You Must be in His Presence to Hear His Words

 Scripture:

““Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God is speaking to Jeremiah about the prophets of Judah. He told Jeremiah that they were speaking of their own accord and not what God was saying. I see here that God asks a couple of questions to Jeremiah that are worth pondering. He asks, “Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what He is really saying?” He also asked if any of them even cared enough to listen to God. 

Application:

You hear from God in the presence of God. Before we give any message FOR God, we must spend time WITH God. We must HEAR Him before we can speak on His behalf. We must be in His presence in order to hear Him. I need to spend more time in the presence of the Lord, hearing what He wants me to speak to His people. 

Prayer:

Father, I don’t want to prophesy what You are not saying. Help me to be accurate with Your words. I want to speak what You are truly saying to Your people. Speak to me Lord. Open my ears. Help me to spend more time in Your presence and less time focusing on what I can say. Speak to me Lord I pray.

Your Son,

Jeff

The Lord Stands Beside Me

 Scripture:

“But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jeremiah had to deliver hard messages to God’s people and they didn’t like him very much. His messages were harsh and not easy, but his job was to deliver them. In this passage he talks about his view of the Lord and the courage it gives him. He says that the Lord stands beside him like a great warrior who will fight his enemies. He knew that his enemies would be defeated by the Lord and they would be humiliated. He had strong confirmation in his heart that as he delivered the word of the Lord that the Lord of the word would fight his enemies.

Application:

As we do what the Lord has called us to do, we can walk in confidence that He will fight our battles and defeat those who rise up against us. I need to walk in the confidence only God can give and know in my heart that He has my back. I want to walk with God and do exactly what He calls me to do, then let Him deal with those who are against me.

Prayer:

Father, You are a good God. You have been faithful to me all my life and I appreciate You. I ask You this morning to confirm my calling and make it clear that I am in obedience to You in every area of my life. Let there be no disobedience in me. Help me to trust that You will take care of my back as I do what You ask me to. I simply want to do Your will in all things. I am Yours. Let me see that You are beside me like a great warrior.

Yours,

Jeff

Plant by the River

 Scripture:

““But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jeremiah was prophesying terrible destruction for the Lord’s people because they had lost their way and were serving other gods. In the midst of his prophecy he makes this statement for those who trust in the Lord and have made Him their hope and confidence. He says that they will be life trees by the riverbank with deep roots. They will not be bothered by heat, or drought. Their leaves will always be green and never stop producing fruit.

Application:

When we remain faithful to God, we have a covenant. Even when others mess up and walk away, we can stand strong through every season. We are promised to have deep roots and to continually be producing for our Lord. We will never see drought when we are connected to Him. Our job is to stay connected, no matter what is going on around us. We can thrive in recession if we are connected to the life-giver. We can prosper in dry times when we are planted by the right river. We determined where we plant. I want to plant by the river.

Prayer:

Father, let my roots go deep and my branches produce much fruit. I want my life to please You.Help me to continually drink from Your river of life and never be dry. Teach me to walk with You and to produce fruit when everything looks dry. Thank You for letting me see fruit this week in Togo. What a blessing!

Yours,

Jeff

True Repentance

 Scripture:

' Lord , we confess our wickedness and that of our ancestors, too. We all have sinned against you. For the sake of your reputation, Lord , do not abandon us. Do not disgrace your own glorious throne. Please remember us, and do not break your covenant with us. ' Jeremiah 14:20-21

Observation:

Jeremiah gives us a true depiction of what repentance looks like. In this passage, he confesses the wickedness of his generation and that of his ancestors. He states that they had all sinned against the Lord. Then he asks the Lord, for the sake of His reputation, not to abandon them. He asks the Lord to remember them and not to break His covenant with them. He acknowledged the sin, turned from it, asked for mercy, then reminded God of His covenant.

Application:

True repentance is acknowledging that we have messed up and gone away from the Lord, then confessing our sins and the sins of our generation. In doing this, we admit that we broke the covenant with God and request that God remember His covenant with us. In a covenant, each party makes promises. Repentance means we are returning to the covenant and asking God to return as well. We must admit that we are the ones who broke the covenant and not the Lord. We can then turn completely to Him and ask for His blessing. Covenant is so important. 

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, thank You for reminding me of the importance of covenant this morning. Help me to live up to my end of the covenant with You. I gave You my life for your purposes. Help me not to live for myself, but for You at all times. I want to be completely Yours. Thank You for this trip to Togo and for allowing me to see all You have done here through obedience to You. Help me to trust You with every detail of my life and to follow You completely. Entrust me with more and more so I can extend Your Kingdom more and more I pray.

Yours Forever,
Jeff

Speaking God's Heart

 Scripture:

'They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. ' Jeremiah 8:11

Observation:

God is speaking to Jeremiah about what he is to tell God's people. In this passage, God tells him about the prophets who offer superficial treatments for mortal wounds. He says they give assurance of peace when there is no peace. God makes it clear that He expects His spokespeople to convey His message with accuracy, and not just tell the people what they want to hear.

Application:

God desires pastors, apostles, prophets, teachers, and evangelists who will convey what He is speaking and not just what feels good to the people. As spokespersons for God, we must make sure we are conveying what He wants us to convey and not just speak about what seems right or makes people feel good. God is looking for some people who will speak what He wants spoken, whether it is popular or not. He needs some speakers who will speak from His heart and not just words that they think will connect and help people.

Prayer:

Father, I am in ministry at Your calling. Help me accurately convey what you are speaking at all times. I want to be your voice to my generation. I don't want to speak what I think will work well or what I think will be received well. I want to speak what You are speaking. I want to do what You are doing. Help me to declare your truth in the way You want it declared. Open my ears and let me hear Your voice, then give me the boldness to speak what You are saying.

Your Son,

Jeff

Surrender Your Pride and Power

 Scripture:

'O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord , or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins. ' Jeremiah 4:4

Observation:

The Lord is speaking through Jeremiah here and tells His people that they need to change their hearts and surrender their pride and power or His anger would burn against them. God always comes against the proud and tells them to change their hearts. I believe pride is something God hates for than anything because you cannot worship and trust God is your pride says you can take care of yourself and you have no need of Him.

Application:

I want to walk before the Lord all the days of my life in genuine humility. There is no place for pride in the people of God. I want God to know that I trust Him with my life more than I trust myself. My reliance and trust must be in Him and not in myself. Every good thing in my life has come from the hand of God and not from my own making. When I am humble before Him, He will fight my battles and bless my life. It is better to walk in humility and trust God than to walk in pride and trust myself. He is right. I am wrong.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to walk in great humility. Let my heart be pure before You. You are the source of every good thing in my life. You are my strength and my salvation. You are the joy of my heart. You are my everything. Let me never trust in my education, my money, my strength, etc. Let my trust be always in You and You alone. Let me demonstrate real, not false, humility.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Spiritual Fathering 101

 Scripture:

“In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.” ‭‭Titus‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Paul tells Titus here to encourage the young men to live wisely. He goes on to tell him that he needed to be an example by good works of every kind. He continues by telling him to let everything in his life reflect integrity and the seriousness of his teaching. He is basically telling Titus that he needed to live the life of a man of God in front of the young men and then encourage them to do the same.

Application:

As we have been on a journey into spiritual fathering, it has become clear that young men are important to the church and that they need a relationship with older men in the church. They need the wisdom of the older generation, but they also need examples of how to live for God in a crooked generation. Our spiritual sons and daughters need to see us living our lives as examples and then encouraging them to do the same. This is caught more than taught.

Prayer:

Father, help me step into this next season of my life as it pertains to spiritual fathering. Help me to be a blessing to many son and daughters. Let their lives be better because I am in them. Connect me with the right people and show me how to build relationships with them. Teach me to lead well and demonstrate Your ways to others.

Yours Forever,

Jeff