I'm Following Jesus – Page 2085 – 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.

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, August 17, 2018
Chapters: Jeremiah 35-37
Message: Are You Talking To Me?

Hello My Friend,

Not to make light of anyone’s pain, mourning or suffering, but did you ever notice that when something tragic happens the first thing those who are not faithful to God do is say to those who are is, “Pray for me.” or “Pray for us.”? You see, while much of the world will tell you that they want nothing to do with Jesus because they want to be free to live the way they want, deep down they know He is life. There is great power in the name of Jesus, just say His name in faith and He will move mountains, unfortunately, for many, God does not hear the prayers of those who do not know His Son. Why? We must know the Son to know the Father, and until we accept and receive Him as our Saviour, Jesus says, “Are you talking to me? Because I don’t know you.” “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” – Matthew 7:22-23.

While God focused primarily on the Jews before Jesus came, He never denied anyone else the opportunity to know and follow Him. Among the refugees in Jerusalem there was a group of Arabs, known as the Rechabites, they went into Jerusalem seeking asylum, probably encamped in one of the open spaces. They clung to a law passed down to them by their father three hundred years before, through Jeremiah, God was about to show Israel the blessings that come from obeying their Father. God sent Jeremiah the Rechabites, invited them into the house of God, and offered them wine, but they refused as one of the commands of their father was not to drink wine. Through this illustration, God commends the Rechabites for obeying their father even though they would not obey the command that He gave to drink the wine, God answers why He was okay with that.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.” – Jeremiah 35:13-17.

“but this people hath not hearkened unto me:” God will never tempt us by telling us to do something that is against His commands, he really did not want these people to drink the wine, he was testing them to see if they would actually go against their fathers commands. Obedience to God is not necessarily in following every command He had given them, after all, there were over six hundred, it was about being faithful to Him, loving Him more than the things of the world, and above all, not worshiping any other God. God is no different today, if we know Jesus as our Saviour, He has our back, we might face some affliction, but nothing can separate us from Him, and let me tell you, if you know the Son, the Father knows you, and will hear you whenever you call. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” – I John 5:10-11.

It often takes a tragedy to bring people to God, and that is when most discover who Jesus really is, it took my brother’s death for my dad to know Jesus, and he is in heaven now because of that. It took my cousin having a stroke before he knew Jesus, and it took my aunt to see her son having that stroke before she knew Jesus, and she is in heaven now, it took me an overdose of a diet pill before I knew Jesus. There is a difference in knowing who Jesus is and actually knowing Him, and while there are many who do come to know Him, sadly, many refuse to know Him, and the majority of the time it is because they refuse to one, accept that they are sinners, and two, accept the Word of God. As Jerusalem faces the worse judgment ever know, Jeremiah sits in a jail cell because the king refused to accept the fact that the king of Babylon was taking over and he would be captured and taken into Babylon, and blamed him for what was going on. God instructs Jeremiah to write down everything He had told and warned them about from the time He sent him to prophecy in Judah in hopes that some would listen and obey His Word. Jeremiah calls for a man name Baruch to write down the words.

“Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house. And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.” – Jeremiah 36:4,6-8,15-16,21-23.

“and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth,” Since creation people have been trying to silence God, destroy His Word, and those who preach it. They can burn all the Bibles they want, but God’s Word always remains. You see, the problem is, the world and those who worship false gods see God as just some man made god they created, they fail to recognize that He is not something man made, He is the living, breathing, walking, talking, Almighty God. On top of that, He is man in the form of Jesus Christ, therefore, when they hear those two words they cringe because there truly is power in the name of Jesus alone. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12.

Like I said earlier, it often takes something tragic for people to start acknowledging God, and since they are not faithful they seek those who are to get answers from God. When God had placed His judgment upon Judah He did everything possible to get them to turn to Him, while the majority were carried away and now safe, the rebels, including the king, refused to submit and now they were coming after him. In an attempt to alter the plan the Egyptians come in and attack the Chaldeans, which delayed things for a while, but it did not change the fate of the king and his family. Now, fearing for his life, Zedekiah sends word to Jeremiah and asks him to pray for them.

“And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.” – Jeremiah 37:3,7-10.

“Deceive not yourselves,” So many people are deceived into thinking that their way will keep them from God’s judgment, and the sad thing, if they just listen to God, it would not be that bad. They might have been sent to Babylon, but it was to their safety. Knowing Christ as our Saviour does not keep us from falling into sin or facing trials for being faithful to Him, but it does keep us safe from what is worse to come. You know, before Jesus came only prophets could hear God’s answers to their prayers. Today, we speak one on one with God through Jesus, and he answers directly to us. Perhaps the only thing you can do when confronted with an issue that is out of your control is pray to God. The more you fight and try to alter God’s plan the harder it will be on you, because some things are destined, we cannot alter or change them, but we can change how we react to them. And Jesus will help us through them. Praise God! “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” – Romans 8:26-29.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.” – Jeremiah 36:26.

Today’s Prayer: God, You promise the second we receive Your Son as our Saviour that You will always be with us, it is our fate to live with You for eternity because we truly believe that He died a sinless death, was buried, and arose three days later to save us from the judgment of death and hell. Through our difficulties it can seem like You are so far, but You are always with us, there is not one battle that we cannot win with You leading the way. When things get tough, remind us that we have a tougher, stronger God on our side to help us. God, give us Your power, strength, and courage to face the difficulties before us, knowing that You will always give us the victory. Keep us in Your Word, defending Your truths because so many are trying to silence You, let us be Your voice and witness to an amazing and blessed life as we follow Your Word. And never let us cease from praying, knowing that You hear every word through Your Son in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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