“Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!”
– Jeremiah 14:9
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever had a heart to heart talk with God? Have you ever had a hard talk with God? Have you ever had a heated exchange with God? Jeremiah – who was one of the prophet spokesmen who God – as God the Father, chose to embed among the Israelite people guys and gals – who were His specially chosen guys and gals, who were living in the land of Judah – which included the city of Jerusalem, recorded in what is now called the Jeremiah Book some of – if not all, the interactions that God – as God the Father, had – through God – as God the Spirit, with him. Jeremiah recounts in Jeremiah 14 one of the denouncing interchanges that God – as God the Father, had – through God – as God the Spirit, with him. Jeremiah uses ‘the word of the LORD’ to describe what God – as God the Father, said to him to justify the relentless drought that God had generated which was causing acute consternation among His specially chosen guys and gals as the severe drought was affecting everyone who lived in the land of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem. Because no rain had fallen over the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem for some time, cisterns had become completely empty and the ground had become cracked throughout the land of Judah bringing distress, dismay and despair to every societal stratum among God’s specially chosen guys and gals. What Jeremiah says in verse 9 as to what he blatantly told God – as God the Father, “Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!” is what every Christ-follower guy and gal should be saying today here in the United States of America about what God is doing now regarding the liberal, progressive, dark direction that a minority populace who is living in the United States is wanting to take a country that was founded on a shared belief, knowledge and acceptance of a divine Being who is God – as God the Father – the LORD. When Jeremiah was alive on planet Earth 2,600 or so years ago, Jeremiah lived in the city of Jerusalem. Israelite people group guys and gals who were alive 2,600 years ago and who were living in the land of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem had turned to complying with the lies that false prophets were portending using fallacious false visions, divinations, idolatries and delusions. God – as God the Father, went as far as to tell Jeremiah – through – God – as God the Spirit, to no longer pray for the well-being of His specially chosen guys and gals even though they were again fasting and burning burnt offering sacrifices to Him. Jeremiah was then told by God – as God the Father, – through God – as God the Spirit, that He was going to use the sword, famine and plague to kill His disobedient, rebellious specially chosen guys and gals. There was absolutely nothing that Jeremiah could have said to God – including pleading for forgiveness for God’s specially chosen guys and gals from the grievous sins that they had and were committing against Him to confronting God about the times that He had said that His holy name would never be forgotten, to get God to change His mind to . . .
Do you think that God is punishing countries today where His name is not being intentionally honored and glorified in the country? Do you think that God knows when a country has crossed the line into a paradigm where self-serving becomes the life norm? Do you think that God should wake up a country that has atrophied so much that it no longer knows what the baseline is for a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid to live by? Through what God did to His specially chosen guys and gals around 2,600 years ago in the land of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem, in which group of guys and gals do you think that God will ‘punish’, ‘get the attention of’ or ‘wake up’ when they reject Him, the guys and gals of a country who have turned to living perversely or the country’s community of Christ-follower guys and gals who have become passive towards Him? Your grandpaa – since yesterday morning, has been mulling over a nest metaphor. A statement was made yesterday which essentially said that nesting is something that a guy innately wants to do – such as creating a secure home where a guy can live with his wife and kids for the rest of his life. Even though leaving a nest today may be much easier than what it was in the past, there is still that intrinsic, strong desire in a guy – and gal, to create something that guarantees a secure future. Growing up and having to leave a nest is not something easy to do. Nesting involves a pair of birds with these birds taking on the care of first the eggs and then the hatchlings until the young birds are ready to fly. The pair of birds that built their nest on top of the white column that is located right outside the front door of the house where your grandmaa and grandpaa live had at least three hatchlings. When nesting became a topic yesterday, your grandpaa began to think about that nest and those hatchlings. Your grandmaa and grandpaa the past two Sunday mornings attended the early service at an area church. Older, white haired guys and gals dominate the attendance in this first service. Looking at the tops of the hatchlings’ heads while they were still in their nest left your grandpaa wondering what it would take and what it would look like for the white haired guys and gals in the early service to leave their church nest to . . .
How many bugs do you think that it takes to feed a hatchling before . . . how much Good News does it take to feed a Christ-follower guy or gal before . . . hatchlings fly when . . . what does it take for a Christ-follower to . . .
Jeremiah 14 (1104)