Good Afternoon!
I really do not enjoy listening to negative talk. I know that to be true by experience. You may be the same. When someone begins a conversation that involves negative content concerning someone I am looking for an escape. I cannot imagine the calling of Jeremiah who delivered God's most ominous messages to the Jewish people. Most of the messages he delivered were concerning the sin against God of the people who lived in the nation that was Jeremiah's home.
But...there were some positive messages of hope that Jeremiah gave to the people who were obedient to God.
DON'T LET ME LOSE YOU HERE!
I find similarities from Jeremiah's experience to our experience...now and future. In chapter 33 Jeremiah told the people that God was going to allow for the rebuilding of Jerusalem...someday...in the future. I have walked the streets of Jerusalem many times. It is a great experience. It is difficult for me to imagine the streets of Jerusalem without anyone there. I have walked from David's Citadel to the plaza connected to the Wailing Wall...from west to east. I have walked from the Damascus gate which leads to the garden tomb to Zion Gate where the heat of the 6 Day war took place in 1967...from North to South. Every day there are thousands of people on these streets buying and selling in the markets and eating in the restaurants and shopping in the stores. God's message to the Jews who lived there was that the enemy is coming to take over Jerusalem and not a single person will be found on the streets. History tells us about the siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the total desolation and capture of the city by King Nebuchadrezzar and the Babylonians.
But...just as God had promised the people have been allowed to return and rebuild their beloved city.
I have noticed this kind of cycle in the lives of people...not just nations. When you become a believer in Jesus Christ it does not keep you from various experiences that will sometimes test your Faith in God. There are times when you may feel defeated. There are times you may feel desolate and you may even feel that God has abandoned you. For many, the cause of this is sin. But, just like Jeremiah, you may be affected because other people have made bad choices that have touched your life. What is taking place in our country now and decisions being made now are going to affect us for sure. There will be less money in our pockets and fewer jobs for people to obtain.
As a result, our nation will experience negative consequences. Individuals will experience negative consequences.
But...pay attention to this...God has promised us blessings. He will take us through the fire. Those who are faithful to Him will reap the reward of future blessings. How do I know this? God's Word says it! That's positive news. That's the kind of news I like to hear.
I know a lot of people are interested in end-time literature. As believers, we should ALL have an interest in what God has promised for us. The following are my list of priorities for a believer:
1. Salvation. Know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is your Savior.
"The one who has the Son HAS life. The one who doesn't have the Son of God does NOT have life. I have written these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you man KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!" 1 John 5:12-13
Know that you know that you are God's child...THEN...tell someone else so they will KNOW that they are God's child!
2. Discipleship...Spiritual Growth. A child of God needs to grow spiritually just as a physical child needs to grow physically. The life and breath of a believer
is to grow in God's Word and work. It is a requirement for a child of God to grow correctly. An undeveloped child of God is a helpless and hopeless person.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of
God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
3. End Times. Why study End Times literature from God's Word? Did you know that 1 out of every 25 verses in the New Testament tells us something about
Jesus' return? It is important for several reasons, but, I will give you two. First...it was important to God and that is why He tells us so much about it.
It was so important that He has referred to His Son coming back throughout the entire Bible. Second...it gives believers a hope that nothing else can give.
We know that what we are experiencing now will NOT LAST. There's a day of victory coming for God's children. Just like Jeremiah's message to the Jews of
his day. God has promised a time when all chaos will end...no more sin...no more uncertainty...just the joy and assurance of living in the presence of our
Lord eternally!
That's the great hope given to us that God wants us to know about.
Next month I will be teaching a nine-week course from the book of Revelation. It will be a class of hope for what God is preparing us for right now.
So...be positive. As a child of God, you have the greatest hope of anyone in history. Let's talk about it. That's what I like to hear.
NOTE: If you are new to receiving our emails, at the present time we are lifting passages from the book of Jeremiah located in the Old Testament of the Bible and making twenty-first-century application...for your life today. For previous emails relating to other books of the Bible go to: DBEAWINNING.COM and click BLOG.
May God Bless You!
Don Betts
DBEA/campus320
DBEAWINNING.COM
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!