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Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
From thousands of Californians who have lost everything, their homes, their automobiles, their belongings which burned in the fires, even their jobs. From millions of displaced Ukrainians who have lost everything including entire villages in the three yearlong horrific invasion from Russia. From millions of people in Gaza, Syria, northern Israel and southern Lebanon and so many parts of the middle east who’ve lost everything due to the aggression of Iranian proxies determined to exterminate Israel. And what about your city and mine, my friends. Do we hear the weeping of people suffering all types of great loss?
Join me again in Jerusalem about 2600 years ago, as God was speaking through His prophet Jeremiah to people suffering great loss. In their case, as we saw yesterday, God’s people, the Jews of Israel and Jerusalem in particular, were warned repeatedly by God that if they continued living in their rebellious ways, their rejection of God, then they would suffer great loss as their cities and even the great Temple in Jerusalem would be ravaged, ransacked and destroyed, leaving them destitute.
Sadly, the people and their leaders refused Jeremiah’s warnings, as they had rejected the warnings of previous spokesmen of God, the prophets. Listen to this forward look by Jeremiah as he continued to appeal to the people to recognize their rebellion and turn back to God: “The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins…” (Jer. 9:19) Those very words are being cried out from destitute cities in 2025 in many places in our world today! Did you know that?
But I have some questions for all of us: As you and I listen to the voices of leaders and victims accusing each other of mismanagement of public funds or corrupt government leadership or irresponsible living or lack of foresight which should have seen disaster approaching; do you hear any voices calling us to consider what GOD is saying to us, what GOD is doing in our world? Do you hear any wise voices calling us to consider what the causes of such widespread devastation are from GOD’s perspective?
Have you heard anyone calling us to pay attention to the warnings of Jeremiah or Isaiah or many other spokesmen of God from years ago? Do you hear anyone calling us to consider what lessons we should have learned from history, that if we had pursued different priorities, had we pursued God we might have avoided much of the suffering and hopelessness many are now experiencing? Finally, do you hear any voices, from anywhere in the world today, urging us to humble ourselves and seek God’s mercy?
Let’s listen to these next words from God through Jeremiah, for they seem very relevant to our weeping world in 2025: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their wealth, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know ME, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD.” (Jer. 9:23,24) Hmmmm! I urge you to put a box around those verses in your Bible!! Who are those who have boasted of their accomplishments, their fame, their wisdom, their leadership, their wealth or popularity while smoldering ruins fill our television screens?
In these places of profound weeping around our world, who are those calling out for God’s help? Are there any who have made it their priority to gain the wisdom and understanding to KNOW God, to understand God’s way, God’s values, God’s instructions? Have you and I?
Do we understand my friends, that God grieves about the pain and despair in our world even more than we do? God takes NO delight in our pain, rather God takes delight in those who prioritize knowing God, understanding God, listening to God, drawing near to God, living God honoring lives and teaching their children and grandchildren to do the same?! (Deut. 6:5-9)
Remember Isaiah the prophet wrote this powerful message from God: “This is what the LORD says: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool… These are the people I look on with favor and esteem: those who are HUMBLE and CONTRITE in spirit and who TREMBLE at My WORD.” (Isaiah 66:1,2) Do you know anyone like this? Is it a fair description of you and me?
Or what about these words of great wisdom from the apostle Paul to his young disciple Timothy. Does it describe 2025 where you live in the world? “…the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths…” (2 Tim. 4:3,4) Do you see this happening in your city? What is the result of such rejection of God’s wisdom and pursuit of foolishness?
Do you see the contrast between those powerful words from God through Isaiah and Jeremiah and Paul, as God describes two very different types of people in our world? Do you see how they fit with Jeremiah 9:23,24 about people who boast about their achievements while ignoring God’s invitation that we should pursue knowing God so we can then understand how to live life with wisdom?
So, who are the people represented by these verses in your city, your nation, your part of our world my friends? What influence have they each had? How have they contributed to the weeping you and I hear in our cities and nations? And in the face of widespread devastation, which of these people represented by these verses are most helpful in bringing hope and answers to the weeping people?
Do you see in some people the evidence of humility before God or contriteness before God or any trembling at what God’s Word says about how we have been living our lives as a human race, created in God’s image and called to know God and live in relationship with God?
I think it’s important we pause right here my friends and look into the mirror and at our personal life history path. Which of these powerful statements from God is a description of you and me? If we are going to be people who bring God’s hope and help to our weeping world, what action steps do you and I need to take NOW in understanding God and bringing God’s answers to our weeping world?
Here’s a worship song to help us think about these very important questions and these powerful Scripture statements, my friends. Let these worshippers draw your mind and heart to God.
Today’s Scripture: Jer. 9:23,24 / 2 Tim. 4:3,4.
Choose below to read or listen.
Jer. 9:23,24
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2 Tim. 4:3,4
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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