- Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!” Jeremiah 15:1 – Essentially what Jeremiah was thinking was that if “they” were here, maybe they could convince the Lord to change His plans. For God had made it overly clear to Jeremiah that His plans for Judah were destruction and exile. Judah had refused the many chances to repent, and now was their time to experience the results of their choice. Jeremiah though was praying for a different outcome, yet his prayers weren’t being following by God. The Lord then says our verse above, that even if powerhouses like Moses and Samuel were praying to me about this same situation, nothing would change, even though these two had a history of interceding on behalf of people in their day. The lesson is that God is unchanging. Here we see He is unchanging in the plans of justice that He had set forth, and nothing was going to alter those plans. In our day we too must accept this character trait of the Lord, that He is unchanging. For He is unchanging in His plans surrounding salvation and forgiveness of sin. We may think if we speak up this certain way, or do this certain thing, or if “they” intercede for us (whoever that “they” may be) that God will change His ways and we’ll get to Heaven in our own way. While that way of thinking may work with the people around you, it doesn’t work with the Lord. He doesn’t change. His plans around how to be forgiven are established and will not be changed. If you want the escape from Hell one day, you must follow God’s plans for no effort you give will open another door to Heaven. Only a true repentance and devotion to following the Lord will work. Do not weary yourself seeing to change the unchangeable, instead be thankful God established a pathway to Heaven for us to take. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3244
- Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16 – He sought out what God was saying and found it. He then consumed it, processed it inside him, and sustained his life by it. This should be our interaction with God’s Word. How different is that way of coming to God’s Word than the typical way of just reading the Bible at church and every once in awhile dusting it off to read? How then does your interaction with God’s Word compare to what Jeremiah said? Do you seek it out? Do you dig into it? To you delight in it? Sometimes even the tastiest of dishes takes time to get used them, so even if studying scripture for you isn’t at Jeremiah’s level, begin with small bites and watch how if you keep up those small bites your desire for it will grow and change for wanting more. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 934
- Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.” Jeremiah 15:19 – If you’re reading along with these chapters and get confused sometimes who is talking or who the words are being said to, don’t stress, I’m confused sometimes too! Here though God is speaking to Jeremiah about some of the earlier complaints Jeremiah had. Simply put, God responds to Jeremiah’s complaints by telling Him to repent! So is bringing our questions and concerns to God a sin? Not at all, God welcomes our seeking of answers and even welcomes our confusion. Jeremiah though had begun to question God’s righteousness and question God’s goodness after hearing the severity of the ways His people were to be handled. This is where the sin found it’s way in. Know it’s fine for us to not understand some of the things God is doing and even to come to Him looking for clarity and answers as to why things are happening the way they are. Where this can turn sinful is when we begin to doubt God’s goodness and God’s holiness. Yes, God will move sometimes in ways that doesn’t seem good and holy at the time, yet in those times is not when we should question His righteousness. These are our moments to bank on the promises of scripture that God works only for good. Are you possibly in a season where our good, holy God seems to be moving in ways that aren’t good and holy? Approach Him with your questions for He welcomes that, yet trust even in the difficulty God’s heart is good and the moves He makes is for our good. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2147
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