Jeremiah’s Call and Work

Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

Jeremiah was called to be God’s prophet to Judah; and to those nations which would deal with Judah.
A prophet is one called of God, to tell His people what is on His mind, for them; for now and sometimes, for in the future.

Yet he was a young man. He thought he would not be able to speak such an important message to the elders and people, because of his age.
Jeremiah 1:6-7 “Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.”

The Lord told him that his age would not matter, for he would go and speak as God wanted. It sounded like the Lord had a long work for him to do.

But then God dealt with the fear in Jeremiah’s heart.
Jeremiah 1:8-9 “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”

God not only spoke, but acted. He touched his mouth, promising deliverance from the enemies that these words would bring.

When we speak for God; preach His word, or give out the gospel; then all those who fight against God, will “fight” against us.

Jeremiah, who was of the priestly tribe, was chosen by the Godly king Josiah to go to the villages around his home town and teach the law, so that God would be honored again in Judah.
But the men of his town, including those of his own household, tried to kill him. (Jeremiah 11:19, 21-23)

He was sent by God to go to Jerusalem, and this is where his real calling began.
There he dealt with the priesthood, to get them to honor the word the Lord was giving.
Jeremiah 4:5-6, 14, 18; “Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defensed cities.
Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.”

Jeremiah 5:1, 4. “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that execute the judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgement of their God.

When some went to the rulers, they became aware of his message.
It was to submit to God’s chastening through the king of Babylon. If they would, God would let them remain in the city, and in the land.
They would be under the rule of a foreign nation; but in the land. It would be humiliating, but the only way to stay in the land; the only way to be blessed by God.

Jeremiah 5:5 “I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.”

(God had promised this when Moses was warning the people before they came into Canaan: To obey God, or suffer under the dominion of other nations. Deuteronomy 28:47-48 “Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
Therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, and in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.”)

But now the time had come to see the hand of God in all His dealings, and submit.

If they refused; they would be forced out of the land God had given them for their sin. Yet, it would not be forever; but seventy years.

When Jeremiah told the people this; the princes and rulers tried to kill him.
Jeremiah 5:11-12 “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord.
They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:”
Hidden by friends( Jeremiah 36:16-19); then put in a deep pit with mire in it (Jeremiah 38:4-6); yet he proclaimed the truth. Warning again and again, the king of Judah, and the princes to yield to the king of Babylon, because it was really yielding to God.

But they refused; and the whole city suffered under starvation, thirst, and finally the enemy breaking through,and death. Thousands of men, women and children died because they refused to submit to God’s dealings with them. Thousands of others were taken away from the land as slaves.

How often are we dealt with by God? Things are happening, and we refuse to pray about them, or just say: I know this is just to try me. When God is really trying to awaken us to what needs to be changed.
Yes, our faith is tried; but when things come to us; we should seek the Lord’s face about them. If we are being tried, He will increase our faith, by the trial.
If we are being corrected, He will let us know; and it will be our blessing to submit to the correction.

But Jeremiah, too, was in the city. He was there when the city was taken, and the Temple destroyed.

But God saw to his servant; he was given bread and water through the siege, by the very king he tried to warn (though he refused the good warning).

When everything Jeremiah had warned them of, had come to pass; he walked out of the place the king had kept him, into a city destroyed and burning.
Still, when approached by the remaining people for good counsel, he prayed for them, to get it.

But when they heard what God wanted them to do? They refused and went their own way. (Jeremiah 42:1-6, 19; Jeremiah 43:1-7)
Often we are the same; we see the very thing God has warned us of, through preaching, teaching, and Bible study; yet we still do not heed God’s warning to us.
We think, God has to take care of us.
Yes, if saved, we can never be lost. But God can allow severe chastening in our lives, because we refuse His Word.
Which, when we yield to, life is given; His life and grace is given more abundantly.

When Jeremiah first started to preach to the people; God told him:

Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Cisterns are like a whole dug, and filled with rain water; like a reservoir. Cisterns are often dry, even when not broken.
To rely on anything other than our God, for our life, is to turn to cisterns.

But our God is like a fountain of living waters. Ever springing up, ever availing.
What will we do today, with God’s Word to us?

Manna, or the old corn of the Land.

Joshua 5:11-12 “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the marrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the self same day.
And the manna ceased on the marrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

On this day the manna stopped. They did not need it any more. It had been God’s miraculous food for His people, in the wilderness. But now there was the old corn that the Canaanite stored up from their harvest.
When they entered Canaan, the people had fled into Jericho, and had left this supply of food behind.
Now Israel had a supply, not from heaven each morning; but from their enemies.
Certainly, both supplies came from God.
One was directly from Him, each morning.
The other was from Him, because of the fear He placed in the hearts of the people of the land, when Israel came to cross the Jordan.

These supplies were also different in the way they were presented to feed Israel.

The manna was on the ground, right outside the tents of each Israelite. So he could walk on it if he so chose.

So Christ when He came in His humiliation as the Man Christ Jesus, was presented in an earthly manner. (John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”)
He came as one of them, presented Himself as the Son of God, and was despised and trampled on, as often the manna was to Israel. (John 6:41-42 “The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?”)
As the manna was given directly from heaven, but placed upon the ground round their tents for them to honor and receive, or walk on; so Jesus Christ came to this earth to be received or rejected.

The old corn of the land was discovered, as they came to possess their possessions in the Promised Land.
And when discovered it, the manna ceased.

It was part of their inheritance, which this generation wanted, and so they received it with thanksgiving.
This is like Christ being presented as Lord and Savior to a lost and dying world; after He had ascended into heaven again, receiving all power, and set down at the right hand of God.
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Christ Jesus was presented to the lost world, and where it was received, it was with thanksgiving.
Was their battles? Yes, in both cases: Israel in Canaan. And the Gospel of Christ to the world, yet Christ is our inheritance; let us give thanks for His Salvation, and all He has done for us.

Christ is still the Bread of Life. He is still being presented to the world.

Both supplies of food represent Christ; one sent from heaven to be presented to Israel.
One sent by heaven through the enemies they were to overcome.
Let us praise God for all the ways He sees to us, to His Gospel, and to the honor of His Son.

The Power of God and the Power of the Word of God

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”

Created: God made something out of nothing. He spoke and it was so.
Christ is the Word. And He spoke all things into being; and they were as He spoke.

Psalm 33:6-9 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap: and layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”

The power of God is often displayed through His Word. What He says will be, will be.
Isaiah 14:24 “The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall it come to pass; and as I have spoken, so it shall stand:”

When God created the heaven and the earth, He was well aware by His Omniscience (all seeing ability), that the earth that He spoke into being would be ruined by the fall of Lucifer (the Devil); And the fall of Adam.
Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
When Lucifer fell, it brought chaos to the beautiful earth God created.

Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

Yet God’s purpose would not be altered:
Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.”

So God’s Voice rang out in re-creation. Re-making what was.
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

God began to re-create with light; for darkness was upon the earth by Lucifer’s fall.

God is Light, and in His light we see light.

After re-creating the earth, forming man after His image:
Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

No other of His creatures are living souls. They have instincts, but no souls.
Man’s soul was the faculty God gave him alone, so that man could have fellowship with His Creator. He has a mind to think after God, to understand His Words. He has a heart to love God, and want to please Him. And he has a will, to will after God’s will.
But Adam sinned, disobeying God’s Word, making all man, sinners, and separated from God. God was not surprised. His Purpose saw this, and made provision for it, before times eternal.

For in His determination and purpose, Christ would come and save out a people for His Name’s sake.
God made the first promise of Christ right after the fall:
Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between thee (the devil) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed (Christ); it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heal.”

Christ Jesus came and fulfilled the Father’s Will in everything. Jesus said:
John 12:45-46 “And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness”
As God spoke light to the re-creation; He sent His Son as the Light to the world, to all who would believe in Him.
John 12:49-50 “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”

Christ came to reveal the purpose, and determination of God: And to present the light of Salvation by receiving Him by faith.

Hebrews 1:1-3, 2:1,3. “God , who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the father’s by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”

God’s purpose and determination is that all that believe and receive Him should be saved.
Do you believe in Christ Jesus the Lord?
Do you have the salvation He bought for you?
Are you walking in the Light He has made available?

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

This is God’s power, for “cleanseth” is past, present and future tense. Cleanseth means forgives, and then gives power to get that sin out of our lives. For yesterday, today, and tomorrow; for every sin that comes up. Power for it!

This is the power of God and the power of His Word.

Are you Listening?

Luke 8:18 “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken that which he seemeth to have.”

Take heed how ye hear.
Now this is not just good advice, but it is a saying of Jesus.
He warns all who will hear Him, to take notice of what they are hearing.
They are not just nice sounding words to lull you to sleep. Or assure you that everything is O.K., if it is not.
His Words are not just to enter our ears, but our hearts; and bring forth fruit to Eternal Life.

Jesus had just finished the parable of the sower. Four types of ground.
There was the wayside ground: hard and not tilled.
There was the rocky ground: which sprang up, but withered.
There was the thorny ground: which choked the word.
And then there was the good ground: which brought forth fruit.

What was the differences between these grounds? The preparation of the ground, itself.
The wayside had no preparation. The Word was “walked upon, and devoured by the Adversary.” (Luke 8:12)
The rocky ground had too many things which needed to be removed to be useful; and so the Word of Christ just died in the life.
The thorny ground had been tilled but without removing the roots of bitterness, which spring up again and again, to choke the Word in the life. (Hebrews 12:15)
And the good ground prepared to hear. Heard, and obeyed (took heed how they heard), and brought forth fruit to Christ’s glory, and honor.

How do you take heed?
You listen as if you Eternal Soul was dependent on just how you heard!

Is your life hardened to the Gospel? Have you trodden down Christ’s Words to you?
The Adversary is waiting, to remove those Words that are given you; and leave you hardened, and dead. Will you prepare your heart to hear?

The reality of these verses is told by Jesus when He says:
“From him shall be taken that which he seemeth to have”!
They looked good; They probably said the right answers, but their hearts separated themselves from the impact of Christ’s Words, so they would not have to obey.

This one had heard the call of Christ, and answered it with all the right words, but it has been just that, An answer of “words”.
So what he “seemeth to have, he does not.

Christ requires not an answer of words; But an answer of a Life, open to, and receptive to Him.

Remember, when Christ saves a life, He also claims that life.
From that time on that saved one is bought with a Price, and no longer their own.

Jesus says, “Take heed how ye hear”. Prepare your ears to hear, and your heart to receive.

Are you an Overcomer?

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Before you can become the overcomer of Revelation 3:21; you must open the door of your life to Christ.
He will not knock down the door and come in; nor will He force His way in some other way.
He calls to the individual that hears His voice, to open to Him. It is a Life, open to and receptive to Him, that counts.

This is not sinless perfection; but the desire to have the fellowship offered by the Lord, here.
He will not force us to have this fellowship which is suggested in the, “sup with him, and he with me”.
It all rests with our “want to”. You will never have the Reality of the love relationship that He intends, until the Holy Spirit has created within you this want to.

We can know and claim His love to us. All His children can. But before you can really say “I love you” to Christ; you must give up loving yourself so much.
Again, it is the want to .

Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

And what do we overcome?
Everything which stands in the way of God’s Will for our lives. This is what Christ did while He was on earth, so must we.
We overcome fear, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and trust.
We overcome ourselves in every way, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and deny ourselves, and be obedient to Christ.
We overcome circumstances, in the power of the Holy Spirit, joy for sorrow, peace for chaos, patience for worry, and anger. He empowers. He gives grace (the unmerited favor of power)

To overcome anything is to yield to Christ’s Word, and the Holy Spirit within; and come out of your self life, and into Christ’s life for you.

We must always bear in mind, WHO it is that speaks to us. And What He is able to do; even within the most rebellious, or lazy, or selfish thoughts within us.
Christ is able, and has sent His Holy Spirit to us, to enable us in the very place, time, and circumstances, we are in.

Have you heard His voice to you? Is He knocking again for entrance to your life?
It is fellowship that He desires, do you so desire this fellowship, too?

Are you an overcomer? Will you overcome everything which stands in the way of Christ’s life for you?

Are you experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit?

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit enters our spirit and gives us new life.
But He also brings us faith: the ability to believe God, trust Him, and follow Him.
It requires us to use what He gives, but it is in our life, if we so choose.

The method of this is to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
When He says to wait, we wait. Patience is given and we can wait as long as He wants.
When He says to love, not hate. That love is given by the Holy Spirit within, and as we yield to Him, we can experience that, in place of the anger and bitterness, which would come in certain circumstances.
When He says to quiet yourself in peace. His peace can take over the maddening shouts, the chaos, and the fear in your soul, and quiet restful peace reigns in any circumstances.

We must also say: If we yield, it is so.

If we hesitate, hold out for our own way, or give in to self expressions of anger, bitterness, fear, or self glorification: We quench the Holy Spirit, and His power is withheld.
Then we stand in the precarious position of facing the circumstances, without God’s power.

Galatians 5:25-26 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

When Paul says “we live in the Spirit”, he means that we are born again, alive to the newness of Christ’s life within us.

So he says we should walk in the Spirit; or experience that life of Christ’s in our everyday walk.
This is by yielding to the Spirit of God, in every aspect of your life’s circumstances.

Paul says that we should not be desirous of vain glory. To look out for #1. That is to desire that you will be noticed, appreciated, respected above others.
Is that so bad?
When the heart is full of myself, My place in society, my goals, my attainments; we are not full of the Holy Spirit.

We are not to provoke one another. Simply seek the peaceable things to talk about. Try not to start a fight. (There is defending the faith, but that is not contentious, but:
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient;
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”)

And Paul says we are not to envy one another. Envy is often thought light of in this day; but to envy in the Greek means to shrivel away, or pine for something someone else has. To place yourself in the position, that the Adversary of our souls can tempt you to think harshly of God’s Will and Way for you.

Are you yielding to the Spirit of God within you? You can have all He wants to give, if you will.

To Count the Cost
Luke 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”

Luke 14:31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?”

The Lord told His disciples that they were to count the cost of service, and following Him.
He gave two examples; and one of building, and one of warfare.
We are to do both.
If we follow Christ, we will be in a battle against the wiles of the Devil. The Adversary will seek to dissuade us, by fear. Or seek to destroy us, if we stand with Christ.

If we follow Christ, we are to build. First we are to build our house upon the Rock of Christ and His Word.
Then we are to add to the building of the Church. From the foundation to the roof, we are to build up His Church, by edification (teaching); exhortation (to wake up) and comfort.
1 Corinthians 3:10 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

We are to count the cost, because to stand with Jesus in this world, will cause you to be mocked, hated, ridiculed, and left out of, a lot of what the world has.

You sit down and count the cost. And He says to do it first.
To run after Christ emotionally, will play out. (Emotions do)
To run after Christ mentally, will lead you to reasons, and when reasons run out, so do you.
To run after Christ willfully, will lead you to count the cost for yourself, and choose.

Christ wants you to run after Him willfully; eyes wide open, to what is ahead.
He has a great life for all who follow Him; here: peace, and joy in Christ Jesus, even amid the trouble this life gives (and He always tells His disciples that there will be trouble). There: face to face with Christ; which makes heaven, heaven.
Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
“Forsaketh” here means to bid adieu, to depart from, to leave.

We are to count the cost of giving up all that we have, for the life Christ has for us.

This is not saying that He will require all things; He certainly will require you to give up sin, and anything which leads to it.
But, you need to count the cost, as He says.
That way you know, if there is something in “your” life that you will refuse to give up, even for Christ’s sake.

That is what counting the cost means. Christ requires of His servants, that they should obey Him, and His words to Him. It costs everyone the same amount: everything.

Jesus did not seek to persuade men to follow Him with false promises.
He spoke plainly, that to follow Him was the most costly of decisions.

Luke 14:25-26 “And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Multitudes were following Christ, but instead of encouraging them, He put a hurtle in front of them.
“To follow Me means that the emotions you feel for everything else, even yourself, will be like hatred in comparison to the love you have to Me.”

Are you a disciple of Christ Jesus?          Have you counted the cost?

Be Strong in the Lord

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

Paul tell these Ephesians that each one of them, which are seated in Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), and still walking in this world must now also take a stand against the wiles, the methods, or stratagems of the Devil.

In order to do that, Paul tells them that they must be empowered, or enabled in the force of His might.
The original word means to be constantly empowered.

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Put on, Paul exhorts them, the whole armor of God.
While God has provided this, the individual Christian has the responsibility of putting it on.
We must consciously appropriate the power the Lord Jesus Christ makes available to us.
This armor is not so many imaginary pieces you put on; but it the truth of what that piece sets forth.
Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Paul stresses this again; that we must put it on.

Ephesians 6:14 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;”
Paul says the Christians foundation piece to stand, is the Truth. It is the truth of our Salvation, first. Then a growing knowledge of the Scriptures and how they apply to life; our life.

God wants us to have defensive armor against the wiles of the Adversary.

A soldier does not put on his armor after going into battle, but in preparation for the battle.
The belt of truth must be secure, or everything else will fall off.
It is given to us, we must put it on; but it is God’s armor, it is not of ourselves.

Connected to it is the Breastplate of Righteousness. This is, of course, Christ’s Righteousness. We are covered with the very righteousness of Christ.
But there is a little more to it than that.
If you want the protection of the breastplate, over the heart, that you must live righteously. You must practice righteousness.
Your life must be clean, there must not be hidden sin, or unholy thinking tolerated.
They must be confessed and forsaken.

God wants to empower. He wants us to be protected by His Truth and Righteousness. And He wants us to live in that truth and in obedience to His righteous commands.
Then we will have the sure footing of peace.
Ephesians 6:15 “And your feet shod with the gospel of peace;”

There is a rest and peace of mind for every Christian. And we need it, for we are to walk, and resist our Adversary, the Devil.
He will knock us off balance and have us down before we know it, by worry, tension, and fear.
But the sure footing of the Gospel of Peace, given by the God of all peace, will keep us standing. He has given us His promises to use. We need to use them.
He wants to guard or garrison you about with His Peace (Philippians 4:7). It is by the Holy Spirit, that we are so kept, against the methods of the Devil, to make us fall.
As we stand, we will need the extra protection of the the Shield of Faith.

Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
The Adversary is always trying to get inside our head, or heart with some accusation.
(Many of which are true.) But the fiery darts can be quenched or put out by lifting up our faith in God and His Word.
Did we sin? Yes, but it is confessed and I have forsaken it.
This is removing the ground of accusation.

(Some of the fiery darts are: “Why you big phony, you don’t really believe that!”
“You witness for Christ? Are you kidding? You’re the biggest sinner around!”
“You don’t want to deal with that person; they will make fun of you, or make trouble for you.”
“No really saved person would think such a thought as that.”)

Which leads us to the armor for our heads:
Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

If we have any doubt as to our Salvation, we will not have the confidence in God and His Word that we should. We need to think saved. Simply trust that the Holy Spirit, which has borne witness in our spirits that we are a child of God (Romans 8:16); does not make mistakes.
If we are saved, will wrong thoughts present themselves to our mind? Yes, but it is what we do with them that makes the difference.
If you allow wrong thoughts to stay in your mind, contemplate them, then they will have wrong effects upon your walk; and you will not be able to stand against the Adversary.
Confess the sin, and forsake it. Remove wrong thoughts as soon as possible, and seek that power of God to overcome them.

To stand against the wiles of the Devil, which is all defensive, so far; we must have an offensive weapon. And that is the Sword of the Spirit.
This is the Word of God. (This is not throwing the Bible at him.)
This is a “saying” of the Bible. Something given you as a promise, or right at the time when the Adversary is attacking you.
And this is by the Holy Spirit; and by saying it, in your mind, or out loud; the power of God, the Holy Spirit will be at work, right then.

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereinto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
The Sword of the Spirit and prayer are a Christian’s offensive weapons.
As James said:
James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse ye hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.”
Submit yourselves to God….Know you are saved, and confessed up to date
Resist the Devil….Stand against the wiles of the Devil by using the truth of the power He gives you, wherever the Adversary attacks: heart, head, or will.
Draw nigh unto God…use prayer; All-prayer…every kind of prayer to bring down the help you need, now.

The Called According to His Purpose

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

If I am one of the called, when did He call me? And for what purpose, did He call me?

2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;”
If you are born again: before anything that is, was; God saw you in Christ Jesus.

The. “Who” is most important. It is not according to our works, we are saved. He hath saved us.
Yes, now that we are born again we can say that.
But He could say that before times eternal, as the American Standard says.

It is a holy calling, not anything we earn. To be holy means to be separated unto the Lord.
He brought us into being; not to live to ourselves, or to do what we want.
We are God’s, bought with a price, and are not our own.

1 Peter 1:18-20 “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, for your vain conversation received by tradition by your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ; as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Who verily was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

It is His calling, His saving, His purpose and grace for us.

What is His purpose?
First, His purpose for us, is that we know Him, Whom to know aright is to have Eternal Life. (Eternal Life is that condition of Life, now, and for eternity. It is how are life is to be in Christ Jesus, Who is our Life.)
We are to come into a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and grow in that knowledge. He is life, and as we know Him more, we experience His life, within our life, more. His joy, His peace, His hope, His correction, and His satisfaction.
This is most important. He wants fellowship with His saved, loved ones.

Second, His purpose is for our conformity to His Will; for as He is life, His Word is Truth.
This is the cleansing we need to receive from Him all He has for us.
If there is unconfessed sin, that comes between He and us. Therefore we are to:

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
His purpose is that we should walk before Him, follow after Him, and walk as friends with Him.
Colossians 2:6-7 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

His purpose for us is, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He purposed your place in Christ Jesus, before the world began;
Shall we not yield to His purpose for us, and honor His love for us?
It is to set yourself aside to Him. To yield to Him. He is our life, let us embrace it and Him.

Eben-ever, The stone of Help

1 Samuel 7:12 “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ever, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”

The story here is:
Israel had sinned, following strange gods. Because of this, Israel had been beaten by the Philistines, and were now in a state of fear.

Samuel then told Israel that it was their sin, which had caused this. But if they would put away these idols and “prepare their hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 7:3)
So they put away their idols, and began to serve the Lord, only.

Samuel then gathered all Israel together to pray for them.
1 Samuel 7:6 “And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.”

An Awakening Meeting was going on! They were getting things right between themselves and God, and the rest of Israel.

Then the Philistines heard of the gathering, and came up to fight with Israel.
This caused Israel to be afraid, and so asked Samuel:
1 Samuel 7:8 “And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Because of their former sin, they were not only afraid of the Philistines, but also that the Lord would not hear their cry for help.
Samuel then offered a lamb for a whole burnt offering, and prayed to the Lord for Israel; “and the Lord heard him”.
1 Samuel 7:10 “And as Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomforted them; and they were smitten before Israel.”

As the armies came together, the Lord thundered and caused fear among the Philistine ranks. And they were defeated, and chased out of Israel.

1 Samuel 7:12-13 “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ever, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.
So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”
This stone was put there to remind all who would see, that the Lord is the greatest help, in all our troubles.

This story shows how the prayer of the righteous, is heard.
The sacrifice of the lamb as a whole burnt offering showing forth Christ; and that we are accepted in Him.

Psalm 34:17-18 “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

Israel was beaten in the first place, not by the Philistines; but by their sin.
When they repented and worshipped God again; He heard the cry for help.
And He helped.