I'm Following Jesus – Page 2098 – 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: Thursday, August 16, 2018
Chapters: Jeremiah 32-34
Message: When You Do Not Understand

Hello My Friend,

I am a bit sad today, even though I feel kind of good. The song, “Bow The Knee” comes to mind. “Bow the knee. Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see…..And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan, in the presence of your King, bow the knee.” Do you remember when I mentioned that my guy had not been talking to me? Well, he finally told me what was going on with him, he has gangrene, he had surgery, they got it all out, and now he is home healing. I was angry with him for not telling me, but understand it was so sudden he did not know how to react. There is also something else going on in my family, I have a brother that is in the hospital, he took something that was laced with a poison that no one can figure out what it is right now, there was some hope earlier in the week, but now his organs are shutting down one by one, and his mother decided to have the machines turned off sometime today, and he is expected to pass sometime this afternoon. There is something about knowing when a life will end that sounds horrible, I am glad that only God knows when mine will. When we do not understand the purpose of God’s plan, the only thing we can do is ask Him about it. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8.

We do our best to live the life God wants us to live, and while we are not sinless, we do have a great relationship with our Father in heaven, and we tend to do well when we follow His plan. Sometimes His plans bring us through affliction and we find ourselves wondering why or even what we have done. For years, God sent Jeremiah to warm the people of Judah of the judgment that was coming to them because of the horrible sin that they have allowed in the place He called His own, but they refused and now everything is starting to unfold as Jeremiah foretold. The king blames Jeremiah for all that is going on and is angry with him for telling him that he would be captured, he has him arrested and here he is sitting in a prison cell. Jeremiah knew God had a plan, but what He asked him to do next was really odd and strange, He asked him to buy some land.

“Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying, Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” – Jeremiah 32:7-9,16,24-25.

“Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.” Okay, so in the midst of all this mess, and knowing that the land was going to be destroyed, Jeremiah could not understand why God wanted him to buy this piece of land. Well, he asked God about it and He answered him.

“Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” – Jeremiah 32:28-30,34,37-39,40,42.

“so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” You see, God was truly going to cleanse the land of all the filthy wickedness that defiled it, and the only way to do that was burn it all down so to speak. However, with destruction comes restoration, so that land would eventually be used for His faithful to live on. Often, we do not understand why God wants us to do something, and we really do not understand His ways, especially when they bring affliction and even death. However, God has a plan and a purpose for everything, and as long as we trust and have faith in Him. Even us faithful Christians forget that everything in God’s control, and that it is really not Him that brings all this evil, it is the curse of sin, but thankfully there is a purpose. At times, we can ask and ask God for answers and we just do not get a response. Well He does respond, it is just that we often do not like the response and keep asking in hopes that we get the one we want. We never want pain to reveal something good, but more often than we expect that is exactly what does. As Jeremiah continues to sin in that cell Jews are being carried out into Babylon, God assures Jeremiah that He has not forsaken Israel, has not forgotten His covenant with them, and they will not only return to Israel, but will find joy and healing.

“Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.” – Jeremiah 33:2-3,6-8,15-16.

“and shew thee great and mighty things,” We may not understand His plan, we may not understand why all the suffering and why the crazy things happen, but great and mighty things will come out of them. One day Jesus will reign forever, and will join the faithful Jews, in fact, we there will be no such thing as Christians or Jews, there will just be God’s people. Praise God! You see, Zedekiah’s greatest fear was that he was going to get taken and murdered, but God had other plans. He tells Jeremiah to speak to Zedekiah. God assures Zedekiah that his fear of being captured and killed would not happen, that he would, in fact, die in peace.

“Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.” – Jeremiah 34:2-5.

“But thou shalt die in peace:” We all hope that when God decides to take us home that it will be peaceful. I am not one to talk about how I would like to die, I know where I am going, as I witnessed my brother having machines hooked up to him to keep him alive as every organ shuts down, I came to the conclusion that when I die I want it to be in my sleep, but not in my own house, and not from something embarrassing or weird. One thing is for sure, I know my brother is already in heaven with my brother, dad, and aunt because they all received Christ as their Saviour. We cannot know the day that God calls us home, but we can go in peace knowing that Christ is our Saviour. After all, our bodies are just sleeping, one day they will reunite with our soul, in fact, it will be a new glorified body that will never know pain again. “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – I Thessalonians 4:13-14,16-17. Praise God!

Jesus Christ Magnified: “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.” – Jeremiah 33:15.

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, with His sinless sacrifice You not only gave us a way to be saved from death and hell, You accept us and make us one of Your very own. I truly believer that it is only by believing in and trusting Jesus as our Saviour I am saved, I know I have nothing to fear because when You decide that it is time for my body to go to sleep my soul will be home in heaven with You. Lord, as we do our best to live lives that are pleasing to You it can get a little heartbreaking as we face pain and affliction, sometimes for simply doing what You have called us to do. We do not understand the purpose of Your plan or we simply do not want to accept it, but we must trust You because You are going to show us great and mighty things through all of it. Lead us, guide us, fill us with Your mercy, grace, wisdom, and let our faith not waver, but increase as we watch You work while we do whatever it is You call us to do. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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