How God Feels

obedience, blessings, Jeremiah 12:6-7As I continue my read through the Bible this year I came upon a group of verses in Jeremiah that struck me particularly hard.  Jeremiah, called the “weeping prophet”, wrote and prophesied of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.  Throughout the book of Jeremiah God lays out his case against his wayward people and explains in great detail what the consequences of that rebellion are but also how he (God) feels about it.

Your relatives, members of your own family— even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.  

“I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies.”  Jeremiah 12:6-7 (NIV)

Verse 6 speaks of relatives and family members who have taken part in betrayal and verse 7 tells us that God has decided to forsake his house (his residence in Jerusalem being the temple but also his presence with his people) abandon his inheritance (giving up on these people ever being what he wanted them to be – his righteous children and a light to all men) and, perhaps saddest of all, giving the one he loves (some translations say “the love of my life”) into the hands of her enemies.

Imagine for a moment if our own families betrayed us.  What would we feel if those that we loved and trusted the most in this world turned against us and what we thought was our home and our place of rest became tainted and terrible to us as a result?  What if my spouse, the person I love the most in this world, was involved in something so bad and so heinous that I had no choice but to allow the consequences of those actions despite the pain and suffering it would cause us both?

It’s not something I or any of us would like to think on but it is exactly what God was facing as he spoke to Jeremiah about what was soon to happen.  And it is exactly how he feels when we turn away and rebel against him despite the fact that we once professed to love him and be his.

Sin is always serious and God is always a righteous judge but there is a difference between a lost person acting like a lost person (because it is the only nature that they have) and a saved person (who has the holy spirit living in him and is a new creation) deciding to act and look like a lost person.  One acts that way because they have no choice while the other most certainly has a choice and is simply choosing not to walk in the spirit but to remain in the flesh.

I believe, based on what I have read and studied, that this breaks God’s heart.  I also believe that this is one of the reasons why God gave us feelings; so that we could relate to him on an emotional level, so that we could feel his joy and his peace but also so that we could know and understand the sadness that sin brings and what it means to be separated from him.

God does everything he can to warn us of the dangers of sin and to equip us to be able to overcome temptation.  He promises that if we will hide his word in our hearts then we will not sin against him and we will lives full of blessing and purpose.  Those that do so are the apple of his eye and bring great joy to him.  This is the kind of existence that he wants for all of us and the kind of lives that we should be striving to lead.

 

 

 

 

What Keeps You Going?

promise, faithful, obedienceWhat keeps you going?  What motivates and inspires you, day after day?

For me, it is God’s love.  God shows His love to me in many ways but nowhere moreso than the promises found in His word.  These promises encourage and lift me up every time I read them and today I want to share a few of my favorites with you.

17 The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”  (Zephaniah 3:17)  

God loves us so much that he rejoices over us with gladness and singing!  His love for us is powerful, amazing and happy.  Not only that, He is in our midst and He has come to save us!  Praise the Lord for his marvelous love and His everlasting song.

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.  (Revelations 3:12)

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary explains verse 12 beautifully: “Christ promises a glorious reward to the victorious believer. He shall be a monumental pillar in the temple of God; a monument of the free and powerful grace of God; a monument that shall never be defaced or removed. On this pillar shall be written the new name of Christ; by this will appear, under whom the believer fought the good fight, and came off victorious.”  We are to monuments to the everlasting grace of God and even now God is sculpting us and shaping us into His beautiful creation.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:4-7)

Philippians Chapter 4 contains some of my favorite verses in the entire new testament.  In these verses we are instructed to be thankful, be gentle and to tell God all of our cares.  And if we follow these instructions then we are promised that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.  The peace of God is a treasure of the highest magnitude and if more of us sought it on a daily basis then this world would be a far better place.  Praise God for granting us His peace!

17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:17)

Sometimes it is easy to forget that most of what we can see and touch in this world is temporary and fading.  God’s word cautions us against falling in love with the things of this world but also gives a promise to the person who instead focuses their life on doing God’s will:  the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Ultimately, God promises us so very much and asks us only for our love and devotion in return.  Let His love and His promises envelop you on a daily basis and stand firm in your faith.