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Life is all about choices…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 27:5 “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.”
Life is all about choices. God has been telling the people for a long time that if they didn’t repent and return, He would punish them for their disobedience.
Jeremiah 27:6 “Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.”
This chapter no longer presents that choice. Now the choice is: Submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke or be punished with sword, famine, and plague. At this point it is too late for them to repent and return, but God’s ultimate plan is still to bring them back to Him, repentant and obedient.
Jeremiah 27:7 “All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.”
Lord, You are sovereign, loving, compassionate. Your ultimate goal is to gather Your children—all Your children—to You. Help us to seek You, to follow Your guidance, to seek Your correction, to be humble and obedient, which is so unnatural to us. Draw us closer. Always. Amen.
Jeremiah 27:8 “If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand.”
Have a blessed day.
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To humble myself before the Lord…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 26:2 “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word.”
I have always informally thought of the God of the Old Testament as angry and vengeful, quick to strike down those who disobey, but God has been showing me again and again the compassionate nuances of His character in the Old Testament. In these verses He instructs Jeremiah to preach very specifically about what’s going to happen if the people do not return and repent.
Jeremiah 26:3 “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.”
As you can imagine, it didn’t go over well. People don’t like to admit they are wrong, that they have done things they shouldn’t, haven’t done things they should’ve, aren’t who they hoped. (And by people, I mean me. I’m people. Admitting my abundant flaws is hard. It’s easier to pretend, but that way lies destruction.)
Jeremiah 26:8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!”
Lord, It is often hard to humble myself before You, but that’s the only way to draw close, and I know when I humble myself, You show me how to draw closer still. Help me to check my ego. Help me to approach Your throne, seeking to be the best that You created me to be. Draw me closer, always, Lord. Amen.
Jeremiah 26:13 “Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.”
Have a blessed day.
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Lavish grace…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 25:4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.
This chapter brought to mind Matt 18:21-22, where Peter asks Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother and Jesus replies that it should be an abundant, extravagant number of times. In this scene in Jeremiah, Jeremiah is recounting how God has given them chance after chance to mend their ways, but they continue to follow their own stubborn hearts.
Jeremiah 25:5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever.”
Jeremiah says, essentially, “God has given you all these chances and you’ve ignored them. Now He will bring you to justice.” But why does he tell them this? Why doesn’t God just bring the destruction Jeremiah foretells? It is more of God’s abundant, extravagant grace. It is one more opportunity for the people to repent and return to Him.
Jeremiah 25:6 “Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”
Lord, I do not deserve the lavish grace You bestow on me. I do not deserve chance after chance, forgiveness after forgiveness, yet I am so incredibly thankful for it. Help me to return to You when I stray. Help me to treat others with Your lavish grace. Draw me closer. Amen.
Jeremiah 25:7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”
Have a blessed day.
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This is the promise…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 24:6a My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land….
This section brings Romans 8:28 to mind: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him….” Here He is saying that the exiles, those who have been led out in captivity, are still under His care, still in His sight. He is still making a way in their wilderness, even now (Isaiah 43:19).
Jeremiah 24:6b …I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 
I love the phrasing, “I will give them a heart to know Me” (v7). Isn’t that the center of our faith? A heart that is eager to know God? Returning to God as our center always? This is the promise He gives to the captives.
Jeremiah 24:7a I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord….
Lord, We are captive to so many things at times, and usually because of our own bad choices. And yet, You still love us fiercely and are eager for a relationship with us. “Thank You” is so inadequate to express my level of gratitude at Your desire to have a relationship with me. Give me a heart to know You. Allow me to return to You with all my heart. Amen.
Jeremiah 24:7b …They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Have a blessed day.
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God’s lens of truth…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 23:16a This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes….”
What beautiful words, “You will have peace” and “No harm will come to you.” These words are even sweeter when we know what we are doing isn’t the right thing and someone absolves us of the guilt of our actions with this balm.
Jeremiah 23:16b …”They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.”
God is speaking specifically against these false prophets in today’s verses. I would say that the vast majority of the time, we know when what we are doing is against what God would have us to do. To listen to the lies of the false prophets just adds insult to injury. There is nothing good that can come from that.
Jeremiah 23:17a “They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’”
Lord, Help us to honestly look at our words, thoughts, and actions. As much as we want permission to stay when we have wandered off the path, help us to evaluate all things through Your lens of truth. If we have wandered, help us correct our course. Draw us closer. Amen.
Jeremiah 23:17b …”And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’”
Have a blessed day.
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Thy will be done…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 22:8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’”
I have heard before: “We either say to God, ‘Thy will be done.’ or God will say to us, ‘Thy will be done.’” At first, the power seems a bit heady. “God will let me have my way?” But eventually, my own way leads to destruction. Judah and Jerusalem saw this destruction first hand.
Jeremiah 22:9 “And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”
Jeremiah 22:21 brings to mind the horrible habit of many—most?—to pay little heed to God when life is sailing along smoothly. He’d rather have us return when times are tough than not at all, but He craves relationship, always, in good and bad. And He craves relationship not because He needs us but because He loves us, we are His creations.
Jeremiah 22:21 I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me.
Lord, We are human, fleshly, foolish. We think we know so much, but we see through a glass darkly. Thank You for Your relentless love and patience, even in our ridiculousness. Help us to hold You at our center. Always. Amen.
Jeremiah 22:29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!
Have a blessed day
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The magnitude of compassion…. (devo compassion)

Jeremiah 21:2 “Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar a king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”
The flippant nature of the word “perhaps” strikes me here. I wonder what else they had tried? Was the Lord a last resort in this situation? And did they understand that they had caused this mess themselves by turning away from the Lord and toward worthless gods?
Jeremiah 21:4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city.
Did they realize that verse 8 is an invitation? Even after all they’ve done, God still gives them a way out, a way back to Him…eventually. Did they understand the magnitude of compassion there?
Jeremiah 21:8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 
Lord, Thank You for this look at a people who had turned from You, who ignored every opportunity to return, who were willful and stubborn and foolish. Thank You that I see my own potential for disobedience in their story. Help me as I walk my own path to clearly see when I am stubbornly going my own way. Help me see Your invitations to repent and return. Help me to understand Your deep love and compassion and to make good choices. Amen.
Jeremiah 21:9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. 
Have a blessed day.
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Even in the tough times…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 20:11a But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail….
This is a tough chapter for Jeremiah.  He is beaten and put in the stocks, yet he continues to prophesy, giving Judah and Jerusalem God’s message so they can hopefully humble themselves, repent, and return to God before it’s too late.
Jeremiah 20:11b …They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
The bulk of chapter 20 is subtitled Jeremiah’s Complaints, and the verses of praise here fall in the middle of his complaint. Why? I am reminded of 2 Cor 12:8-9: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness….”
Jeremiah 20:12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.
Lord, This life is hard. Even when we do the right thing, there is pain and sorrow. We need You. I don’t love the thorn in my flesh, but I do love the reminder that You are with me, even in the tough times, that Your power is perfected in my weakness. Always. Thank You. Amen.
Jeremiah 20:13 Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
Have a blessed day.
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Easily breakable, easily broken…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 19:1 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests….”
One of the things that struck me from yesterday’s reading was the fact that when the pot became marred while it was being formed, the potter didn’t abandon it, he remade it “as seemed best to Him.” In today’s reading, the pot is past the creation stage—its now rigid, hardened, easily breakable, easily broken.
Jeremiah 19:10 “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching….”
Here’s the thing about vessels, they are all useful—a cup, a bowl, a bottle all have specific jobs to do. If a bowl is marred on the wheel, it can still be remade into a useful cup or bottle. But once it’s off the potter’s wheel, it becomes hardened and brittle. If it’s smashed, it becomes useless.
Jeremiah 19:11 “…and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired.’”
Lord, Thank You for the reminder that we must stay connected to You—attached to Your vine, firmly connected to Your potter’s wheel—to be useful to You, pliable for You. Once we are removed from our source, we become brittle and fragile, easily made useless. Help us never to be useless when it comes to Your kingdom work. Help us stay grounded in You. Amen.
Jeremiah 19:15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’ ”
Have a blessed day.
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As seems best…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 18:1-2 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 
I have always read these verses from the standpoint of destruction—the potter destroying the marred pot—and while there is definitely that element here, as I read it this morning, I also see hope and possibility: God did not throw out the clay of the marred pot. He simply reshaped it “as seemed best to Him.”
Jeremiah 18:3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 
This morning God leads me back to the idea of beauty from ashes. A marred pot could definitely be construed as ashes. But God takes those ashes, that marred pot, that lump of clay, and reshapes it, remakes it into something different yet altogether pleasing, into something that “seemed best” to Him.
Jeremiah 18:4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Lord, Thank You for the hope I see in Your word this morning. Thank You that when we are marred, You don’t throw out the lump of clay. Thank You for shaping us, for shaping our lives, as seems best to You. Draw us closer. Amen.
Jeremiah 18:5-6 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.
Have a blessed day.