is the thing, if they are evil, they are that way because God is the one who allowed them to become this way. Why? Well, He has had enough of them. Jesus, gave His life for every soul, no one in hell is there because they never had the opportunity to learn of Christ. If they want to destroy themselves, then so be it, Jesus, will not stand in their way. Well, God, goes on to explain how He gives them up to their reprobate mind.
[Jeremiah 6:19-21,23,28,30 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. 20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. 21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. 28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. 30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.]
[because they have not hearkened unto my words,] Do not let the world fool you, or religion for that matter, anyone in their right mind can see that all the evil going on has to do with more than climate change or Covid 19. What is going on right now is one big altar call from God from all over the world, and it scares them to death. Well, fear will either bring you to God or away from Him, it is not what is going on in the world that we need to fear, it is the one who has the power over all the earth, [Matthew 10:26-28 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.]
Today’s Prayer: Thank You for reminding me once again of just how much You love me and how blessed I am to be one of Yours. For the life of me I do not understand why you are so merciful and forgiving, but You are faithful and just to forgive all my unrighteousness when I come to You confessing my sin. It truly is grieving to see our churches run by so much evil, and I can only imagine how much it grieves You, and how much You just want them to see Your Son again, and turn away from their sin. Lord, put Your hedge of protection around me and all Your faithful, fill us with Your power, mercies, grace, compassion, and a passion to reach the lost. Let us not fear the evil, only fear You and trust that what You tell us in darkness we will speak in the Light of Your Son. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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