Ezekiel 3:10 He said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you”

For those of us that are married we’ve heard this phrase at least once in our marriage. “Honey, on the way home would you stop by the store and get a few things. I need. . . .”

Now that request seems simple enough, but trust me I have bombed that request over and over by not getting the right items or even sometimes I have failed to remember to go to the store because of distractions.

Though forgetting something from the store is more of an annoyance than a crisis, it can remind us of the importance of listening carefully to all not just some of God’s instructions. This was what God wanted to convey to Ezekiel.

God called Ezekiel to proclaim His message to the nation of Israel. Though that may sound simple, Ezekiel knew it would be anything but easy.

The people did not cooperate with God’s Laws and showed little interest in hearing that they were disobeying God’s commands and needed to repent.

Ezekiel needed to listen carefully to all God said, just as we need to listen carefully to all God’s instructions for our lives today.

Challenge for Today: Make it a practice to listen carefully to God’s instructions.

Jeremiah 52:33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table

This chapter records the fall of Jerusalem, the City of David, and its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. The report tells of the desecration of the temple and the plunder of its valuable holy instruments of priestly worship.

Outside the city, the king and his sons were murdered and a host of Judah’s citizens were marched off to serve their conquerors.

A hint of hope is hidden in the last few verses of this passage.

Jehoiachin, captive king of Judah, is released from prison and brought to the table of the Babylonian king for the rest of his life.

Freed from his cell, Jehoiachin lives in relative favor until he dies. The obscure message is that, even in a fallen world held captive by sin and Satan, a day will come when God’s people will be restored and blessed.

Solomon’s Temple is gone but a greater temple will come in the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He will never be defeated nor dethroned. His reign will know no end!

Thought for Today: When Christ returns, we will live with Him forever, rejoicing at His table, so everything we go through in this life will be worth it all!

Jeremiah 50:20 “In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare”

Ya know friends of all the amazing things that God can do, there is one mind-boggling thing that He chooses not to do: remember forgiven sins.

When we ask God to forgive our sins, He wipes them away completely. He does not mark out some of them, most of them, or even all but one of them. They are all gone in His sight.

On Judgment Day, God will consider the lives of all people. For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, God will not see any sins, instead He will only see His grace and forgiveness.

It is interesting that Jeremiah 50:20 says that not even Israel’s guilt will be found. We are the ones who are good at finding guilt and allowing it to remain around even though our sins have been forgiven. But that is not what God wants for us. He forgives us so that we can live guilt-free.

Thought for Today: The Blood of Jesus not only removes our sin, it takes away our guilt!

Jeremiah 48:11 Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another—she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged

It’s been said that the only person that likes Change is a baby! We tend to detest change, especially when things are going well. Yet change is one way God helps us grow in our relationship with Him.

Today’s text illustrates this in terms of wine production. Wine was left in a vessel to age, but at a certain point it would be moved to another jar. If allowed to remain in its dregs, or sediments, the wine would become too sweet.

Unlike Israel, the Moabites had things too easy. They had remained in their own sins for way too long, and God’s judgment loomed. They needed change.

At times, God may deem it best for our spiritual growth to move us from one jar to another. Our internal changes often come from external circumstances. When God is behind the changes, we can find peace in knowing that they are for our good.

Challenge for Today: Consider change an opportunity to become more reliant upon God.

Jeremiah 45:5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life

From this brief and encouraging message to Baruch we can learn a valuable lesson about our own aspirations in life.

As a faithful secretary to Jeremiah, Baruch apparently had grown discouraged and felt anguish alongside Jeremiah.

Perhaps the realities of God’s judgment conflicted with his own plans and expectations of personal achievement.

As Jeremiah notes in chapter 51 verse 59 later, Baruch’s brother, would become staff officer to King Zedekiah

Perhaps you can relate to watching personal goals fall apart while those around you appear to advance ahead of you. It may seem like every time you are about to make your mark, some paints the wall.

But God’s message to Baruch is a reminder of the importance of remaining focused on God.

The New Testament reminds us in Matthew 6:33 to seek God’s kingdom first. Then everything we need will be given to us, what that is saying is this, instead of chasing, the job, the paycheck, the position, chase after God.

Because when you do God causes all the things that you were chasing, to begin to chase you.

Thought for Today: A deeper relationship with God should be the “great thing” we make our life’s pursuit.

Jeremiah 42:7,10 Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.... “If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you”

Our scripture this morning offers two lessons in obedience.

First, obedience submits to God’s timing. Jeremiah’s answer came ten days after he began praying. We prefer immediate answers to our prayers. Sometimes God wants our patience.

No doubt, many of the people who had requested that Jeremiah pray on their behalf had already begun devising their own plans. But God had a plan and chose to wait to reveal it.

Second, obedience yields to God’s will. Through Jeremiah’s words, God made clear that His blessings would follow the people’s obedience.

As the passage shows, however, the people chose not to obey. They forsook God’s promised blessings because God’s words did not rubber-stamp the plan they had devised.

When we submit to God’s timing and yield to His will, our obedience will bring God’s blessings.

Thought for Today: God’s blessings always follow our obedience.

Jeremiah 36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin

God had spoken to Jeremiah and given him a word for the king of Judah. When the scroll was read, however, the king cut it into pieces and burned it in a brazier.

God sent the message to the king again. But the king was so worried with his problems he misinterpreted the message to be a threat. He imprisoned the prophet and continued to ignore the sacred word.

The king missed the point of God’s communication. God did not want to condemn Judah. The Lord wanted to save them!

Listen friends times hasn’t changed much many people still see God’s Word as threats from a restrictive, vindictive, mean-spirited deity who only wishes to control and dominate them.

But that is not the case! In the Bible, God gives clear and wonderful directions that will lead to freedom, joy, health, and happiness. When applied, the teachings of God’s Word will bring every blessing to those who respect and follow it.

Challenge for Today: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand God’s word, because the misinterpreted Word of God is ineffective in your life.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you

A year before Jerusalem fell, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to buy a field. He was to pay for it and carefully preserve the deed in a clay pot so that it would last a long time.

This action was to show that even though their exile would last seventy years, God would still bring the people of Judah back into the Promised Land.

Sometimes God’s promises take some time to be fulfilled. But we must remain faithful and believe in those promises no matter how long it takes.

Are you waiting to see promises come to pass that God has given you? What action can you take to show your faith in God’s fulfillment of His promises? What verses can you write down and put in a jar to wait to see come to pass?

Just as Jeremiah bought a field as proof that God would answer, we too can write out those personal promises and keep them in a special place until we see God’s answer come.

Challenge for Today: Take some action to show God you believe He will bring those promises into reality.

Jeremiah 28:9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true

Do you remember taking tests in school that had true and false questions on them? They were really easy if you knew the answer. If you didn’t have a clue, you had only a 50 percent chance of being right.

The Jews struggled to discern who was a false prophet and who was a true one. Many times their sin blinded them to the true prophets, and they chose to accept the false prophets’ teaching.

Even today, it can be difficult for some to know the difference between what is true and what is false.

The false prophet Hananiah prophesied that the Babylonian captivity would only last two years and then everything would be fine again. This was what the people wanted to hear.

But Jeremiah told Hananiah that because he preached rebellion against the Lord he would die. Hananiah died two months later, just as Jeremiah had prophesied. Now who was the true prophet?

We can know the truth today my friend, by praying and spending time in God’s word! Muhammed said I’ve wrote the truth, Buddah said, I’ve heard the truth, Satan even said, I know the truth, But Jesus is the only one that said, I am the Truth!

Prayer Suggestion: Spend time in God’s so you can discern the true from the false in spiritual matters.

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

Jeremiah was speaking to the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of the wicked King Jehoiakim. He had warned them for twenty-three years of coming destruction if they didn’t repent.

Nebuchadnezzar was just beginning his rule in Babylon. God knew about this Babylonian king years before he came into power. God gave his people a fair warning—twenty-three years. God is loving but will not tolerate wickedness forever.

The Jews worshipped idols and sacrificed their children to the false god Molech. They continued their evil practices rather than choosing to serve the living God.

Jeremiah continued to warn them of impending destruction even though he was beaten and imprisoned several times during his ministry.

God’s Laws are the same for us today. Are we listening to His Word or ignoring it? Are we praying for our nation to repent to avoid disaster?

Prayer Suggestion: Help us Lord, to listen to Your Word to avoid disaster in our lives.

Jeremiah 23:24“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord

Do you remember playing “hide and seek” as a child? When my two daughters were preschoolers, they would hide in the most obvious places, giggling behind a curtain with feet sticking out below, or under the covers in their beds, hoping I wouldn’t see them.

As they grew older, they learned how to hide silently deep inside a closet or in a dark room, they did their best to hide from me but as their Father I could always find them.

Listen my friend as we grow older, we become skillful at hiding things. We hide our sins from others and even try to hide them from God. We try to conceal unkind actions, a bad temper, or impatience and we may succeed in doing so from our friends, our family even our children, but not from God!

Regardless of our efforts to hide, God knows all and sees all.

The false prophets during Jeremiah’s time tried to hide God’s true message of judgment. The nation of Judah was full of adulterers and sinners.

Jeremiah consistently warned them of the coming captivity! Judah couldn’t hide its sins from God, and Jeremiah told them that they would be judged if they didn’t repent.

Challenge for Today: Stop trying to hide your sins from God and instead ask for His forgiveness.

Jeremiah 14:14 The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.

Ever heard someone call another person “delusional”?

People throw this term around all the time. But delusional disorder is actually a type of serious mental illness in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. The main symptom is an unshakable belief in something untrue.

The other prophets of Jeremiah’s day may have thought him to be delusional. After all, they were all saying one thing, and he was saying the opposite. But God proved Jeremiah to be the one who was right.

Today truth is often deemed relative. Many believe something to be true as long as the majority also believe it. But only God is absolute truth. Those who serve Him are grounded in the truth. We can see this by studying God’s Word and listening to His Spirit.

Prayer Suggestion: God, help me to know your truth so that I am not taken in by the world’s delusions.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

There comes a time in your life that you need to understand the nature of the God you serve. You need to understand the process that went into your salvation. Many people think that once you get you saved that’s it, there’s nothing more to do, and their life is now on cruise control and then they wonder why they back slide and get angry with God when God doesn’t respond to them.

They fail to understand that once you get saved the responsibility of seeking shifts to you. If you fail to understand this you will eventually find yourself waiting on God to move, when in return God is waiting for your to move.

You need to understand that God aggressively pursued you, and for some of you, God is continuing to pursue as you as you listen to this message. But for those of you that been caught by God, once you’ve committed your life to Christ the responsibility shifted and your role has now become the pursuer and God has become the one being pursued.

Our challenge today, aggressively seek after God the way he aggressively sought after you

Jeremiah 3:3 Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame

Not that long ago, calling someone a “brazen hussy” was an understood insult, implying an unacceptable lack of morals.

Today the title is proudly attached to a clothing label, a punk rock band, a mixed drink, and an online blog, just to name a few.

While the term still sounds scandalous, it is used as a tongue-in-cheek jibe—that’s no longer shameful.

After Solomon’s kingdom had split, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south, the kings of Israel had quickly led their people into idolatry and perversion.

While Judah had managed to produce a few decent kings, on the whole the Southern Kingdom had become just as wicked. The worst of it was they had no shame.

Do we need to return to the days of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, publicly branding the sinful? Of course not.

But neither should we sit silent while all around us people fall deeper into sin. We must lovingly lead them back to God, telling them of His unchanging love for them

Challenge for today: God, help me to become broken instead of brazen.

Isaiah 63:10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them

In the United States, Benedict Arnold has become the poster child for traitors, not because he fought for the British, but because he did so after fighting brilliantly for America.

A monument at Saratoga National Park honors his brave role in that pivotal campaign but never mentions him by name. Ambition and pride turned a hero into a byword.

As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, God went from being the best ally of His people to being their worst enemy. And yet He is no traitor. Why? Because His people were the ones who betrayed Him.

Do you feel that God is far from you? Have you wondered sometimes if He is fighting against you? Maybe you have friends or loved ones who complain that God has turned His back on them.

Be certain my friend that God is not the traitor. He always remains true, even if that means He has to fight against those who rebel against Him.

Thought for Today: Only you can decide if God is your best ally or your worst enemy.

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail

If you’ve ever seen the ocean, no doubt you remember the first time you stood on its shores.

You quickly realized that no picture or movie can do justice to the roar of the waves or the feel of the sand between your toes as you walk along the water’s edge.

Seeing the ocean for the first time powerfully brings home the reality of its existence.

As humans, it’s hard to believe in things we can’t touch with our hands or see with our own eyes.

Our relationship with God is no exception. But when we place our hope and faith in Him, we are investing into something that is more powerful and real than anything we can see.

God’s Word tells us that everything in the world around us will one day come to an end, but His salvation will last forever.

Choose to invest your life in what is eternal and not temporary!

Challenge for Today: Allow God to remind you today of the things in life that are eternal.

Isaiah 43:18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past

Is there anything in your past you wish you could do over? Maybe you’ve been the victim of other people’s wrong choices and have the battle scars to prove it. Or perhaps your injuries have been the result of your own poor decisions.

People tend to define themselves by the sum total of their past experiences—where they’ve been, whom they’ve known, what they’ve done, and even what’s happened to them.

Listen it’s easy to allow your past hurts and pains to influence your present actions but all that will accomplish is a continuing cycle of bitterness and hopelessness that will affect not only you but those around as well.

But the good news is, if we are adopted in God’s family through Jesus’ blood, we don’t have to accept this way of life.

Even if your past has been less than perfect, the beauty of a relationship with God is that your past doesn’t have to affect your future.

Choose today to embrace God’s goodness in your life, forgetting the past once and for all, and looking with hope toward your future.

Thought for Today: When we put our trust in God, our past cannot control our future.